Valencia 846B Amplifier

[peter becker]

I tried different Amps small Tubeamps and big Transistoramps.I think a big Amp is a better Match to the Valencia.I like to know which Amps you tried and your Experience?Thanks

[Timjohnson]

I'm running Rauland Borg Fax250's on each 846b.

industrial amps rated 250 w continuous power into 8 ohms

[armandh]

the rauland like a lot of early transistor amps is transformer out put. I would suggest a direct out like a marantz 240b or any other of the no-transformer outputs. transformers are great for matching load but have that hysteresis loss

[speakerdave]

I don't have any experience with the Valencia's specifically, but I have had some experience with very efficient (Heath Legato, Altec 604-8G and A7-500) and moderately efficient (JBL 4333A) speakers. Played at low or moderate levels they have the advantage of being drivable by 6550, El34, 6BQ5, or maybe even SE (I know nothing about them) tube amps, which one may choose for their sweetness in the highs and presence in the mids, especially with horn mid/tweeters. An the other hand I have found that these speakers really come alive when being driven by a big, clean solid state amp (McIntosh MC2200) which gives you full access to the big, dynamic sound these speakers are capable of. I think it's all a matter of what you're after. Blessed is he who can have either as the mood arises.

On a speaker like the 4333A you can have both all the time because they can be biwired/biamped. That is, there are external connectors for two amplifiers if you choose (there's a switch to change the filter circuit). You need a low pass filter in front of the woofer amp, but for the mid and highs built-in filtering remains in the circuit. My JBL LSR32's are also biwire-able. I think this arrangement is the nuts because you can choose a tube amp for the mids and highs and a big sand amp for the woofers, and yet the response shaping of the built-in crossover is left in place. I'd like to see a knowledgable person show how the passive high level crossovers of these classic woofer-and-horn speakers could be modified for biwiring. I think that would go a long way toward solving the amplifier dilemma for these speakers.

You're amp seems from its description to be a lot like my MC2200, which also has output transformers.

What does hysteresis loss sound like?

David

[armandh]

who can describe distortion but you know it when you hear it, after not hearing it.

[armandh]

I add it is why the tube fans like the SE OTL class A amps everything runs in the most liner fashion. in some transistor amps the interstage load resistors are replaced with a constant current circuit a darlington like arrangement that keeps everything in that linear part of the "curve"