On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 08:00:24 +0100 (CET), George Orwell
wrote:
John:
Congratulations on coming so close. I think that as the trophyholder I should
have just marginally less than a unit of points to distribute within my discretion
for some facet beyond the rules. (Not quite a full unit, so that any discretionary
bonus cannot unfairly change a close contest.)
There is no trophy, if there was you wouldn't be holding it, and why
all the pathetic sockpuppets?
BROWNIE POINTS
This contest was for arriving at a tube-like sound with transistors.
It's not a contest, but that is indeed the design target.
I have
already explained elsewhere that I don't actually believe in a DHT sound or
an SE sound, that I believe that the ultrafi sound (widely ascribed to DHT
with 300B as the paradigm) is largely created by ZNFB Class A. That will be
true too in transistors, where it is much more difficult to arrange.
Depends how you define 'feedback'................
For arranging
your transistor KISSass amp to produce all its output in SE Class A, and for
a certain restraint which is essential in ultrafi amps, I therefore award you
8 of the discretionary points to bring your total up to 91.
WHAT WE OVERLOOKED: HARMONICS DISTRIBUTION
Looking back on it, I think we didn't set the rules closely enough. There is
a major determinant of the sound of a ultrafi 300B for which we did not regulate.
We overlooked it because at the time Pinkerton promised to provide a proper
design that people would want to build or that at least he built and measured,
so that physical comparisons could be made with my KISS 300B.
What KISS 300B? We've seen no sign of your vapourware flea-power
abomination, just lots of handwaving and wrong-headed ranting about
the underlying principles.
Now Pinkerton
has turned in a piece of crap strictly on paper, which he is not building and
which he has announced to be rubbish on, for instance, ABSE, so I do not see
anyone building the Pinkytron Abomination and sending it to me or you for comparison.
Interesting that you would pass judgement on something which you have
not built, and whose design principles you clearly do not understand.
The ultrafi sound of my 300B depends, beyond the absence of negative feedback,
beyond being in Class A, on a favourable distribution of harmonics. We have
been through this before, but it may be as well to have on it on record in
this context. A much detuned version of my KISS 300B, called the Hedonist's
Delight and drawn in compromised form to make it directly comparable to the
Bubbaland 300B with which some earlier wannabe swinging dick challenged me,
showed 1.83% of second harmonic at full power of near enough 8W and vanishingly
small third and higher harmonics also at full power. The other guy's amp was
so noisy, it wasn't even worth calculating noise at 1W because everyone knew
I had annihilated the challenger. (Deja vu.)
Still with the self-appointed 'winning', eh? You really are a sad sack
of ****.
The KISS 300B will put out half
as much power over a higher impedance than the Hedonist. It is therefore reasonable
to suppose that at full power of 3.8W my KISS 300B will have second harmonic
well below 1.83% and zero third or higher harmonics. The distortion at the
normal intended use of a fraction of a watt is unlikely to rise to 0.1% THD,
which will be all second harmonic with zero third, odd or higher harmonics.
Pinkerton says of his amp, "THD will be several percent above 5 watts". Unless
this is some kind of a misprint, it is unacceptable even if it is all 2HD.
Sez who?
But we know it won't be...
But even worse is the fact that in Pinkerton's amp the NFB will even at lower
output create a harmonics mix in which the third, odd and higher harmonics
will feature to a much larger extent than is acceptable in an ultrafi amp,
and than I have demonstrably repeatedly achieved in tube amps, and will clearly
improve upon in the KISS 300.
There is no loop NFB in KISASS, and below 1 watt output, it will have
no significant distortion products of any sort. It's certainly as
'ultrafi' as KISS, probably more so. Indeed, I challenge anyone to
tell the difference under level-matched blind conditions - unless of
course KISS has a horribly noisy and hummy output at low levels.
This botch by Pinkerton was specifically "designed" to sound like a tube amp.
Pinkerton claims it *will* sound like a tube amp if anyone wants to waste his
time building it. I see no evidence of that and Pinkerton doesn't offer any
evidence, nor is there any sign of thought or understanding of harmonic distribution
by him. (I explained all this before putting my KISS 300B project on hold to
give the challenger space to work but Pinkerton, like the other little irrationals,
reflexively rejects whatever I say, "true or not" in Yaeger's phrase, because
he doesn't like me.)
Don't flatter yourself, I merely despise you.
Pinkerton's travesty of a KISSass amp is hereby rejected because, in consideration
of its likely harmonics distribution, I don't believe it will sound remotely
like my KISS 300B or any other amp with ultra-fi pretentions.
Unfortunately for your overinflated ego, I don't give a rat's as what
*you* think of anything, and particularly of KISASS.
Sure, it will have a sonic signature, as Pinkerton says. But it will be altogether
the wrong sonic signature. Like Pinkerton's mind it will be arid and confused.
Who could possibly want an amp with Pinkerton's manners?
Certtainly more than would want one with your deranged personality.
COMPONENT NUMBERS
As an aside, irrelevant in the present context because it will make no difference
to the outcome, but perhaps good to have on record, my KISS 300B will be presented
as a linestage integrated and therefore will use up to 20-25 components depending
on configuration and whether one assumes a custom power transformer or voltage
droppers for the filaments of a catalogued transformer. I would thus be inclined
to be generous about the number of components, say up to 28 including your
10 percent overage before a penalty is incurred.
Andre Jute
Special Plinkytron edition of KISSass amp rules:
Rule 1: Talent is required.
Rule 2: Andre already told you how to do it. Next time listen up.
Rule 3. Grab your ankles.
Andy baby, you have no idea how to do it, and you're certainly not the
real McCoy. Furthermore, until you provide some evidence of both its
existence and its circuitry, KISS is just another of your deranged
fantasies.
--
Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering
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