Restoring sonic control
    All of the circuits described in this article grant the listener the chance to regain some control over the sound from the amplifiers. Varying the current ratio between output tube pairings allows varying the sonic signature of the amplifier, as triodes, pentodes, ultra-linearly arranged pentodes, single-ended output stages, and push-pull output stage all sound different. In the extreme case, one set of tubes could be entirely turned off completely by disconnecting them from the circuit or by disconnecting their heaters from the power supply. Thus, we could choose between only one type of amplifier style or mode at a time, say single-ended triode for string quartets and push-pull pentode for heavy metal. This option might be seen as the choice between expensive high quality tubes (300Bs or 845s) when listening seriously and cheap powerful tubes when background music is needed. Still, having a variable control in the form of a potentiometer would allow the most adjustment; musicians would be in heaven. 

                                 //JRB

  The first
  Tube CAD Journal
  companion
  software program

TCJ Filter Designer lets you design a filter or crossover (passive, solid-state or tube) without having to check out thick textbooks from the library and without having to breakout the scientific calculator. This program's goal is to provide a quick and easy display not only of the frequency response, but also of the resistor and capacitor values for a passive and active filters and crossovers. Tube crossovers are a major part of this program; both buffered and unbuffered tube based filters along with mono-polar and bipolar power supply topologies are covered.   

For more information, read the article "Tube-Based Crossovers" in the Tube CAD Journal.
To buy now, visit GlassWare's new Yahoo! Store.

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