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In the Forum: Melquiades Amplifier
In the Thread: Single-stage Melquiades vs. DHT amps

Post Subject: Favorite Flavor?Posted by Paul S on: 6/16/2009

The only problems I've discovered with the old RCA blackplate 45s are limited frequency range and power, and lots of used tubes sold as NOS. In fact, to be fair, I would have to narrow known problems down to power alone, since I can only guess what they'd do with respect to frequency range if optimised and adequate to their task. As far as I am concerned, if you can get around the power issue, why keep looking? I mean, you're "there", right? Maybe shorten the plate/grid run by moving the driver, or maybe the driver wants replacing for some reason?

FWIW, (and I have not compared them), the RCA/Cunninghams are generally considered to be the Western Electric of 45s. Gollum has some...

I know zip about using the 50, except it is another very "clear" tube that seems to have more "qualities" than the 45, and some folks attach +/- value to those qualities. But that's heresay, because people who actually use the 50 generally refuse to talk about it, since supplies are VERY limited. And in cases like this, I am quick to suspect a cult, anyway.

Once you get to the truly flavorless, totally "flat", "dead" output tube/transformer performance, how do you get any "better" than that? Change tubes and you will have to change or at least re-set your OPT, no doubt, to get back to where you are now. The tube ain't shit without that dead-matched OPT.

What I like best about the 45 is that it is not even "liquid", but just, pretty much, "nothing".

With the 45, when nothing happens, nothing happens.

By "exciting", do you mean, "immediate"? A 45 provides the largest-known-to-me number of "truly real" sounds, so one is constantly "confused" about this, like "real sounds" are nearby (or wherever) during playback.

And then, there's the hummm...

Best regards,
Paul S

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