itsgriffo Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 I noticed a comment by Zaphod in another thread praising Nelson Pass as a good designer of amplifiers. Some others names appear pretty regularly in the mainstream press, Like Bob Carver, John Curl (Parasound), BEE (NAD), Bruce Candy (Halcro) etc etc. I was wondering who else was rated highly by the more electronically-literate out there and why? Best, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.decline Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 National Semiconductor :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 (edited) I noticed a comment by Zaphod in another thread praising Nelson Pass as a good designer of amplifiers. Some others names appear pretty regularly in the mainstream press, Like Bob Carver, John Curl (Parasound), BEE (NAD), Bruce Candy (Halcro) etc etc.I was wondering who else was rated highly by the more electronically-literate out there and why? Best, Peter Stein (of course). Here's why: Peter started his business back in 1976. Most of his ideas were crystallised and in production by 1977. They were revolutionary back in 1977 and still rare in 2009. They included: * Massive current capability (his first amp was capable of delivering 40 Amps - It was a 50 Watt/ch amp). * Over-sized power transformers. * The use of high speed, very low distortion output devices. * Zero Global Negative Feedback for power amps AND preamps, without sacrificing objective performance. * The use of carefully and critically matched components where required (transistors are/were matched to within 1% and certain resistors and caps to within 0.05%). * Minimal distance between filter caps and output stages. * The selection and use of low inductance capacitors (later, to be custom manufactured for him). * True dual mono operation. (Not stereo) * Soft Voltage limiting (clipping). * Soft current limiting. * High bias/high temperature operation. * Multiple capacitor, very low inductance capacitor banks. * Frequency/phase response matching for individual phono cartidges. * The facility to upgrade all products at a later date. * No fuses in the signal path. In fact, no fuses, save the mains and transformer thermal fuses. * No relay contacts, nor switch contacts in the signal path. * No inductors in the signal path - Output impedance is almost purely resistive from DC to 50kHz. Very few of the above features existed in transistor amplifiers back in 1977. Some did exist in valve amps, however. Peter merely duplicated some of the best features found in good quality valve amps and applied those features to transistor amps. Peter counts amongst his influences these people: * John Curl. * Ken Ishiwata. * Jim Bongiorno. * Matti Otala. * Saul Marantz. * Many other valve amplifier manufacturers from the 1960s and 1970s. Apologies if this sounds like an an advert. It is not meant as such. Peter Stein is a much under-rated designer of prodigious talent. Edited April 27, 2009 by Zaphod Beeblebrox Brain fart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Have Peter's designs been mimic-ed or copied? If so, which manufacturers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Have Peter's designs been mimic-ed or copied? If so, which manufacturers? I am unaware of any manufacturers who have directly copied Peter's designs, though that is certainly possible. I am aware of a few manufacturers who have employed some of Peter's innovations well after he released them. I am unaware of any manufacturer that employs ALL of Peter's innovative ideas in a single package (even today). Here's a couple of manufacturers who released ideas of Peter's long after 1977 (I am NOT suggesting that these manufacturers copied Peter's designs - just that they released their products long after Peter released his): * NAD - Soft Voltage limiting. * NAD - High current capacity. * Harman Kardon - High current capacity. * Classe' - Multiple capacitor banks for low inductance. * Krell - High current capacity. * Krell - Very large power supplies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gz76 Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Pete Millet Ti Kan Both well respected in the DIY field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 My number one choice would be Tim de Paravicini currently of EAR (Esoteric Audio Research) / EAR Yoshino. Fantastic innovative Valve and Solid State Amps. He was also previously chief designer at Lux Corporation, Michealson and Austin, and design advisor to many current companies. In 1976 he released amps with valve power of 100 W/PC with bandwidth of 9Hz to 85KHz (-3db). He even designed his own valves for some of his designs. Second for me would be Nelson Pass. Also worthy of high praise would be; Arthur Radford - early valve designs; Peter Walker of QUAD; Julian Vereker of Naim Audio; William Z Johnson of Audio Research; Hiroyasu Kondo; Ralph Karsten Atma-sphere; David Hafler. Also the previously mentioned; John Curl; Matti Otala; Ken Ishiwata; It would be interesting to know how many of the "great designers" were team leaders, and, the actual designers were never heard of. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herbyj Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 What about Trevor Lees? He was the first Australian designer to have any overseas sucess with his pre amps and moving coil pre pres back in the late 70s. Herby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guru Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 what about peter qvortrup and andy grove,a new power amp [P 4 Balanced] with these in the signal path,3 transformers,2 superlinear direct-heated triode gain stages,2 tantalum resistors and no capacitors.minimalism at its best.i'll let you know how they sound in about 4 months time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsgriffo Posted April 28, 2009 Author Share Posted April 28, 2009 Didn't sound like an ad at all Zaphod and I appreciate your and others interesting insights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockandorRoll Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 i personally love the look of the NAD stuff but what about the Moon products, sorry if the designer has already been mentioned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozcal Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Henry Azima , designer of the CYRUS amps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A9X Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Nelson Pass is the best for several reasons. Creative, imaginative designer who shares almost all of his IP and knowledge with the DIY community and doesn't go in for a lot of BS. Tom Danley would be his equivalent in the speaker field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest porker928 Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 New hear. Always been a fan of John Iverson of electro reasearch and electron kinetics amps. Used large power supplys with massive currant capabilitys, bass power and control unmatched in there day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 nice write-up ZB - the things you listed are things that I have come to benefit from in my current setup, be-it a valve one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antripodean Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 If we are including tube gear, I would suggest the Vacuum State guys. Allen Wright and Joe Rasmussen have done good things with phono, pre and SE power amps. Also some early work on the gainclones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick35 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 What about Patrick Turner? Another Aussie that should get a 'PLUG' on SNA surely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steever Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 How about Ian at Redgum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gainphile Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 +1 National Semiconductor. Who else can deliver the goods at $15? Hugh Dean And that Brazilian guy at diyaudio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramered Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Elson Silva from Cymer Audio here in Sydney makes superb valve amplifiers. They're dead quiet, ultra reliable, well-engineered, look the part and sound very, very good. Cheers, EK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nude Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Dennis Had at CARY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metal beat Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Bill Conrad & Lew Johnson - of conrad johnson Sidney Corderman of McIntosh David Manley of VTL and Manley Vladimir Lamm of Lamm amps Flemming E. Rasmussen of Gryphon amps The guys at B & O behind ICE amplification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just2ch Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 What about Bill Crampton at Merlin Audio Design? Listened to his amps before and was very impressed, albeit they are a bit ugly looking and not cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeyboi Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 What about Patrick Turner? Another Aussie that should get a 'PLUG' on SNA surely. Yes certainly considering his self taught history in electronics he makes some serious valve amps apparently. He freely shares his designs which you can see on his website. Cheers, Alan R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramered Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 +1 Patrick Turner Have John McCormack, John Curl and Dan D'Agostino been mentioned? EK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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