Page 105 - Hi-Fi_News_-_December_2020 video

OPINION

Barry Willis
Paul Miller
Journalist for top American audio-video publications
Editor
While his main interest is high-end audio, Barry Willis also writes about the culinary
Technician and writer on all things audio for some 30 years, Paul Miller took over
the editor’s chair in 2006. He invented the QC Suite, used across the audio industry
industry, visual art and theatre for a huge variety of US newspapers and magazines
Cult status debunked

Barry Willis struggles to mend a friend’s classic valve amplifier, but after everything he tries leads
to a dead end he can only conclude that its poor design is an insult to the trusting audiophile

ometimes I just can’t say no, RIGHT: Why do
especially to an industry friend. we persevere
A glaring grammatical error on with outdated
Sthe 20-year-old amp’s engraved technologies such as
nameplate should have been suffi cient valve amplifi cation
warning, but instead of politely declining, when it reached
I took the bait, and a few days later the maturity decades
amplifier went on my work bench. ago and has since

The problem? Its 2A mains fuse blew been eclipsed by
instantly when the power switch was other, more effi cient
engaged. On the bench, the amp drew solutions?
a full 2A from my Variac at less than
5VAC, indicative of a dead short. The
likely culprits: shorted rectifi er or fi lter SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/RTBILDER
capacitor in the power supply, a shorted
output device, a bad driver, or a shorted
mains transformer – this last possibility so
remote that in four decades of technical as if the designer was totally obsessed statistically insignificant population of

work I’ve seen only two or three such. that someone, somewhere, might try skilled analogue audio technicians has
to experiment with output valves of a shrunk to near extinction.

INTERNAL TANGLE different variety – an experiment popular The amplifier in question is the
The logical first-step approach was to among some audiophiles. Or he thought brainchild of a designer well known for

remove the output valves one at a time, that there was something so special both his expertise and his eccentricity.
to find a bad one or to eliminate that as about the installed devices that he didn’t It’s a really pretty piece that was never

a cause. The fun began when I tugged want anyone to know what they were, produced or distributed in large numbers
on the tube cages and discovered that although it’s not as if such knowledge – its relative rarity a likely factor in the
they weren’t removable. Popping off were a matter of national security. cult status it enjoys – but so far as I could
the bottom plate – no problem with There was also a mystery about determine it’s just another high-priced
that – revealed a combination of modern the way the power transformer was mid-power valve amplifi er.
circuit board design and wired. The primary
old-fashioned point-to-point winding appeared to TIMED OUT
wiring, done with wires ‘That will most be intentionally cross- Most baffling about this particular item

which were so short there wired to the secondary and others like it is why designers and
was no way to separate the likely be a windings, a confi guration audiophiles alike are so enamoured with
amp’s various functional frozen-solid that made no sense. antique technology. Valve amplifi cation
elements from each Without a roadmap, reached maturity many decades ago.
other while keeping them day in hell’ and cautious about All practical knowledge about it has
electrically connected. causing further damage, already been discovered and exploited.
This is the kind of stuff I was reluctant to start So why pretend that your iteration
that makes me want to strangle both the snipping wires. And so after a couple is anything special, or that you’ve
designer and the production manager! of very frustrating hours, I gave up, uncovered some previously hidden
Then I found that the tube cages were reattached the bottom cover, and called capabilities? More important is a universal
held fast from inside with non-removable my friend with the bad news that he principle: devices fail. It’s simply a matter
theft-prevention screws, requiring would have to talk to the manufacturer of time. Why build products that don’t
a special tool. With a few mumbled about getting his amp repaired. take this into account?
curses I was able to force them out with That will most likely be a frozen-solid The short-sighted manufacturers
pliers, only to discover that there was day in hell, as there is only one person who do so not only besmirch their own
another secret to removing the cages: in the United States who still deals with reputations, they insult those gullible
one that I could not comprehend. It was this particular brand. Plus, the always enough to buy their products.

DECEMBER 2020 | www.hifi news.co.uk | 105