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Class A EL34 valve
£600 and upwards |
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Class A EL34 valve
£600 and upwards |
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Extra £40 for a moving coil (MC) preamplifier for record players. |
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( Refundable deposit required ) |
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Valve amplifiers sound different to transistor amplifiers. |
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| You could pick up almost any hi-fi magazine and you will read about
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i) transistor amplifiers that claim to sound like valve amplifiers ii) transistor amplifiers that sound sweet, almost like valve amplifiers iii) sweet treble, almost like a valve amplifier |
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| Valve amplifiers will reduce the harsh sound in most hi-fi systems,
without losing the treble and musical details. Many transistor amplifiers sound harsh and emphasise the harsh sound of CD players. Many transistor amplifiers tend to over-emphasise the sibilance of female singers ( where words like "his" will sound like "hissssttt"). |
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| Class A valve amplifiers do NOT have crossover distortion
at low levels.
Class A valve amplifiers allow you to hear the "silence" between the notes. Class A valve amplifiers allow you to hear a note , followed by silence (or the dying echo of the note in the concert hall), followed by another note , followed by silence (or the dying echo of the note in the concert hall). |
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| Class A valve amplifiers have an amazing "silence" between the notes
and instruments,
which creates an amazing stereo image on good loudspeakers. If you adjust the volume control, so that the vocals are as loud as an actual singer (no louder nor softer), and close your eyes , your ears could be tricked into believing that someone else is in the room ! It is an eerie sensation ! |
| 99% of transistor amplifiers have a lot of "crossover" distortion at
low levels.
The transistorised "crossover" distortion drowns out the ambience/reverberations/echoes of a recording. |
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| You will hear a note, followed by a faint noise (i.e. crossover distortion)
followed by another note, followed by a faint noise (i.e. crossover distortion) |
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| You will never hear the "silence" between the notes on 99% of transistor amplifiers. | |
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transistorised amplifiers and loudspeakers |
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| Have you ever wondered why manufacturers never
quote distortion figures of transistor amplifiers at
low levels ?
It is because the distortion levels of transistor amplifiers at low levels are a disgrace ! ( Low levels mean the dying echo of a musical note in a concert hall.) |
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| It is pointless to claim that the amplifier has 0.1% distortion
at 30 watts,
because most loudspeakers will have about 5% to 20% of distortion for 30 watts of a bass note ! |
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| The distortion of loudspeakers is so bad that
most manufacturers do not quote distortion figures for loudspeakers ! |
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| Even big and expensive speakers like the £6,000 B&W Nautilus
802
have 1% distortion for 1 watt bass note ! This is a very good result. Most other speakers have much higher distortion ! |
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| How much distortion do you think that your smaller and cheaper
speakers have ?
Why don't you ask your speaker manufacturer why they do not publish distortion figures ? |
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why aren't valve amplifiers more popular ? |
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| For example, an established and well respected company produces
a beautifully made
and good sounding £2,500 amplifier , which uses EL34 valves to produce 45 Watts. Our £600 amplifier also uses EL34 valves to produce 40 Watts. |
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| For example, another established and well respected company produces
a nice looking
£850 preamplifier and matching power amplifier which produces 8 Watts. Our £600 amplifier uses big expensive EL34 valves to produce 40 Watts. |
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| 18 watts to 30 watts will be sufficient for 99% of people and their neighbours ! | |
| Large efficient loudspeakers do not need a lot of power. | |
| Small inefficient loudspeakers cannot cope with 18 Watts
(regardless of the absurd nonsensical claims made by the marketing department of loudspeaker companies.) |
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| If you investigate the claims of companies that claim to sell cheaper
"valve" amplifiers, you will find that
their "valve" amplifiers use a lot of transistors and integrated circuits with 1 or 2 valves ! |
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| Our valve amplifiers are "proper" valve amplifiers ! | |
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| We are concerned about inexperienced audio enthusiasts building valve amplifiers that use 500 volts. | |
| What happens when you pay hundreds of pounds for a kit,
and you spend weeks building the kit, and finally, you switch it on and :- |
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| 1. It does not work, because you made a mistake. | |
| There are about 100 parts in a kit, so it is very easy to make a mistake ! | |
| You telephone the "help line",
but you cannot explain why it does not work, because you do not know which 1 out of the 100 parts is causing the problem ! |
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| One customer bought our valve
amplifier,
because he could not get his kit amplifier to work. I could not print his graphic description of the "help" line ! |
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| 2. The kit amplifier hums.
One customer bought our amplifier, because his kit amplifier hums ! |
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| 3. You do not like the sound of the kit amplifier,
and the seller refuses to refund your money. Why would you believe a Hi Fi reviewer, who is closely linked to the kit amplifier ? If the kit is so good, why isn't the kit reviewed in an independent non-biased Hi Fi magazine ? |
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| You do not get any guarantees with kit amplifiers.
Our amplifiers have proven to be so reliable that we have increased our guarantee period from 1 year to 2 years. |
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| Most kits do not have a CE safety cage to cover the hot valves,
and are a safety hazard to young children or anybody who slips and falls near the amplifier. |
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| These DIY kits uses hundreds of volts,
but do not have proper English / European CE safety markings. |
Affordable Valve Company
11 Magdalen Close ,
FREEPOST SEA0359 , Hempstead , Kent ME7 3BR
Telephone 01634 373410 anytime