Author Topic: Mike Soldano and the rumours (Read 7403 times)

hunter · « **on:** June 19, 2006, 08:27:42 AM »

Hmm, interesting read what he says:
http://www.soldano.com/mharticle.htm

" there is absolutely no sonic difference between point to point and printed circuit board wiring."

"In my opinion, all amps should have solid state rectifiers. "

" I believe Class A/B is the way to design any amp"

Hmmm, strong statements, and if he wouldn't know what he's talking about .... ?

JamesHealey · « **Reply #1 on:** June 19, 2006, 12:47:23 PM »

handwiring makes no difference it's just easier to make adjustments in the prototype stage, the hand wiring can make it easier to seperate components from eachother that cause phase and noise problems but a well designed PCB can do the same.

Class A/B is deffinatly the way forward very few amp manufactures will argue with that, maybe VOX..

Solidstate rectifiers have a great punch to them and add lots of definition and most amps use them, apart from vintage stuff and Mesa's and a few others.

He does know what he's talking about but im sure others would disagree, but he's surely entitled to his opinion and I agree with most of his statements whole heartedly.

hunter · « **Reply #2 on:** June 19, 2006, 02:21:21 PM »

Hmyeah, but then many manufacturers make a big fuzz out of handwired, Cornford, Matamp, even Marshall.

Interesting that some bouteek manufactuers (Soldano, THD) prefer boards... probably it depends on the kind of board you use that more rugged ones do have electrical resistance and sound which are identical to HW ones ...?

TwilightOdyssey · « **Reply #3 on:** June 19, 2006, 02:24:55 PM »

I've seen this argument many times before, and I've particpated in some.

I've owned great PCB amps (Rivera) and great PTP (Matchless).

There is a kind of visual beauty to a really well done PTP amp, that a circuit board can never replace. However, since you can't see the guts of an amp under normal conditions ...

I think that wires used in critical places, as well as avoiding attaching certain components to the board, in case the unit falls or has a cable jerked out of it, is a practical compromise between the two.

Basically, either an amp has got the goods or not. I don't care about how it was built after that point, though I prefer to know that whatever method was used, that the best parts possible were put into it.

deg0ey · « **Reply #4 on:** June 19, 2006, 02:27:21 PM »

I think the companies that big up the handwiring do so because it means that people who think there is a huge difference will pay more money for them (a lot of people), and therefore the company can charge a premium price (i'm looking at marshall especially here - anything to jack up prices). Whereas the boutique manufacturers are in the business because they wanna make the best gear around...If they can still do this by using PCB's then they will do, as it enables them to cut costs and therefore (if they choose to) lower prices

Wow, I DID learn something in AS Business :P

hunter · « **Reply #5 on:** June 19, 2006, 03:26:38 PM »

Yeah, Business, that's where passion (which started the business initially) tends to get lost.

Keeping fingers crossed this will never ever happen to BKPs !!! (maybe I should quickly buy a few pickup sets just as a precaution ;)

jt · « **Reply #6 on:** June 19, 2006, 04:48:42 PM »

:D OK try this one out it`s a piece by Mark Sheldon of Sheldon amps

http://www.sheldonamps.com/classD.htm

:D 8)

hunter · « **Reply #7 on:** June 19, 2006, 06:05:51 PM »

Haha, maybe someone should start advertising amps with Class AAAA technology :D

Pierre · « **Reply #8 on:** June 19, 2006, 09:34:46 PM »

Most amps today advertised as class A are A/B...
Furthermore as soon as you overdrive a class A amp, it's out of its designated field.

That's a little like saying 'airliners are better than fighters because they handle better on the ground!'

Davey · « **Reply #9 on:** June 19, 2006, 09:54:43 PM »

well..

PCB's are cheap to make and can be made faster, etc etc

they came to be associated with bad tone cos of cheap amps.

a connection is a connection. be it wire or a copper strip on a piece of plastic (i know its not plastic, dont get yer panties in a bunch)

any thing that matters is the QUALITY of the build. apart of that, it doesnt matter much.

HTH AMPS · « **Reply #10 on:** June 19, 2006, 09:56:30 PM »

Quote

" there is absolutely no sonic difference between point to point and printed circuit board wiring."

That statement should have ended with "if it's done correctly". poorly designed PCBs are just the pits in terms of reliability & cost-cutting is always at the heart of it. lesser-quality resistors and resistors that are on the edge of running within spec :(

My biggest thing with PCB amps is when the pots are mounted to the PCB - if you want to repair anything on the board then it's a right pain in the arse to do. A PTP wired amp would allow repair of a single part within a couple of minutes.

PCB-mounted valve bases are a big no-no in my book too as you get burnt traces around the output valves when the valves short. I've seen this in a Mesa Single Rectifier & an Lee Jackson head recently. With a PTP wired amp, you generally get the screen resistor burnt out & need to replace it rather than replacing an entire PCB that the output valve sockets are wired to with the PCB method.

Quote

"In my opinion, all amps should have solid state rectifiers. "

all depends on the tone you want to achieve - I couldn't imagine those tweed Fenders without those saggy old rectifier valves, it's just part of the sound.

Quote

" I believe Class A/B is the way to design any amp"

again, it all depends on the tonal goal - a Fender Champ is a really cool little amp which is class A by virtue of the fact its a single ended amp. would you have that amp any other way? (I wouldn't). for a tonal reference point, tweed Champs were used by Clapton & Allman on the Layla album.

:twisted:

Underground_Player · « **Reply #11 on:** June 20, 2006, 11:31:56 AM »

Just to add my 2p -

Re. PTP verses PCB, I also don't think there's any difference in sound that can be directly attributed to the construction method.
I'm pretty sure Matamp make their amps PTP 'cos it;s easy to service, and tweal when you buy one. And also 'cos it's traditional I think.

On the Class A verses AB thing, with my admittedly limited knowledge I'm not sure anyone could say one is 'better' than the other. When at the Matamp factory I asked a certain amp tester

if the Chino was Class A, just out of interest, and he replied that he actually doesn't know, that Dave doesn't design the amps around Class A or A/B.....and that there's a lot of b.sht around regarding Class A being somehow 'better' than AB.
Personally it drives me nuts whenever I see a Class A amp reviewed in a mag and the so-called professional raves on about it's 'fantastic, pure, Class A sound' etc. GRRRR!!
Or when they make a big thing out of how a single ended amp has somehow been designed so you can use any power valve.....GO BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!
Right I'm just ranting now, I'll stop right here!

deg0ey · « **Reply #12 on:** June 20, 2006, 04:38:57 PM »

For my uses, class A is all but useless - and i'm sure many would agree with me on that...Class A is great at what it does, but it has a very specialised use

fps_dean · « **Reply #13 on:** June 20, 2006, 05:46:19 PM »

Quote from: JamesHealey

handwiring makes no difference it's just easier to make adjustments in the prototype stage, the hand wiring can make it easier to seperate components from eachother that cause phase and noise problems but a well designed PCB can do the same.

Class A/B is deffinatly the way forward very few amp manufactures will argue with that, maybe VOX..

Solidstate rectifiers have a great punch to them and add lots of definition and most amps use them, apart from vintage stuff and Mesa's and a few others.

He does know what he's talking about but im sure others would disagree, but he's surely entitled to his opinion and I agree with most of his statements whole heartedly.

I agree to some extent about the point to point vs handwired thing. The only way there really could be any difference would be if the internal wires uses are so poor that the resistance of the wire is less than the signal going across it. With some of Marshalls new PTP boards, this very well may be happening...

Solidstate rectifiers have a much better turnout. SS or tube, it doesn't directly effect the tone either way (but in the end it will). It's not like replacing your preamp tubes with transistors.

And right now, I am not sure if Vox would argue the Class A thing.. they seem to be arguing the digital thing more. But Class A is horribly inefficient. I have an AC30 rated at 33 watts, but I'll be damned if it puts out 15. My 15 watt 1x12 combo is louder with the MV on 4.

Class A does always have its tone to it. Listen to any tube Vox, or Bad Cat. Great for cleans at least.

headtheball · « **Reply #14 on:** June 20, 2006, 05:51:13 PM »

Didn't Randall Smith once give this spake about PTP wiring...

"We tried it, and it's just a load of....Let me put it this way: would you trust a hardwired computer?"

I'm trying to remember the name of the Amp Eggle where going to release with Class C circuitry.

Author Topic: Mike Soldano and the rumours (Read 7403 times)

TwilightOdyssey