|
|
|
There are pros' and con's about using solid state power supplies in vacuum tube equipment. Here are a few thoughts on the subject. A vacuum tube rectifier has a warm-up time that pretty much matches the other tubes in an amplifier. This means the high voltage applied to the tubes slowly comes up as the tubes warm up. A solid state power supply provides voltage as soon as power is applied to the amplifier. Having the high voltage applied to a tube before the tube has warmed up can be a problem because the tube does not draw any current until it has warmed up. With no current drawn on an unregulated power supply, the voltage will be quite a bit higher until the tube starts drawing current. Most amplifiers use unregulated power supplies so this is a factor to consider. If the amplifier is designed to work close to the maximum voltage rating of a tube, having the voltage applied before the tube has warmed up will cause the tube to be over-voltage, arcing and tube damage is possible. This is a real concern in power amplifiers where the output tubes draw a lot of current and the high voltage will be substantially higher if the tubes are not drawing current. In pre-amplifiers where the tubes draw little current, this is not such a problem because the high voltage will not rise much if the tubes are not drawing current. Using a solid state power supply in a pre-amplifier is a good option. |
SOLID STATE POWER SUPPLY - VACUUM TUBE - SOLID STATE POWER SUPPLY - VACUUM TUBE - SOLID STATE POWER SUPPLY
SOLID STATE POWER SUPPLY - VACUUM TUBE - SOLID STATE POWER SUPPLY - VACUUM TUBE - SOLID STATE POWER SUPPLY
SOLID STATE POWER SUPPLY - VACUUM TUBE - SOLID STATE POWER SUPPLY - VACUUM TUBE - SOLID STATE POWER SUPPLY