Misho’s point of view about triodes and…

 

Why I do prefer triodes made out of pentodes over natural triodes?

It’s very simple. Pentode is a triode with canceled NATURAL internal feedbacks (simplified explanation but very true).

So, by canceling the internal feedbacks we are getting much more efficient tube, and any imperfection of the design will be amplified as well. 

To make best linear pentode one must create an ideal construction of the tube first. 

So any imperfection will be minimised at the very beginning.

Do you get my point?

Not because “we have plenty of pentodes” or “tv pentodes are cheap” or any other explanation. No. (Of course there are some sleepers tubes, not famous because every one was talking about it, but really good pentodes like c3m become less and less available, and it’s equivalent with 6,3V filament c3o is absolutely rare tube). 

Here we come to the point why I do not really like DHT (blasphemy? I have my strong point for it ;))

First. It’s mostly very raw made tubes. Early tubes. That of course, of course, making DHT sounding “magical” for very limited number of the genres of Music, and gives every tube it’s “unique character” - since every type and every make has unique set of imperfection - namely harmonics tales shape.

So tube rolling became a game one can spend years - of course having a lot of fun… or frustrations. People having sets of different tubes good for the different records… well, I do consider my life to be way too short to waste it’s time on such a games 🙂

Second - I do find the DHT to be more anemic and slow than to be energetic and fast. Due to the natural limitation of the constructive design of the DHT. Cathode is a filament wire, coated. The surface is limited. The ability to supply excessive amount of the electrons in surge/pulse is very limited.

Good and relaxing for some genres and records? Sure!

My musical taste (if we can call it this way, we also can say I have no taste at all or I have way to many tastes 🙂 demands that my amps should be able to reproduce ANY type of music equally well. 

And reverberation. See the point above - cathode is the filament. Thin wire slightly stretched in space with the springs. Same as a rever tank in a guitar amp. Easily excited by the every vibration around. And sometime pleasant. Some time. 

So, back to the pentodes operating in triode mode.

My point is - the best triode we can get only from the best pentode. 

This is my way.

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Thanks to Misho Myronov 🙏 as I fully subscribe the above: my personal experience with my old Marantz 8B power amp in pseudo-triode mode (something also suggested by user’s manual) was outperforming on many sonic parameters most of 300B amps around… an indelible memory, but also my actual Gotorama 2.0 sounds amazing with venerable, stock Quad II and GEC KT66 push-pull, for example… the 300B Partridge mono blocks also if very pleasant and romantic but aren’t able to compete in terms of natural slam and dynamics with the Peter Walker’s masterpieces… also if not wired as pseudo-triodes!

Just saying…

The king is naked… hooray for the king… AKA the 300B triode.

💫