Ancient Mariner Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 [quote name='umph' post='972608' date='Sep 30 2010, 12:52 PM']83's really aren't the ideal valve for the drive section in any amp, 81's do a much better job, 82's an even better one and 12bh7s / ecc99's even better than that![/quote] 83s are fine if the maker designs the amp correctly. It's not necessary (or even desirable) to make a valve produce all of its gain, and it can still be attenuated afterward to prevent distortion in the next stage. And multiple non-distorting stages can add a very pleasant compression. Having said that, I like the tone of 12AU7s in some (guitar) amps, and the reduced overdrive doesn't do any harm at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 [quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='989161' date='Oct 15 2010, 01:29 PM']83s are fine if the maker designs the amp correctly. It's not necessary (or even desirable) to make a valve produce all of its gain, and it can still be attenuated afterward to prevent distortion in the next stage. And multiple non-distorting stages can add a very pleasant compression. Having said that, I like the tone of 12AU7s in some (guitar) amps, and the reduced overdrive doesn't do any harm at all.[/quote] 83's do work but they're high gain rather than high current like the 82 which isn't ideal for driving valves cleanly up to their full power, saying that though 84's don't need a huge amount of grid current to get up to full voltage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 [quote name='umph' post='989191' date='Oct 15 2010, 01:54 PM']83's do work but they're high gain rather than high current like the 82 which isn't ideal for driving valves cleanly up to their full power, saying that though 84's don't need a huge amount of grid current to get up to full voltage.[/quote] Sure, if high current is what you need for your design, and as you say '84s need less to push them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bozzbass Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 Do those of you cutting down the amount of overdrive by putting in lower gain preamp tubes notice any loss in volume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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