What if we track the speaker impedance?
How's the IMPEDANCE CURVE pattern of a LOUDSPEAKER UNIT?
The speaker impedance will never be flat from 20Hz to 20kHz. Hence, the power delivered into your speaker drivers will also never be flat. For example, with the same amplitude, it might deliver 5 watts at 35Hz, but 30 watts at 1kHz.
HOW's the POWER PATTERN delivered into the Speaker?
Given the formular P = V² / Z , and the red curve plotted is the power delivered by the Solid State & Class D amplifiers in the market today.
E.g. if we are delivering 10V into the speaker driver,
At impedance = 30ohm @ 35 Hz, P=3.3Watt
At impedance = 4ohm @ 1 kHz, P=25Watt
The higher the speaker impedance, the lower the power delivered, and vice versa. We can conclude that the power curve mirrors the impedance curve.
P=Power, V=Voltage, Z=Impedance
Is VALVE AMPLIFIERS deliver the SAME power pattern as SOLID-STATE?
No, they are not. Valve amplifiers are transformer-coupled, and the power delivered actually enters a transimpedance state. The power delivered into the primary winding should be similar to that of the secondary winding, regardless of how the speaker impedance varies, disregarding transformer losses. So we will be expecting the power curve is very much similar to the patent of impedance curve.
not rocket science but many have just overlook...
The simplified diagram shows how solid-state amplifiers are built today.
The negative input node senses the feedback of gain ratio:
Rfb1 / Rfb2
The gain ratio remain the same all the time and the output voltage delivered to the load remains unchanged, regardless of how the impedance changes across the frequency band.
The SS300B DESIGN GOAL (BOTTOM)
Given that we know the negative input node senses the feedback for gain ratio.
Replace the Rfb1 with Zload, and now the gain ratio become:
Zload / Rfb2
Now, the gain ratio will vary over time as the speaker impedance changes, which is what we track in the SS300B. This is also known as a form of current feedback.
**Zload = your speaker
What so special about Tracking the Speaker Impedance?
When the SS300B begins tracking the speaker impedance changes across the band, we observe power delivery characteristics that are distinctly different from solid-state amplifiers and closely resemble those of tube amplifiers with transformer coupling. While, the SS300B offers direct power delivery with minimal losses compared to transformer-coupled tubes.
Why are people so obsessed with the sounds of TUBE Amplifier?
Disclaimer: Measurements are very important during developing a products, however, sounds is very subjective to individual.
Have you ever heard people say that, at similar volume level, tube amplifiers always sound louder than solid-state ones? Now, let's take a look at the power delivery curve again: the bass and highs are more pronounced due to impedance peaking.
However, it's important to note that every speaker has its own unique pattern of impedance curves.
IT SOUNDS PERFECT, BUT WHY aren't OTHERS BUILDING IT?
When we begin tracking the speaker impedance, the output impedance of an amplifier technically equals the load impedance, resulting in a damping factor close to 1, which is very low. Consequently, the speaker drivers don't receive a firm grip from the amplifier anymore.
However, have you ever wondered about the damping factor of tube amplifiers? They are equally low, yet we believe this characteristic contributes to immersing you in the music delivered by the SS300B.
A high damping factor typically provides a good grip to speaker drivers. However, you might not even able to notice it when these amplifiers drive sub-bass with high transients into small speaker drivers.
Most others are built solely with engineering parameters, whereas we build with both engineering parameters and emotion.
THE CULT & WhAT WE BELIEVE IN
Driving with high damping factor amplifiers and having too much grip on speaker drivers removes the soul of your loudspeakers. Each combination of speaker drivers, crossover, and cabinets built comes with a patent of their own Qts and impedance curve, and that's what we call an identity. If the amplifier is gripping the drivers and moving exactly what is intended by the signal feed, we really think this is a very terrible idea as it kills the loudspeaker's very own identity. We want the loudspeaker to breath out of its own soul, its own resonances, its own character, but not to be forced by the amplifier to do what the amplifier thinks should be done.
Try to imagine why some of the very expensive amplifiers try so hard to remove the Negative Feedback from the output completely. I think now you may have some idea about why they are doing this.
Applying massive NFB and attaining a THD+N of 0.000001% is never our sole objective since beginning. We are delving into the 'why' behind this pursuit and endeavoring to craft the 'how.' Our loaded current feedback(LCFB) epitomizes our approach in designing power amplifiers, while the next frontier lies in the bottled microphonics pickup from the environment in the SS300B-Pre, to create a large, holographic listening experience...
Sound excitement doesn't come with measurable parameters.
"...ENOUGH Of the ENGINEERING talk, what's your design goal of the 'sound CHARACTER' ?"
We don't like the sound emanating directly from the loudspeaker drivers itself; it sounds fatiguing and constrained. What we desire is a sound that fills the room, offering a broad soundstage and a 3D holographic listening experience. For us, the moment we start hearing a playback that doesn't seem to originate from a speaker box positioned right in front of you, we consider it a perfect setup.