[ctviggen]

I just received a Cayin Audio 860:

http://show.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/shm_store.pl?ampstube&1132090958&item&Hwdsound&show&

This is a monoblock amplifier that is going to be used to power my center channel (a VMPS RM30C).  I have the following questions, though.

There are two pair of inputs.  Why?
What's the difference between triode mode and ultralinear mode?  Which one do you think would be better for a relatively large speaker like the RM30C?  (I would think ultralinear, solely because of the increased power output, but I don't know.)

Thanks!

[tdangelo]

There are two pair of inputs.  Why?

What's the difference between triode mode and ultralinear mode?  Which one do you think would be better for a relatively large speaker like the RM30C?  (I would think ultralinear, solely because of the increased power output, but I don't know.)

Thanks!

use input 1 from your pre - input 2 is used to daisy chain another amp.  I had the 860's for a few days and prefered the ultralinear mode with my speakers.  The triode mode was a little to syrupy for me

Tony

[ctviggen]

Thank you both for the info.  Oh, I see, you could vertically biamp using the second input.  That's sweet!  I will try both, though I'll have to recalibrate everything after the switch.  I'm also insterested in the technical differences between the two modes, but a google search turns up tons of hits about the amps, but nothing that I can find about what these terms mean. 

[Steve]

Hi Bob,

     Technically, generally speaking, the triode mode has a higher damping factor because the screen of the tube is connected to the plate. Ultralinear mode has the screen connected to a tap on the transformer primary winding. Generally, this tap is around 40%, depending on the manufacturer.

I should add that connected UL, the output power is substantially higher; generally around 2 times higher than triode mode.

Happy New Year.

[jt1stcav]

I'm curious as to how you'll think it will sound once it's up and running with the rest of your system...

[ctviggen]

Thanks for the info, Steve.  I am also curious as to how it will sound with the rest of the system.  I'm using it only to amplify a center channel, which I know is probably a "waste" of good tubes!  However, I wanted to try tubes to see what the "deal" is with them, and Shane (home theater doctor) happened to have a single tube amp.  I was in need of an amp to drive the center channel, as my Nuforce Ref. 9 ceased working. 

I've biamped this particular center channel with two channels of a Bryston 9B (5 channel) amp, but I needed an extra channel of the Bryston to run some outside speakers.  I tried using a single channel of the Bryston to drive the center channel, but it would not drive the center channel so that I could use Avia to set the level to 85dB to match the rest of my speakers.  The Nuforce Ref. 9 drove the center channel just fine, except that I liked the sound better from the Bryston when I biamped the center.  I think this is because the Nuforce is a very revealing amp, which means that every pop (such as a microphone scraping a shirt) and other nuances could be heard.  I think the Nuforce would be great for right and left speakers, when you want to hear everything, but I don't think it's a good match for the center. (I should note that I changed both interconnects and speaker cable, so this may also have affected the sound.)

So, I wanted something that could drive my center channel, yet add some warmth to the sound and potentially be a little less revealing.  I'm hoping the tube amp will provide this.  I went to put the tube amp in the system last night, but I have to pilfer some unbalanced interconnects from somewhere (I have tons of balanced ICs, but very few unbalanced ICs).  Anyway, I'll report back once this is installed.