SET amp power consumption

SSM

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Is someone being a tight arse here......my 40w pp uses 450w, used for eight hours that's 72 pence and it warms the room a treat. Not that I listen for 8 hours ever.
:dunno:

I'm a math dunce where non-profit numbers are concerned. Ok, I estimate I use the main rig and bedroom rigs for 144hrs and 120hrs per month. A pair of SET monos would take 530w, would that be 76.32kwH if in the main rig. With leccy at 25c/kwh, that would be $19.08 yes? The other system could be around $15, not including telly hours with the PS3.

And where I live I need to use the aircon whenever I power up the toobs, or else I would melt. :nerves: (i need to move to Iceland sigh) It's always on whenever I am home. That's more leccy usage there. Then there is my dependency on my Nespresso and manual espresso machines. :( And my massage chair. :(

Maybe I should consider Class D. :? Primare I32, anyone... :sick:

SS

 

SSM

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No - pull the mains cable out of the wall. Of course, the question is how do you know whether the case has become live? Answer: you don't, until it's too late...
Isn't there a screwdriver thingie that has a light bulb in its plastic handle. If you touch the blade tip to a potentially live surface, the light bulb would light up? I could use one to tap my amps at regular intervals. :) Shades of Tinkerbell. :D

Ta for comments. I would make sure to steer clear of the most dodgy brands. I take it Cayin and Mingda are better regarded. The former has a stonking-looking 300B SET integrated.

SS

 

JPG

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I'm a math dunce where non-profit numbers are concerned. Ok, I estimate I use the main rig and bedroom rigs for 144hrs and 120hrs per month. A pair of SET monos would take 530w, would that be 76.32kwH if in the main rig. With leccy at 25c/kwh, that would be $19.08 yes?
Yes. :D And your units are spot-on. I've seen Elec-eng first years get kW and kWh mixed up...

And where I live I need to use the aircon whenever I power up the toobs, or else I would melt. :nerves: (i need to move to Iceland sigh) It's always on whenever I am home. That's more leccy usage there.
Indeed. Tricky to give exact numbers, but assuming that the aircon has a performance coefficient of 2 (conservative estimate), it'll use 1kWh to move 2kWh of heat out of the building. So for every 2kWh that your amp consumes, the total (inc aircon useage) will be about 3kWh - a multiplication factor of 1.5. ie total use = 76.32 * 1.5 = 114.38 kWh = $28.59, just to run the amps and keep the room temp constant compared to leaving the amps off.

As for the rest of your power usage... :zip:

 

JPG

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Isn't there a screwdriver thingie that has a light bulb in its plastic handle. If you touch the blade tip to a potentially live surface, the light bulb would light up? I could use one to tap my amps at regular intervals. :) Shades of Tinkerbell. :D
You mean one of these?


No worries. As for brands, I'm not exactly up-to-speed on anything that isn't a) well-used and b) dirt cheap. :p

 

SSM

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You mean one of these?
egads... the techhead didn't even bother to comb his hair for the filming of his presentation. Split-end city:sick: going out everywhere on the '>WWW. :nup: I closed the window when he put his fingers so close to that electric blade.:nerves:But got it, 'contactless voltage detector', I'll be shopping for one ta.

cheerSS

 

SSM

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Dread to think what you'd make of mine... :geek: :nerves:
As long as you are comfortable with yourself:^

It's a fact that grooming isn't a forte with techie and engr types:roll:

Any young male applicant sitting down for an interview with me doesn't get the gig if his hair isn't properly combed. :x

Says the evil, balding goateed skinhead manager with double standards.
teufel55.gif


SS

 

JPG

Wammer
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As long as you are comfortable with yourself:^ It's a fact that grooming isn't a forte with techie and engr types:roll:

Any young male applicant sitting down for an interview with me doesn't get the gig if his hair isn't properly combed. :x

Says the evil, balding goateed skinhead manager with double standards.
teufel55.gif


SS
:rofl:

 

AmDismal

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My Liang 845 was the only amp I've ever been scared of. It sounded pretty decent, albeit somewhat 'dark' - as if the HF were rolled off somewhat - but the reason I sold it was that I was scared of turning the bugger on. To say that I wouldn't be keen on modding it would be an understatement!

 

paulf-2007

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A properly grounded earth cable on the chassis is whats needed not a fucking electrical tester every time you switch on and off ffs. Some of these threads that turn into a slagging for Chinese kit are like broken records.

 

i_should_coco

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A properly grounded earth cable on the chassis is whats needed not a fucking electrical tester every time you switch on and off ffs. Some of these threads that turn into a slagging for Chinese kit are like broken records.
Sorry, but a number of Chinese amps are demonstrably poorly designed. It's not just about earthing, but fire hazard and reliability, too. If you don't understand why, you probably shouldn't be tinkering with valve electronics full stop.

 

bmtell

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Sorry, but a number of Chinese amps are demonstrably poorly designed. It's not just about earthing, but fire hazard and reliability, too. If you don't understand why, you probably shouldn't be tinkering with valve electronics full stop.
Fucking good post that Coco.

 

paulf-2007

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Sorry, but a number of Chinese amps are demonstrably poorly designed. It's not just about earthing, but fire hazard and reliability, too. If you don't understand why, you probably shouldn't be tinkering with valve electronics full stop.
I had an image of someone with a volt meter or volt stick checking that their amp chassis wasn't live, no doubt some of the Chinese kit have inferior components, but checked over and modded they would then be safe. I took my £149 6P3P tetrode mode amp to John Howes while I was working at his house and he put right a loose connection and dry solder joint, then added a resistor in the mains live due to the 220v tranny, changed a couple of caps to Russian PIO as was his preference, changed it to triode mode, halving the power and commented that you couldn't buy the parts for what the complete amp cost. I don't tinker with valves amps Pete.
 

i_should_coco

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I had an image of someone with a volt meter or volt stick checking that their amp chassis wasn't live, no doubt some of the Chinese kit have inferior components, but checked over and modded they would then be safe.
That's the point. You seemed to imply that they shouldn't be criticised.

I took my £149 6P3P tetrode mode amp to John Howes while I was working at his house and he put right a loose connection and dry solder joint, then added a resistor in the mains live due to the 220v tranny, changed a couple of caps to Russian PIO as was his preference, changed it to triode mode, halving the power and commented that you couldn't buy the parts for what the complete amp cost. I don't tinker with valves amps Pete.
So based on a sample of one.

The other problem with cheap Chinese amps is that they're still utter shit. You may like the sound, but it's not because they're any good, the lushness comes from stupidly high levels of distortion from crappy transformers.

 

box

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Aug 19, 2012
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I recently bought an ongaku kensei and was surprised to see in the instructions that the power consumption was only 200 watts, it almost made me feel green and environmentally enlightened for a minute or so. then I switched the bitch on and basked in that 211 heat.

 

paulf-2007

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That's the point. You seemed to imply that they shouldn't be criticised.So based on a sample of one.

The other problem with cheap Chinese amps is that they're still utter shit. You may like the sound, but it's not because they're any good, the lushness comes from stupidly high levels of distortion from crappy transformers.
Does that mean distortion is good then?

 

AmDismal

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Distortion can sound nice. If there is plenty of 2nd harmonic you get a richer sound, which some prefer (third harmonic tends to be quite harsh-sounding).

 

JPG

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Distortion can sound nice. If there is plenty of 2nd harmonic you get a richer sound, which some prefer (third harmonic tends to be quite harsh-sounding).
Yeah, but I'm not sure transformer distortion sounds good. I still recall the difference between Tamura iron and the 'stock' iron in your 6B4G SET. ;-)

 

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