Courtesy of a post I saw on the Pink Fish Media forum, here is what paying $350,000 for an amplifier gets you:
"What is subjectively important is the SH-833's behavior in the bass. [...] there is a bass boost, the amount of which depends on the output transformer tap, the source impedance, and the load impedance. In the worst case, 4 ohm tap into 16 ohms, the boost reaches 9dB between 80Hz and 160Hz, while in the best case, 8 ohm tap into 2 ohms, there is a broad plateau 2dB high between 30Hz and 200Hz."
[...]
"Those 550 lbs and that humongous transmitter tube promise a lot of power, not to mention the specified "effective" output of 150W. As you can see from figs.5 and 6, which plot the percentage of distortion and noise in the Wavac's output against power from the 8 and 4 ohm taps, respectively, that promise is not kept. At our usual definition of clipping—1% THD+noise—the Wavac gives out just 2W or less into loads ranging from twice the nominal tap impedance to one quarter that nominal value. The highest power is obtained when the load is half the nominal tap—ie, from the 8 ohm tap into 4 ohms—but even then, the definition of clipping has to be relaxed from 1% to 10% for the amplifier to approach its specified power. "
And only $350,000 gets you this level of technical excellence.
http://www.stereophile.com/tubepoweramps/704wavac/index5.html
Of course, our subjective reviewer finds that "What's important in the end is the totality of the experience, and that was totally awesome."
The amp' "will produce magical, musically fulfilling sound that you're not likely to forget. If I had a good third of a million bucks to burn, I'd do it."
"What is subjectively important is the SH-833's behavior in the bass. [...] there is a bass boost, the amount of which depends on the output transformer tap, the source impedance, and the load impedance. In the worst case, 4 ohm tap into 16 ohms, the boost reaches 9dB between 80Hz and 160Hz, while in the best case, 8 ohm tap into 2 ohms, there is a broad plateau 2dB high between 30Hz and 200Hz."
[...]
"Those 550 lbs and that humongous transmitter tube promise a lot of power, not to mention the specified "effective" output of 150W. As you can see from figs.5 and 6, which plot the percentage of distortion and noise in the Wavac's output against power from the 8 and 4 ohm taps, respectively, that promise is not kept. At our usual definition of clipping—1% THD+noise—the Wavac gives out just 2W or less into loads ranging from twice the nominal tap impedance to one quarter that nominal value. The highest power is obtained when the load is half the nominal tap—ie, from the 8 ohm tap into 4 ohms—but even then, the definition of clipping has to be relaxed from 1% to 10% for the amplifier to approach its specified power. "
And only $350,000 gets you this level of technical excellence.
http://www.stereophile.com/tubepoweramps/704wavac/index5.html
Of course, our subjective reviewer finds that "What's important in the end is the totality of the experience, and that was totally awesome."
The amp' "will produce magical, musically fulfilling sound that you're not likely to forget. If I had a good third of a million bucks to burn, I'd do it."