Elektor Special Project: Tubes 2

What makes one Uhl, another Nightingale

What do Uhl (owl) and Nightingale have in common with Hi-Fi and music? Both belong to the same genus, but not the same category. The owl and the nightingale are both birds, but they belong to different families. The Hi-Fi freak and the guitarist both love music; one loves the sound, the other the tone.

The audiophile Hi-Fi freak loves the sound. This often leads to wonderful quotes like, "A good system has the ability to transport the soul of the music." Or, "The typical HiFi freak wants emotions during music enjoyment." However, enjoyment alone rarely influences the purchasing decision. Much more important are the data hyped by advertising. Sine wave output, output impedance, distortion factor, frequency response, and crosstalk attenuation are just a few of the technical data relevant to the Hi-Fi freak.

It's different for guitarists. The sound produced by the amplifier should not be reproduced naturally. The task of the amplifier system is, among other things, to alter the music signal of the electric guitar. The amplifier must bend the frequency response and generate strong distortions; but all this must be done selectively and controlled.

This issue, with the thematic focus on "Hi-Fi and Music," provides information on how this is theoretically possible, but also practically feasible. Hi-Fi systems and guitar amplifiers can be built with the same components (tubes), but operated with different technology, thus resulting in a different sound. One rejoices in the "Uhl," the other in the "Nightingale."

By Raimund Krings

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