Heath Hi-Fi Question

[Allen Heibeck]

Hi Ed and Group,

Around 1955,  I built the W4-AM Williamson amp, and the W2 something
preamp (the gold one).  The speaker was a KnightKit from Allied Radio
and was a corner cabinet model after the then very popular Klipsch
enclosure and used a 12" coax speaker (also Knight).
The sound was remarkable- *for those days* My classic organ records
sounded absolutely wonderful.

See, Ed, speaker systems were much larger back then.  We were willing
to spare the required space for them.  Wives didn't object to that big box
in the corner because it sounded good, and looked nice. The old-time
systems were not power-hungry.  If you had a decent 12" or 15" speaker
driver, in a large cabinet that would couple the sound adequately to the
air-volume of the room,  is sounded great and didn't require a big amp.

Today, we have big-screen TVs and much other stuff all competing for
space in that same room.  We want speakers that are much smaller.
But, that's at the price of some very specially designed speaker systems
(some approach the gimic stage!).  To make this small system sort-of
drive the room's air-volume, they require big amps.  Some systems actually
have liquid-cooled treeters!

Re the amps:  Tubes are considered the very best.  Consider certain
labs and others  professional users that will pay $2500 for one 40-watt
channel!!

Hope this gives you some answers.

Allen

Ed Goss wrote:

> Hello,
>      Although I recently sold some old Heath hi-fi equipment, I
> haven't been much involved in that aspect of Heathkits; most of my
> time is spent on ham gear.  But I did become curious as to the
> great demand for old Heath amps, like the W4-AM Williamson
> amp, for example.  It's only rated at 20 watts.  Many speaker
> systems today appear to need much more power to drive them
> properly.  And there seem to be many high-powered amps available
> today for reasonable prices.
>      So my question is this: What makes the old Heath amps so
> desireable?  I assume people use the amps and don't just buy
> them to sit on a shelf.  Is there something unique to the sound that
> a modern 150 watt/4-way speaker system can't equal?
>      Thanks for the comments.
> --Ed--
>

--
73 de Rev. Allen, KJ6XH      Real Radios glow in the dark!
        http://home.earthlink.net/~mattall

       Checkout TBN on DirecTV Satellite-- channel 372
            and Cable Systems all around the USA

-----------------------------------------------------------
This list is a public service of the City of Tempe, Arizona
-----------------------------------------------------------

Subscription control - http://www.tempe.gov/lists/control.asp?list=HEATH
To post - HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV
Archives - http://interactive.tempe.gov/archives/HEATH.html