Difference between semiconductors Vs. Solid State Vs. electronics Vs. Vacuum tubes ?

Difference between semiconductors Vs. Solid State Vs. electronics Vs. Vacuum tubes ?

thanks

dineshdeshmuk said:

Difference between semiconductors Vs. Solid State Vs. electronics Vs. Vacuum tubes ?

thanks

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Can be little more precise ? In what situation ?

Semiconductors and solid-state electronics are two terms for the same thing.

Vacuum tubes are a technology that works on a different principle, but accomplishes the same thing. Both make use of phenomena in which electricity flows in only one direction.

tpetar said:

Can be little more precise ? In what situation ?

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can you clear me out ? what can be the different situations ?

thanks a lot though

Situation and scenario of operation.

As amplifier, or as voltage regulator, ........ and tons and tons situations.

Solid state with : transistors, optocouplers, triacs,....... or You mean with tube ?

What You mean on solid state ?

There are working principe for all, difference exist, main working theory is similar, but cant compare everything with everything in all situations.

Tubes require a high voltage (ca 300V) to operate. To put a radio in a car, the owner had to put a vibrating reed gizmo in the glove compartment. (Hence a class of oscillator is called multivibrator.) It would step up the vehicle's 12V to 300V for his tube radio, which took up half the dashboard if installed permanently, or else was placed on the front seat if he had a portable radio.

Tubes have not entirely been left behind.

Many music enthusiasts claim tube amplification sounds better than solid state. It has to do with a tube generating even harmonics when it distorts whereas solid state equipment generates odd harmonics.

Tubes can carry more power than solid state. I heard radio & tv broadcasting stations often have a very large tube in the final transmitting stage.

Tubes are not ruined by EMP (unlike solid state). I heard the Russian military still uses tube equipment for this reason. Even in their fighter jets. (My information may be outdated.)

BradtheRad said:

Tubes have not entirely been left behind.

Many music enthusiasts claim tube amplification sounds better than solid state. It has to do with a tube generating even harmonics when it distorts whereas solid state equipment generates odd harmonics.

Tubes can carry more power than solid state. I heard radio & tv broadcasting stations often have a very large tube in the final transmitting stage.

Tubes are not ruined by EMP (unlike solid state). I heard the Russian military still uses tube equipment for this reason. Even in their fighter jets. (My information may be outdated.)

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Thats what I mean. !!!

How about that? I see you replied right away while I was going back to edit.

BradtheRad said:

How about that? I see you replied right away while I was going back to edit.

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Fast fingers. :wink:

I support Your answer.

Here is some thing you may think funny but that is base of your modern computing.

It is an output stage Tube from RCA having ID as " 808 ". I have been repairing the radios with these tubes. And still in some areas this is being used as the OUTPUT amplifier of Radio Station Transmitters.
Yes the Vacuum Tube audio amplifier has the Best Quality in reproducing Audio. No solid state device can give that quality as even in MOSFETS there is a resistance offered to current but not in vacuum tubes. The first ever computer designed around 1943 with VT (vacuum tube) was weighing 30 tons and was having about 18,000 tubes (though it never worked) and the tubes were producing 1,74,000 watts of heat. The first lady getting effected by this computer said on first look of this machine " I was astounded that it took all this equipment to multiply 5 by 1000 ". :grin:

Raza said:

Yes the Vacuum Tube audio amplifier has the Best Quality in reproducing Audio. No solid state device can give that quality as even in MOSFETS there is a resistance offered to current but not in vacuum tubes.

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That statement wrong on a couple of counts. First define "Best Quality". Solid state amplifiers can have a much lower level of distortion that the best tube amps. Tube amps just have distortion that is less offensive to the ear. So if you're after the most accurate reproduction a high quality solid state amp will do a much better job that a tube amp. The other point is tubes have a much higher resistance that MOSFETs. The tube output has to be impedance converted by a transformer to drive a speaker and that add distortion though perhaps not objectionable to the ear.

Ray

Perform Google & Wikipedia Searching about this theme.

Some prefer the sound produced with tube amplifiers on the grounds that it is more natural and satisfying than the sound from typical transistor amplifiers. Those who subscribe to measurement and scientifically-based approaches to high fidelity note that in general, solid state designs can be manufactured without output transformers, and are therefore immune to speaker-dependent impedance mismatches and other transformer effects which alter the system spectral response. Typically, in sound reproduction systems, accurate reproduction of the sound of the original recording is the goal, distortion and uneven spectral response within the audible frequency band is something designers deliberately seek not to introduce.

The sound of a tube amplifier is partly a function of the circuit topologies typically used with tubes versus the topologies typically used with transistors, as much as the gain devices themselves. Beyond circuit design, there are other differences such as the electronic characteristics of a triode and MOSFET, or a tetrode and a bipolar transistor.

Some sonic qualities are easy to explain objectively based on an analysis of the distortion characteristics of the gain device and/or the circuit topology. For example, the triode SE gain stage produces a stereotypical monotonically decaying harmonic distortion spectrum that is dominated by significant second-order harmonics making the sound seem "rich" or even "fat", while each higher order harmonic is smaller than the nearest lower order harmonic. Some audio professionals, regard the effects of the use of tubes as distortion - which can be used creatively in certain scenarios.

The low frequency roll-off can be explained by many tube amplifiers having high output impedance compared to transistor designs, due to the combination of both higher device impedance itself and typically reduced feedback margins (more feedback results in a lower output impedance).

Some high end tube amplifier designs also include vacuum tube rectifier circuits instead of modern silicon diode or bridge rectifier circuits. A cheap solid state rectifier does introduce audible noise into the circuit. Audibility of the effects is disputed by many. In unregulated power supplies the switching noise from silicon diodes can affect the amplifier's performance by introducing noise into the high voltage circuit. In guitar amplifiers, tube rectification is used in order to intentionally cause the high voltage supply to sag in order to add distortion and compress the output signal.

The practical advantage to tube rectification is that rectifier tubes require some time to warm up before they begin to conduct. This provides some time for the heaters in the output tubes to warm up as well and therefore extend their lifespan. If the high voltage supply is brought up too quickly, the cathodes might be damaged. Some high end manufacturers, such as Welborne Labs in their premium kits, feature ultra-fast soft-recovery silicon diodes bridged by snubber networks on the basis that the cost and power required to operate a vacuum tube rectifier does not yield any measurable improvement in the sound.

Solid state amplifiers can have a much lower level of distortion

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And the Tube amps do not have any. If the design is proper. I have came across many Solid State amps which have the worst teasing voice to ears.
What is your reference of defining the Quality point ? If any, do consider the same for referring the BEST QUALITY.
tpetar your text clarified a lot.

Raza said:

And the Tube amps do not have any. If the design is proper.

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There must be some misunderstanding about what you mean by distortion. My dictionary says:

Electronics. a. An undesired change in the waveform of a signal. b. A consequence of such a change, especially a lack of fidelity in reception or reproduction. Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition

Fact, EVERY design has distortion, however small, every amplifier has some. If a distortion-less amplifier could be build there would be no limit to the amount of amplification possible which would make the world a much different place.

Ray

---------- Post added at 11:08 ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 ----------

Here is what you maybe referring to as distortionless.

The thermionic vacuum tube and its ... - Hendrik Johannes Van der Bijl - Google Books

The author states a tube amplifier can be distortionless IF the whole circuit is non-reactive and the gain of the tube is linear. But all components are reactive to some degree and therefore impart some distortion though it maybe quite small. Also the tubes linearity goes down as the load resistance goes down which doesn't make for practial amplifier. So maybe extremely low distortion perhaps below any measureable value but not distortionless.


Ray

So maybe extremely low distortion perhaps below any measurable value but not distortion less.

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This clarifies what I mean. You quote it yourself. No amplification in the World without distortion BUT YES FOR THE SAKE OF discussion ONLY.