can we perceive sound differences between 120v/220v/230v/240v?

[espinete]

a friend of mine wonders if human ear can appreciate differences in tone between different voltages such a 120v,220v,230v,240volts PT

[trey85stang]

im sure someone here will claim they can.

[gag halfrunt]

im sure someone here will claim they can.
:agree

[VikingAmps]

Line voltage variance will make a difference in tone, but I think the biggest difference in amps running on 50Hz as opposed to 60 Hz is the wolftone you get when you crank em up.

[drfrankencopter]

Transformers will saturate at lower amplitudes for lower frequencies, so an amp running flat out powered at 50Hz (like in the UK) might saturate the power transformer more than the same amp running on 60 Hz power.


That's my guess anyways...

Cheers

Kris

[espinete]

:aok

[phsyconoodler]

The word 'saturation' gets mis-used a lot by guys these days.A saturated transformer is one that is fully magnetized and the tone is usually awful.

Here's a quote from the Mercury Magnetics site.

"Transformer saturation is a part of my amp’s distortion; it is an important part of my tone." -- Knucklehead Smith
Wrong! Don’t you believe it—nothing could be further from the reality! Audible symptoms of this type of saturation are the absence of bass and the fuzzing out of your mids along with dark and dull treble frequencies. Does that sound like something you find desirable? Core saturation (http://www.mercurymagnetics.com/pages/nav/FAQ.htm#core_saturation) also greatly increases running temperatures of the transformers (http://www.mercurymagnetics.com/pages/nav/FAQ.htm#transformer_(iron_core)) and tubes. Your amp at this point is crying out in pain! Sorry, not the best working environment for your amp and for your tone. Think of core (http://www.mercurymagnetics.com/pages/nav/FAQ.htm#core) saturation as playing with a virtual noose around your neck (and your amp's tone). It's a bad thing.

Saturation is BAD news.

[davemccarthy707]

No. The end result is the same. Ac converted to dc blah blah... Whether it starts as 120 220 5000000 its the same.

[Junction]

No. The end result is the same. Ac converted to dc blah blah... Whether it starts as 120 220 5000000 its the same.

Spot on ....... and whether it started as 50 Hz or 60 Hz it also ends up as DC, so the answer is, the amp will sound the same whether in US @ 110V, Japan @ 100V, Europe @ 230V or Australia @ 240V, unless there is an argument for humidity or temperature affecting tone!!

Cheers
Michael

[GuitarsFromMars]

There is an interview with David Lindley in The Fretboard Journal,who talks about 'goosing' a Fender to 120 volts as opposed to 117VAC.He says he can hear the diff with a humbucker equipped instrument,a pre-CBS Bassman,and a Variac,and the tubes glow a certain shade of orange.Used to use it with El-Rayo-Ex.

[VikingAmps]

No. The end result is the same. Ac converted to dc blah blah... Whether it starts as 120 220 5000000 its the same.

In a perfect world maybe but in the real world there's always some supply ripple that gets thru to the output. Much more so at high volumes. That's what causes wolftone or ghost notes.

[dtube]

Joe Perry has used double-conversion UPS's with regulation on his amps for years. He said he can hear the audible results when the source voltage is low or high. On one hand, I firmly believe that the converted-DC-blah-blah statement is 100% correct. BUT, unregulated AC could also be in a range of 105-130 depending on where you are plugging in. So a 20v swing on the incoming AC will result in rectified DC swinging about 60v; and tubes certainly sound different when their Ep's are changed that much. One of the reasons a Deluxe Reverb sounds the way it does is that its preamp Ep is around 170-180v; a Twin's preamp Ep will be around 220-230v. Granted, the differences are not night and day; rather more like a similar stout from two different microbreweries.

Of course, this is IMO. Take it fwiw, and YMMV.

-Darren

[wichita]

I know when I have played in Europe with rented newer Marshalls that they seemed to sound a lot better than the same US models.
Is that Voltage? Who knows.

[proUK]

That is funny as I tour all over Europe a lot, and have rented Marshall's (easy for TM to get wherever you are...which is a shame!) , and I find when i am touring US/Canada the same spec amps sound better... or at-least react in a different way.

[espinete]

what do you mean exactly when you say "better"?sweeter? more rugged?

[VacuumVoodoo]

So you are saying mixing in a 100 Hz tone with the notes you are playing on your guitar will sound the same as mixing in some 120 Hz? Why bother tuning your guitar then? The notes you are hearing obviously aren't very important.

If 100Hz or 120Hz gets into the signal path it only means that the amp has some serious design/grounding issues.

BTW. IEC norm requires power transformers to work correctly with 40-63Hz mains voltage frequency range.

[VikingAmps]

If 100Hz or 120Hz gets into the signal path it only means that the amp has some serious design/grounding issues.

BTW. IEC norm requires power transformers to work correctly with 40-63Hz mains voltage frequency range.

Most vintage amps do then by that definition. That's what ghost notes are. Very common while cranking a vintage amp up.

[VacuumVoodoo]

Most vintage amps do then by that definition. That's what ghost notes are. Very common while cranking a vintage amp up.
But did they do this when they were new?

[VikingAmps]

But did they do this when they were new?

According to a lot of classic rock recordings, yes.

[Somniferous]

Well for one thing, the hum a single pu will make will be a different frequency.

[sonhenry]

My Pro Reverb sounded better running in the UK on a step-down tranny than it did in the States plugged straight into the wall. Swapped out the power tranny for one that was a 240v replacement and it sounded pretty much like it did back in the States again.