Newbie looking for info on WOPLs

Northwinds said:
Thanks Doug. I think that's where the confusion lies. These people have no clue what a FC WOPL is, they just see the Phase Linear exterior coupled with horror stories of the past that were actually the fault mainly of the end user!!! That's the beauty of these, you get the classic vintage look with todays TOTL horsepower in one package. I still say that was BRILLIANT of Joe to pay homage to some of the most powerful amps of the period

Modding this a little from the Six Million Dollar Man

We can build it.. we have the technology... to make it better, badder, louder... :happy2:
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The whole Flame Linear mentality is still strong at a lot of audio forums. You hit the nail on the head that these WOPL's are paying tribute to a classic design and time in history.
 
Northwinds said:
Thanks Doug. I think that's where the confusion lies. These people have no clue what a FC WOPL is, they just see the Phase Linear exterior coupled with horror stories of the past that were actually the fault mainly of the end user!!! That's the beauty of these, you get the classic vintage look with todays TOTL horsepower in one package. I still say that was BRILLIANT of Joe to pay homage to some of the most powerful amps of the period

Modding this a little from the Six Million Dollar Man

We can build it.. we have the technology... to make it better, badder, louder... :happy2:
Click to expand...

So I'm educating them as all of you educate me!
 
JustMike said:
amps X volts = Watts

wattage x hours used ÷ 1000 x price per kWh = cost of electricity
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right, but really to get anything approaching an accurate picture you need something like a kill-a-watt that can log usage over a period of time. Class AB amplifiers have extremely variable power consumption. Not sure if you've ever had a clamp-on ammeter hooked up to a 400 or a 700, but the current meter will dance right in time with the power output meters. Its more obvious if its an analog meter vs a digital readout. Tubes don't swing quite so much because of their inherent inefficiency and lower power output but they do dance somewhat. You're just not going to see a 25 wpc tube amp pull anywhere close to what a PL 700 does. If I ever get off my ass and make those big Bogen 100w monoblocks run, then we can do some power meter dance comparisons. Thats only 200w total but with the inefficiency of a tube output stage it ought to have pretty healthy current draw.
 
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Hi Michelle.

FWIW, my PL 700B which I've had since 1990 was WOPLized a couple of months ago and it is not the same amplifier at all. It is completely, unrecognizably different inside. Only the chassis, transformer, heatsinks and face are the same.

The front output level controls were bypassed so it is at full tllt boogie all the time and with my pre-amp on phono and the volume up full, there is no noise whatsoever. It is dead quiet. What was once 345 watts per channel at the factory (I believe correct for a 700B) has become 491 on the left and 493 on the right.

I sold audio gear for more years than I'll admit and since the mid 70's have had big Citations, Yamaha, Metron (Cerwin Vega), NAD, Sumo, Hafler, Luxman, Kenwood Supreme (integrated), Sony, Adcom and several others loaned to me by various manufacturer's reps. This newly incarnated PL beats the pants off them all - low level listening or high.

Plus there's the nifty factor. A Phase Linear is the definative classic looking, vintage power amplifier and you get the bragging rights to it's new performance ability.
 
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I'd recommend a WOPL 700B drummergrl, just got mine fired up and its AWESOME!! Beats everything I have heard in the past. No listener fatigue at all, and more power than you will ever use, outstanding.
 
One more vote for the WOPL conversion...I've got two of them and my system sounds better than any I've ever heard. Anywhere. And I haven't yet done the fully complimentary conversion...yet. Everyone says that it makes a huge difference but I've not had the time or money lately to do anything with it except listen. I recently joined a big jazz band and we play classic big band stuff from the 30's and 40's. I thought it would be easier than it is. Jazz guitar is a whole new bag compared to the R&B and Rock guitar that I've played my whole life.
But yeah...go for it. You won't be disappointed!
 
drummergrl said:
Thanks Dave and Derek!
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Remember that I'm saying this before the amp was even run for more than a few hours. It gets better from here on, now that's going to be mind blowing in itself. Its sounding magical this morning.
 
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