You know everyone always talks about how much the transformers affect the sound, but this is the first time I've ever seen anyone actually successfully demonstrate it! Well done!

Oh, it's there all right. Transformer 2 has more clarity. I will tell you that I never believed this myself until I finished rebuilding the last of 8 estate tweed amps with Triad transformers and acquiring a 1956 tweed Super, saved it from oblivion. It's magic. It's very subtle but a friend of mine, a very good guitarist was here this afternoon and I had him road test the 56 Super. Output transformers DO make a difference. The big question is the why and how, and why this is so is a mystery few are privy to. Allowing for differences in taste, music style, and personal preference the difference is quite apparent even though my high frequency perception is not so great after twelve years of jet noise and a year in a paper mill. One way of addressing this to some degree is through speaker choice, and what you end up with may not be in the normal range of things.

Before even hearing either one, they should be very similar if JMI had them custom wound to their spec back in ‘63(and earlier). I don’t know if thy were or just off the shelf parts at the time. Listening on a fairly powerful hi-fi system - I would go with transformer 1 from what I’m hearing. I like a looser, gritty more alive sound and those overtones are right up my alley. #2 sounds retrained and over filtered.

I preferred transformer 1 every time. I went back and watched it again to make sure and I definitely prefer transformer 1 as it sounds note lively. The early samples it sounded more full...more bottom and midrange. Then when you got into overdrive it just sounded better. More lively and right. The 2nd isn't far off but not as good to me in what I think a great AC30 has over one not quite as great but still good of course.

#2 for me . Judging on just one listen to the video on my laptop . 2 a little smoother and cleaner to my ears .

1) In high-end, hi-fidelity audio playback systems, clarity, purity and accuracy are paramount. The system is there to, as-much-as possible not interfere or color the musical sounds - regardless of what the listener's personal tastes may be, accuracy is the goal. But guitar amps are in integral part of the creation of the musical tones sought. So the colors and distortions are only a part of the brush strokes increasing the musical merit of the tones. (We all know this....) 2) Also well accepted is that personal tastes in the ultimate sound and feel that comes from the speaker is subjective. So this is where the 'listening' tests and 'shoot-outs' come in. But as a guitarist, I don't pay much attention to them - because... 3) Focusing on listening alone only has any real value to the listening audience; and then, not as-much-as we'd like to think. I challenge anyone to find 5 people out of 100 that can listen to a piece of music and tell you if the bass player is using a Precision or a Jazz - or a Yamaha, a Cruise Bass, etc... - let alone what pickups, bridge, strings or amp they were using - Tubes? not a chance. Orange Drops vs. Mallorys? Never happen. So what really needs to be discussed, more than just the final sound, is how these changes, large or small, affect the PLAYER that is using the gear at that moment. That's where all the tiny bits and pieces can make a huge difference. Things no audience member could ever experience, but the player, can make or break the playing experience. For the player that is only really doing this to make money or attract a girlfriend, is a corporate mind and will probably only shoot for what is easiest, cheapest, least to worry about. Whereas the Musician may spend hours, days, years trying to dial-in a sound/feel that no one else is ever going to care one iota about, but may seem like a life-affirming challenge to the real artist. So - A comparison like this one is (obviously) for the real players to enjoy and learn from, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I build amps, but don't sell them. And I go through exactly this kind of research and learning about components quite often. And what sometimes may not be the best, it might exactly what I want to hear/feel coming out the front of the amp. The artist has to be happy with his/her art first. And it's little demonstrations like this that can help others find just the right brushes to create, finding the tiny differences that satisfy in ways that no person looking at the painting will Ever be able to experience. So, thanks. This was fun!

This was indeed a first. I've never heard output transformers compared in real time. As I hear the demonstration, I can say that transformer 1 had better definition with nuanced picking in clean mode. Transformer 2 was definitely mid-rich, but it was compressed to the degree of sounding squashed during chording in overdrive; less note separation/definition. Well done!

To me, when played lightly, 2 had a real sweetness to the top end that 1 did not have. But i preferred 1 for the more heavily strummed parts. Customer is going to need to find another amp to use both. Great opportunity to compare though.

The feedback clips were interesting. Almost like a sonic distillery ;) #2 is definitely clearer and tighter sounding.

If it were my amp transformer 2 would be the hands down winner. 1 was a bit harsh to my ears. Very interesting comparison. Thank you.

Before I watch part 2, I'll say that Transformer #1 sounded so lifelike and expressive. It went from chimey and dynamic to angry with just your right hand. That's a tone I can see someone building their signature sound with. #2 sounded great but it didn't speak to me in a similar way. I hope this comment makes sense.

That was fascinating, subtle differences.. but very much there.

There is a difference. It would be helpful to play a short duration strong chord for each and then edit the 2 so one can hear a rapid a/b. One problem for me is I like both the sounds, but would use them for different tunes.

I think your high-end "clarity" description fits well into what (I think) I'm hearing. T1 seems like it might have just slightly more highs but they get raspy sooner with T1 than they do with T2. I like the sound of T2 better.

ah, core metalurgy...such subtle differences! magnetic saturation and discharge is such a complex phenomena when you start mixing and alloying different metals. hot tip: those plastic security strips on retail items contain 2 or 3 little 1/4"x1.5" ribbon slivers of Metglas, an amorphous steel that has some significant advantages as a core material for audio transformers. collect a bunch of them and they can be sandwiched into a transformer core, boosting saturability (headroom) and bandwidth. an ocd diy project for the truly depraved.

It's 12:20 AM and I have headphones on. I hear the differences between them. I like the AC30's and AC15's, but I don't own any so my point of reference is not useful here. But this is very interesting to me. All your videos are interesting to me. Very cool.

I like transformer 1 by far for cleans. But, I like transformer 2 definitely for overdrive. For my playing and taste, I would use Transformer #1. Update: After listening to all the videos regarding this, it is absolutely clear that #1 is by far my preference for both clean and overdrive and I have to correct my initial take based on just video-1. I could actually see that transformer #2 made you play stuck-in-the-mud some times with less inspiration. With transformer #1 all that disappeared. You MUST have felt that as I could see it in your playing. Excellent video.

I am not an electronic cork sniffer, so I'll defer to others on subtle points. I will just say that T#1 was okay clean, it had more definition, sharper, brighter sounding. T#2 was a bit more 'smeared', easier on the ears by itself, and not quite as 'bright' to my ears. Distorted I was floored by that upper harmonic in the feedback of T#1. It was almost that whistle thing you can hear at the end of Eddy Money's "Two Tickets To Paradise" where the guitar feeds back at the end of that. T#2 was much more pleasant to listen to distorted.

T2 brighter. When you turned up the volume at the end, the harmonic overtones produced from T1 was like a 3rd up from the fundamental, like a harmony note and T2s was lower in pitch. That’s what heard. Love from NW Colorado. Thanxz

if you could just do these same tests on like 20 of the Woden transformers and 20 of the Albion transformers I would enjoy that. jk... Nice job and yes, I could hear differences too, even on my Macbook speakers. Surprising.

wouldn't say it's a direct A-B comparison since being unmounted, the one isn't going to experience the same field effects as being mounted. That one harmonic though... probably enough to make a decision just on that

First one punchier, crisp maybe. Second moe subdued. 1 in a band 2 at home. I'm a JMP guy so 1 my favorite

#2 has more clarity and sounds sweeter to my ears (bose PC speakers). I have no background with the two transformers in your experiment and so it's all new to me.

Cool test. I can hear a difference and have a preference, but I can't opine on that basis because I know I need better speakers.

Big difference. There are so many variations of the wire winding diameter of the primary/secondary and sandwhich thickness, other combinations, some of will produce similar vs dissimilar results. For me, it's all part of finding what seems to work or not together as a sum of its parts to become a whole being to itself. In the beginning, the past gurus like Fender and Marshall, etc., were experimenting and stumbled upon or figured out certain "truths" on why something affects another in circuit design that worked as such. Later designers expounded on that. There is no doubt in my mind that the so called "Iron" {transformers} of an amp was and is a crucial component. And they determine more than less of what you can work with from there on. When they started implementing circuit boards it not only changed the sound {on nearly identical circuits} but made it harder to compare because a cheap narrowly traced /produced board compared to a quality one like Soldano and others use {imho} contribute as well as tubes, grounding etc.,etc. Your Psionic amp is a next step to those ends. Keep it up Lyle. Just remember your strength lies in working on all those amps/designs and seeing their pros/cons/strength/weakness. I seem to gravitate to toroidal transformers/solid state for bass, traditional for guitar. Do not miss my SVT. Love my MarkBass. The harmonics got to be right. What that may be is subjective. Know when I hear it. When it all works together with your playing style its Zen. You make that happen for us.

Just a fine bit of difference but in a mix I wonder if you could tell. That being said both sound really good.

I think Transformer 2 sounds more musical than Transformer 1.

I also hear a difference (although slight) in the mids and top highs. almost as if OT1 was an amp with slightly less filtering.

This is a great and rare opportunity to a/b those two transformers. I like number 2 better , it has a nice mellow and fuller sound to it.

Great comparison Lyle. I like the T1 better. Seems to have more bite to it and to me its more VOXylike than T2, which sounds sterile and too clear to my ears. I'm really interested now to hear you reveal which one of them is the Woden and which one is Albion :-)

Tone is so subjective and so are all of our ears. To my ears tranny 1 had more sparkle when playing clean runs and when overdriven tranny 2 sounded kinda dull. I do think to get accurate comparisons it would be better to use recorded tracks rather than try to play exactly the same in both versions. I have a rare transitional 1960/1 AC30/6 with a black control panel, Woden Transformers and blue Celestions. I have done a few repairs over the years replacing all the electrolytics and some resistors. I did at one time decide to change all the signal capacitors using Mallory 150s - big mistake as it changed the sound completely. I did save all the original Wimas but was lucky enough to find some NOS Wimas on line which restored the tone. The difference in tone between the Mallorys and Wimas was far more pronounced than the Woden v Albion in your video. Great video though!!!!!

Fascinating, I wasn’t expecting to hear a difference over youTube, but they were not the same. Have you measured the impedances Lyle? I'd be interested to know how they compare!

T1 sounds best to my ears.

One is louder but two is more pleasing (?)

Very interesting! I found both transformers nice, but preferred the first one a tad because I found it a tiny bit rounder and richer in the mids. I also found the second one less "interesting" for some reason and slightly shriller sometimes.

Before I spoil myself by watching Part 2 I would say that Transformer #1 sounds richer, with more bottom end, nice compression and no icepick highs, whilst Transfomer #2 seems to overemphasize the highs but compresses less and cuts off bottom. The overtone could be related to the springs in the Strat Vibrato?

I like T2 better. Sounds more pleasant in the mids & highs, not as "in your face" as T1. Love the channel!

The third location really showed the difference between the two.

I'm not a fan of brighter/chimey sounding amps, mostly because they are prone to sounding too thin. I don't like an icepick to my forehead. I guess you could say that too much clarity and note separation is a bad thing. I like my amps sounding clear and transparent with full bottom end and solid mids. A more linear sound if you will. In this case, I think transformer #2 is acceptable. It had more highs, but between the two they had pretty much the same everywhere else. The #1 transformer was a little muted, which I would tend to gravitate towards, but in this case, it didn't have the " it " that the #2 did.

Still think #1 sounded a little sharper on the high end, more harmonics. I watched the second video first.) Not sure what's possibly getting driven more to make that. But I still think it just depends on what sound you're going for rather than one better than the other.

I say wire them both in with a switch, one that can't allow both to be on at the same time. Call it the "Kyle Mod"! You'll be the new Jose'...even Randall Smith hasn't thought of this one! Brad and every amp tech on KZfaq can cuss or criticize or praise you

Transformer 1 all day long for my taste.

They do sound different but I have a hard time telling which frequencies are affected. Some high some low.

T2 sounds much lower bandwidth to my ears: cuts off low and high frequencies. Is it physically smaller than T1? I also wondered if T1 is higher impedance as it has a lot more low mids a bit like if you mismatch speaker/output taps to the low tap high speaker direction.

T 2 is warmer... maybe less transients as well

Did fender pre CBS and post CBS use Woden or Albion? because it seems that the woden and albion have a magnetic field issue with feedbacking or harmonics with the speaker magnet or the guitars pickups or they are just wound jacked up that is creating these nasty harmonics that are LCR resonance peak causing feedbacking

Even through the compression, you could tell...

My vote goes to no. 1

Have not even watched past 5:38 but I like transformer 2 the best but it's all subjective!

Number 2 is clearly clearer 😉

The 1st transformer resonates at 2 octaves up and the 2nd at 1 octave up. I prefer 1 tbh.

Right away, trans 1 is more open... What is your opinion?

I preferred 1.

TX 1 had a little more of a 'brittle' sound. Tx 2 had a sweet smoothness that is nicer IMHO. I will be playing back your second clip (the lick) over now so i can enjoy it at home without pestering you after ever video. TX2 easily for the win.

At the second location, the harmonics were better on both.

Correct me if I am wrong here but doesn't a looper pedal run at line level? I have always wondered about this ... but does it really matter when you are testing if you give the amp or preamp a line level signal of your pickup signal in the form of a looper pedal?

T2.

I liked 1 (one)

Transformer #1 all the fucking way!! That thing was big bold and nasty, and that crazy overtone on the note decay was to die for!!! The reason there was more note clarity in Transformer #2 is because it had no f’ing balls!! No bottom end to speak of. Some of that breakup was thin and trashy sounding like a cheap overdrive pedal. I hope your customer picks transformer #1, that thing will make him feel like he’s one with the universe, tapping into the energy of the Greats that have passed. Transformer #2 is totally predictable, obedient, lacks ooomph. But what do I know?

T1 has all the good mids and tone. Really perfect chime cleans and breakup. T2 doesn't sound as good or even as Vox-y on clip 8.

I like T1

Sounds like one has a third harmonic and the other has a fifth to my ears.

xformer 2 for me

i don't hear a difference.

Way better harmonics.

I prefer transformer 2. Less harsh.

Based on 0 experience between Woden vs Albion,my preference audibly is # 2. So as just a guess the Woden is #1 and Albion #2.

Wōden. Albion should be called wooden.

transformer 2 sounds better to my ears