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RE: What makes a high quality plate choke? .... Better yet ....

Hi Dave. Please bear with me. What follows is a bit of a brain dump... I'm looking at this from the perspective of a pragmatic potential customer that is not an engineer or transformer winder but does have some understanding of what is required to spec a transformer for use in circuit and is willing to invest quality. Because of the unknowns, we rely on opinion and advice and there is an element of trust a customer places on a prospective supplier: perceived motive, competence and commitment matter.

When reading your post, my first question is: "What would winding towards the same electrical characteristics on different cores tell me?" My answer is that I don't really know what the specific electrical characteristics are or whether they are relevant, yet I assume it has been done for reasons of internal validity and reductionism to give a sense of the impact of cores with other conditions controlled. My next question is "Does this tell me what I need to know when deciding which core is for me - what are the cores are ultimately capable of and can Dave wind to that?" My somatic markers (gut feel) say "no." The reality is I don't know because I am now in the realm of my limited understanding, relying on the info available that I can comprehend, uncertainty, seeking answers... and heuristics. Fraught - at the mercy of bias. Aren't we all. But I'm not convinced by the arguments at this point. So I look further...

I've seen posts about Japanese winders compromising inductance to gain high frequency performance or some such. From what I can tell, this is more common in cheaper (more compromised) transformers and less so in more expensive types. I've also had discussions with winders in SE Asia that firmly believe, after experimenting with nanocrystal cores a lot over the last 5 or so years, that approach is not something you want to do if a goal is to achieve a perceived balanced sound and avoid a distinctively (c)lean sound with nanocrystal cores. I have heard their nanocrystal transformers and I would not describe them as (c)lean: more like musically expressive, nuanced and natural. This is in conflict with what you are describing. Their collective experience, especially with nanocrystal, is perhaps greater than yours... their nickel experience is likely not as great, though they wind on a wide range of cores. This does not mean they have it right and you are wrong. It suggests to me that maybe winding towards the same electrical characteristics that have been well-evolved for nickel might not tell the whole nanocrystal story. But maybe I'm conflating and my biases are biting hard?

I very much agree with your comments about confirmation bias. I would add that there are a couple of relevant and related biases: group think, self-interest, and authority biases. There are also the availability biases (over-emphasis on current events, available information, available models - recent successes), and anchoring biases that are relevant to reading forum posts to inform decision-making. I guess my point here is that in making a decision about what cores or transformer to purchase, if I spent my time mostly on AA, that path would likely lead to you and nickel... and I would also like what I paid for. There is nothing untoward in that and I'm not complaining - it is what it is. But it IS. If I frequented European or SE Asian or even UK sites I might come to a different decision.

Enough! I appreciate that you post here - I like your approach and find it informative. I don't mean to criticise; I'm questioning. I've been following your exploits since before reading about you wheeling in a trolley full of craziness at a NY Noise... so a while now. :)

I'm going for oversized nanocrystal cores in my next build... but may slip some nickel in there at some point.

Take care.

"Confusion of goals and perfection of means seems to characterise our age." Albert Einstein


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