It's not a disease. It's a hobby! I keep building amps and preamps as well. Mostly single ended amplifiers lately along with a few preamps and some SE guitar amps as well. I haven't gotten too bad, yet. Only 8 amplifiers so far. PP UL, SEUL, SEP, and SET amps. All connected to various sources, preamps and speakers.
I'm gathering parts for a 6L6 SEP amp at the moment.
I'm gathering parts for a 6L6 SEP amp at the moment.
Then that begs the question; how many currently working / plug 'n play, individually accessible audio power amplifier channels does one have available, counting both in use and in stock, in one's current possession? (Typical stereo receiver counts as two)
I'm at something like 45, while I could "live with" just 8 or 10 available amp channels er, I bet. There's at least 8-10 that would fall into the category of needing repair / board in a box unconnected, so I cant say "50" working...
I'm in the 'limited space at home' camp. Although I've built multiple amps, some are improvements / changes to original designs in the same chassis.
Most of my new projects use parts from previous designs to keep costs manageable...some call it recycling- that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.
But seriously- Kudos to all the Builds in this thread- very nice!
Jim
Most of my new projects use parts from previous designs to keep costs manageable...some call it recycling- that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.
But seriously- Kudos to all the Builds in this thread- very nice!
Jim
99% of the tube magic is in the preamp.
A P-P output configuration makes little distortion at 10w and below. Some are as low as 0.04% at 1w. A tube output stage distorts way nicer then silicon at high power however I rarely ever push my 80w amp past 10w. The thing is really loud before it distorts at all.
A P-P output configuration makes little distortion at 10w and below. Some are as low as 0.04% at 1w. A tube output stage distorts way nicer then silicon at high power however I rarely ever push my 80w amp past 10w. The thing is really loud before it distorts at all.
Agreed, magic happens in the pre section. But output stage better not mess it up. I like tube pre with ss buffer. Or stepup trafo and buffer.
I got about 50 working amplifiers, only few tube amps, mostly ss first watt. Half a dozen tube pre, plus some headphone tube pre. I do not consider it disease yet, maybe minor obsession.
I got about 50 working amplifiers, only few tube amps, mostly ss first watt. Half a dozen tube pre, plus some headphone tube pre. I do not consider it disease yet, maybe minor obsession.
That depends on how you define working, plug 'n play, and accessible. Transformers are expensive, tubes and built boards, not so much. I have a few sets of transformers, and lots more built and working boards. It takes me 10 to 20 minutes to put something together and make it play, often less if I am not switching from SE to P-P or P-P to SE. There is a working amp on my bench that can feed my speakers at any given time unless I killed it in a wayward experiment. For all of 2024 a 150 WPC push pull UNSET amp has been on the bench and used for casual listening. Its maximum power output level changes depending on what tubes are in it. I am about to clear the workbench for some guitar amp experiments so I will not mention what I will be using for casual listening until it annoys me. Hint, it is a little silver and black box that comes in at least three flavors (I have 3 different ones), doesn't glow or even get warm, costs from $20 to $30, and doesn't suck too bad unless you turn it up loud.
None of my amps need a preamp, most sources push them to full output.
But I do like what some preamps add to the overall sound.
Right now I’ve got at least 20 channels of working tube amps of my own creation and another 10 of factory made amps. Plus another 10 or so of SS amps I’ve built. They range from two watts to 35 per channel and most are single ended but some are PP. Do I need that many? Yes…No….Yes! Yes wins! I see more on the way!
About 12 years ago I threw out a dumpster full of junk parts and it didn’t make a dent in all my stuff! I am more selective in what parts I gather but if it is something no longer made I’ll hold on to it because one day I’ll need one and if I didn’t save it I’d Bo out of luck! This is what I tell myself! If the world goes to hell I’ll run out of food but I’ll have parts!
About 12 years ago I threw out a dumpster full of junk parts and it didn’t make a dent in all my stuff! I am more selective in what parts I gather but if it is something no longer made I’ll hold on to it because one day I’ll need one and if I didn’t save it I’d Bo out of luck! This is what I tell myself! If the world goes to hell I’ll run out of food but I’ll have parts!
There will still be people who'll give you their food for those. What's another day hungry compared to McIntosh OPTs with the cathode windings?