I have finally convinced the "war department" (read WIFE) to allow me to place some "Glassware" in our formal dining room after we moved her computer desk out.
The decor in the room is all antique oak. Having gotten pretty good with wood I would like to build an Oak chassis tube amp and some full range speakers.
I would like the amp to have a "steam punk" type look. Any ideas on some "odd" almost "mad scientist" looking triodes or pentodes to use?
Perfect sound is not the object here mostly the "shock value" (not electrical shock, emotional shock
and "conversation piece" type qualities are important here.
I was thinking of an 829B amp but I would like some real big bottles or odd shapes or real "glowers".
Throw any odd ideas you have at me!!
The decor in the room is all antique oak. Having gotten pretty good with wood I would like to build an Oak chassis tube amp and some full range speakers.
I would like the amp to have a "steam punk" type look. Any ideas on some "odd" almost "mad scientist" looking triodes or pentodes to use?
Perfect sound is not the object here mostly the "shock value" (not electrical shock, emotional shock
and "conversation piece" type qualities are important here.I was thinking of an 829B amp but I would like some real big bottles or odd shapes or real "glowers".
Throw any odd ideas you have at me!!
Our living room is done up in antiques, nothing special mostly stuff that has been in the family for a long time. A few pieces are over 100 years old. The WD banished the speakers that I made in high school when she moved in. They were huge, (4 X 12 inch drivers) ugly and beat up (used at many outdoor rock concerts). We never agreed on any speakers that would match the decor, so we didn't even have a stereo in the living room.
One day we were at an antique flea market looking at the junk (oops, treasures), and I spotted an old console radio made in 1941. She said "why can't you use this for a speaker?". Bingo, I bought that radio, and scored an identical one on Ebay, mounted some 15 inch OB drivers in them and I can shake the whole house.......except, there is no stereo.
So, to solve that problem I got one of those new flat TV sets to put in place of the 320 pound 36 inch CRT powered Sony, and I am building an amp to hide behind it. After 3 years of night classes in woodworking, I can make something that is un-ugly, but not presentation ready just yet.
Tubes:
For an ugly tube (in a cute way) find some 815 "two headded aliens" and drive them with some 7193 "two headded aliens" . They are like big 829B's with an octal base.
Want big and glowey, go for the 833A, but plan on some serious heat. The filament alone dissipates 100 watts. The 813 or another DH tube will put out less heat, with a bit less light. The 211 or 845 makes a good night light, and the Chinese versions sound reasonably good for a fair price.
Eimac...
For inspiration
http://www.jeffreywjackson.com/Eimac75tl.htm
It could be especially shocking if the anode meters read "Kilovolts" and "Amperes"
For inspiration
http://www.jeffreywjackson.com/Eimac75tl.htm
It could be especially shocking if the anode meters read "Kilovolts" and "Amperes"
Well, off the top of my head:
Use VR tubes somewhere in the PS
Maybe use the 1629 as an input tube: http://greygum.net/sbench/sbench101/Preamps/1629amp.gif
Use as many tubes as possible, e.g. use a small pentode for a LTP CCS
Got to have a couple of bias meters
Throw a Nixie or 2 in there
Use VR tubes somewhere in the PS
Maybe use the 1629 as an input tube: http://greygum.net/sbench/sbench101/Preamps/1629amp.gif
Use as many tubes as possible, e.g. use a small pentode for a LTP CCS
Got to have a couple of bias meters
Throw a Nixie or 2 in there
I've always liked the look of Moth Audio gear, especially their M304TL: http://www.mothmuseum.com/mothaudio/products2.html
I thought the idea was to soothe the better half, not scare the daylights out of her with some sort of Frankenstein contraption... The referenced transmitter tube design is impressive in sort of a massive steampunk fashion, but would not necessarily be attractive to non-engineering types. There's so much of it, and it looms in an oppressive, mid-century (the last one) SF sort of way. I would go for a discreet 6BQ5/6V6/6AQ5/6005 push-pull in a nice oak or mahogany cabinet, with not a lot in the way of meters and such (maybe an eye tube modulated with the music instead). Tubes would not necessarily be hanging out, as not everybody thinks that the techno-bits are beautiful (put your liberal arts hat on....). Not a lot of power should be required, as the thing will be playing in a dining room. George had a good idea about putting his speakers in beautiful old console radios. A nice little amplifier could be built inside one of those old tombstone-style table radios. If you used an SMPS to free up some space, it could have some kick to it, and maybe include the original radio as well. A marble or granite case also has some interesting possibilities.
Thank you to all!!
These ideas have gotten me over my "writers block" or is it "tubers block" in coming up with ideas.
To answer a few of the posters questions.
The key to dealing with the "spouse", "Girlfriend" or (since this is 2009) "domestic partner" in regards to this "hobby" (more of an obessesion to me) is this.
Patience - You cannot expect them to love this hobby anymore than than we would love an I-Pod connected to $10 computer speakers. To my wife these are just a bunch of "old lightbulbs" that take up space in the basement. Keep your project area neat and organized and sell some of your stuff or do repairs for profit then take her to dinner.
Compromise - When we bought our house she was "settling" my interest was in an OLD house. (Our home was built in 1895 just barely OLD enough for me!) Her interest was in new construction with all modern (stark, sparse and bland) decor. To suit her needs I found a house with a very modern bathroom. Lets face it, women spend a good portion of the time in there right?
Ego/How other people view them - My wife like most women is vain, how she is perceived by her friends etc is very important to her. The "appearance" of taste and good aesthetics is important so I have spent countless hours restoring a 120 year old oak dining table and "antiquing" new solid oak chairs from Pennsylvania to make the formal dining room. If the set were all original it would be worth thousands of $$, (sshh, we only have about $400 in it LOL!) To her friends this is very tasteful, classic and valuable furniture.
To get her to allow a piece of "glassware" in the room was another project unto itself. I had to work on her about this for 2 years as the room was being restored. Subtly and subconsciously I had to "warm" her up to antiques. Nice weekend drives to antique shops, sit and watch "antiques roadshow" with her, flea market trips, magazine articles etc.
The final act was to produce something that sounded nice and looked good. I built a 6v6 PP amp with an Oak Chassis and showed her the final results. A friend of hers saw it on Facebook and asked me to build one for her husbands birthday. The wife completely changed her "attitude" to the "lightbulbs" in the basement when she cashed the check for $1600!!!
Here are some older Facebook photos of my first couple projects
Thanks again I will keep you all posted on where this heads !!
These ideas have gotten me over my "writers block" or is it "tubers block" in coming up with ideas.
To answer a few of the posters questions.
The key to dealing with the "spouse", "Girlfriend" or (since this is 2009) "domestic partner" in regards to this "hobby" (more of an obessesion to me) is this.
Patience - You cannot expect them to love this hobby anymore than than we would love an I-Pod connected to $10 computer speakers. To my wife these are just a bunch of "old lightbulbs" that take up space in the basement. Keep your project area neat and organized and sell some of your stuff or do repairs for profit then take her to dinner.
Compromise - When we bought our house she was "settling" my interest was in an OLD house. (Our home was built in 1895 just barely OLD enough for me!) Her interest was in new construction with all modern (stark, sparse and bland) decor. To suit her needs I found a house with a very modern bathroom. Lets face it, women spend a good portion of the time in there right?
Ego/How other people view them - My wife like most women is vain, how she is perceived by her friends etc is very important to her. The "appearance" of taste and good aesthetics is important so I have spent countless hours restoring a 120 year old oak dining table and "antiquing" new solid oak chairs from Pennsylvania to make the formal dining room. If the set were all original it would be worth thousands of $$, (sshh, we only have about $400 in it LOL!) To her friends this is very tasteful, classic and valuable furniture.
To get her to allow a piece of "glassware" in the room was another project unto itself. I had to work on her about this for 2 years as the room was being restored. Subtly and subconsciously I had to "warm" her up to antiques. Nice weekend drives to antique shops, sit and watch "antiques roadshow" with her, flea market trips, magazine articles etc.
The final act was to produce something that sounded nice and looked good. I built a 6v6 PP amp with an Oak Chassis and showed her the final results. A friend of hers saw it on Facebook and asked me to build one for her husbands birthday. The wife completely changed her "attitude" to the "lightbulbs" in the basement when she cashed the check for $1600!!!
Here are some older Facebook photos of my first couple projects
Thanks again I will keep you all posted on where this heads !!
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