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    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
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    the safety precautions around high voltages.

Looking for my first tube amp...

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Nikitas

Nikitas

Member
Joined 2011
Hi all, I'm looking for a tube amp circuit, which will be my first attempt in diy tube amps.

So, what am I looking for?

1. As minimalistic as possible!!The less parts the better! I like this concept in general, and it would also help to hardwire.

2. I would prefer a push-pull topology.

3. CCS(?)

4. Not balanced.

At the moment my speakers are a pair of wharfedale sapphire 89, four way. Can take bi-amping, 200w max. Later, after the amp is finished, I'm planning to dedicate a pair of diy speakers full range. Maybe those Jordans I keep bumbing on here.
My sources at the moment are a media player, reading from a NAS and spotify.
Plans for moving to vinyl are postponed for even later.
My listening room is small, about 30m^2.

Any thoughts?
 
hooman

hooman

Member
Joined 2008
tubetechnics.com
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Eli Duttman

Member
Joined 2004
An "El Cheapo" is a good 1st amp project. Triode wired, as shown in the uploaded schematic, expect 6 WPC. With decent O/P trafos, ultralinear (UL) mode "finals" yield about 12 WPC. Power will be sufficient in combination with the proposed DIY speakers.

Check a DIY Audio builders' thread out here.

For monetary reasons, a paralleled pair of Triad N-68X isolation trafos, instead of the N-77U, should be used for primary B+. That saves about 25 USD. :D

People in the EU need to find power "iron" for the B- supply, as the Allied trafo called for is "120" VAC only. Both the N77-U and the N-68X have dual primaries, making them "universal", except for Japan. A Triad VPS24-1800 will take care of B+ boost and "12" VAC heater power (dual primaries here too). A Triad C-24X takes care of B+ filtration. So, find an EU Triad distributor.
 

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costis_n

Member
Joined 2008
Eli Duttman said:
People in the EU need to find power "iron" for the B- supply, as the Allied trafo called for is "120" VAC only. Both the N77-U and the N-68X have dual primaries, making them "universal", except for Japan. A Triad VPS24-1800 will take care of B+ boost and "12" VAC heater power (dual primaries here too). A Triad C-24X takes care of B+ filtration. So, find an EU Triad distributor.
Click to expand...

No worries about that, there are excellent built to order transformers in Greece too, at good prices. Our local manufacturers were mentioned here a couple months ago, if i remember well.
 
Bigun

Bigun

Member
Joined 2009
diyaudio.com/community/threads/tgm8-an-amplifier-based-on-rod-elliot-p3a.245619/
Paid Member
Odysseas said:
Hi all, I'm looking for a tube amp circuit, which will be my first attempt in diy tube amps. So, what am I looking for?
1. As minimalistic as possible!!The less parts the better! I like this concept in general, and it would also help to hardwire.
2. I would prefer a push-pull topology.
3. CCS(?)
4. Not balanced.
At the moment my speakers are a pair of wharfedale sapphire 89, four way. Can take bi-amping, 200w max. Later, after the amp is finished, I'm planning to dedicate a pair of diy speakers full range. Maybe those Jordans I keep bumbing on here. My sources at the moment are a media player, reading from a NAS and spotify. Plans for moving to vinyl are postponed for even later. My listening room is small, about 30m^2. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

My recommendation is this: THE MUSICAL MACHINE; vacuum tube electronics in the service of art.

If this is your first amplifier you will find it more fun if you follow a known-good design. Eli's design is also a known good design. My first tube project was a known-good design and it is still my main amp. You will learn a lot in building and listening to your first tube amp - make it as good as you can, use good parts (within your comfort of cost), good construction technique etc. so that you can feel good about the result even though you will one day build a better one.

The site I linked to above has some good advice about the amplifier and it's construction. It has also been built by a lot of people and the tubes are available (e.g. from ebay). You can Google this amp and read about the experiences of others who have built it - there are threads on this forum somewhere.

e.g. http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/160170-new-project-musical-machine.html

Oh - and if you are like me, you may need to be careful not to get sucked into all the different 'why don't you do this' kind of changes to the design instead of building what has been proven.

The amp has a good review here: 6moons audio reviews: Audio Tropic Musical Machine
 
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T

tinitus

Ex-Moderator R.I.P.
Joined 2005
sounds like you are not checking up on the info you get here :confused:
I suggest to google every single 'keyword' posted

AE is located in Schagen
and not far from Amsterdam ?

btw, a note of caution
before buying any kind of trafos, be absolute certain they have the right specs for your project
and don't think you can figure it out yourself
based on my own mistake :clown:
 
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