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

Review of New S-5 K-16LS Kit

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16LS Stereo Integrated Tube Amplifier

hi there people can some one help me i have been out bit on to amps now on eBay a music fidelity A-100 and a Cyprus one amp. i am thinking of buying a 16LS Stereo Integrated Tube Amplifier kit but want do they sound like.do they sound as good as the other amps i have listed or should i just buy a sound hand one from eBay and keep bidding. i have soldering skills and a bit of electronics behind me.at the moment i have a set of mission speakers mv6 and a old Yamaha AX-300 and a Cambridge audio CD5 player.want do you people think get a better CD player and keep my amp or get a better amp.thanks everyone
 
Troubleshoot 16LS Amp Kit

Hello I need some help from tube world gurus on troubleshooting 16LS kit.
I am new to tube amps sorry for basic questions. I read lots of posts on 16LS,mostly reviews and some upgrades but did not see many posts on how to fix some common problems with Tube amp. My 16LS kit is mounted in aluminum case and some upgrades, RCA and speaker plug and vol control because kit one was scratchy.

I built a 16ls kit and set of speakers 4ohm and have notice 2 problems:
1. a slight noise like some radio or humming can hear it only near L/R speakers both make same noise.

I think this may be some ground problem or loose contact.

2. Initially amp sound good but after 5-10 min of music left speaker start popping and sound level goes down like popping scratching noise only on one side. Right channel works fine no such distortions. After popping stop it play normal but left side sound is notably reduced.

This kit is new and I do not suspect any old parts or tubes so do not know what the problem can be or how to fix it. My initial suspect is faulti capacitors some delay discharge or power supply problem, but why only one side?

Help troubleshooting and advice on parts is appreciated.
 
Here is the design I am shooting for and the progress so far (K16LS).

Mods completed:
- 220uF (450V), 220uF (250V), 100uF (250V) capacitors
- 6 Sonicap .22 uF (400V)
- 2 Silver Mica 33pF
Using lead free Cardas Tri Eutectic solder.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Can you pls refer me where to buy those?
 
Hi folks, how are you?
I'm planning to adapt the tone control K-TL to my K-502 amplifier, so i ask if it will work properly. Anyone have tried this?
And i would like to ask if anyone have the schematic of the tone control, so i could purchase the components and assemble it by myself.:up:
Many thanks! :worship:

obs. sorry for my poor english, 'im brazilian!:D
 
Hi
New at forum. What a great source of information. Anyway: just built a 16ls tube AMP from tubedepot.com. Along with that a tube RIAA and a input selector.

My question is, Can i use common Ground for these three components.? Im having a bit of hum and hf noise. But at This point All the components are exposed and whitout a chassis. Before i begin to do some mods i'll try with the grounding and chassis.

Thanx a lot in advance.

Best regards
D.Loncar
 
a few photos of my k-16ls build:

dscn0678.jpg


dscn0658.jpg


dscn0688.jpg


the only thing i'm not really satisfied with are the mid-tones, which sound somewhat murky on all the speakers i've tried. i'll have to see if there are any mods to improve them.

edit: the forum software seems to be messing the links to the higher resolution photos :p.
 
Last edited:
Hello,

I am new to this forum and just bought this kit.

I really enjoyed reading this thread and am planning on doing many of the mods discussed.

I already ordered the larger power supply caps, and an Alps 100K stereo pot.

I would really like to upgrade the transformers as well. What transformers did you folks use? What are the specs for the power transformer?

I am thinking about making the power supply "semi-external" as well. Basically putting the power transformer and bridge in a separate box and running the leads to the board on a mil spec connector.

Also, what are the ratings on the output transformers? Any recommendations for upgrades?

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but it is certainly a GOOD one!

Thank you for all the helpful information!

Andrew
 
I would really like to upgrade the transformers as well. What transformers did you folks use? What are the specs for the power transformer?

I used Hammond 1645 output transformers; you have to take care to connect them correctly, though. You have to wire the secondary connections to 4 Ohm (see schematic on hammondmfg.com - bridge the green/yellow wire to the green one and the black wire to the black/yellow one. The Green/Yellow wire then goes to S1 on the PCB and the black wire goes to S2.

As for the primary winding - as far as I recall I connected the red wire to Ct, the brown wire to P1 and the blue wire to P2. If the amplifier starts oscillating (has positive feedback instead of negative) just switch the blue and brown wires - Andy Marsden has been instrumental in figuring this out :).

I think i just snipped the extra wires that weren't needed, but i'd have to check.

I am thinking about making the power supply "semi-external" as well. Basically putting the power transformer and bridge in a separate box and running the leads to the board on a mil spec connector.

Also, what are the ratings on the output transformers? Any recommendations for upgrades?

I use the stock power transformer - I just put it in an aluminium enclosure from vt4c.com; the CH-TC-100AL-B.

I thought about purchasing the Edcor XPWR058 (I read somewhere that it is also a drop-in replacement), but shipping it to Europe would cost more than the transformer itself. I couldn't find anyone selling Edcor transformers in the EU.




I also have a question:

I have a hum at just above 63Hz. It is audible when you're near the speaker, but inaudible at the listening point. XTZ's room analyzer picks it up in it's waterfall graph, I think:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


The buzzing is present no matter how I connect the amplifier. I live in an old (~40 years) apartment building and all the wall (schuko) sockets have the ground pins connected to the neutral pins. Redoing the electricity is out of the question, since the wiring would have to be replaced in the whole building.

My question is simple :)p): how to get rid of it or at least alleviate it?
 
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