planet10 said:
Yes indeed (I might have to make him an offer for it once the finances are straightened out & I can sort out a suitable preamp for it). He's now finished an F4 too.
One has to have comparisons you see... Yep, the F4's an impedance matching amp / buffer, so you need a fair bit of voltage gain in the preamp & source to drive it well. Using a low-power SE valve amp to feed it could be interesting.
I did, via my trusty step-down transformer. Sod's law states though that I now need to get a couple of new SDTs as it got swiped a few months back, & is currently in use with a photocopier of all things. Which is a bit of a depressing thought, when it could be feeding monoblocks.
Come to think of it though, the combination of the 6V6s with an F4 would be very interesting indeed. This could be the perfect excuse to get them going properly & in use full-time.
Come to think of it though, the combination of the 6V6s with an F4 would be very interesting indeed. This could be the perfect excuse to get them going properly & in use full-time.
There would seem to be some confusion here, or at least the subject looks like its going round in circles......
F2 and F4 are super amps. F2, being transconductance is really only a show stopper with single FR drivers(Fostex being a perfect example). F4 doesn't need that much drive in reality, unless you want 20 watts out of it.......Fostex owners do not fit this profile. I drive mine with a standard squeezebox using standard line-level output.
My own in-house SE EL34 amp is the equal of the above amps, no better or worse, just a different presentation. Horses for courses.
Check out my web site for build details and circuits.
I have some experience of digitals but I won't elaborate here, this is a family place
Ed
F2 and F4 are super amps. F2, being transconductance is really only a show stopper with single FR drivers(Fostex being a perfect example). F4 doesn't need that much drive in reality, unless you want 20 watts out of it.......Fostex owners do not fit this profile. I drive mine with a standard squeezebox using standard line-level output.
My own in-house SE EL34 amp is the equal of the above amps, no better or worse, just a different presentation. Horses for courses.
Check out my web site for build details and circuits.
I have some experience of digitals but I won't elaborate here, this is a family place
Ed
vitalstates said:
Speak for yourself mate...
Actually, I'm not sure I'd want to hear the result of 20w being pumped into a pair of 206s. I have a feeling it wouldn't be pretty.
That said, I do like to have some headroom. Strikes me though that the F4 on the end of a low-power valve amp could be an interesting combination, and might improve some older amps with only middling output transformers. I could be way off the mark there though -amps aren't really my thing.
soo back to my original piece of public service broadcasting...It seems from a lot of posts that some are getting hung up on the idea that F4 needs a lot of drive....it just aint so....fostex owners are in heaven with an F4 with normal drive.
roll up roll up get yer Nelson Pass propoganda here rollup rollup..(I'm only doing this because of his new FZ avatar)
roll up roll up get yer Nelson Pass propoganda here rollup rollup..(I'm only doing this because of his new FZ avatar)
vitalstates has characterized things well.
Fostex drivers do not need a lot of power. I have run my F4 direct from my CD player and it is pretty good. Not real powerful but fewer items in the signal path.
The beauty of the F4 is options options options. You can feed this baby with a lot of differing pre amps. Because Fostex drivers do not need much power there aer lots of choices.
Right now I am considering an Aikido as a pre amp.
As Dave says this is a power follower type amp. I am not a real amp guy but the way I understand it the voltage swing comes from the pre amp and the F4 gives it the amperage boast. IE there is unity voltage gain from the F4.
All I know is it sounds real nice to my ears
Good luck
Fostex drivers do not need a lot of power. I have run my F4 direct from my CD player and it is pretty good. Not real powerful but fewer items in the signal path.
The beauty of the F4 is options options options. You can feed this baby with a lot of differing pre amps. Because Fostex drivers do not need much power there aer lots of choices.
Right now I am considering an Aikido as a pre amp.
As Dave says this is a power follower type amp. I am not a real amp guy but the way I understand it the voltage swing comes from the pre amp and the F4 gives it the amperage boast. IE there is unity voltage gain from the F4.
All I know is it sounds real nice to my ears
Good luck
The F4 has intrigued me since I first read about it. Hang one of those off the end of a Darling amp and I figure alot of folks would be real happy. If you diy you could put it all in the same chassis. Just have those 1626 tubes showing and shock the bejeesus out of your buddies with what ".75 watts" can do.
This is becoming kind of interesting
Let say you have a little nice integrated tubeamp to drive a fullrange
Then if you want to add a woofer and dont have the exstra output, all you need is a "F4-like" powerbuffer with "semi-active" filter on input
hook it to the speaker terminals of the tubeamp and it would drive the woofer like mad
Well, it would be blasfemy to use the F4 like that, but in principle it ought to work
Let say you have a little nice integrated tubeamp to drive a fullrange
Then if you want to add a woofer and dont have the exstra output, all you need is a "F4-like" powerbuffer with "semi-active" filter on input
hook it to the speaker terminals of the tubeamp and it would drive the woofer like mad
Well, it would be blasfemy to use the F4 like that, but in principle it ought to work
lousymusician said:
By way of warning, that thread is only for those with an immunity to frustration that borders on saintly. It's 69 pages of posts that contain about, oh, 3 to 4 pages of worthwhile info and 65 to 66 pages of inside jokes, personal messages, and BS.
_ rant off_
On the other hand, there is a lot of actual building info at: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99351
Good luck, the parts can be assembled for very little dough, and it sure looks like a good and versatile amp, based on the posts in this thread. - Pat
PS - I've got all the parts for it in a box under my combination kitchen table/workbench.
Scottmoose said:
206e 30w continuous 80W music... once properly modified 94 dB 1W, so 20 W is giving 107 dB @1m. YES LOUD (can you hear me, it's loud in here). But with 20 dB headroom 87 dB (still pretty loud)
My comment was only based on the knowledge that SY was/did build a special pre with 20V out for Variac's F4.
dave
It has gone a bit further than what was asked fore, so I think its due time to mention Tubelabs "Simple SE", allthough "simple" tubebuilding is not a job fore a complete beginner
http://www.tubelab.com/SimpleSE.htm
This actually looks similar, and will probably cost the same
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZlancdale
But my money would be on "Simple SE"
http://www.tubelab.com/SimpleSE.htm
This actually looks similar, and will probably cost the same
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZlancdale
But my money would be on "Simple SE"
planet10 said:
And boy, did that combo sound good at Burning Amp! Too bad it wasn't ready to play until late in the evening, few of us were still around to hear it.
tinitus said:It has gone a bit further than what was asked fore, so I think its due time to mention Tubelabs "Simple SE", allthough "simple" tubebuilding is not a job fore a complete beginner
http://www.tubelab.com/SimpleSE.htm
...
But my money would be on "Simple SE"
The Simple SE is about as simple as it could be without a full kit of parts arriving in a single box. Anyone that can solder and respect the voltage involved should be able to build one.
Mine made an appearance at Burning Amp too, and acquitted itself quite well if I must say so myself. Not nearly as cheap as a T-amp, though.
Bill
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