Im using a Maggie 9303 built with the "GabeV" mods to drive a pair of CHP-70's in the" till-2 70 "
enclosures and .5mh/10w filters.
For use in my dining room which is about 12x12, gives a sound that is much better than the system has a right to have.
Cant wait to build a set of Woden Aveburys for my Mac 240
enclosures and .5mh/10w filters.
For use in my dining room which is about 12x12, gives a sound that is much better than the system has a right to have.
Cant wait to build a set of Woden Aveburys for my Mac 240
anywone tried the vintage sony V-FET 4650 (30 watts) or 5650 (60 watts) amps.
The were build round 1974 and i still amased how the sound.
I am playing with these and i use an HD Dune Max and scan speak reference monitors.
I am very happy with these amps. The are cheap and have an tubelike sound, warm but still detailed sound with very good soundstage depth and wide.
You can buy them for about 150$
The were build round 1974 and i still amased how the sound.
I am playing with these and i use an HD Dune Max and scan speak reference monitors.
I am very happy with these amps. The are cheap and have an tubelike sound, warm but still detailed sound with very good soundstage depth and wide.
You can buy them for about 150$
Recently built with Alpair 12p in small reflex cabinets. ( Mark Audio design)
I am using a prototype PSE amplifier using the russian dhp 4 P1L triode connected. I am very happy with the sound. I played them for about 30 hours now. Gorgeous sound playing jazz, classical. For more details you can visit my blog at simplepleasuretubeamps | Thermionic Tubes and Sound Revelations .
Bought too much baltic birch And I built another pair of cabinets for 12p. Whoever is interested in the US Let me know. They are not finished.
Best,
Radu
I am using a prototype PSE amplifier using the russian dhp 4 P1L triode connected. I am very happy with the sound. I played them for about 30 hours now. Gorgeous sound playing jazz, classical. For more details you can visit my blog at simplepleasuretubeamps | Thermionic Tubes and Sound Revelations .
Bought too much baltic birch And I built another pair of cabinets for 12p. Whoever is interested in the US Let me know. They are not finished.
Best,
Radu
Great stuff, Radu. I have the same kind of PSE 4P1L amp and I'm using Alpair 10s in 21 ltr columns. I've had this setup for a year and I'm very pleased with it - certainly the best system I've had outside of panel speakers. I prefer the 4P1L PSE to all the 300b and 2a3 amps I previously built, since all the tubes are in filament bias and so no coupling caps (interstage) or cathode bypass caps - the cathode resistors are just 15 ohms.
Andy, I am extremely happy with this amp and speakers. I have not had the chance to compare if with 2A3 or 300B, but i am sure youre right about it. While tslking to Ale he said that there is a kind of harshiness when use 4P1L for all stages. I think it depends on the whole setup( what kind of iron and psu).
I ambuilding now my last amp "Shiny Eyes" headphone amp and so far I love the combnation 4p1l-26. I have a ElectraPrint OT and LL1660 IT.
I would say that the overall sound is sweeter than all 4p1l. I want to try 31 too, but there are not so many available online and they are a bit more expensive than 26. Did you tried 4p1l-31? But anyway thiz iz not the right thread and I apologize.
And I do love my Alpair 12 p. Asthey are breaking in, I believe it was a goid investment.
Best,
Radu
I ambuilding now my last amp "Shiny Eyes" headphone amp and so far I love the combnation 4p1l-26. I have a ElectraPrint OT and LL1660 IT.
I would say that the overall sound is sweeter than all 4p1l. I want to try 31 too, but there are not so many available online and they are a bit more expensive than 26. Did you tried 4p1l-31? But anyway thiz iz not the right thread and I apologize.
And I do love my Alpair 12 p. Asthey are breaking in, I believe it was a goid investment.
Best,
Radu
The 26 is much better than the 31 - forget that one. Two stages of 4P1L might increase third harmonic a bit - sound gets a bit brighter. But I prefer that to a 26 first stage, which is a bit duller. you've got me considering speakers now - actually hankering after some ribbons....
I have dual EL70 microTowers and a pair of Pensil 10.2.
Initially, I drove the EL70s with a Yamaha R-S300 and I was fairly happy with the sound, but curious about what I might be missing.
Then I bought an EL34 PP (~25WPC) and I couldn't believe the difference. Then a while later I built the Pensils and tried them with both amps. Again, the tube amp is far better. I can best describe the Yamaha as "boring as sh!t".
The tube amp is great in the cooler months, but I have plans to build a "summer amp" so as not to heat up my living room so much. I tried a "stock" Lepai TA2020 and it didn't have enough power. Man do they sound bad when you push them!
I'll be (re)building a 2x100w TC2000/STA508 soon. I only plan to use about 30 watts of it, so I suspect I will get a very solid "chipamp" experience.
But first I want to begin my 3rd speaker build, which will involve 2x A10.2 and 2x A10P.
Initially, I drove the EL70s with a Yamaha R-S300 and I was fairly happy with the sound, but curious about what I might be missing.
Then I bought an EL34 PP (~25WPC) and I couldn't believe the difference. Then a while later I built the Pensils and tried them with both amps. Again, the tube amp is far better. I can best describe the Yamaha as "boring as sh!t".
The tube amp is great in the cooler months, but I have plans to build a "summer amp" so as not to heat up my living room so much. I tried a "stock" Lepai TA2020 and it didn't have enough power. Man do they sound bad when you push them!
I'll be (re)building a 2x100w TC2000/STA508 soon. I only plan to use about 30 watts of it, so I suspect I will get a very solid "chipamp" experience.
But first I want to begin my 3rd speaker build, which will involve 2x A10.2 and 2x A10P.
I own a topping Tp20 mk2 it's awesome for the price, but definitely not the last word.
The charlize2 from diy paradise is a better amp IMHO. Also after "burn in" I find the tp20 became rather softer and lost some sparkle. But as is oft quoted, that's just my take on it
Castle Microtower II ( CHBW70 & ERT26) +MacMini server / Citypulse DAC / Kingrex T20
Alpair 7.2 Pensil / dMarKen7 center / Alpair6.3M sealed surrounds + Denon AVR1610 (hasn't aged as gracefully as the Alpairs - in other words, next up for replacement)
Any number of others - current stable includes
MAOP7 / FH3; A10P /FHXL, those funky A7.3 Ellipses + AppleTV / Topping D20 DAC / Tubelab EL83 PP
Alpair 7.2 Pensil / dMarKen7 center / Alpair6.3M sealed surrounds + Denon AVR1610 (hasn't aged as gracefully as the Alpairs
- in other words, next up for replacement)Any number of others - current stable includes
MAOP7 / FH3; A10P /FHXL, those funky A7.3 Ellipses + AppleTV / Topping D20 DAC / Tubelab EL83 PP
UCD180 and TPA3116-based chinese amp both are fine with 7.3. Strangely enough I like TPA more despite it price, could be nice starting point to try Class D for ~$15. Some prefer TPA3110 Sure board from partsexpress, generally it's the same, even cheaper, less power, did not tried personally.
Cinepro3k6II for my L/R Carolina Audio SM3s that utilize CHR70.3 and my custom transmission line center channel also using the CHR70.3. The beast of an amp is capable of ~350 real watts per driver. The benefit of such a high power amp in my system is two fold:
1) at normal output levels the amp is class A
2) my Fried SM Transmission line subs love the control afforded by having serious current available
I also have 6 CHR 70.3's in my ceiling being powered by a Sonance Sonamp 1250mkII. They serve as front height, side surround and rear surround drivers
Right now I am very happy. In the nest month I will have a Pro Audessey XT32 calibration run to help tune. I'll report back on the results.
1) at normal output levels the amp is class A
2) my Fried SM Transmission line subs love the control afforded by having serious current available
I also have 6 CHR 70.3's in my ceiling being powered by a Sonance Sonamp 1250mkII. They serve as front height, side surround and rear surround drivers
Right now I am very happy. In the nest month I will have a Pro Audessey XT32 calibration run to help tune. I'll report back on the results.
I shall if I can figure out how to post the image is another issue...lol
My philosophy on sound
SOUND QUALITY
The fidelity of the amplifier, it’s frequency balance, pace, transparency, imaging and
sound stage are extraordinary due to the small number of parts to get in the way of the
music. That said, you will only ever hear it sound as good as the weakest link in your
system, which could be cables, a preamp, your source component. The only way to
hear how good the amplifier CAN sound would be to hook an analogue master tape
machine with a live two track master tape where the recording was done with top notch
microphones and engineering. Even the worlds most expensive DAC and
TRANSPORT will not sound as good, so obviously a 2500.00 DAC and transport is
going to be a step down, and a 500.00 CD player is going to be another rather large
step down. That means you WILL handicap your amplifier, the variable being HOW
MUCH. Moral of the story is that given the choice to replace this less than two
thousand dollar amp (wholesale price) with one 10 times as expensive will sound NO
WHERE NEAR as good as keeping this amp and spending 10 times as much on a new
source.
My philosophy on sound
SOUND QUALITY
The fidelity of the amplifier, it’s frequency balance, pace, transparency, imaging and
sound stage are extraordinary due to the small number of parts to get in the way of the
music. That said, you will only ever hear it sound as good as the weakest link in your
system, which could be cables, a preamp, your source component. The only way to
hear how good the amplifier CAN sound would be to hook an analogue master tape
machine with a live two track master tape where the recording was done with top notch
microphones and engineering. Even the worlds most expensive DAC and
TRANSPORT will not sound as good, so obviously a 2500.00 DAC and transport is
going to be a step down, and a 500.00 CD player is going to be another rather large
step down. That means you WILL handicap your amplifier, the variable being HOW
MUCH. Moral of the story is that given the choice to replace this less than two
thousand dollar amp (wholesale price) with one 10 times as expensive will sound NO
WHERE NEAR as good as keeping this amp and spending 10 times as much on a new
source.
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