Please allow me to introduce myself

[mastodon]

I'm a man of neither wealth nor taste...

I joined this site primarily to be able to view the pics people post around here. I've come across these boards hundreds of times over the past years, whenever the electro-bug would manifest itself.

I'm currently in such a phase, now working on a single ended OTL tube headphone amp based on Russian 6Phi4Pi tubes (one per channel). Previous bouts of inhaling soldering fumes have resulted in a stereo amplifier using 2x6AQ5 (PP in triode mode, using power trannies for OPT's) and a 12AX7 per channel, as well as a guitar amp using 2xEL34 (UL PP using an old Unitran OPT) and 2x 12AX7 built in a scavenged Rickenbacker bass combo.

When not working (currently in academia) or drawing and building ill-informed tube amp schematics, I'm shooting or editing photos or listening to music. My music taste spans a couple of centuries and ranges from baroque to (prog) rock and metal.

I have no training whatsoever in audio technology or electronics. All I know is what my father explained to me about vacuum tube technology and what I find on the internet. With no particular affinity with high-end mathematics, I resort to lots of experimentation and approximation using simple maths to optimize the circuits I build. I never aim for the highest sound quality, but simply try to build halfway decent amps at low to extremely low costs using scrap parts and whatever junk I have lying around.

I'm looking forward to interacting with, and learning from the knowledgeable and experienced users around these boards. I will probably say some stupid, annoying or perhaps even offending things now and then; don't take it personal. It's never intended as such.

[Cal Weldon]

Hello and welcome.

[c2cthomas]

Hello mastodon - and Welcome to diyAudio!!!!

Originally Posted by mastodon

I'm a man of neither wealth nor taste...

I will probably say some stupid, annoying or perhaps even offending things now and then; don't take it personal.

Ahhhhh........ Good!! Now I have a partner!!! I've been doing that stuff for years!!!

[planet10]

Welcome to the forum

dave

[mastodon]

Thanks lads. Yeah, we'll probably getting along just fine now, thomas. Or quite the opposite, of course

But let me put it this way: if to any engineering (and audio) issue there is a Western and a Soviet solution, I will consistently admire the performance and reliability of the Western solution, and then proceed to implement the low-cost, cut-corner Soviet one. You might call it laziness, but I like to refer to it as 'being mindful of the law of diminishing returns'.

[c2cthomas]

This is a practical way to look at things and being practical is a good thing around here. It is all to easy to get carried away with grand ideas about building "the best" new toy, and I feel that is a mistake for beginners. Take the time to explore and learn - after all this is a hobby!!!

Perhaps these web sites will help a bit (there are about a million of 'em out there)...

NEETS - Navy Electricity and Electronics Training Series
Basic Car Audio Electronics
Lukasz Fikus Lampizator