Is this a good tube DIY kit to get?

Hi,

This is probably the cheapest kit on the block.

If I'm not mistaken it was originally designed by George Fathauer, previous owner of Antique Electronic suply in Tempe AZ.

While I never had a chance to listen to it, I hear that it's certainly worth its salt provided you have the speakers to go with its low power output.

It could well be that other members such as planet10 have hands on experience with it...
It was discussed briefly here before, I think.

Cheers,

I haven't heard (or seen) one of those, but the people that have bought them enjoyed building them and thought they were well worth the money. I understand some of the early ones had problems with sockets melting down, but i'm sure that has been straightened out by now. The closest thing outside a freak find at a 2nd hand store would be a pr of Wave AV8s -- and those are essentially a pre-assembled kit (in that to make then stand upyou have to go in and tweak them right off the bat.

dave

right on

I also think that this is one of the most giving for the buck amps
but...

if you want more, for little more bucks, you should check the growing chinese kits that are coming to the market such as a $200 stereo amp with nice tubes, high quality caps, resistors etc ...

allthough when you think Buy American the decision is easier...
also take a look at the Foreplay Amp !

J-P

I built this amp a couple of months ago and have been very happy with it. I made a couple of small changes but nothing in the basic circuit. I built a wood case for mine (I posted a pic in the "Photos" section) and that meant making a couple of alterations. I also added an input selector.

The power seems to be about 4 1/2-5 wpc RMS and maybe 8 1/2 peak. For the first three weeks of its life it drove my Advent /1 speakers. The sound was excellent but of course volume was a little limited. I've since built new speakers and it plays as loudly as I want.

If you decide to build this amp I highly recommend Voltseconds web page. He built one and has a few recommendations for tweaking it for noise reduction. (Though it is pretty darn quiet on its own.)
http://www.siteswithstyle.com/VoltSecond/K-12M_AMP/K-12M_Push_Pull.html

Hope this helps.
Sherman

Darren,
Did you ever buy a tube kit? I'm also a noob to tubes and am looking at this kit and the Bottlehead kits.

I've built six speaker projects now and want to venture out a bit. For a beginner, this kit is very attractive because it's so inexpensive. If I mess up, I haven't blown a wad of dough and I can build two for much less than the Bottleheads. I'm sure the Bottlehead monoblocks are better, but again, I don't know too much about tubes.

I have read that the Bottlehead kit and instructions are much better. I've also read that the S5 amp doesn't have a safety bleeder...electric shock is not my thing. It also uses a circuit board which I've read isn't as good, but again I don't really know. The instructions seem pretty basic and then there are some suggestions that were added to the tech notes that aren't all that clear to me. I guess for a $140 there are some things you have to live with.

darren01 said:

Hello,

I was browsing around sites that sell kits and saw this simple tube amp kit.
http://www.web-tronics.com/sterintubamk.html

I have always wanted to put together my own tube amp and the price seems just right for me.

Does this look like a good one to get?

I would probably toss all the caps and resistors and replace them with higher grade Metalized Polys and carbons. No problem there. I probably have the equivelant values on hand.

With a little time spent on the enclosure I could have a great looking and, possibly, good sounding amp.

Any opinions on it?

Are there any other kits or circuit boards out there that I also should be taking a look at?

Thanks in advance.



Darren
(who is kind of excited at the prospect of finally working on a nice tube amp this summer.)

Click to expand...

DIY Kit

Hi,
I bought this kit from a Arizona company, there's bout 3 versions floating around now (one's a monoblock). They've fixed the melting socket problem but these tubes could still use a fan. I also got the Foreplay Bottlehead kit, did the Foreplay preamp first then this S5 amp, and the Foreplay with all it's mods (yeah, I went for it all at once instead of the sensible route) is 10X more complex but 1000X more fun to build. As for sound, I powered some cheap 86dB with this setup till I built some open baffles and for every type of music it gets loud enough to "bother" the neighbors a couple of houses down, definitely loud enough to enjoy while your BBQing on a Saturday. IMHO, it's well worth the money and well worth the learning experience. You can put this amp in lots of chassis, I'll post pics of mine (was in a wood bowl first till I needed mod room). I'm happy enough with mine that I haven't bought the next level of Bottlehead amps (the 8 week wait for the Paramour amp has a little to do with it too) but Fathers Day is coming up and I'm throwing the hints around.
Alonzo

5string,
So you bought the S5 and the Foreplay? Is it necessary to use a pre-amp? Did you buy the standard S5 or the monoblock version? I like the monoblock idea and would pay the extra$$ for that. Two standard kits at $280 is still much less than the Paramours. I've gotten pretty good at woodworking after constructing six sets of speakers including a 7.1 HT system (that's 20 speakers total!). I'm going to build some really pretty wood chassis for these once I make a decision.

As for speakers, I'm looking at this new Fostex kit they have at Madisound. Any other suggestions?

I found a monoblock version here:
http://www.tubesandmore.com/

Bottlehead is getting ready to re-introduce the "Single Ended eXperimenter's" integrated amp for around 300.00USD

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/bottlehead/messages/80477.html

My 2 Cents--Go For Bottlehead

Hi Guys,

From my experience building a Bottlehead Foreplay as my first tube project, I heartily recommend the Bottlehead experience.

Bottlehead kits are a fantastic value, and the Bottlehead forum provides a friendly and knowledgeable community that has huge troubleshooting experience and is glad to share it.

With the forum, you can either concentrate on simply building the kit, or use the search function and discussions to learn as much about theory and tweaks as you can. That's what I did, and it gave me a big boost in knowledge and confidence.

VMMV, caveat emptor. I have no association with Bottlehead, besides being a satisfied customer.

Best,

George Ferguson

Jhovis said:

I found a monoblock version here:
http://www.tubesandmore.com/

Click to expand...

Topologically very similar to the ASL Wave 8s (they use PP 6BM8s). The Wave 8s are not much more expensive and come with a chassis. even thou they come pre-assembled, the quality of some parts leave a bit to be desired, so they should be considered a "kit"

dave

Re: mono blocks?

darren01 said:

What are the benefits of the mono blocks over the stereo kit?

Which would sound better?

Click to expand...

Typically more power supply -- i think in this case the stereo & mono use the same power trafo so you would be doubling the supply size -- and better stereo separation. Monoblocs should sound better, and not even just when pushed.

dave

Dave,
The Wave 8 looks like a good deal for a monoblock. However, I really want to build something and I think I'm going to buy a couple of the little monoblock kits and maybe a preamp. I also like the warmer look of some of the wood cases that I've seen others build over the metal used on the Wave 8. Does anyone know of a suitable preamp kit? The Bottlehead Foreplay looks like the best deal.

I almost forgot to post this reply from tubesandmore.com:
"Dear Jeff,
Both the K-501 and K-502 are integrated amps, and have a preamp section, enough so that you can go straight from a CD player into the amps. But there are no tone controls, and the inputs can handle only one source at a time.
I use the K-502 at home in conjunction with a McIntosh MX110 (preamp/tuner). I run a cheap portable CD player into the MX110, which has tone controls, and allows me to adjust the volume at the MX110 instead of the amp. So even though the K-502 allows for only one source, the MX110 allows for a few, which is convenient. You might consider using a preamp for these reasons.
Some hobbyists feel monoblocks are quieter than stereo amps, but I have not heard from anyone using these amps who has mentioned that. The K-502 outsells the K-501 about 4 to 1.
I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Steve"

Darren,
I just ordered two monoblock kits. Your idea of buying one and then duplicating it is probably a good plan. I already know that I'm going to buy a proper iec cord and connector, on/off switch, volume knob and probably different RCA connectors and speaker terminals. I may also upgrade some of the wiring. $179 for the parts is still cheaper than $500 for the Paramours. I'll build these first then a preamp and then maybe the Paramours. I guess I'll buy the Bottlehead Foreplay preamp kit.

I also ordered three sets of these:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=240-721

Now, I have to decide on a new speaker project. I don't think my MBOW1s are efficient enough.

I've built the S5 tube kit and have been running it for several months now. S5 provides O rings to place between the tube and socket. I've experienced some socket melt but I suspect that may be due to my box design and lack of foresight on the cooling issue. I think this amp sounds quite good, especially for the price. I do notice at moderately loud volumes I get some distortion with female vocals and upper range piano. Tierney Sutton's version of Alone Together drives this amp nuts at anything above a moderate playing level. The speakers I'm using performed this song fine when driven with a 2A3 PP amp. I've made the mods described on VoltSecond's website. It did help the bass and detail but that upper range distortion still exists though not as bad.

Hey guys,
I was going to post Tim's site, but I see he is also a member here and beat me to it. However, I did find this S5 diy site from another diyer:
http://www.inanna.com/~calhoun/s5amp/

BTW, I also bit the bullet and ordered a Bottlehead Foreplay. $149 ($161 delivered) was too good to pass and I can use it for a long time even if I replace the S5 monoblocks. The only thing about the Bottlehead kits is it takes 6-wks and your credit card is billed immediately. Before ordering, they advise you to read their "About Ordering" link. They are a reputable company so I'm not worried. However, you only have 60 days to post a complaint to your credit card company if you feel that you've been scammed.