Thanks. Yes, I understand the probable solution, but there is so little space in the 2 cases, and the wiring is hard to see, it won't be easy to implement. And it needs to be safe if a fault develops.
Yes you should be able to swap them in no change .... Are you building this amp or buying one already assembled? This amp runs fairly conservative voltages on the output tube so ya I can't see why not.
Cheers,
Bob
6p3p amplfier
Hi again Bob, admittedly i'm getting this amp pre-build, though my plan is to deconstruct into a nicer chassis (been getting into a bit of veneering) with a few component mods/upgrades that you guys seem to be enjoying. After building some gainclones and modding a tube headphone pre-amp this seems like a good starter to further my learning a bit more with electronics
.
Hi again Bob, admittedly i'm getting this amp pre-build, though my plan is to deconstruct into a nicer chassis (been getting into a bit of veneering) with a few component mods/upgrades that you guys seem to be enjoying. After building some gainclones and modding a tube headphone pre-amp this seems like a good starter to further my learning a bit more with electronics
.Hi guys, my 6p3p amp has arrived and been on rotation now for 3 days and i thought i'd give my view on it it for anyone who may be interested, as is ready made with basic parts, the only thing i have changed is the 6n1 tube for a mullard ecc88/6dj8.
Well i have to say i am fairly happy with the little fella so far, out of the box the amp looks better in the flesh (except for the vol knob, easy to change) than in the pics, its also feels surprisingly heavy for its size, a friend and i were quite shocked by the weight, but then neither of us have ever owned a tube amp before with all that iron so no surprises there i guess.
Once switched on, this plays music straight away, again surprised as my headphone/ pre-amp sounds fuzzy as it takes a few seconds to warm up, its also pretty quite, no noticeable hum unless i put my ear right to the speaker, so all good there.
Now for the hard bit, how does it sound, never done this before and reading other people's description of sound can be funny, embarrassing even, so will try to keep this short for fear of looking a complete numpty.
First impressions, this amp is a lot louder than i expected, (a good thing) though i wasn't overly impressed, playing a variety of music from my labtop the music sounded a bit dark and hard, (funny how you get an expectation, even if you've never heard a proper tube amp before, i was expecting it to sound light and airy) and it sounds quite bass'y, more than i was expecting, though this is if any is were it lets it down, its not very controlled and a little messy which is probably why its sounds loud.
A few days in and its starting to open up a little, maybe the tubes are burning in or i'm getting more used to it, who know's but its sounding more enjoyable now, especially the mids, iv'e been hearing sounds on this (cliche) i never really noticed on my gainclones, i don't think its any more detailed in any sense, just maybe the way its voiced in the midband that puts forward sound in that region you might other wise miss (mere speculation take with a pinch of salt) but i'm enjoying it none the less, vocals and acoustic instruments sound superb through my frugal horns.
Anyway, to sum up. If i made this amp successfully from scratch, i would be more than over the moon in its basic form, for the money its a good little amp. Not the last word in sound, but that's when fun (for me anyway) really starts, what with the tweeks
and possible upgrades, this just might be a great little amp, or at least a really fun project.
Well i have to say i am fairly happy with the little fella so far, out of the box the amp looks better in the flesh (except for the vol knob, easy to change) than in the pics, its also feels surprisingly heavy for its size, a friend and i were quite shocked by the weight, but then neither of us have ever owned a tube amp before with all that iron so no surprises there i guess.
Once switched on, this plays music straight away, again surprised as my headphone/ pre-amp sounds fuzzy as it takes a few seconds to warm up, its also pretty quite, no noticeable hum unless i put my ear right to the speaker, so all good there.
Now for the hard bit, how does it sound, never done this before and reading other people's description of sound can be funny, embarrassing even, so will try to keep this short for fear of looking a complete numpty.
First impressions, this amp is a lot louder than i expected, (a good thing) though i wasn't overly impressed, playing a variety of music from my labtop the music sounded a bit dark and hard, (funny how you get an expectation, even if you've never heard a proper tube amp before, i was expecting it to sound light and airy) and it sounds quite bass'y, more than i was expecting, though this is if any is were it lets it down, its not very controlled and a little messy which is probably why its sounds loud.
A few days in and its starting to open up a little, maybe the tubes are burning in or i'm getting more used to it, who know's but its sounding more enjoyable now, especially the mids, iv'e been hearing sounds on this (cliche) i never really noticed on my gainclones, i don't think its any more detailed in any sense, just maybe the way its voiced in the midband that puts forward sound in that region you might other wise miss (mere speculation take with a pinch of salt) but i'm enjoying it none the less, vocals and acoustic instruments sound superb through my frugal horns.
Anyway, to sum up. If i made this amp successfully from scratch, i would be more than over the moon in its basic form, for the money its a good little amp. Not the last word in sound, but that's when fun (for me anyway) really starts, what with the tweeks
and possible upgrades, this just might be a great little amp, or at least a really fun project.
To get rid if the hum you probably need to change out the stock caps in the power supply (which is what I did) to better power supply capacitors. Also adding a poly bypass cap on any of the 3 PSU caps would help with noise there as well. This (new power supply caps) will to some degree help with the flabby bass too. For hum reduction check where the heater wires are run, they should be tucked into the corners of the chassis and keep them away from any signal wires around the tube sockets. Another big change for sound was ditch ALL the Chinese tubes - both the outputs, (you already changed the driver to a good one) and the rectifier. The rectifier you can change to a 5Y3 (6087 tung-sol slow start) they are pretty cheap still. Id change in some 6L6 RCA black plates but they are getting pricey, or some other decent quality 6L6 variant. I like the Tung-sol 5881 tubes and those are still under the radar but that's changing fast with the high price for the RCA 6L6 black plates. Oh and the volume pot is pretty much crap... I'd get an Alps and call it a day. My amp is hum free, I can run some horn loaded 105dB efficient speakers with it (15" woofers too) and no hum. If there was any noise getting thru I'd hear it with those speakers for sure. Id try new output tubes first and you will hear a much improved sound, kinda flies in the face of common sense, but those stock tubes ehhh... I couldn't listen to them to be honest.
Flabby base could also be a product of mis-matched or poorly matched speaker/amp impedance. You should try the 4ohm tap and see if that helps with flabby base if you haven't already but again I'd change the output tubes right away.
There's some other tweeks to tune this up a bit. It's listenable for sure, but just remember you're only getting about 5 watts/ch so inefficient woofers can suck the life/energy out of those tiny output transformers.
Cheers,
Bob
Flabby base could also be a product of mis-matched or poorly matched speaker/amp impedance. You should try the 4ohm tap and see if that helps with flabby base if you haven't already but again I'd change the output tubes right away.
There's some other tweeks to tune this up a bit. It's listenable for sure, but just remember you're only getting about 5 watts/ch so inefficient woofers can suck the life/energy out of those tiny output transformers.
Cheers,
Bob
Hey Bob, glad you chimed in.
Will be trying your mods for sure, eyeing up some 5y3's on epay right now, thought i had some el34's in a guitar amp to try, but there 6v6's, probably best to swerve.
Funny was thinking of trying the 4 ohm taps but wasn't sure if it would do any damage, will try that next.
As for that 5 watts, i have tried a few speakers now, mostly inefficient and i haven't gone past half way on the volume yet, and this strangely seems plenty for me... must be mellowing.
This is going to be a slow work in progress, suns coming out and music festival season is just starting, so funds are gonna be tight, but will keep you all posted when i make any changes in the near future.
If i can just tighten up that bass a bit, that will be a great start.
Scratch
Will be trying your mods for sure, eyeing up some 5y3's on epay right now, thought i had some el34's in a guitar amp to try, but there 6v6's, probably best to swerve.
Funny was thinking of trying the 4 ohm taps but wasn't sure if it would do any damage, will try that next.
As for that 5 watts, i have tried a few speakers now, mostly inefficient and i haven't gone past half way on the volume yet, and this strangely seems plenty for me... must be mellowing.
This is going to be a slow work in progress, suns coming out and music festival season is just starting, so funds are gonna be tight, but will keep you all posted when i make any changes in the near future.
If i can just tighten up that bass a bit, that will be a great start.
Scratch
You could try the 6V6 tubes but definitely use the 4ohm tape for those. Just be aware that you have global negative feedback and it's hooked up the the 4ohm tap. It wont hurt the speakers or the amp but "may" affect the sound. Try it ... 6V6 single ended ... give it a shot. You should get good bass with the 6L6 tube, controlling it, that's going to depend on the speaker to be honest. What woofer are you using?
Festival Season indeed!!
Cheers,
Bob
6p3p
The speakers are Mark Audio Alpair 7, in a cabinet called the frugal horn mk 3,
they have a big following here on diyaudio.
A single 4" full range speaker in a kind of back loaded horn, a great speaker for a first build, they have there limitations as with most speakers, but with certain kinds of music they sound quite amazing, very natural.
Problem for me is i listen to a lot of different kinds of music, so my reggae and electronic music, can lose a little of that impact i desire, but listen to some jazz, latin or some folk music on these, they really shine.
I,m really enjoying listening to Jorge Ben a Brazilian artist on this amp and speaker combo at the moment.
Do you really think i could do no damage trying them 6v6's Bob, admittedly i'm not sure they even work, my guitar amps been f**ked for years, but would be nice try.
Scratch
The speakers are Mark Audio Alpair 7, in a cabinet called the frugal horn mk 3,
they have a big following here on diyaudio.
A single 4" full range speaker in a kind of back loaded horn, a great speaker for a first build, they have there limitations as with most speakers, but with certain kinds of music they sound quite amazing, very natural.
Problem for me is i listen to a lot of different kinds of music, so my reggae and electronic music, can lose a little of that impact i desire, but listen to some jazz, latin or some folk music on these, they really shine.
I,m really enjoying listening to Jorge Ben a Brazilian artist on this amp and speaker combo at the moment
.Do you really think i could do no damage trying them 6v6's Bob, admittedly i'm not sure they even work, my guitar amps been f**ked for years, but would be nice try.
Scratch
The speakers are Mark Audio Alpair 7, in a cabinet called the frugal horn mk 3,
they have a big following here on diyaudio.
A single 4" full range speaker in a kind of back loaded horn, a great speaker for a first build, they have there limitations as with most speakers, but with certain kinds of music they sound quite amazing, very natural.
Problem for me is i listen to a lot of different kinds of music, so my reggae and electronic music, can lose a little of that impact i desire, but listen to some jazz, latin or some folk music on these, they really shine.
I,m really enjoying listening to Jorge Ben a Brazilian artist on this amp and speaker combo at the moment
Do you really think i could do no damage trying them 6v6's Bob, admittedly i'm not sure they even work, my guitar amps been f**ked for years, but would be nice try.
Scratch
In this amp yes you can drop in the 6V6 there but watch the plates (red = bad) and hook up speakers to the 4 ohm taps. Should be fine...but lower power output.
Cheers,
Bob
Hello Siliconray, is there possible to buy an chassis only, one or two pieces? If so, how much it will cost, and how much is shipping to Poland?
regards
Well, i bit the bullet and have now swapped in some 6v6gt's i had from another amp, thanks Bob, your right they seem to work fine... only wish i could say that there's a marked difference in the sound, to be quite honest its hard to tell, if there is its really subtle, definitely not worse.
Never mind was worth a try, at least i know they can work in this amp, and there not exactly branded tubes, probably on there last legs too.
Think i will have to try a new rectifier tube next , and swap out those caps for something a little better.
Never mind was worth a try, at least i know they can work in this amp, and there not exactly branded tubes, probably on there last legs too.
Think i will have to try a new rectifier tube next , and swap out those caps for something a little better.
I like the Tung-sol 5881 old stock and a Tung-sol 6087 rectifier sound the best in this amp. If you want to get decent 6L6 tubes try 6L6WXT+ tubes from Russia they are fairly cheap and sound pretty good. Any of the 6L6 family tubes should do better in this circuit than the 6V6 although as you see the 6V6 works. Did you try the 4 ohm speaker tap with them?
Cheers,
Bob
Might have to try them Russian 6l6wxt's the price is on the right side and probably as good as any 6l6 as long as there stable, also looking at some alternatives on epay at the moment, but i'm not in any hurry.
Just ordered some diodes for that rectifier mod you recommend, sounds a good idea if it can make the rectifier more reliable.
Oh and yes i did try both taps, no noticeable difference in sound that i can note, i think the spec says there 5.2 ohm, maybe i should ask on the frugal horn forum what tap they use.
Just ordered some diodes for that rectifier mod you recommend, sounds a good idea if it can make the rectifier more reliable.
Oh and yes i did try both taps, no noticeable difference in sound that i can note, i think the spec says there 5.2 ohm, maybe i should ask on the frugal horn forum what tap they use.
My 6p3p just arrived, well packed, shipped quickly by air. But I have a question on the main power transformer. Wires are red, black, red, black, green/yellow, blue, black, blue. I assume its green/yellow gnd, blue 300v, black gnd, and blue 300v. But i cant quite figure out the red, black, red, black onthe far left. Im guessing the red black is 110v. But do I just ignore the second pair of red black?
Hey guys
I also got the amp.
And i took out the negative feedback.
The sound openend up. And i got more power.
Also the mod for the rectfier improved the sound.
And i am using sovtek kt66, liked the sound.
If you have a problem with humming or distortion check your rca inputs.
Mine were not good...
Dennis
I also got the amp.
And i took out the negative feedback.
The sound openend up. And i got more power.
Also the mod for the rectfier improved the sound.
And i am using sovtek kt66, liked the sound.
If you have a problem with humming or distortion check your rca inputs.
Mine were not good...
Dennis
My 6p3p just arrived, well packed, shipped quickly by air. But I have a question on the main power transformer. Wires are red, black, red, black, green/yellow, blue, black, blue. I assume its green/yellow gnd, blue 300v, black gnd, and blue 300v. But i cant quite figure out the red, black, red, black onthe far left. Im guessing the red black is 110v. But do I just ignore the second pair of red black?
Take an Ohms reading on those red/black wires and report back... if you haven't figured it out yet.
Cheers,
Bob
Bob,
The extra pair of red black seem to be identical to the first pair. If i connect 120v AC to the first pair of red black, the second pair reads 120 and all the other voltages (300, 6.3, 5, and 3.15) are correct. If i connect the second pair of red black to 120 wall outlet, then the first pair reads 120, and all the others again show correct voltages. So I guess I will not use the second pair of red black wires, and will secure them out of the way.
Thanks!
Paul
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