I've spent more than a little time studying the Tubelab website and this forum and I'm ready to order a board. But I can't really decide which would suit my listening tastes and which output tubes to go with. Mostly I listen to folksy rock and blues. Some blue grass as well. I really like well recorded live performances ( currently listening to disc 1 of Dick's Picks 29 ).
I'm tending towards a 300b configuration for the base but can't really decide between the SSE or the TSE. Not too worried about build difficulty. My current speakers are GR Research NX2's which are not very sensitive but do have well behaved impedance across the frequency range. I plan to build a full range set of horns or BIB's after I get the amp finished.
Advice would be welcomed...........
I'm tending towards a 300b configuration for the base but can't really decide between the SSE or the TSE. Not too worried about build difficulty. My current speakers are GR Research NX2's which are not very sensitive but do have well behaved impedance across the frequency range. I plan to build a full range set of horns or BIB's after I get the amp finished.
Advice would be welcomed...........
If you are looking to use 300B, the choice would be TSE. I brought up a question about which brand of 300B to go with but it doesn't seem to be a hot topic on this forum for some reason.
Link: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/143756-sophia-electric-300b-tube.html
Some say output tubes are not as critical on sound quality as how they are typically praised on magazines and online reviews. Output transformer is where the money should be spent. I use Valve Art 300B and Electra-Print's 3KOhm OPT for my TSE. It sounds fantastic.
Link: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/143756-sophia-electric-300b-tube.html
Some say output tubes are not as critical on sound quality as how they are typically praised on magazines and online reviews. Output transformer is where the money should be spent. I use Valve Art 300B and Electra-Print's 3KOhm OPT for my TSE. It sounds fantastic.
It has been my plan to build a pair of full range speakers once I complete an amp. I'm on the verge of ordering an TSE board and the parts for it. Need to study the options a bit more though.
1. Tube rectification or solid state? What are the differences? Since the diodes have been a trouble spot I'm leaning towards tube.
2. What is the value of switchable output modes? Am leaning towards keeping the build simple (and reliable ).
1. Tube rectification or solid state? What are the differences? Since the diodes have been a trouble spot I'm leaning towards tube.
2. What is the value of switchable output modes? Am leaning towards keeping the build simple (and reliable ).
If you build the Simple Se then do yourself a big favor and use a 6550 or KT 88 as outputs tubes so you can have something close to 10 watts. Anything smaller you won't hardly get anything worth listening to on your 84 dB speaker. Remember in single ended amps as the power output increases the distortion increases exponentially so you can only count on about half the power as usable. So with the 6550 or KT 88 you are looking at 5 watts rather than 10. Not nearly enough for anything but low volume listening in a reasonable sized room. For your 84 dB speakers I would highly recommend the simple push pull because you will be able to use most all of the 10 watts that it puts out which will come in very handy if your room is any bigger than a shoe box. The big plus here is when you decide you want more power you can just parallel the one you have to get 20 watts and build another one for the other channel. That way you get two mono block 20 watt amps that are well designed for low cost. Do not disregard the well designed statement. You would be shocked at the junk that is sold as quality design.
How many watts?
I have no actual measurements as to the power output of either my SSE (with KT-88's) or my EL84-based SPP. But my ears tell me they are not that far apart when it comes to SPL's given my room and speakers.
Oddly enough, the Millett DCPP I built is claimed by Pete to have around 17wpc. I think for a given setting on my preamp, the SSE and SPP both play louder.
Having said that, the DCPP (with it's humble sweep tubes) resolves recorded details better than either of those. If you play a lousy recording through the DCPP, you can really hear how bad it is!
I have no actual measurements as to the power output of either my SSE (with KT-88's) or my EL84-based SPP. But my ears tell me they are not that far apart when it comes to SPL's given my room and speakers.
Oddly enough, the Millett DCPP I built is claimed by Pete to have around 17wpc. I think for a given setting on my preamp, the SSE and SPP both play louder.
Having said that, the DCPP (with it's humble sweep tubes) resolves recorded details better than either of those. If you play a lousy recording through the DCPP, you can really hear how bad it is!
That just means the SSE and SPP have more gain than the DCPP. In other words, for a given amount of distortion, the DCPP is putting out a bit more power than the SSE would but your volume setting would need to be higher for the DCPP to achieve that. Though the difference between 12W and 17W is not much.
As far as the detail...well I imagine they use different OPTs and the obviously have different topologies.
As far as the detail...well I imagine they use different OPTs and the obviously have different topologies.
I don't plan to run my current speakers with this amp although I will no doubt try them before I decide on a full range build. I've ordered the SSE board and will begin getting all the parts needed to populate it.
While I build the board ( minus R17 & R27 ) which I may bottom mount with single terminal strips so I can change these resistors if need be, I can spend more time researching iron.
The big Edcors with the KT 88's might fit the bill well given my musical tastes.
Sorry for my confusion about the two boards. Think I have it straight now.
While I build the board ( minus R17 & R27 ) which I may bottom mount with single terminal strips so I can change these resistors if need be, I can spend more time researching iron.
The big Edcors with the KT 88's might fit the bill well given my musical tastes.
Sorry for my confusion about the two boards. Think I have it straight now.
Good idea....
After I built my SSE and started to try various tubes, I added terminal strips to make the resistor changes easier.
After I built my SSE and started to try various tubes, I added terminal strips to make the resistor changes easier.
Yes, it may have been one of your posts that gave me the idea. I'm also on the verge of ordering some TB 1808's to use in perhaps a sealed enclosure for this amp. See this thread: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/162407-tang-band-w8-1808-cabinet.html
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