I currently have a pair of the Fostex FE208ES recommended BLH enclosures with the FE208ES drivers and the T90A supertweeters. My amplifier is an Adcom GFA-5802 currently. I have heard alot about Tube amps having a much warmer sound and being a better match for high efficiency BLH speakers. Parts Express is running a special on this SET amp below. Would this be a good choice?
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=306-102
Thanks in advance for your advice.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=306-102
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Are you a diy man ? If yes , diy gives you much more pleasure
and if good schematic and components are choosen , i can say more performance too . The critical part the output transformers now are wide available quality and price at the measure of your budget . Now i am in a project for 50w, a single ended 805 triode
valve near the same 999 usd .
Regards
and if good schematic and components are choosen , i can say more performance too . The critical part the output transformers now are wide available quality and price at the measure of your budget . Now i am in a project for 50w, a single ended 805 triode
valve near the same 999 usd .
Regards
It's more than just a "warmer" sound (which may not be true, depending....). Because of the inherent linearity of the tubes and the type of circuits, it's easier to get better clarity and dynamics, especially over transistor circuits that require alot of global negative feedback. I think the transformer coupling also lends a certain smoothness to the sound. It just sounds more natural, which is why I converted to tubes. Once, I even tried a single-ended MOSFET circuit with an output transformer just to see if it was as good as a tube..... Nope!
Thanks everyone. I am a DIY'er but only with building BLH for full range drivers.. The DIY approach to aquiring a tube amp sounds appealing. I do have some background with electron tubes but within the scope of RF for amateur radio. Whatever happened to good old Heathkit? I'll check the newbie thread to see if there is related information.
Andy.
Andy.
Hi awhite1159 it sounds like you are half way there with a back ground in amatuer radio.
I also have a back ground in rf but I have to admit audio is a whole diffrent animal but deffinantly do able.
I'm glad you asked the question about those amp's because I have been eying them too.
Good luck
Nick
I also have a back ground in rf but I have to admit audio is a whole diffrent animal but deffinantly do able.
I'm glad you asked the question about those amp's because I have been eying them too.
Good luck
Nick
Some questions and suggestions to help you make your choice:
Do you need an integrated amp (with preamp) or do you have a separate preamp?
How large is your room?
I have a pair of Fostex 208? in a Schmacks BLH. My room is about 7m x 4.5m x 2.5m, with 6.2W of output power I achieve 107 dB SPL at the listening position.
About the amp you mentioned:
The low distortion and high damping factor suggest that negative feedback is used. Looking at the chassis it seems that this amp uses an CRC powersupply filter (no room for chokes).
For DIY have a look here:
TubelabSE
If you do not need a preamp and your budget allows it, have a look at these:
Ladyday signature amp
For some info on loudness and power, have a look at the specs for my amp:
SiTuIT specifications
If you want to go 'all the way' look for a design with DHT's (directly heated triodes) and zero (or adjustable) feedback.
Do you need an integrated amp (with preamp) or do you have a separate preamp?
How large is your room?
I have a pair of Fostex 208? in a Schmacks BLH. My room is about 7m x 4.5m x 2.5m, with 6.2W of output power I achieve 107 dB SPL at the listening position.
About the amp you mentioned:
The low distortion and high damping factor suggest that negative feedback is used. Looking at the chassis it seems that this amp uses an CRC powersupply filter (no room for chokes).
For DIY have a look here:
TubelabSE
If you do not need a preamp and your budget allows it, have a look at these:
Ladyday signature amp
For some info on loudness and power, have a look at the specs for my amp:
SiTuIT specifications
If you want to go 'all the way' look for a design with DHT's (directly heated triodes) and zero (or adjustable) feedback.
Witith 7W from an EL34 that is going to be wired as single ended pentode. Means you'll have to go inside to tweak it (ie a switch to be able to run in triode (4W) and someway of adjusting or disabling the feedback),
An SE tube amp is a pretty straight forward diy.
One of the reasons a typical SE yube amp works so well with FR systems like yours is that the high output impedance. This has the amp looking more like a current device so that it puts out more power as the impedance rises -- on a FR giving the FR help where it needs it at the bottom & the top, With a damping factor of 52 this has way to low an output impedance to get this benefit (and means it has a serious amount of feedback -- something a SE tube amp is trying to avoid)
Reading between the lines, i'm guessing this is a tube amp designed for the guys looking for SS-like specs. I'd tend to stay away from it. There are LOTs of other choices pre-built, as kits, or as pre-built kits (like this one, inexpensive Chinese amps just screaming to be modded)
dave
An SE tube amp is a pretty straight forward diy.
One of the reasons a typical SE yube amp works so well with FR systems like yours is that the high output impedance. This has the amp looking more like a current device so that it puts out more power as the impedance rises -- on a FR giving the FR help where it needs it at the bottom & the top, With a damping factor of 52 this has way to low an output impedance to get this benefit (and means it has a serious amount of feedback -- something a SE tube amp is trying to avoid)
Reading between the lines, i'm guessing this is a tube amp designed for the guys looking for SS-like specs. I'd tend to stay away from it. There are LOTs of other choices pre-built, as kits, or as pre-built kits (like this one, inexpensive Chinese amps just screaming to be modded)
dave
For the price that amp is probably ok. As mentioned you could build something better for the same price. Though it can take quite a bit of time to build something that is refined enough to be a permanent part of your system. At least if your as picky as I am. Personally I would purchase that amp then build another one if your heart desires. That way you won't feel rushed on the build. Plus, you can never have too many tube amps 
I can heartily recommend the TubeLab SimpleSE. If you have some basic tools and can solder it is a peace of cake to build and will cost you around half of what that parts express amp is selling for. It only took me a couple of days to build mine (it is the one on the builders amps section of the tubelab site). I am extremely happy with mine. On the TubeLab web site my comments mention that there is a very slight hum with this amp. I have since discovered that this hum was due to my slack routing of signal and power wiring behind my entertainment unit (I have emailed George to notify him of this). The amp is virtually dead quiet. I have tried the amp with JJ E34L tubes and JJ KT88 tubes. This amp sounds sweet!
chrish said:
Add that one to the list -- i've been considering that one too.
I just recently made a post on another thread, much of which is apropro to this thread
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1282821#post1282821
dave
I built this simple KT88 single ended amp and have been very happy with the results. I would guestimate power at around 6-7 watts. I`ve compared it favourably against some fairly well known designs and it did very well. Highly recommended.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=671676&stamp=1119993206
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-4/1255358/0-Audio003.jpg
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=671676&stamp=1119993206
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-4/1255358/0-Audio003.jpg
chrish said:
I'll second this - the Simple SE is about as easy to build as a DIY amp can be (everything's on a single small circuit board), more fun than buying an amp, and a bunch cheaper to boot. I can only hear a faint hum from mine if my ear is brushing the speaker cone. Why buy Chinese?
I'm going to take the advice given and make the TubeLab SimpleSE my first project. Has anyone gone through all the logistics of ordering the PC board and parts that might give me some pointers? The website doesn't look very automated and I'm trying to figure out how to order what I need.
Thanks to all for your help.
Thanks to all for your help.
awhite1159 said:
George's website is not automated at all. E-mail him and tell him which board you want. He takes payment by Pay Pal.
There is a full BOM with suggested parts to populate the board on the site, that should get you started. Some things you'll have to figure for yourself, like switches, input jacks, binding posts and such. And a chassis.
Well I just ordered the bulk of the components to populate the PCB. (SimpleSE) I don't know what anybody else thinks about the online ordering systems these parts suppliers use but I find them rather frustrating. I have a question about the 8 pin octal sockets. I could not find it on AES but found this:
http://www.tubedepot.com/sk-8pinpcg.html
This seems to be what I need. Does anyone know of a 1-stop shopping website for these parts? I still have to order the power trans, output trans, volume pot, etc. (All the stuff not on the PCB.)
I apologize if this question has already been answered in another thread but could not find one.
http://www.tubedepot.com/sk-8pinpcg.html
This seems to be what I need. Does anyone know of a 1-stop shopping website for these parts? I still have to order the power trans, output trans, volume pot, etc. (All the stuff not on the PCB.)
I apologize if this question has already been answered in another thread but could not find one.
awhite1159 said:
Those will work.
I don't think there's a truly one-stop supplier out there. I used thetubestore.com (sockets, 12AT7), DigiKey (500 V Panasonic caps, screw terminals, misc parts), Allied (power xformer and choke, cap clamp, other misc parts that DigiKey didn't stock), Sonicraft (metal film & Mills resistors, Sonicap coupling caps, RCA's and binding posts), ebay (Transcendar OPT's, motor run cap), Lowe's (grommets, nuts and bolts, spray paint) and Linens 'n' Things (heavy aluminum roasting pan that I used as a chassis!).
I still don't have a decent photo of it, but here it is:
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