First Time Project - Finished! Photos Attached

[Rob11966]

Well I powered up my newly built amplifier last night - the tubes fired up, the transformer hummed softly - it looked as if everything was working as it should be. The only problem was that even with full volume (no input signal yet) there was nothing coming through the speakers. I was expecting a hum or low hiss or something. Anyhow, turned on the CD player in hope and......music. To my uneducated ears it sounds great. No hums hisses or funny noises and plenty of punch. I am absolutely delighted with it.

This has been a 5 month project for me, starting without even a decent soldering iron. The amp is based on a Dynaco ST70 circuit and was built from scratch (you can follow my progress from start to finish by reviewing some of my earlier posts) apart from the caps board which an SDS labs kit.

I would like to thank all the members of this group who offered advice along the way. My steel vs Aluminium post was robustly debated and convinced me to go with an aluminium chassis - a very good decision for me not only because of the potential sound quality advantages but also because I had to drill and ream lots of holes and it would ave been punishing work with steel. Advice concerning the signal ground was also very helpful and spot on as judged by the lack of unwanted noise.

I would especially like to thank Sy and Hollowstate who seem to have been following my progress quite closely and also Jackinnj who provided a circuit diagram for a voltage double to take 6.3 v to 12 to drive my LED switch light. Unfortunately it only provides 11.9 v!

I would also especially like to recommend the guys at Radiodaze (a place I discovered on the net) who were extremely helpful and supplied half of the gear that I used including the nice old cloth covered wire.

Sorry about the ramble. As you can probably tell, I am very pleased with the outcome. I do not get any encouragement at home and my wifes only comment was 'that's nice' - I guess I am going to have to built a robot with AI that cleans the house to impress her!!

Finally to my friends who said I couldn't do it without electrocuting myself, I say once again, it just goes to show that it is better to be lucky than good.

Cheers,

Rob

[Rob11966]

Photo 2

[Rob11966]

Photo 3

[Rob11966]

Photo 4

[luvdunhill]

wow! looks great, especially that wonderful looking case! I need to find one of those for my next project!

[SY]

Seriously good work. A bit more experience and you'll be dangerous!

[HollowState]

Congrats on a first class job Rob! I've been impressed many times by the finished builds I've seen on this site, and your's is up there with the best. A far cry from my first amp back in the 50's when there was no internet, computers or Morgan Jones books. Only magazine articles.

Victor

[seventenths]

One more "first project" that looks that good will have me tearing out the rest of my hair

Very, very nice!


7/10

[Richard Ellis]

Congrats Rob, what a lovely looking amp....had you second guessing yourself when she had no hum on power-up Huh?
You are now the proud parent of a.....Got a name/Model # for her?
I understand the wife not really getting into it...same here, but she does like music I assume...and YOUR creation has made that sweet music possible!
______________________________________Rick........ ...

[planet10]

Gorgeous -- are you sure this is your 1st one?

dave