1st Build - Kit or No Kit

jobsworth` · 26th March 2008, 10:12 PM

I am intent on building my first tube amp

, I am exceedingly green to the whole concept. I am aware there are exceptionally high voltages involved in whichever route I go down (kit or following someone else's cct diagram). I am intent on building the amp and testing it as I go and prior to first power up taking it to a decent audio/electrical shop and get them to sign off on it.
My question to you is which route is the best to take first time round, do I buy a kit (if so which would you recommend) or do I follow one of the circuit diagrams on this site, of which there are many.
This amp is going to be used solely for my Ipod so it only requires the one input, if this has any bearing on the kit/cct diagrams recommended.
Looking forward to reading the help offered.

gmilitano · 26th March 2008, 11:22 PM

A kit is a good way to start. There are many available that range in price from $150 and up.

Were you looking for an amp or a preamp?

What sort of power output were you looking for, how efficient are your speakers and what is you budget?

sorenj07 · 26th March 2008, 11:42 PM

build it yourself, no question. nothing feels as good. what's your budget? efficiency of your speakers?

Rob11966 · 27th March 2008, 01:32 AM

Hi Jobsworth,

I was in the same boat last year. I could not really find a kit that gave me exactly what I wanted. In the end I built my own from scratch. It was a surprisingly staisfying project and quite achievable.

If you search under my name you can see how it went from start to finish (including a follow up second amp). I have included all of my suppliers and resources as well so that you can see where to get things.

Cheers,

Rob

jobsworth` · 27th March 2008, 01:48 AM

Amp/Pre-amp, truth be told I don't know the difference. As I said I am looking to make something to plug my ipod into before connecting to speakers (I would have thought this was an amp).
Budget I am looking at about £250 or $400, as for speakers I haven't chosen those yet, they would probably be of the bookshelf variety. As for power output, the room it is going to be used in is about 12' square.
Regards

chrish · 27th March 2008, 02:17 AM

G'Day jobsworth'

I have built 4 valve amps now. One was a failure (from a performance point of view, not from a learning point of view) and the other three are working and playing.

I would suggest as a first project that you start with something simple. This way it is much easier to understand what you are doing and easy for the forum members to help if something goes wrong. Building something from scratch is very satisfying, but obviously more difficult than building from a kit. If a scratch build is a bit daunting, an intermediate route is to purchase a printed circuit board and build the rest of the amp from scratch. This approach eliminate much of the wiring problems for novice builders but still offers a level of "built it myself" satisfaction. I can recommend the SimpleSE from TubeLab http://www.tubelab.com/SimpleSE.htm TubeLab is a frequent and helpful contributor to this forum and his amp design is first rate.

Another approach might be to build a SIMPLE point to point project. This was my third project (the second was the not-so-successful one) New SE 6P15P project This amp is inspired from the Decware Zen amp. I gave this amp to my girlfriend for Christmas. When I go to her place and listen to it, I love it. It sounds a little different from the SimpleSE design, but it only puts out a couple of watts (about two watts in triode mode, about 4 in ultralinear I am guessing) where the SimpleSE is about 7 watts in triode and about 14 watts in ultralinear. Your choice of power output will be dependent on the efficiency of your speakers and the volume level you require. Oh, another option might be to try the Zen kit http://www.decware.com/newsite/mainm...E84C.htm&intro

There are some other projects, this KT88 build is popular http://diyaudioprojects.com/Schemati...-Amplifier.htm

Sure you will get some other worthwhile suggestions here.

Cheers and good luck!

Chris

sorenj07 · 27th March 2008, 02:20 AM

If that's the extent of your knowledge of what amps do, you might want to take some time and learn the basics (google, Pete Millett, etc.) before attempting either a kit or scratch build.

JJGross · 27th March 2008, 07:53 AM

I got my start building by repairing amps first. It's a lot easier to figure out how to work on amps when someone else has done all the hard stuff and you just have to be safe and look for problems. Staring at a blank piece of Garolite is a whole different thing.

I heartily recommend Dave Hunter's book on tube amp design. Google it or hit Amazon. It takes you through the absolute beginings of what things do part by part, then progresses right up to building a complete guitar amp from scratch. really a great way to get not only a fine amp built for very little money, but really understand what does what and more inportantly why it does it without getting too technical and requiring you to learn advanced math or physics to understand it all.

Cheers,
- JJ

kstagger · 27th March 2008, 12:29 PM

Kits are the way to go for a first time builder -

having said that, I built my first amp (PP2A3) w/o using a kit, but I had plenty of experience rebuilding and modding various amplifiers.

Psychobiker · 27th March 2008, 01:06 PM

I'm building my first amp completely my own way, granted it's through college, but still, it's daunting designing your own PCB and hitting the 'go' switch for the first time (rectifier tests)...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/psychob...7604051618142/

There's a taster of what I've done. you can go easier or harder from there

26th March 2008, 10:12 PM	#1
jobsworth` diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2008	1st Build - Kit or No Kit I am intent on building my first tube amp , I am exceedingly green to the whole concept. I am aware there are exceptionally high voltages involved in whichever route I go down (kit or following someone else's cct diagram). I am intent on building the amp and testing it as I go and prior to first power up taking it to a decent audio/electrical shop and get them to sign off on it. My question to you is which route is the best to take first time round, do I buy a kit (if so which would you recommend) or do I follow one of the circuit diagrams on this site, of which there are many. This amp is going to be used solely for my Ipod so it only requires the one input, if this has any bearing on the kit/cct diagrams recommended. Looking forward to reading the help offered.

26th March 2008, 11:22 PM	#2
gmilitano diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba	A kit is a good way to start. There are many available that range in price from $150 and up. Were you looking for an amp or a preamp? What sort of power output were you looking for, how efficient are your speakers and what is you budget? __________________ DIY Audio Projects [ 10" DIY Subwoofer \| FE127E Sealed Bipole \| [ LM3886 Chip Amp / Gainclone \| K-12M Tube Amp Kit ]

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26th March 2008, 11:42 PM	#3
sorenj07 diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	build it yourself, no question. nothing feels as good. what's your budget? efficiency of your speakers?

27th March 2008, 01:32 AM	#4
Rob11966 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Australia	Hi Jobsworth, I was in the same boat last year. I could not really find a kit that gave me exactly what I wanted. In the end I built my own from scratch. It was a surprisingly staisfying project and quite achievable. If you search under my name you can see how it went from start to finish (including a follow up second amp). I have included all of my suppliers and resources as well so that you can see where to get things. Cheers, Rob

27th March 2008, 01:48 AM	#5
jobsworth` diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2008	Amp/Pre-amp, truth be told I don't know the difference. As I said I am looking to make something to plug my ipod into before connecting to speakers (I would have thought this was an amp). Budget I am looking at about £250 or $400, as for speakers I haven't chosen those yet, they would probably be of the bookshelf variety. As for power output, the room it is going to be used in is about 12' square. Regards

27th March 2008, 02:17 AM	#6
chrish diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Sydney	G'Day jobsworth' I have built 4 valve amps now. One was a failure (from a performance point of view, not from a learning point of view) and the other three are working and playing. I would suggest as a first project that you start with something simple. This way it is much easier to understand what you are doing and easy for the forum members to help if something goes wrong. Building something from scratch is very satisfying, but obviously more difficult than building from a kit. If a scratch build is a bit daunting, an intermediate route is to purchase a printed circuit board and build the rest of the amp from scratch. This approach eliminate much of the wiring problems for novice builders but still offers a level of "built it myself" satisfaction. I can recommend the SimpleSE from TubeLab http://www.tubelab.com/SimpleSE.htm TubeLab is a frequent and helpful contributor to this forum and his amp design is first rate. Another approach might be to build a SIMPLE point to point project. This was my third project (the second was the not-so-successful one) New SE 6P15P project This amp is inspired from the Decware Zen amp. I gave this amp to my girlfriend for Christmas. When I go to her place and listen to it, I love it. It sounds a little different from the SimpleSE design, but it only puts out a couple of watts (about two watts in triode mode, about 4 in ultralinear I am guessing) where the SimpleSE is about 7 watts in triode and about 14 watts in ultralinear. Your choice of power output will be dependent on the efficiency of your speakers and the volume level you require. Oh, another option might be to try the Zen kit http://www.decware.com/newsite/mainm...E84C.htm&intro There are some other projects, this KT88 build is popular http://diyaudioprojects.com/Schemati...-Amplifier.htm Sure you will get some other worthwhile suggestions here. Cheers and good luck! Chris

27th March 2008, 02:20 AM	#7
sorenj07 diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	If that's the extent of your knowledge of what amps do, you might want to take some time and learn the basics (google, Pete Millett, etc.) before attempting either a kit or scratch build.

27th March 2008, 07:53 AM	#8
JJGross diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2008	I got my start building by repairing amps first. It's a lot easier to figure out how to work on amps when someone else has done all the hard stuff and you just have to be safe and look for problems. Staring at a blank piece of Garolite is a whole different thing. I heartily recommend Dave Hunter's book on tube amp design. Google it or hit Amazon. It takes you through the absolute beginings of what things do part by part, then progresses right up to building a complete guitar amp from scratch. really a great way to get not only a fine amp built for very little money, but really understand what does what and more inportantly why it does it without getting too technical and requiring you to learn advanced math or physics to understand it all. Cheers, - JJ

27th March 2008, 12:29 PM	#9
kstagger diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Grand Rapids	Kits are the way to go for a first time builder - having said that, I built my first amp (PP2A3) w/o using a kit, but I had plenty of experience rebuilding and modding various amplifiers.

27th March 2008, 01:06 PM	#10
Psychobiker diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Montréal QC	I'm building my first amp completely my own way, granted it's through college, but still, it's daunting designing your own PCB and hitting the 'go' switch for the first time (rectifier tests)... http://www.flickr.com/photos/psychob...7604051618142/ There's a taster of what I've done. you can go easier or harder from there

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