Powered up my Lafayette 224A for the first time!

[SigloOne]

Today I had a housewarming party for the new house my wife and I moved into about 2 months ago.

Just before I moved I purchased a vintage Lafayette 224A on eb, this is my first tube amp. It arrived the day before i moved and all I could do was take a quick peek at it, and get crap from my wife for buying it. It was super clean. Barely even a scratch on it. If I didn't know any better I would say it was brand new.

Before the party today I assembled all my components: a Marantz Gold turntable I bought in the '80s (my Pro-Ject One is on the fritz needing a new platter), Teac pro dual cassette deck, Sony 30 disc changer, and my Lafayette 224A driving two Cerwin Vega L-7 speakers I bought in the '90s.

WOW! It powered up with no problems, a beautiful mellow glow emanating from the tubes. The sweet sounds that came from the Parliament Funkadelic LP I played were sublime! I played it for an hour from the CD, keeping an eye out for any problems... NADA!

When the party started I let it go through the CD's library and it performed without a hitch. Just powered it down after 7 hours and it was a champ. The only difficulty was the power switch which, one pressed in, would not pop back out. Had to turn it off at the surge bar.

All in all, a very successful first outing. I am extremely pleased!

Next step is to build George's Simple PP after he perfects it. Which may take some time but I know will be worth it.

--Steve

[SigloOne]

Here are a couple photos of the amp. The one showing the tube's sweet glow is a little fuzzy, but I don't have a tripod.

[SigloOne]

Another Image

[HollowState]

Congrats on the new house and tube equipment. Actually, astronomers think we reside in something called the Orion Spur of our galaxy.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080606.html (hover your mouse over the image)

Victor