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Red Light District/Baby Huey (EL84 P-P) Output Iron

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There seems to be a lot of EL84 PP interest around here lately. I've been contemplating building one of these, and have thus been poking around for appropriate iron. There is, it turns out, quite a lot to be found, but much of it it not readily available online.

The criteria I've been looking for is 10 to 20W push-pull OPTs with a 8K (or sometimes 10K) primary. So, here's what I have turned up.

Edcor
There are a number of models that will work. The XPP series are super cheap at about $20. Slightly better bandwidth is available from the GXPP for $30. Both are open frame meaning they should go inside the chassis. Both also have single output taps meaning that they may not be matchable to all speakers.

For slightly more money ($56), the CXPP series gets endbells, multiple output taps, and 25W.

Edcor does not list detailed specs, and wouldn't give them to me when I emailed.

Hammond
The reputational bottom for these seems to know no bottom. At the very bottom, there is the 125E for about $35. The primary inductance is listed as 3H (no kidding) so skip these. For a little more money ($45), the 1608A's look a little better, have bell ends and multiple taps. Probably decent for entry level. However, they are only rated at 10W which may be on the low end.

AudioNote
Based on the AudioNote name, I expected these to break the bank, but they are actually quite reasonable. The TRANS-200 are 15W 8K:8/4 without bell ends. They also seem to lack screen taps, so no BH with these. Parts Connection quoted me ~$105 each with a couple of weeks lead time.

Electra-Print
My personal favorite winder. Jack lists the 84P-6, which is 8K:6 at $106 each. I am not sure the wattage, or whether there are screen taps. So, screen taps and multiple output taps will likely increase this

Heyboer
Heyboer, another American winder who seems to be geared toward the guitar market, quoted me $85 each for 15W 8K:8/4.


James
SY's choice, and the default for low cost high quality iron for a while. There are no US distributors, and the only Canadian distributor I could find does not carry the push-pull iron. One overseas districutor quoted me over $300 each for the 6228HS. Fortunatly, you can get these directly from James. Unfortunatly, the shipping is brutal. The transformers were quoted at $72 each, and shipping for th pair was also $72. I think I'd use one of the previous 3 options, but that's me. Some people like the shiny metal boxes the James come in.

Oh, I also asked about larger quantities in case a group buy might be in order. For 5 pairs, they drop to $68 each ($136 for the pair) and for 10 pairs to $63 each. Shipping has to be arranged.

Hashimoto
This is apparently the old Sansui iron, renamed. They have a distributor in Michigan sort of making it reasonable to get. Sort of in that they don't stock the 15W version which means it has to be drop shipped from Japan and the shipping is expensive. So, $350 for a pair (I was quoted slightly less than the website lists) + $60 for shipping. However, I was told that they do stock the 30W version, that I could get them for the same price (the website lists them at a bit more), and that shipping from Michigan to Chicago was $16. They also claim the 30W version sound better.

Lundahl
Worth a mention, but Lundahl does not really seem to make anything in the right range really being meant for larger power amps. Closest seems to be the LL1679 which is a beast. $235 each, or $410 for fancy core material.

O-netics
You need to email Bud Purvine directly to get a quote. I had asked about 10K:8's for 307A's which is not quite the same, but not too far off, either. Level 1's were estimated to be about $180 each with level 2's at $360 and level 3's at $720. Extra taps probably add to this, though 8K's might be less.

Sowter
Sowter has so many OPTs it is hard to know which is right. However, their U064 which is 8K:16/8/4 at 10W is about $135 while the 40W U082 (8K:8) is more like $270. There are a number of others that fall in that range.

Tango and Tamura are not mentioned here as they are hard to get stateside and probably more expensive than these projects will warrant. Magnequest doubtless has something on offer, but it is not on their website. Silk is also said to have something, but again nothing was listed.

Please list anything I missed.
 
I bought ten of the James at a crack and IIRC, I didn't pay any more for shipping all ten than you were quoted for two. Was that by air or ship? I took the slow boat route- they warned me that it could take 8 weeks, but they arrived in less than three.

If I were going lower budget, I'd try the Dynaclones- the original Dynas worked pretty well.
 
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