Favourites discrete brand for tube amp

[ccschua]

Hi,

Recently I have been exploring DIY on how to improve the tube amp sound, for after market purchase.

I shall leave out the tubes and transformers as they are assume to be good come packaged with the tube amp.

I have divided the job to the following : -
1. signal resistors i.e. Grid resistor
RMG is good candidate. Better choice would Duelund

2. Coupling cap
too many options here.

for neutral and transparency. -> VCAP TFTF
for speed, smooth, clear , liquid -> Mundorf Silver/Oil

3. Cathode cap
any recommendation


4. power cap.
Blackgate, Mundorf M-lytic, Obbligato film oil.

pls share your thots here.

 

[azazello]

1.Ricken
3.Blackgate, Yensen, Elna.

 

[kevinkr]

Assuming that the tubes that came packaged with an amplifier, particularly those provided with an inexpensive amplifier are of good quality is not necessarily a safe assumption. I would put tube rolling with vintage US or European equivalent types at the very top of the list of changes I would make before doing anything else. (Once I had made sure that the amplifier was reasonably well designed and constructed and working properly.)

The next change I would make would be coupling caps, and cathode bypass caps followed by plate load resistors, supply caps and then anything else.

At some point you have to ask yourself whether it would be better and more economical to build a good proven design from scratch than to go through multiple iterations of parts upgrades only to bump into limitations imposed by mediocre OPTS, poor design, or other issues.

The only reason I can see for following this route is if you want to work with fairly exotic tubes in dht se amplifiers in which case a good Chinese made amplifier with a nice chassis design might be the best way to go.