Best tubeamp for metal, tight bass

[alspe]

Which tube amp DIY-design would be best for heavy metal / rock music. Tone of acoustic instruments is not at first place in my list though that is usually where valves are at its best. Bass must be controlled and fast, snappy transients and not too much decay which makes sound slower.

[dsavitsk]

Originally Posted by alspe

Which tube amp DIY-design would be best for heavy metal / rock music. Tone of acoustic instruments is not at first place in my list though that is usually where valves are at its best. Bass must be controlled and fast, snappy transients and not too much decay which makes sound slower.

Do you need gain? If so, load your favorite tube, maybe something like a 5687, with a CCS and bias it with an LED. If you don't need gain, try this: SYclotron Audio » The Heretical Preamp

[Glowbug]

How much power do you need?

[alspe]

Originally Posted by Glowbug

How much power do you need?

Maybe I need 10-20W. My speakers are and are going to be in future 87-93 dB/w sensitive. But my room is only 18 m2 with concrete walls, so SPL's are lowish.

dsavitsk, I even don't know what you meant by gain? I am true noobie with valves, but I can manage diy if decent design is found. Did you mean active pre stage?

I am looking for traditional integrated tube amp. Pre-power combo will be fine.

What makes amp sound good in low levels? That I'm looking for. Amp which you don't have to push to sound good and meaty.

[dsavitsk]

Originally Posted by alspe

dsavitsk, I even don't know what you meant by gain?

I misread your post and thought you wanted a preamp ...

Just to stay with the theme, for a power amp, again, look to SY SYclotron Audio » The Red Light District

[Gordy]

Originally Posted by alspe

...That I'm looking for. Amp which you don't have to push to sound good and meaty.

I think much of that will be determined by your speakers.

I am not sure of it's power, but the Baby-Huey might make a nice place to start. It is detailed on this forum: Baby Huey PP EL84 amplifier - diyAudio

Alternatively search the net for the Langford-Smith / Aston modified Williamson amp (called the Radiotron A515).

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by alspe

Which tube amp DIY-design would be best for heavy metal / rock music. Tone of acoustic instruments is not at first place in my list though that is usually where valves are at its best. Bass must be controlled and fast, snappy transients and not too much decay which makes sound slower.

This is a stereo HiFi amp, not a guitar amp, right? It's not 100% clear to me from the question. But assuming you are playing back recorded music.....

I have no specific suggestion but i think I can seriously narrow the field.

First off you should be using a push pull design. Then what you need to do is start with the output transformer. Find one you like and can afford. For this use you are going to need a big one perhaps a bit over sized. Likewise I'd think a robust low impedance power supply is in order. I think everything else in the amp is secondary to this. The two OPTs will be the most expensive part, by far so do not leave this to last.

The most important thing will be the speakers and their sensitively. Work backwards from room size and desired SPL and speaker sensitively to get the total amount of power required.

Then look for a OPT that is oversized for the power required. I don't think there is much in the way of high frequency content in Metal. Just look at the way it is recorded. Many times the guitar amps are mic'd. We know guitar amps just don't go past about 8Khz. Even if you think about harmonic (squeelies) played why up on the neck guitars just don't make noise above 8KHz. But on the other hand the bass is without limit. The bass low E is 41Hz and the kick drum goes below that. and some bands "drop tune.". The more massive OPTs will favor the bass at the expense of the highes which "works" for this genre.

Some pro audio 12 and 15 inch drivers with 96dB/W sensitivity and only 18WPC with a big OPT will rattle the windows on house across the street. But no need to waste money on electrostatic tweeters and the like.

I'd match the same kind of tubes the musicians are using. How better to reproduce the sound? Use EL84 if you need reasonable power and EL34 if you need to damage your hearing. Either way two tubes, push pull per channel. If you were going for a jazz or blues sound I say 6L6 or 6V6 tubes, again to match the musicians.

What's so hard about HiFi is that it has to reproduce so many kinds of music. But when you can specify and exact genre the job gets easier. In your case we can know right away there are no flutes or solo piano and also no big need to keep the THD down low with feedback.

[Gordy]

Originally Posted by Gordy

Alternatively search the net for the Langford-Smith / Aston modified Williamson amp (called the Radiotron A515).

Although rated at 15W, it can better be regarded as a good all-round low-distortion 10W amp that can do 15W if pressed: http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/j...iamson-807.pdf

Good luck.