Complete tube amp novice got a few questions!!

[Boscoe]

Basically I'm thinking of making one for my freshly made speakers.

I would be looking for at least 25Wrms per channel.

I don't like the look of them with the transformers on top of the chassis is it possible to mount them inside as long as they are suitably electrically and magnetically isolated properly? Or is this not the reason for no having them inside the chassis?

How much am I looking at price wise?

Where are the sorts of places I can my kits from in the UK?

Why go for tube over chip? And would I really benefit from it as I jsust payed £300 for the speakers I have made?

Thanks
Boscoe

[DF96]

A decent amp needs big transformers, too big to go under the chassis unless the chassis is unusually deep. The easy solution is to put the amp in a box, unless you want to look at the valves as some people do.

[Globulator]

Originally Posted by Boscoe

Basically I'm thinking of making one for my freshly made speakers.

I would be looking for at least 25Wrms per channel.

I don't like the look of them with the transformers on top of the chassis is it possible to mount them inside as long as they are suitably electrically and magnetically isolated properly? Or is this not the reason for no having them inside the chassis?

How much am I looking at price wise?

Where are the sorts of places I can my kits from in the UK?

Why go for tube over chip? And would I really benefit from it as I jsust payed £300 for the speakers I have made?

Thanks
Boscoe

Hi Neighbour!!

You may not need 25W, I changed from a 150W SS amp to a ~9W SE amp and didn't notice any lack of power!

Tube will sound better than SS for a number of reasons, mainly due to the vanishingly small number of correctly designed SS amps.

You can make an amp that uses toroids that will fit under a chassis - but usually the most room is available on top with the tubes!

You may also find it cheaper to buy a chinese amp like the Yaqin MC-10L and mod it rather than buy a kit or all the bits separately.

[Loren42]

Originally Posted by Globulator

Hi Neighbour!!

You may not need 25W, I changed from a 150W SS amp to a ~9W SE amp and didn't notice any lack of power!

Tube will sound better than SS for a number of reasons, mainly due to the vanishingly small number of correctly designed SS amps.

You can make an amp that uses toroids that will fit under a chassis - but usually the most room is available on top with the tubes!

You may also find it cheaper to buy a chinese amp like the Yaqin MC-10L and mod it rather than buy a kit or all the bits separately.

Depends completely on the efficiency of his speakers.

[Loren42]

Originally Posted by Boscoe

Basically I'm thinking of making one for my freshly made speakers.

I would be looking for at least 25Wrms per channel.

I don't like the look of them with the transformers on top of the chassis is it possible to mount them inside as long as they are suitably electrically and magnetically isolated properly? Or is this not the reason for no having them inside the chassis?

How much am I looking at price wise?

Where are the sorts of places I can my kits from in the UK?

Why go for tube over chip? And would I really benefit from it as I jsust payed £300 for the speakers I have made?

Thanks
Boscoe

How did you arrive at 25 WPC?

Can you tell me the SPL rating of the speakers you built?

A chip amp may have some advantages over a tube amp. Tube amps are typically more expensive to build. The advantages are more aesthetic, but you get some exceptional performance from a properly designed and built tube amp.

An exceptional tube amp will be indistinguishable from an exceptional solid state amp as far as performance differences. It's like having your pick between a 2010 Porsche Boxster S and a 1966 Jag XKE. Performance is similar, but the Jag has a lot more style.

[Boscoe]

Okay fair enough good things to thing about there.

How did you arrive at 25 WPC?

Can you tell me the SPL rating of the speakers you built?

A chip amp may have some advantages over a tube amp. Tube amps are typically more expensive to build. The advantages are more aesthetic, but you get some exceptional performance from a properly designed and built tube amp.

An exceptional tube amp will be indistinguishable from an exceptional solid state amp as far as performance differences. It's like having your pick between a 2010 Porsche Boxster S and a 1966 Jag XKE. Performance is similar, but the Jag has a lot more style.

I haven't down any measuring of my own on them but the SPL for the woofers are 90db and the tweeter is 92db both at 1w/1m. I would measure them myself but I'm not really interested in spending the money for the equipment.

[Globulator]

Originally Posted by Boscoe

Okay fair enough good things to thing about there.

I haven't down any measuring of my own on them but the SPL for the woofers are 90db and the tweeter is 92db both at 1w/1m. I would measure them myself but I'm not really interested in spending the money for the equipment.

Looks good for choice then. You can measure them with a cheap multimeter! Switch to AC voltage, connect to the speaker leads and play as loud as you want. I'd be very surprised if you use more than 1 Watt

My speakers are 87dB/Watt and go way loud enough on 9W.

[Boscoe]

ahh nice one didn't realise that but what number am I looking for on the multimeter?

[tinitus]

Boscoe, I hope you have some electronic diy experience, with something SS at least ?

[Globulator]

Originally Posted by Boscoe

ahh nice one didn't realise that but what number am I looking for on the multimeter?

Switch to AC Voltage (lowest range).
Read off the voltage on the display!

Into a 8ohm speaker 8V is about 8Watts, 4V is 2Watts, 2V is 0.5Watt, the formula is Power (Watts) = V x V / R (R = resistance, nominal 8).

It's a rough estimate of power but good enough for the purpose.

BTW: Read the safety topic in this forum (listed at the top) before considering working on a tube/valve amp.