First Post Here

[Blind Lemon]

Hello All;
This is my first post here, I have been hanging out guitar tube amp forums for quite a number of years and have lots of guitar amp builds under my belt. Have wanted to get into the audio end for some time but with my new builds and guitar amp repair it has kind of kept me away.

What got me here today is that my shop amp re: old Pioneer solid state, went tits up on me. So I'm thinking this is my chance. I got a 450 sqft shop, some little JBL bookcase speakers, I want an amp that I can run my sat receiver, CD player and computer through. Since these signals are relatively small do I need a preamp and a power amp?

What do I need....I don't know. How many watts.....I don't know. But when I dime my tweed 5 watt Princeton in the house all I see is my wifes mouth moving and steam coming out her ears. I get the point and move to the shop.

I have quite a bit of components and hardware for guitar amps. I like to build from scratch, including drilling and setting turrets. Really I'm just kind of at a loose on where to start.

Any suggestions?

Hers a couple of my amps.

BL

[smoking-amp]

Wellcome aboard!
There are plenty of amp designs around on the forum. One of the favorites lately has been Pete Milletts "engineers amp":
Posted new P-P power amp design
Which does anywhere from 18 Watts to 250 Watts per channel with some mods using Sweep tubes. I'm sure others here will drop in with some other popular amp suggestions as well. Then there are many "classic" designs that get built too. Dynaco amps for example. Mullard 5-20. ....

[Eli Duttman]

BL,

The amount of power you need depends of the efficiency of the speakers. Do you have the spec's for the speakers? By any chance, do you know what the JBLs' crossover is like? What was the power rating of the dead SS unit?

Unless you get involved with phono, you will not need a preamp with gain. You have described "line level" sources and a stereoblock "integrated" amp will be fine.

[Cassiel]

Hi,

Basically you'll have to choose between SE or PP and triode, UL or pentode output. Guitar amps tubes like the 6V6 or EL84 are also very good for hifi. For higher power I'd choose the EL34.

[Blind Lemon]

Speaker I have been using are JBL 2600s and the dead tuner/amp is a Pioneer SX-V200. I'm tring to get a handle on the differences between SE and PP, I know the differences as far as how the crcts work. More about how they sound in an audio application. I've got some iron from an old Bogen integrated P-P amp running 7408/6V6s. But you know parts are not really a problem. And although I don't have anything against crct boards I really like the hand wired/turret boards. But then again I'm open.

Maybe some suggested reading?

BL

TW Rocket Gut Shot I built from scratch. I didn't punch the chassis.

[Eli Duttman]

I've got some iron from an old Bogen integrated P-P amp running 7408/6V6s.

BINGO! Build an "El Cheapo" with those O/P trafos. While 6 WPC from triode wired 6V6 family tubes is not a lot of power, the project is a cheapskate's delight and sounds very good. If by chance Bogen used UL taps, you can tie the g2 resistors to those, instead of the plates, and get 12 pretty darned good WPC. A full set of power "iron" can be ordered from Allied Electronics, at modest expense, should you be interested.

[Blind Lemon]

I got the PT out of Bogen also. No UL taps. I've also got some got an Edcor EM0725A 650V/400mA PT, an EM0726 600V/250mA PT,EM0731 640V/250mA. What I don't have is a lot of is audio OPTs. Just the Bogans, but I dont mind buying more iron.

If you wouldn't mind the attachment doesn't blow up to well, would you e-mail me a copy. 1blindlemon at cox dot net

BL

[Blind Lemon]

How many post do I have to have before the mods give me the OK for instant posting?

BL

[Knarf]

Originally Posted by Blind Lemon

Maybe some suggested reading?

Morgan Jones: Valve Amplifiers.

Love your chassis wiring and construction technique. Might be worth tweaking a thing or two for your next build, but really nice effort nevertheless.

- Frank.

[Eli Duttman]

BL,

Look here for a bigger gif.