• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

1st build suggestions

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Hi i am currently studding an BTEC level 3 in electrical engineering at college. I have always been interested in home audio and I want build something to rival my marantz pm6003.

Can anyone recommend some DIY amplifier kits that include step by step instructions and that include a power supply.


My budget is around £100 (160USD)
What tools will I need (i have none) and how much will they cost?
will I be able to build something to rival my Marantz pm6003 on my budget?
How safe are the kits to build and use?
how will it work with my current set-up? Arcam Rdac and Monitor Audio BX2?

thanks for your help here some iv found so far........

Class D Audio CDA-254S Kit - Amplifier Kits

New CCAcathode-coupled amplifier PCB & Kit
 
Mark,
Your Marantz amp probably produces about 50W per channel and this more or less needed to drive your bookshelf type(I think) speakers. Doing this with valves is expensive and dangerous if you are not used to working with high voltages. The valve kit you mention is just a preamp. Why not hang around this forum for a while,watching what some of the(extremely resourceful!!) experts here do and save up for a suitable project. Some members here build impressive amps with salvaged components. I am sure you can easily build a class D amp within your budget, however. Have you looked at the class D forum?
 
Is class D going to be the most rewarding option with my budget?
Switching power supplies and class D amps I would definitely stay away from for DIY since they need a lot of experience and established shop with good equipment.

Tube amps are easy to build & lot of pleasure too. Excellent book highly recommend http://www.amazon.co.uk/Valve-Ampli...6948/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325772931&sr=8-1

An interesting project to implement MagneQuest DIY: Kurt Strain's COBALT SET 45 Parafeed Dual Mono Amplifier
 
The best way to learn about tube amplifiers, I think, is to build a pre-amp/headphone amp. You can use it with your existing system. There are loads of schematics and descriptions out there. Look for 12AT7, 12AU7, 6N1P, 6N2P for instance.
Here are two suggestions: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/11307-simple-tube-preamp.html

You could also build a spud amp - A one-tuber - as an amplifier for computer speakers for instance or a guitar practice amp. My favorite tube right now is the 6S45P. It can take a lot of abuse and has 150 - 170V plate voltage (B+)
 
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Hi Mark,

Beating a Marantz is not so easy... but we can and should do it. We are on DIY after all...

May I suggest something that it is easy to build and not dangerous because we deal with low secondary voltages, will have a low cost within your budget, and can sound really good as well: The GainClone, based on an original product from 47Labs ( Amplifier ).

There are so many sites to choose a GainClone design from:
GainClone Introduction
ADX Electronics - Why Gainclones work

Have fun!
 
Hi,

I have a degree in EEE, and the first thing thing that is obvious
is you don't have a prayer of getting anywhere near your £300
PM6003 with a £100 budget in any realistic context.

Not with proper casework, quality switches and pots etc....

In the UK you can't build anything that remotely approaches
buying stuff used cost effectively, that is the way it is.

rgds, sreten.
 
Hi,

I have a degree in EEE, and the first thing thing that is obvious
is you don't have a prayer of getting anywhere near your £300
PM6003 with a £100 budget in any sensible realistic context.

Not with proper casework, quality switches and pots etc....

In the UK you can't build anything that remotely approaches
buying stuff used cost effectively, that is the way it is.

rgds, sreten.
 
Thanks everyone for your reply's.

Ok so im not going to better my Marantz amp especially on my first attempt at DIY. So can anyone point me to some good and SAFE class D or chip amp kits. preferably with step by step instructions and has good tried and tested reviews.
Many thanks Mark
 
Mark,

The £100 budget is unrealistic for a tube (valve) power amp project. Magnetics have always been costly and the recent run up of materials costs (copper in particular) has exacerbated this expense factor. :(

Your 90 dB. sensitive speakers should be mated with no less than 16 WPC. If "head banger" fare is what you prefer, even more power is definitely in order.

UK based Sowter's excellent model UA21 O/P trafo would be highly suitable in an "El Cheapo Grande" (7591 O/P tubes), which would meet the power O/P need, costs £182.35 each. Every thing else required to build the "integrated" amp (no preamp needed) rates to cost less than 1 good O/P trafo.
 
Seeing as you live in a country with valve relic's around, I'm really surprised nobody has mentioned used equipment.

If you look around a bit I'm sure you can come up with something.

Harvest an old console and build on one of Eli's schematics.

Get more efficient speakers < this is far cheaper then building watts. ;) IMO sounds better too.

I had a different model of Marantz (vintage), aside from the pretty blue display I don't really miss it. It's not hard to get the quality your after if you don't mind losing a few watts.

As others have mentioned, big watts=big iron, which usually=big money.

I think it's a tough comparison, they are different beasts altogether, both having pros and cons.

My experience is limited, I'm trying to be neutral about it.

I built this amp for around ~$150 Canadian. (picture below) The iron is from console pulls stuffed in a cake pan, even the hardware was salvaged, the wood too. I did however use new resistors and capacitors.
All kinds of options out there, tinker away. It is possible, I think you might be in for a surprise. I have had this amp in various states over the past year, I really don't know what I'm doing and yet it always sounds phenomenal. I promise you it's plenty loud.

If you got a raging hard-on to build something, get a "gainclone" kit or something in the meantime while you learn tube safety.

They are low(er) voltage, fun to build, and again you might be surprised. I just slapped one together myself. Not quite a tube amp, but a very nice amplifier, of coarse it has a lot of low end power for cheap vs a tube amp.
If I had not heard a proper tube amp before, a chipamp(gainclone) would be my new favorite amp. I have only been listening to it for ~8 hours lol.
DIY Chip Amplifier Kits, PCB's, Components and Information.
Chipamp.com
 

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