Thinking about building an S5 16LS 16W amp I've got some questions for the forum./

[jerrynsr]

Hi,
I'm an electronic hobbyists. Since I was a teenager I've built everything from am transmitters to robots running linux. After my youngest son bought a 5 watt tube amplifier for his guitar I got bitten by the tube bug. I started with the 3.5wpc Miniwatt N3. I've got that upstairs in the bedroom hooked up with Energy CB-20 speakers. The sound is awesome. My Blues collection never sounded so good. Now my 26 year old Kenwood amp in the family room sounds like noise compared to what I have upstairs. Now I would like to build my own tube amplifier.

I've got JBL 350A speakers in the family room. They are large floor standinding speakers. The old Kenwood was connected to them and is rated at 35wpc. I figured I would need a tube amp that delivers at least 15wpc. The S5 Model 16LS looks like it might be a good fit. At least I thought that until I read some of the reviews here. Have any of you built the 16LS and liked it ? Has there been improvements to it since 2009 ?

I found a decent source for chassis and cages, and alps potentiometers here:
Angela Instruments Online Catalog - Chassis - 1451 Series Hammond Cages

I've got plenty of questions. Do you use a punch or a drill to create the holes in the chassis for the tubes ? Is it ok to enclose the transformers ?

[rock4016]

I'd look at the oddwatt mono blocks. KT77 or KT88. They are more expensive, but will put out the power you'll need and still sound great.
OddWatt