Affordable "starter" SE amp

[Brett]

Originally posted by Kashmire
Recall, the handwound transformer deal also includes the power tranny along with the choke and output.

I agree, so many options,

That's if you get them (in a reasonable timeframe), and if they have decent performance, two things I've never seen reported with Handwound. Spend your money somewhere reputable, and buy Hammonds as a minimum, though Lundahl OPTs would be better and not much more expensive. The Hammond 193 series PS chokes and 300 series PT's are excellent performers and value for money.

[JBasham]

The Bottlehead Paramours that dhaen mentioned are the only SET kits I know of in the sub-$500 range.

I built a pair once to listen to while I was working on my scratch-built 300Bs. I long since sold them (at a profit no less), but they were startlingly good sounding 2A3 amps. Their main limitation is they use an inexpensive output transformer. The company offers upgraded output transformers for reasonable prices, and some of these upgrades are Magnequest iron.

dhaen also suggested building their design from scratch. We put together a parts list and priced it (from Angela, MCM, Digikey, and Mouser) and it came up to $400 and I think shipping from all the suppliers would've totaled $50 or more easily. I think you might be able to cut that to $300 if you were willing to use scrounged parts and used power supply iron. Given that I sold mine for a profit (the amp has a solid resale market), you might be better off paying up for the kit so you could sell it later if you got tired of it.

But that's just what I think. I might be wrong!

[dhaen]

Yes, I agree buying the kit would likely be more economical that side of the pond.
Shipping iron is not so clever, so probably sourcing parts seperately over here would be cheapest.
I can tell you European equivalents for the output transformer and choke

[kwl]

please take a look for those output transformer,
for a pair of 2.5K 10W SE just 90.00
http://www.diyclub.biz/catalog/default.php?cPath=71_76

[Brett]

Originally posted by kwl
just 90.00

Plus shipping, which can be pricey out of HK: 7kg = $US73.

Do you know who uses them, and in what? The prices are certainly good, but without some credible reference on their performance, they might just be fancy paperweights*.

* I bought some OPT's from a "known" manufacturer out of HK, and was extremely disappointed with their performance. I can't return them because of shipping costs. This doesn't look like the same company, but be very sure before you buy an unknown transformer from o/s as it can turn into an expensive exercise in saving money.