Which types of valves are both in the highest watt category and usually in stock at common places?
This would be for a push pull design with a total of two (2) output tubes per channel (i.e. which valves would result in the highest watts as measured by common industry standard... e.g. Low THD @ 20Hz to 20Khz, etc)
What i mean by usually in stock at common places is that they are usually in stock at these two places;
www.thetubestore.com - Your online source for audio vacuum tubes.
https://tubedepot.com/
kind thanks,
Eddie
This would be for a push pull design with a total of two (2) output tubes per channel (i.e. which valves would result in the highest watts as measured by common industry standard... e.g. Low THD @ 20Hz to 20Khz, etc)
What i mean by usually in stock at common places is that they are usually in stock at these two places;
www.thetubestore.com - Your online source for audio vacuum tubes.
https://tubedepot.com/
kind thanks,
Eddie
Very strange question. The question you should probably be asking provided you have the knowledge and experience to build such an amp is what tube would you use to achieve a target output power at some specified distortion level.
Any specific reason for choosing these two suppliers? I have designed and built a lot of amplifiers over the years and have never bought a single tube from either.
Choose a tube that is either cheap and still readily available such as a tv sweep tube or a tube that is in current production like the 6550, KT88 or EL34..
Low thd and tube amps don't mix in general. For example Tubelab has achieved very high powers (>200W) from single pairs of sweep tubes, but the amplifiers in question were not necessarily intended for long term use. (Exploring what was possible short term.)
So what sort of power are you looking for?
Any specific reason for choosing these two suppliers? I have designed and built a lot of amplifiers over the years and have never bought a single tube from either.
Choose a tube that is either cheap and still readily available such as a tv sweep tube or a tube that is in current production like the 6550, KT88 or EL34..
Low thd and tube amps don't mix in general. For example Tubelab has achieved very high powers (>200W) from single pairs of sweep tubes, but the amplifiers in question were not necessarily intended for long term use. (Exploring what was possible short term.)
So what sort of power are you looking for?
Have you considered tubes originally intended for RF use? The 811A is a pretty good candidate (see literature on an Altec 1570B amplifier). These tubes are still in production and fairly cheap at around 25 dollars each. Although neither of the suppliers you listed stocks them. I get my 811s from Home page.
You want a valve with power try this one (not cheap !)
http://http://www.die-wuestens.de/dindex.htm
Good luck,
Mona
Soundwave Research: "Bomber Stock" 4D32 tube found in Collins 32V2 Transmitter
Just think of Slim Pickens in "Dr. Strangelove"
I have spent considerable time extracting a lot of power from cheap tubes. Yes I can get 250+ watts from a single pair of TV sweep tubes with respectable THD numbers over the entire audio spectrum for short periods of time.
A typical audio amplifier, even one fed with todays over compressed pop music, or a guitar amp in a live band situation will typically AVERAGE at least 10 dB below full rated power when it is turned up to the point of audible distortion. Thus a 250 watt amp will output 25 watts or less AVERAGE power in audio use. Bob Carver made his carrer on this fact.
I have constructed a 125 WPC stereo amp based on Pete Millett's Engineers Amp. At least 10 have been built from my design and they seem to live just fine in long term use. My amp is still operating with the original tubes in it after 2 years. That amp used 6HJ5's which the tubestore.com lists in stock for $5.95 each! I also like the 6LW6 since it provides about TWICE the power output, but costs more, they are $34.95. Granted these TV tubes are no longer made and some day they will all be gone.
If you choose to use traditional audio tubes there are the new UBER KT88's:
This statement is on the tubestore web site and comes from the Tung Sol literature. No one has veified these claims yet, and there is no gurantee that these tubes will see long term production.....$95.95 EACH!
As tubelab mentioned, KT120s or KT150s in push-pull would make some big power. Another (cheaper) tube is the Shuguang EL156.
Heck, I've seen EL34 designs that get 100Ws out of a pair. Of course this requires a bunch of voltage and the tubes operating heavily into class B. Run them in parallel to get some more oomph.
And GEC had a design for a 100W KT88 amplifier
http://www.jacmusic.com/KT88/SCHEMATIC5.gif
But if you really need tons of power, I would start to question your speaker choices. I get by with a pair of 60W monoblocks with 89dB speakers. I've never come close to running out of power since this is ear damage territory.
Heck, I've seen EL34 designs that get 100Ws out of a pair. Of course this requires a bunch of voltage and the tubes operating heavily into class B. Run them in parallel to get some more oomph.
And GEC had a design for a 100W KT88 amplifier
http://www.jacmusic.com/KT88/SCHEMATIC5.gif
But if you really need tons of power, I would start to question your speaker choices. I get by with a pair of 60W monoblocks with 89dB speakers. I've never come close to running out of power since this is ear damage territory.
One thing to consider is that late last year you were asking questions as a beginner and high power usually equates to high voltage and high chance of personal damage when the inevitable happens. I like to jump right in but not when the pool's empty.
Perhaps getting some experience with something a bit more manageable could be a good place to start.
What will you be using the amps with? ie, speakers, room size, type of music etc
Anyone tried some of the larger external anode ceramic stuff intended for RF use?
4CX250, 'CX10000A, things like that?
Even something like a GS-35B!! 2.5KW plate dissipation if fed sufficient cooling air, OPT may be something of a challenge.
QRO-Parts, RF-Parts, Richardsons, plenty of places to get this stuff.
73 Dan.
4CX250, 'CX10000A, things like that?
Even something like a GS-35B!! 2.5KW plate dissipation if fed sufficient cooling air, OPT may be something of a challenge.
QRO-Parts, RF-Parts, Richardsons, plenty of places to get this stuff.
73 Dan.
I'd like to get about 125 Watt per channel with two push pull output tubes per channel. But I'm still a beginner (tho not as beginner as last year because I have read a lot since then)...so I don't know how reasonable or practical it is to expect ultra high fidelity at 125W from only two output tubes per channel.
I built the ST120 kit amp but nearly anyone can build a kit if they can follow instructions. I'm still on a quest to build my own tube amp without relying on a kit.
While power is certainly important I would say it's second to sound quality. I know sound quality is subjective but I mean that the tube amp will reproduce the recording as accurately as possible. I'd love to approach or equal the sound quality of the highest end Conrad Johnson or highest end Audio Research or Mcintosh or the many others that people tout as the best sounding tube amps.
The second priority is high power. I like to build one tube amp that can drive a wide range of speakers so I can try out the various speakers that I have access to without having to change the amp due to large inefficient speakers. I have access to borrow/audition speakers from high efficiency Klipsh to custom made pigs that are inefficient but sound great with at least 125W.
It doesn't have to be tubes from those two websites, I just want to be able to replace the tubes and roll tubes with ease.
I built the ST120 kit amp but nearly anyone can build a kit if they can follow instructions. I'm still on a quest to build my own tube amp without relying on a kit.
While power is certainly important I would say it's second to sound quality. I know sound quality is subjective but I mean that the tube amp will reproduce the recording as accurately as possible. I'd love to approach or equal the sound quality of the highest end Conrad Johnson or highest end Audio Research or Mcintosh or the many others that people tout as the best sounding tube amps.
The second priority is high power. I like to build one tube amp that can drive a wide range of speakers so I can try out the various speakers that I have access to without having to change the amp due to large inefficient speakers. I have access to borrow/audition speakers from high efficiency Klipsh to custom made pigs that are inefficient but sound great with at least 125W.
It doesn't have to be tubes from those two websites, I just want to be able to replace the tubes and roll tubes with ease.
If you are really interested in building a 125 WPC tube amp, there is only one simple answer that I know of. About 4 years ago Pete Millett posted an amp that he designed which put out 18 WPC. He sells a PC board for the design. I bought one and stated that I would not be happy unless I could squeeze at least 50 WPC from it. Well I had 50 WPC about 5 minutes after I powered it up. I cranked things up until I saw 250 WPC in stereo, and 525 watts wired as a mono block. I decided to back things down to 125 WPC and build a stable, repeatable design. It is posted in the thread somewhere and at least 10 people have built working copies. I have built 3 of them. My boss has one of them now and it powers his Magneplanars quite well.
Read the thread and see if you understand it well enough to build one. It is long (1431 posts) and wanders around a bit, but there is a lot to learn in these.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/151206-posted-new-p-p-power-amp-design.html
Read the thread and see if you understand it well enough to build one. It is long (1431 posts) and wanders around a bit, but there is a lot to learn in these.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/151206-posted-new-p-p-power-amp-design.html
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