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SUPER budget DIY tube amp - need help

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#42
wicked1 said:
Unless the exchange rate has changed, that's well over his budget in USD.
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Indeed, but that'a principally because of my choice of enclosure. I am sure he could build his own for £15 which brings the cost down to £125 which as present exchange rates is very close to $200.

His biggest problem is the iron. He could use cheap Edcor or eBay output transformers and get mediocre performance or spend more and get better quality.

Cheers

Ian
 
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#43
cbox83 said:
I would like to bring a product to market for a modest cost yes. I wouldn't do it unless I could bring a good product. The problem that I see with the industry is there are not a lot of places where you can go listen to/buy an affordable tube amp. Would like to have a polished product that can hit store shelves. Cnet surveyed users said 21% preferred vacuum tube audio - where are they getting it from? Most people my age or under don't even know what a vacuum tube is to begin with...
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As this is a DIY group, and your first post said you wanted to build an amplifier, most of us concluded you wanted to build just one for yourself.

Now, it seems, you are talking about developing and marketing a product in significant quantities. That's fine. There are several of on this group who have direct experience of designing electronics for volume production in various locations throughout the world.

I am sure what you ask can be done. I ask only one question. Do you have at least a million dollars to invest in it?

Cheers

Ian
 
#44
It has been done before. There is both complete kits and fully assembled & boxed amps available in the sub 200$ range. And these are not junk.

Of course they sell by mail order from china and not thru US or European retail stores. The markup and costs to comply with doemstic regulations would be prohibitive.
 
#46
ruffrecords said:
Can you post links to these please.
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They're all over trading sites like aliexpress or even ebay.

The APPJ finished amps have been around for quite some time now and received decent reviews (although I have to say I never owned one). They also got some looks. I just noticed there's a new model out which sells for even ~150 bux, but they cut further on the OPTs for these. The previous pa901a comes with better iron.
 
#47
goldenbeer said:
They're all over trading sites like aliexpress or even ebay.

The APPJ finished amps have been around for quite some time now and received decent reviews (although I have to say I never owned one). They also got some looks. I just noticed there's a new model out which sells for even ~150 bux, but they cut further on the OPTs for these. The previous pa901a comes with better iron.
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You are right. They seem to be all over the place. Clearly the answer to the OPs original question.

Interesting that they use a SMPSU.

Cheers

Ian
 
#49
Did you people miss post #23?
Why contemplate Chinese kits when you can get one in the middle of Europe for EUR 126 = $175 with VAT included. The place selling the kit winds the transformers so that's probably why they can afford to price it at that level.
 
#51
The answer is to go with a hybrid, use SS output instead of an OT. It's all about the marketing in the end and if you can convince that it has the tube sound but power for any speaker then your customer base is broad. My next amplifier fits into this description and uses current production tubes. Mind you, I'm not crazy enough to turn it into a business so it'll likely eventually end up on this forum.
 
#55
dovla said:
Did you people miss post #23?
Why contemplate Chinese kits when you can get one in the middle of Europe for EUR 126 = $175 with VAT included. The place selling the kit winds the transformers so that's probably why they can afford to price it at that level.
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Since they wind the iron themselves I am surprised there are no pics of the iron in the kit picture. To be frank, I found their web site confusion and lacking key data. The fact the site is only in Italian and Google translate does a fairly poor job in translating it only makes it worse.

Cheers

Ian
 
#59
dovla said:
You can put any number in codice fiscal - I think it's actually VAT registration number if the buyer is a business so doesn't do anything for individuals

Transformers can be seen in Per Hi-Fi
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I tried putting a random number sequence in there but it came back with an error saying I had entered an invalid codice fiscale. I never had to do this on any other Italian site I have purchased from. I emailed them ad just got this reply:

"The tax code is a Italian identification code, it is needed just for Italian costumers, but the actual site request it also to foreigners. Until we change the system, you could use this fake code to proceed to registration: AAAAAA80A01F205U."

Cheers

Ian
 
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