Hi
I am below a novice when it comes time for building or designing a tube amp. However I am a perfectionalist when it comes to listening to music. I made the fatal error of listening to a tube amp and now I must own one. I was researching on the web and made my second fatal error of stumbling on this site. Now I must build one.
I have been reading posts, following links, reviewing safety for quite some time now and still a bit intimidated.
I am very handy with a soldering iron and tools. I have no electronic experience other than trial and error. I am very safety concience ( was Expolsive Disposal in Military )
So I need help and don't know how far everyone is willing to carry a new comer like me.
I MUST build an amp I no longer desire to buy one already done.
I have about $1000.00 ( hidden from wife) to spend.
I would like to have at least 25 watts per channel
I need to know how sweet of a sounding amp can I build for that amount. What would be my shopping list. and last but not least a design.
If I am off base for asking for so much when I have so little experience just tell me. But I need for my first to be a beauty.
Thanks Steve
I am below a novice when it comes time for building or designing a tube amp. However I am a perfectionalist when it comes to listening to music. I made the fatal error of listening to a tube amp and now I must own one. I was researching on the web and made my second fatal error of stumbling on this site. Now I must build one.
I have been reading posts, following links, reviewing safety for quite some time now and still a bit intimidated.
I am very handy with a soldering iron and tools. I have no electronic experience other than trial and error. I am very safety concience ( was Expolsive Disposal in Military )
So I need help and don't know how far everyone is willing to carry a new comer like me.
I MUST build an amp I no longer desire to buy one already done.
I have about $1000.00 ( hidden from wife) to spend.
I would like to have at least 25 watts per channel
I need to know how sweet of a sounding amp can I build for that amount. What would be my shopping list. and last but not least a design.
If I am off base for asking for so much when I have so little experience just tell me. But I need for my first to be a beauty.
Thanks Steve
Welcome to the addiction!
For $1000 you should be able to make a very nice amp. But there are an incredible number of designs and it is easy to get lost in the specs and details. So first you need to clearly lay out your requirements.
* Do you want to build from scratch or from a kit?
* Do you want a separate preamp and power amp?
* If so do you want a stereo power amp or monoblocs?
* Do you want a single ended amp (25W is a little high for SE but can be done) or do you want push-pull?
* Are you sure about the 25WPC? With reasonable speakers three or four watts sound great.
... and a bunch more specifics to be ironed out!
I'm no expert but I do know how easy it is to get sidetracked by the details and conflicting arguments regarding one design or another or one tube or another. Try to get all your requirements laid out before deciding on specific hardware or schematics and I think the process becomes easier.
I have received great help here and I have no doubt you will as well!
For $1000 you should be able to make a very nice amp. But there are an incredible number of designs and it is easy to get lost in the specs and details. So first you need to clearly lay out your requirements.
* Do you want to build from scratch or from a kit?
* Do you want a separate preamp and power amp?
* If so do you want a stereo power amp or monoblocs?
* Do you want a single ended amp (25W is a little high for SE but can be done) or do you want push-pull?
* Are you sure about the 25WPC? With reasonable speakers three or four watts sound great.
... and a bunch more specifics to be ironed out!
I'm no expert but I do know how easy it is to get sidetracked by the details and conflicting arguments regarding one design or another or one tube or another. Try to get all your requirements laid out before deciding on specific hardware or schematics and I think the process becomes easier.
I have received great help here and I have no doubt you will as well!
sweet said:
Welcome.
Though this is sometimes a bit more of a disease than a hobby 
Fatal errors indeed.sweet said:
You'll find lots of helpful people round here. I went into a bit of detail about basics in this thread a little while ago. The most useful things there are probably the links...
sweet said:
Great. It's a lot more rewarding to build and/or design something on your own then go find it in a cardboard box.
sweet said:
Tsk tsk....
sweet said:
That's actually a moderately large amp, though of course it can be done. PP is probably the way to go, unless you're into transmitter types for SE (like 813 or GM70) which might be pushing the 1kV barrier for power supply voltage
EL34s in PP will probably give what you're after. Though, cheaper (and cooler looking
) alternatives are out ther like PP 829B or 832A. They are like little Martians or hamburgers depending on how you look at them The 807/6L6 family (and relatives) might also be something to look into.We need to know if you're looking into a kit, or something to build completely from scratch.
sweet said:
You could probably build quite a decent amp for that money. Parts are often cheaper in the US than in other parts of the world, too.
sweet said:
Of course you're not off base. The more valve amps out there the better
sweet said:
With 93db 1W/1M speakers I think four or five watts should be sufficient. That opens up many more possibilities (to confuse matters even more).
I really think a single ended design would meet your needs with the added advantage of (usually) being very simple to build. The main drawbacks of SE amps are the lower power ratings (not too much a concern with your speakers) and the higher cost of the iron. The advantages are simplicity, less stuff in the signal path and (according to some) more "tube-like" sound.
Of course once your amp is complete you'll be wanting one for the bedroom, one for the workshop or basement etc... Then of course you'll probably also be building speakers to match them and... oh never mind, you're in too deep to get out already!
Do you have a set of speakers yet? Why not try building a tube headphone amp first? I think you would get lots of good layout practice, you don't have to work with really high voltages, and you can experiment with different types of pre-amp components and really hear the difference they make in the sound.
I think I would go a little higher than 3 or 4 watts. I like having a little headroom.
I think I would go a little higher than 3 or 4 watts. I like having a little headroom.
As a sweeping generalisation, SE tends to sound 'sweeter' so it is probably what you're looking for. But for SE, power is generally <10W. There are of course many exceptions....
Something I've been meaning to try with a few valves I have lying around is an SE amp with 829Bs. Pete Millett has done that, and has shown a spectral analysis of the output:
There is quite a bit of second harmonic there, so it should sound sweet. That sort of harmonic profile (quite a lot of H2 with decreasing amounts of higher orders) is common to most SE designs.
Of course there are other options, like maybe parallel 2A3s or trioded EL34, but I think the 829s look cooler, if you don't mind the anode pins. In any case, for SE I would suggest using either triodes, or triode-strapped pentodes. SE pentodes without some sort of feedback tend to have objectionable distortion and other nasty things. Here's a picture:
And after all, if you build the amp yourself and something is 'not quite right' you can chop and change as often as your pocket allows
Something I've been meaning to try with a few valves I have lying around is an SE amp with 829Bs. Pete Millett has done that, and has shown a spectral analysis of the output:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
More info here.
There is quite a bit of second harmonic there, so it should sound sweet. That sort of harmonic profile (quite a lot of H2 with decreasing amounts of higher orders) is common to most SE designs.
Of course there are other options, like maybe parallel 2A3s or trioded EL34, but I think the 829s look cooler, if you don't mind the anode pins. In any case, for SE I would suggest using either triodes, or triode-strapped pentodes. SE pentodes without some sort of feedback tend to have objectionable distortion and other nasty things. Here's a picture:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
And after all, if you build the amp yourself and something is 'not quite right' you can chop and change as often as your pocket allows
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