transcendar transformer

[henryp]

I'M GETTING TOGETHER PARTS TO BUILD A SET - MY FIRST TUBE AMP- AND HAVE ACCESS TO A COUPLE OF OUTPUT TRANSFORMERS MADE BY TRANSCENDAR OF CALIF. WILL USE WITH WECO 300B'S. ANYONE HAVE ANY INFO OR EXPERIENCE WITH THESE UNITS?
THANKS,
PHH

[JohnAtwood]

Transcendar makes transformers and chokes for medium production run purchases. They make many types, including custom designs for particular vendors, so it is hard to make a blanket statement about the applicability of your transformers. However, their build quality is very good, and my experience with them (sonically) has been good.

- John Atwood

[tubelab.com]

If you are referring to the "output transformers for 300B amplifiers" that he sells on Ebay, yes I tested them against a One Electron UBT-3 and a custom Electra-Print. Most listeners could not tell the difference between the UBT-3 and the Transcendar. Most listeners could pick out the Electra-Print although one person consistently said thet it sounded worse than the other two. I liked the Transcendars enough to buy 10 pairs. Most of them have been used in my TubelabSE 300B amplifiers which have found new homes with happy owners.

I don't think that you could do any better in this price range.

I have a budget transformer test page that should be on my web site by the end of the weekend. I don't have frequency response plots for the trancendars yet, they will be added when I do them.


http://www.tubelab.com/BudgetOPT.htm

The page is not done yet, I will update it Sunday evening.

[kevinkr]

I'll second tubelab's comments on the Transcendar 300B output transformer. I used a pair in a 2A3 amplifier I designed recently and they really are very good sounding transformers, and an absolute steal at the price - at twice the price I would still say the same.

Highly recommended!

[henryp]

THANKS GENTLEMEN - YOU HAVE PUT MY MIND AT EASY.

PHH

[jarthel]

what's his ebay seller name? thank you

[tubelab.com]

His Ebay ID is ggaet and the transformers are called "Pair Audio Output Transformer for 300B SE amplifier". I just looked and he has no items listed at the present time.

[5u4]

I've used the e-bay Transcendars on my L-W & thought they were exellent OPT's. Wondering if someone could explain why the cloth wrapped around the lams ?

[kevinkr]

Makes them look a little nicer, no functional reason at all that I can think of. I doubt that it would help with oxidization (rust) in damp climes, but who the heck knows.. LOL

[tubelab.com]

Tonight I wired a pair of these Transcendars into the simpleSE that I have been torturing for the last few weeks. It currently (today) has a pair of JJ EL34's running at 475 volts. A 3K ohm load would normally be a bit low for this much B+ voltage, but I connected the cathode feedback and cranked it up. These transformers respond well to cathode feedback. I have the tubes running in triode mode (no UL tap) and I am seeing peaks of at least 10 watts on the scope while playing a bass heavy CD. No clipping is observed, and they sound really good. The tubes do not appear upset at this torture either. Transients like the snare drum, cymbals, and finger cymbals have startling realism. Overall the bass just blows away my 300B amp that is running the same transformers!

I am going to plug in some 6L6's and test further.