Need advice selecting a 2A3 design

[lquintas]

I have decided to build my first DIY 2a3 tube amp to drive my Fostex 206E speakers mounted in BHL (I only need few watts). I have chosen four rather similar projects but because of my lack of knowledge on this matter, I don't know which of them could be the best. The schematics are:

1. JE Labs Stereo Single Ended 2A3 Amplifier 2001 Edition, at http://www.angela.com/

2. JE Labs Simple 2A3 at http://members.myactv.net/~je2a3/simple45.htm

3. JE Labs SRPP 2A3 at http://members.myactv.net/~je2a3/srpp45.htm

4. Arnold Cruz's 2A3 at http://diyparadise.com/Arnold%20Cruz...his%202A3.html

Can you help me selecting one ?

Sorry for my bad English

[phn]

A very nice-looking 2A3 here (Angelo): http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTri...6/indexeng.htm

[arnoldc]

Originally posted by lquintas
4. Arnold Cruz's 2A3 at http://diyparadise.com/Arnold%20Cruz...his%202A3.html

Yikes! That's me

And it's based on JE Labs SRPP 2A3

If you want higher gain (no need for active linestage), you can also try the Sun Audio 2A3 that uses 6SN7 instead as drivers. I have built this too, but stuck to the above.

If you have access to 76/56 tubes, I would suggest you give JE Labs 2A3 DX a try. I have built this briefly, but changed it to a 300B instead.

[tubemaster]

Hi,

you might also want to look into this design:

http://www.tubemaster.de/diy-EL842A3.html

Best regards
Michael

[EC8010]

Hello lquintas, I've edited the title of this thread - you might get more responses...

[Cassiel]

Hi,

The Sun audio circuit sounds very good but it all depends on your needs and tastes. How much gain do you need? With a CD player as a source the SRPP will have enough gain but if you have less than 2 volts input do the Sun audio amp. I think it sounds more on the romantic side, SRPP has more nerve.

Anyway the 2a3 always sounds good so don't worry much about what circuit you choose.

[lquintas]

Thank you all for your advices. The JE Labs 2A3 DX is for me the dreamed amp, but it is rather expensive (about 1200 euros) and therefore risky for me and my skills: my only experience is a first amp with ECC83 and EL84 tubes (I needed help to make it sound) that hums too much in my horn speakers, and a gainclone (this one works very well). But I want to do a new step, and the 2a3 amps I am considering cost the half. I don't need too much gain, I use a CD player. My principal concern is hum... and a simple schematic. Perhaps the JE LABS 2A3 or 300B (Derek Walton's site is wonderful) is not more difficult than the JE Labs SRPP 2A3 amp, is it?
Concerning Angelo's amp and the very interesting EL84/2A3 amp of Torsten Eisenberg, I think that it will be more difficult for me to identify and to get the parts than those of JE Labs (mainly Angela Instruments).
Arnold: Does the difference between your 2A3 and the 300B worth it ?