Tube kits for beginners

[SY847]

Hey,

I've been looking to buy the s-5 k-12m kit, but I noticed that the AE K-502 is similar. From what I've read so far, all I can tell is that the kit's are identical except for the tubes and the values of a few resistors. Does that mean I could switch out the resistors have have the same amp as the s-5?

Which kit do you guys recommend? The AE kit is about 30 dollars cheaper right now.


I want to be able to do the mods on Voltsecond's page. Would it be difficult to do the mods on the K502? Thanks


Also, does anyone have experience with this kit:
http://audio.engineeringvista.com/

[firenewt]

Make sure you are comparing the two kits in a similar configuration - ie 4 tubes, power and output trans, etc. I built the S-5 kit and am impressed with it. Should end up with a very nice unit after the mods you mention are applied.

Kevin

[SY847]

So can anyone vouch on the quality of the AE K502 and ease of applying Voltsecond's mods?

thanks

[Sherman]

The K 502 and the S5K12 are push-pull amps with output of about 8 watts per channel. The Model 1 PCL82 kit is single ended with about 1.5 watts per channel. Though the Model 1 does have the option of paralleling tubes to double the output power.

I've built the S5K12 kit and like others who have built it have been impressed with the sound, especially given the small OPTs. I also applied almost all of Voltsecond's mods. Mostly very easy to do.

The K 502 kit should accept all the mods since, IIRC, none of them have critical values and don't change the basic circuitry, but I haven't built that exact kit so I could be wrong.

[SY847]

Hey,

how difficult would it be to adapt something which takes 11bm8 tubes
to use 10gv8? Is the only difference the voltage (11 vs 10?) ?

Could it be solved by adding a resistor?

I noticed the k12m now comes with 10gv8 tubes, which are a lot cheaper to replace.

Thanks.

[SY847]

neone?

bump

[rdf]

Originally posted by SY847
Could it be solved by adding a resistor?

Couldn't find references to those tubes but if that's really all it is, yep. Except for the crazy extra cost, I'ld use two equal values per leg and bypass the filament side with a little film or ceramic to squash potential nasties coming in from mains.