Greetings Everyone. I must agree. Once you buy or build a tube amp you are on the glidepath. I have 5 in varying sizes now. The K-502 and K-12 are as virtually the same. There are variations over a period of years in the types of tubes used. There are 10GV8, 11BM8 and 11MS8. There are a few minor differences in the components as well (the plate load and cathode resistors in the drivers come to mind). There are plenty of mods for the amps and with fairly efficient speakers they sound better than the price would indicate. Beware of the mods as they can easily double the cost of the project. I would also caution regarding the new K-8 and K-16 amps. My K-8 is on the spare parts heap. It looks like a good design on paper and perhaps someone else has had better luck with theirs, but mine was far inferior to the K-12. At low power levels (under 2 watts) it was OK, but had no reserve. My HP distortion analyzer indicated it started to go bad around 2 watts and went south very quickly after that. My K-12 ran circles around it.
for what its worth.. I am looking into the ST-35 for my first tube amp. DIYTube
I like to think of this ride as a slip-n-slide.. on steroids... i have heard some people claim its more addicting than crack... personally i dont do that.. but i can see the relation... i have 4 sets of speaker boxes built.. and drivers for only 2 of them.. and drawings for 3 more sets on my desk right now.... sigh... i shudder at the thought once i start building amps.
good luck.
I like to think of this ride as a slip-n-slide.. on steroids... i have heard some people claim its more addicting than crack... personally i dont do that.. but i can see the relation... i have 4 sets of speaker boxes built.. and drivers for only 2 of them.. and drawings for 3 more sets on my desk right now.... sigh... i shudder at the thought once i start building amps.
good luck.
Not quite a kit but Tubelab's SimpleSE is a excellent beginner's project. For less effort the Diytube ST35 board can be gotten with most of the parts needed from Triode Electronics or such. Either project has satisfying results. You can use Edcor open frame output transformers to save $$$ if that matters. Good OPT's are worth the extra bucks more than fancy pre and power tubes.
Another idea is to get your hands on an old amp with point-to-point wiring and modifying to your desires.
The slippery slope? I started out with a pair of DIY speakers and a 41hz amp4. Quickly realized that SMT soldering is not for me. Followed with a dumpy vintage EL84 amp that is now a pile of dust despite a determined will to repair it. I was given a Marantz 8b that needed a power cord which lead to an Lite Audio ls7b preamp kit and glass-ware stepped attenuator. Bought and repaired a broken Rega P3 and combined several kits to make a phono amp too. Tried two 41hz amp6's instead of the amp4, one failed, one is unassembled. Built a pair of folded horn speakers and a SimpleSE amp. I've also found and repaired a Stromberg-Carlson pa amp and have a ST35 PCB ready for stuffing. Not to mention the large cardboard box full of electronics parts and tubes. This has all happened within one and a half years! Whoops!
Another idea is to get your hands on an old amp with point-to-point wiring and modifying to your desires.
The slippery slope? I started out with a pair of DIY speakers and a 41hz amp4. Quickly realized that SMT soldering is not for me. Followed with a dumpy vintage EL84 amp that is now a pile of dust despite a determined will to repair it. I was given a Marantz 8b that needed a power cord which lead to an Lite Audio ls7b preamp kit and glass-ware stepped attenuator. Bought and repaired a broken Rega P3 and combined several kits to make a phono amp too. Tried two 41hz amp6's instead of the amp4, one failed, one is unassembled. Built a pair of folded horn speakers and a SimpleSE amp. I've also found and repaired a Stromberg-Carlson pa amp and have a ST35 PCB ready for stuffing. Not to mention the large cardboard box full of electronics parts and tubes. This has all happened within one and a half years! Whoops!
I just finished my first tube amp last month.
I made this little baby:
http://lundahl.se/claus_b.html
It is the best amp I ever had.
But you should take the warnings seriously, because soon you will want to know what the fuss is all about with 300b ... and I must admit that that will be my next amp project in a year or so
I made this little baby:
http://lundahl.se/claus_b.html
It is the best amp I ever had.
But you should take the warnings seriously, because soon you will want to know what the fuss is all about with 300b ... and I must admit that that will be my next amp project in a year or so
kaan said:I just finished my first tube amp last month.
I made this little baby:
http://lundahl.se/claus_b.html
It is the best amp I ever had.
But you should take the warnings seriously, because soon you will want to know what the fuss is all about with 300b ... and I must admit that that will be my next amp project in a year or so
Kaan,
Did you make circuit boards or do a point wiring? Can you post some pictures of your completed amp?
Thanks Bill
electroshock said:
I did point wireing but I'm thinking of rebuilding it with PCB and better components.
I also did many things "wrong" as this is my first build. Comments from the technicians at the electronics plant where I work includes: "Interesting", "I look forward to hearing if it has any problems" and so on. Their doubts has been put to shame though as there is so little noise from the amp that you can't tell it is on if sitting in the listening position 2 meters from the speakers.
As for some pictures ... well I would love to post a torrent of them, but right now REM is playing and I just can't disconnect before the end of the cd
Hi Everyone, Unfortunately with tube gear, exposed high voltages are an ever present hazard. Even if you protected the transformer leads there are numerous other exposed dangerous terminals (plate connections, filters and such). I use two techniques in equipment I build. The first is to create a sub chassis for the power supply. Sort of a metal box inside the main chassis. This is partly because I use wood and plexiglass cases on some projects. Second, I put bottoms on my amps. I have found that the perforated metal sheets that are sold in hardware stores to use as kick panels for screen doors work well. They come in various patterns and colors. The copper ones are particularly nice. For about $20US you can get a piece big enough to cover the bottoms of 4 or 5 projects. The nice thing about them is that they don't impede air flow. Then mount the amp on rubber or metal feet to allow for clearance underneath.
I bought a EL34SE tube amp kit in Korea to build my very first tube amplifer. I liked the kit because everything from chassis up to solder wire are included. The instruction has a schematic diagram only. But I could manage it to finish the amplifer.
I had a kit to use point-to-point wiring to build.
But there are kits on presoldered PCB boards and wiring is a lot easier.
The web page of the online-shop where I purchased my kit is as follows;
http://www.soriaudio.com
I don't know if the shop sells the kits and parts to the overseas customers.
It is just a reference to show how tube amp parts are sold on the other side of the globe.
Unfortunately the web-page is in Korean only.
But you can surf around. In the attached pictures, I marked the
point you can see the pictures and description/instruction of the kits with red underlines. At least you can see the pictures.
The price indicated is in Korean Won and the exchange rate is around 1,350KRW/USD for your reference.
Enjoy surfing.
Hun
I had a kit to use point-to-point wiring to build.
But there are kits on presoldered PCB boards and wiring is a lot easier.
The web page of the online-shop where I purchased my kit is as follows;
http://www.soriaudio.com
I don't know if the shop sells the kits and parts to the overseas customers.
It is just a reference to show how tube amp parts are sold on the other side of the globe.
Unfortunately the web-page is in Korean only.
But you can surf around. In the attached pictures, I marked the
point you can see the pictures and description/instruction of the kits with red underlines. At least you can see the pictures.
The price indicated is in Korean Won and the exchange rate is around 1,350KRW/USD for your reference.
Enjoy surfing.
Hun
Attachments
The Decware SET triode kit seems like a great deal for the price and it's stereo for $298.
http://www.decware.com/newsite/SE84CDIY.htm
How does it compare to the above recommended entry level kits?
-David
http://www.decware.com/newsite/SE84CDIY.htm
How does it compare to the above recommended entry level kits?
-David
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