Projects...How does one decide ?

[Steven-H]

All,
How do you all decide what project to move onto next ??? I mean; besides the obvious "Wow - that's a cool looking tube !", or "Well, I always did want an SET", how do you go about it ? For example, I always liked the 807's from a looks standpoint - but Im not sure about their audio prowess. Ditto for the 829's.

Regards,
Steve

[Mikael Abdellah]

You will know when the right project comes along. If it feels right it usually is.

[rdf]

Or drive 807s PP with an 829. (Shorthand for 'run what you brung'. )

[fbetti]

Hello to everyone,

For those of us (me included, of course) for which it would be too much to say we're more than tinkerers, it doesn't take too much to fell that there are too many projects, and time shares (and other equally precious resources) are too few. Regardless of that, it's impossible not to feel fascinated when we come along a new (at least for us) design idea.

I currently don't have any 829s at hand, but I'm seriously considering building something around 807s. I noticed they are often found triode connected for audio applications where power is not at premium. On the other hand, some say that beam tubes are not the best for such connections, and a true pentode would be preferable. A true triode would be even better, of course, but I have only one 6B4G ate hand... I hope some of you could bring more light to this subject...!

Ultralinear connection could well be a compromise for such dilemma, but one can find a thread somewhere else in this forum rejecting that. The same applies for NFB, a potential cure for any troubles regarding bandwidth and distortion but con bring an assortment of other illnesses... What could one conclude in face of such facts?

I think that the combination of different design features can lead to wonderful as well as disatrous results. Intriguing techniques such as the Super Triode Control should only be tried when one is absolutely sure about how to do it - as the Japanese audiophiles do...

Trying to bring back my feet to the ground, I still wanna try my hand with a 807 PP design the classical way (the Dynaco Mark 3 fashion), so I can have a term of comparison when trying bolder techniques, such like screen excitation, for instance - always inviting for someone like me having lots of sweep tubesaround with their low voltage screen ratings...

It would be nice to see this thread growing! Cheers to all,

fbetti, from Brazil

[Steven-H]

Well,
Here is what decided my project, an SE 813. After finishing my EL84 PP amp, I wanted to try something SE - but the low power output would require me to build a new set of speakers as well....So I started to look around for a way to go SE, but with enough power to drive my Bozaks for the moment.

-Steve

[SY]

1. What looks interesting at the moment?

2. What can I get the time budget for? (Cost is usually not a factor; I'm not into fashion components)

3. (last priority) What's practical for the speakers I have?


Number 3 ought to be number 1 for any sensible person. Not being sensible, the last amps I built were p-p EL84 at 17W to drive speakers that need a 200 watt amp to really sing.

[Dave Cigna]

Originally posted by Steven-H
I wanted to try something SE - but the low power output would require me to build a new set of speakers as well....

Maybe your next project should be a set of speakers.

-- Dave

[DoomPixie]

i usually decide on my next project because im bored and either find something lying around that i get the urge to mod or use in a project, or find something like an old cheap dvd player lying around and decide i'll mod it for a laugh and see how well it works... Either way i dont usually put a lot of though into it.. The other thing i do sometimes is get bored and find myself playing around in spice and come up with something promising and decide to prototype it, infact this is usually what happens with me..lol..
OWen

[dsavitsk]

Hmmm ... I think the best way is to dig around in the box of ~1500 audio tubes that your friend found in a basement and gave you and see what looks promising. What? You didn't just receive such a box? That's too bad.

[jaymanaa]

I seem to go through cycles. I'll do something from scratch, and get tired of all the metal work. Then I'll refurbish or modify an old "off the shelf" amplifier, and get tired of working in tight spaces or trying to make a poor layout work right. At present I'm going through a "customize old console pulls" phase. I think the biggest draw of this hobby for me, is the people I meet along my way. The music is just a wonderful bonus. Jay