Firstwatt Antek alternative in Europe

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Joined 2009
#1
Is there any way I can find a transformer inside the EU for a Firstwatt F4, F5, or F6, that could replace the $114 (incl. shipping) Antek 400VA 18v+18v, part number AN-4218? I am ordering components for a new First Watt build and I want to try to cut costs. Got a new electrostatic channel that needs an amplifier. Right now I have to alternate between channels. :S
 
#12
😀
Big hammer it is 😛

No it's just one of those questions ive wondered about.
one of my amps developed a bad buzz from its toriodal, didnt seem to affect audio quality that i ever noticed.
Always thought if the secondary filtering was doing its job, then there shouldnt be any issue.
 
#13
I was going to build a F4 for my tube amp, but then I continued to read comments, and all of a sudden I am building a F6. I have now ordered all but the passive components. Strange what can happen in 24 hours. I recently got electrostatic panels and they show what the tube amp did wrong, and what the F5 does right, something horns could not. If the F6 sounds more tubey, because of the transformer and caps, and also is as clean as the F5, then I don't think I want to process the signal through a cheap tube amp and the F4 which some say is not as clear as the F5 and F6, however lovely and musical the F4 might be.

And I chose German quality.

Old'n'Cranky said:
😀
one of my amps developed a bad buzz from its toriodal, didnt seem to affect audio quality that i ever noticed.
Always thought if the secondary filtering was doing its job, then there shouldnt be any issue.
Click to expand...

Plz don't tell me you used Sedlbauer. 🙂
 
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#18
When I check right the Polish transformer (Toroidy) has an electrostatic screen between primary and secondary; the Sedlbauer not.
Because toroidal transformers are actually a bit too wide band because of the good coupling this screen is very useful as it couples HF noise on the power line to ground.
You could ask Toroidy what they choose for core excitation (in Tesla).
In the past I had toroidal transformers made by Petra Toroid in Romania (a German-Romanian joint venture); they were willing to make the screens, and a lower core excitation as well.
The lower core excitation requires a slightly larger core.
Advantages of the lower core excitation: less inrush current, even lower strayfields, and less prone to mechanical hum.
When I am right they still provide one of my Dutch customers with these toroids.
 
#19
pieter t said:
When I check right the Polish transformer (Toroidy) has an electrostatic screen between primary and secondary; the Sedlbauer not.
Because toroidal transformers are actually a bit too wide band because of the good coupling this screen is very useful as it couples HF noise on the power line to ground.
You could ask Toroidy what they choose for core excitation (in Tesla).
In the past I had toroidal transformers made by Petra Toroid in Romania (a German-Romanian joint venture); they were willing to make the screens, and a lower core excitation as well.
The lower core excitation requires a slightly larger core.
Advantages of the lower core excitation: less inrush current, even lower strayfields, and less prone to mechanical hum.
When I am right they still provide one of my Dutch customers with these toroids.
Click to expand...

I will e-mail Sedlbauer and ask if they have thought about this. Shame I already got the transformer. But, maybe I will be fine. I have not noticed anything weird with my F5 build that used 400VA Antek AS-4218. It is quiet as a mouse when I don't play music. Antek write nothing about electrostatic screens in the product description. Feeling a bit paranoid?
 
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