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input/driver stage for kt88/6550

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Hey there
Well I just finished my pre amp running c3g's and 6sl7's for the phono stage and 6G6G in triode mode (srpp) for the line stage.
My next quest is to build a PSE for either 6550/kt88.
I have a stack of d3a's and 6g6gs.
I figure one d3a should have enough drive for the 6550 or do I need a second stage there.
I was hoping someone could offer an opinion re this rather than beam me a schematic
Thanks
Nick
 
G'day bloke,
No answers - that surprised me.
Not really my forte' but FWIW.

6550/KT88 in SE Operating Point for single tube

Va 250
Vg2 250
Vg1 -14.0
Ia 140mA
Ig2 12mA
Pout 12.5 W
Zout 1K5

OR

Va 400
Vg2 225
Vg1 -16.5
Ia 87mA
Ig2 4mA
Pout 20 W
Zout 3K

For parallel SE (two tubes) divide Zout by 2

Worst case you ONLY need to swing 2 x 16.5 = 33V peak to peak.

So you want an input/driver gain of about 20'ish assuming you don't want to use global feedback.

I would simply use George's (Tubelab) Simple SE design. That is not strictly a single stage - its a single gain stage plus mosfet source follower. The D3a would be ideal for the gain stage.
Why? Because the max Rg1 (maximum grid1 to 0V resistance value) is quite low (100K I think - check the data sheet) and this presents a significant load on the driver particularly for parallel output tubes where you need to drive 2 of those Rg1 in parallel (50K). The MOSFET Source follower fixes this for you, it will laugh at a 50K load.

Hardest part might be finding good output trannies.

Link
http://www.tubelab.com/TubelabSE.htm

Cheers,
Ian
 
I forgot to mention triode mode as well

Hey Ginger.
Well its heating up in Albury NSW so I bet Adelaide is way hot.
I was surprised as well that no one has answered.. Maybe they dont like me..:headbash:
I have procured 2 hammond 1642 se output trannys with U/L tap.
I have heard an amp my mate made where he is driving a pair of genalex reissues with a 6n1p into an EL84 the the pair of Genalexes.. I reckon its overdriven as I head it on an NAD cd player and it distorted at all but the lowest volume..on my cd palyer.. a Marantz cd50 with variable output, it sounded quite nice as I could lower the output of the cd player.. he was running the aforementioned hammonds so I went with them. there Primary impedance is 1.5K
I am not a big fan of mosfets, I know I know I should be, but I have tried the ccs thing and just didnt like the sound... Sadly or otherwise I much prefer srpp configurations. I was thinking maybe 2xD3a's in srpp driving the kt88's or the d3a ( I also have e 180f's and E 280f's) into a 6g6g then the pair of kt88's
Maybe I need to do a test rig and see how they both perform.. personally I think a single stage will suffice, given that I have a preamp.
Good to hear from you and thanks for your help.
Nick
 
-bump!-

I'm also looking into drivers for a SE 6550. D3a looks nice, but the grid voltage curves only go from -3 to 0 volts, and I'm afraid that this is not enough for the preamp I use (6SN7 in srpp). It has no problems driving my EL84 power amp without a driver. I don't want to have to turn the volume knob all the way down.
Also I would like to make the new power amp direct coupled..
I've been studying driver requirements for a while now, but it's still very hazy, so any help would be appreciated!
ECC99?
 
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