• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

My custom tube preamp - Full build advice

You could calculate with 0.5V at your current of 0.34A. Just in case and also worst case. Add ripple voltage to that. I would pay attention to a choose a regulator that has or can have slow(er) ramp up as filaments are happy with that. They are members of the cold resistance group fighting with inrush current. An extra large output cap with a 0.1 Ohm before it also works but slow ramp up is more elegant. Many LDO regulators have relatively slow ramp up as a bonus (without any action or extra parts) so check that datasheet.

https://www.ti.com/lit/wp/slvafx0/slvafx0.pdf?ts=1730979013380&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.de%2F

Tubes work fine at 6V but as often with simple things it can be made extremely complex. And vice versa of course. This hobby attracts paradise birds of many colors 🙂

Current filament tubes for series connection exist. PCC88 for instance. The P is the letter that indicates that.
 
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Thing is I already have a dozen or so 6N2P tubes that only take a 6.3V connection.
6n2p-1.png
6n2p-2.png


A discrete LDO looks quite simple to make, basically a CFP with a voltage reference, PNP output, my early simulation shows < 300mV dropout with OK ripple rejection and slow voltage ramp.
However I know this configuration if prone to oscillation, so careful testing will be needed.
Interesting read here: https://sound-au.com/articles/ldo-regulators.htm
 

Regards, Gerrit
 
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Thanks for the information and very well might come in useful for another build that is more designed for it,
So I think I'm going to stick with the power supply circuit I already have as it does everything I need it to, regulated filament soft start, low ripple etc.
It seems straight forward with little that can go wrong, with the only down side being 5W off wasted heat that I've already planned for and shouldn't need to much of a big heat sink.
At very least, it will do for testing valve circuits.

I'd rather focus on the next stage, the amp its self:
tube_type2_par.png


Seems like a good design to me with obvious high input impedance and a good simulation distortion profile.
I have also simulated it with 6N2P, 6N1P, 12AX7, 12AT7 and 6DJ8 with little change needed to set the bias.
Good for tube-rolling fun? 🙂

Worth a test PCB?
 
Even conductive plastic, cermet, stepped stuff can have scratchy contacts. They usually have that as a feature.

Not enough time to check the complete design but you make decoupling caps after a voltage regulator way too high in value IMHO.
 
I am appreciating this discussion even though I don't understand enough of it. Even though I am on the fence about tone controls (depends how and what frequency that they are implemented), I have a need for balance and find that a stacked set of mono pots serve the need quite nicely. A typical balance control is not the top of my preference list but maybe you should consider that in your design.

Many compliments to what you have come up with so far. Take a peek at some of the GlassWare designs as they might be of service to you.
 
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Thank you @Ixnay 🙂
I was also wondering if I can switch the boot-strap capacitor C5 in and out while on and listening, I was thinking a dual pole relay to disconnect it from the MOSFET source then to connect a resistor across C5 to keep the voltage potential the same so when reconnected it shouldn't effect the output to much and have a smooth operation?
 
What is the best way to go about grounding and earthing? I'm thinking of leaving the chassis floating (not connected to house earth), but only connecting the chassis to GND from a thick wire to power supply GND. The power supply board would act as a 'star ground' for everything.
There will be a suitable fuse in the mains plug.
Does this sound correct?