Hello,
Quick intro - I got interested in electronics by building an analog modular synthesizer. I had to learn a lot of electrical engineering to complete that beast (well it will never be complete! That's the problem w/ modulars..).
I rescued an old 50's magnatone amp out of the garbage a couple of months ago, and repaired it. After seeing how simple the circuit is, I quickly became obsessed w/ the idea of building a tube hifi amp for my home. I've done a LOT of reading over the past couple of months now, and am unfortunately past the point of knowing what I want to do and back to being thoroughly confused. (I'm sure you've all been here... learning about things on the internet is a difficult task w/ all the conflicting opinions, and the realization that 1/2 of what you're reading is 15 years old, and the other half is new).
So, I know this question has been answered but I've got to ask again to see what current opinions are.
I'm building a single sided 2a3 amp. (don't need a lot of power)
The 2001 schematic at Angela got me started, and was going to be the basis of my project.
Now I'm sort of confused about the input stage, and of course about the output.
Input possibilities are the basic single tube dual triode. (easy)
or
A srpp design like the kismet3 (He seems very excited about it, but I read posts in this forum dismissing the idea, saying it's better to stick to something like the Angela schematic)
Then I'm also wondering if I need a preamp. I'd like the input to have enough gain that I will not. I'll (sadly) mostly be playing digital music from a high end music production sound card. I do have good turntables, but the truth is, most of my music is on the computer now days. The point to that is that I guess the sound card could be considered a "pre amp". (let me know if im on the right track in thinking that)
Output... I'm just wondering what people currently think about going w/ a parallel feed output (like the parafeed magnaquest, EXO) or a more conventional s.e. transformer (lets say the other magnaquest DS or Hammond, james, etc, etc.)
So.. that's not meant to be a comparison of transformers, but a comparison of output topologies.
I'll also mention that since I am using digital music, I wouldn't mind the amp adding a little color to the music.
My music interests are all over the place from classical to classic rock to indy to electronic of all kinds.
My existing amp is an early 90's digital tuner/amp combo, so I'd imagine anything will be better than it!
Well. Thanks for any advice. I thought I knew what I was going to build, but I can't seem to get past all the conflicting and possibly outdated info at this point.
Quick intro - I got interested in electronics by building an analog modular synthesizer. I had to learn a lot of electrical engineering to complete that beast (well it will never be complete! That's the problem w/ modulars..).
I rescued an old 50's magnatone amp out of the garbage a couple of months ago, and repaired it. After seeing how simple the circuit is, I quickly became obsessed w/ the idea of building a tube hifi amp for my home. I've done a LOT of reading over the past couple of months now, and am unfortunately past the point of knowing what I want to do and back to being thoroughly confused. (I'm sure you've all been here... learning about things on the internet is a difficult task w/ all the conflicting opinions, and the realization that 1/2 of what you're reading is 15 years old, and the other half is new).
So, I know this question has been answered but I've got to ask again to see what current opinions are.
I'm building a single sided 2a3 amp. (don't need a lot of power)
The 2001 schematic at Angela got me started, and was going to be the basis of my project.
Now I'm sort of confused about the input stage, and of course about the output.
Input possibilities are the basic single tube dual triode. (easy)
or
A srpp design like the kismet3 (He seems very excited about it, but I read posts in this forum dismissing the idea, saying it's better to stick to something like the Angela schematic)
Then I'm also wondering if I need a preamp. I'd like the input to have enough gain that I will not. I'll (sadly) mostly be playing digital music from a high end music production sound card. I do have good turntables, but the truth is, most of my music is on the computer now days. The point to that is that I guess the sound card could be considered a "pre amp". (let me know if im on the right track in thinking that)
Output... I'm just wondering what people currently think about going w/ a parallel feed output (like the parafeed magnaquest, EXO) or a more conventional s.e. transformer (lets say the other magnaquest DS or Hammond, james, etc, etc.)
So.. that's not meant to be a comparison of transformers, but a comparison of output topologies.
I'll also mention that since I am using digital music, I wouldn't mind the amp adding a little color to the music.
My music interests are all over the place from classical to classic rock to indy to electronic of all kinds.
My existing amp is an early 90's digital tuner/amp combo, so I'd imagine anything will be better than it!
Well. Thanks for any advice. I thought I knew what I was going to build, but I can't seem to get past all the conflicting and possibly outdated info at this point.