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    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
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    the safety precautions around high voltages.

simple tube amp

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#2
If this is your first amp I would buy the Zen amp kit. The kit cost $399 and comes complete with tubes and a comprehensive set of instructions and a lot of valuable advice and help through the zen forum. The sound is very nice. It would be a good starting point. You will gain some practical building experience and stand a good chance of success and satisfaction. It is an excellent deal. Here is a link to the site.

http://www.decware.com/newsite/mainmenu.htm
 
#3
Good first amp

If you don't mind going the kit route I recommend the kit made by S5 Electronics. A full stereo tube amp kit for $139 plus shipping. It can be driven directly by a CD player, tuner or cassette deck. Of course a turntable would require a phono preamp.

I built one of these and it sounds great. Output is about 8 or 9 watts max per channel (about 4.5 WRMS). The basic kit doesn't include any sort of chassis other than an oak board to mount the components on (which I considered a plus as I was able to make my own wood box/aluminum top chassis). An optional metal chassis with smoked acrylic panel (so you can see the tubes) is around $85 I think.

Look here- http://www.s5electronics.com/gpage1.html for more info. BTW there are other online companies selling these kits including at least one that sells monoblock kits for $89 each.

(I have no association with any of these companies except as a satisfied kit builder.)
 
#6
Reading "G's" advice, I had a look at the Zen link and the forums. Looks like the kind of project I have been looking for. Anyone had experience with this kit? I have built a pair of Lynn Olsen Ariel speakers, has anyone tried this amp with them?

Thanks for the input!

Chris
 
#7
hkoetz said:
Check out this link.

www.lh-electric.4t.com/projects/tiny3w.htm

I just built a stereo amp with 2 of the kits. I used the conventional power supply. I am very satisfied with its performance.

Henk
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Henk,
Did you use a preamp with them or wire in the pot as supplied with the kit? I've also been looking at them but would go the DIY route rather than purchasing the kit. I was thinking of using them with a preamp, either Bottlehead Foreplay or even the pre listed on that same site.
 
#8
As Sherman said, the S5 is a good inexpensive amp to start with. I have two of the S5 monoblocks www.tubesandmore.com I haven't had time to build a set of high efficiency speakers to go with them. I have a Bottlehead Foreplay preamp on order but they take 6-wks to get www.bottlehead.com The S5 amps can be assembled in an hour. As Sherman said, it comes with a PC board and then a wood board to mount it on. I also built two wood cases for mine and used a door kick plate from Home Depot for the top chassis.
 
#9
Chris
Reading "G's" advice, I had a look at the Zen link and the forums. Looks like the kind of project I have been looking for. Anyone had experience with this kit? I have built a pair of Lynn Olsen Ariel speakers, has anyone tried this amp with them?
Click to expand...

Chris,
I had the Zenamp for testing a little while ago, and they definitely sound very good. Resolution and imaging was much better than my Onix monos, they only lack a little oomph in the lower registers.
But even with your 90dB Ariels I'm afraid they will have not enough power, on my 95 dB OB's with vintage Telefunken they couldn't manage to go very loud, unless you are happy with modest listening levels. They also benefit from an even impedance curve of your loudspeakers...

Enjoy,
Oliver
 
#10
Did you use a preamp with them or wire in the pot as supplied with the kit? I've also been looking at them but would go the DIY route rather than purchasing the kit. I was thinking of using them with a preamp, either Bottlehead Foreplay or even the pre listed on that same site.
Click to expand...

I wired in the pot and it is sensitive enough for my CD player (200 mV).

It is not realy a kit but more a set of parts.

Henk
 
#11
hkoetz said:


I wired in the pot and it is sensitive enough for my CD player (200 mV).

It is not realy a kit but more a set of parts.

Henk
Click to expand...


Yeah, I guess "kit" is a little too generous. 😉 I've been thinking of building a pair of these (or putting 2 in a single chassis) as an amp for my office. It looks as if it could be built very small indeed. Just using a pot w/o a preamp might be a better way to go to save space.
 
#13
Stixx said:
Chris

Chris,
I had the Zenamp for testing a little while ago, and they definitely sound very good. Resolution and imaging was much better than my Onix monos, they only lack a little oomph in the lower registers.
But even with your 90dB Ariels I'm afraid they will have not enough power, on my 95 dB OB's with vintage Telefunken they couldn't manage to go very loud, unless you are happy with modest listening levels. They also benefit from an even impedance curve of your loudspeakers...

Enjoy,
Oliver
Click to expand...

I built a "clone" of this amp using EL84s and a 5687 (big surprise huh?) and I think the higher current (12mA) helped the bottom end a great deal. I did however use output transformers that were oversized for the purpose by a large degree ( Handwound Transformers from EBAY.) despite the bad rep for these output transformers they were more than adequate for the puposes of my circuit at 36mA. Granted I am using a pair of BR Fostex speakers using the outstanding and reasonably priced FE206E Fostex full range drivers that present a very even and benign load to the amplifier and have a efficiency rating of approximately 97dB 1W/1M. The amp does clip if pushed too hard but sounds very punchy and nice at "moderate" listening levels. I would not recommend the circuit if you listen to "Megadeth" on a regular basis but it aquits itself nicely to Jazz. Especially comtemporary artists such as Nora Jones and Diana Krall. I think the higher current of the 5687 helps the bottom end a great deal. I said that already though, didn't I?

:cannotbe: :cannotbe: :cannotbe:
 
#15
Re: Good first amp

chrish said:
Thanks for the input guys,

Maybe I should have mentioned that I am in the process of building an active crossover, 24db/octave 80hz based on Rod Elliot's pcbs so that a pair of subs can handle the lows. Will basically be following Lynn Olson's suggestion http://www.nutshellhifi.com/ME2txt.html#sw

Will this ease the required power for the main speakers? Thought I had found the ideal project, perhaps not now :bawling:
Click to expand...

No. It will cause a more uneven load to be presented to the amp. I would look for something that could produce 10 watts or so. Maybe a push pull triode amplifier. I don't think the little Zen is going to match up very well with that setup. What type of music do you listen to? What is your budget?
 
#16
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I listen to classical, jazz and even alternative rock... Budget, that is a more difficult question. I am currently building a four channel chip amp using BrianGT's boards from the chip amp forum. I wanted to build a tube amp as a project to compare/contrast with my solid state amps. I do not want to go so cheap that I build an amp that is going to be a dissapointment, but neither am I interested in going "over the top" on a first project. The Zen select kit, at around $700 looked to be in the ballpark price wise. I have read Menno van der Veen's book Modern High End Valve Amplifiers, and his UL40 kit looks interesting too, 12watts per channel in triode mode http://www.amplimo.nl/en-us/dept_21.html
Any thoughts on this amp?

Thanks again for your helpful advice, I am very new to this tube stuff and appreciate your help.

Chris
 
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