Still not sure where to start

[R1C0]

Hey everyone, im a newbie here on the forums, im a current EE major at my community college looking for a "simple" tube audio amplifier design to build to give me a leg up in my electronics class

i understand there are many different circuits on the forum and i have been browsing around, but being that i have never assembled an amplifier from scratch i have no idea where to start, i have 2 bookshelf speakers that i would like to have them run from the amp so my needs are just essentially to have a working tube amp

hope you guys can point me into the right direction

 

[Miles Prower]

but being that i have never assembled an amplifier from scratch i have no idea where to start

This being the case, I would strongly urge you to start right here: Electrical Safety. You will be dealing with potentially dangerous voltages, and you wouldn't want this new hobby to come to any sudden and unfortunate ends.

Once you understand this, then you might want to have a look at these: Schemos from ElectraPrint. The 6BX7SE project is simple enough for a raw beginner, and should have enough output to drive bookend speeks.

 

[Soonerorlater]

If you don't want to spend too much on parts then find yourself a working console amp. One based on EL84, ECL86 or ECL82 tubes would be good. Depending on whether its single ended or push pull you can choose a new schematic as appropiate.

 

[R1C0]

thanks for the responses so far, i went ahead and read the safety link to see if anything was in there that we hadnt covered in class...over a year ago

also took a look at the schematic for the 6bx7se, might go with that right off the bat

 

[Jsixis]

I would start with a simple pre amp, less complicated then an integrated amp and a quality pre amp is hard to beat and something you'll use forever

 

[Eli Duttman]

R1C0,

What sort of budget do you have? The price of premium magnetics, like ElectraPrint offers, can induce cardiac arrest.

Can you provide a link to the specifications sheet for your speakers? To begin with, bookshelf speakers tend to be low sensitivity. All too often, derating is necessary, when mating to tubed power amplification is contemplated. Tube amps have smaller damping factors than SS amps. Therefore, the impedance curve of speakers is of increased importance.

 

[R1C0]

a few hundred i suppose, i wouldnt mind spending to gather the materials for a first time build, well the speakers came from a Sharp microsystem so i cant find a full data sheet theyre supposed to be "rated" at 50w rms at 6ohms , 2inch tweeter with a 4 3\4 woofer

 

[roline]

Pete Millet's big red board is $50, PCB based. Edcor has the transformer set for around $160. That leaves $90 for tubes, top and chassis and misc parts, quite doable. A great sounding amp as designed and later you could up the iron and output tubes to over 125watts/channel.

 

[R1C0]

where would i start gathering the parts for the 6bx7se amp?