• Disclaimer: This Vendor's Forum is a paid-for commercial area. Unlike the rest of diyAudio, the Vendor has complete control of what may or may not be posted in this forum. If you wish to discuss technical matters outside the bounds of what is permitted by the Vendor, please use the non-commercial areas of diyAudio to do so.

Edcor or Electra-Print for SSE Output Transformers (and what to ask for?)

Member
Joined 2016
Paid Member
you need to like gentian blue...

The Edcor are fine, but you need to really like their blue bells (or order the black ones if they offer the option). I hated their blue color so much I dismounted the bells and gave them to the paint shop. granted this is an affair of taste but when you invest so much blood and tears into an amp, you want it to look good. This one (Millett Engineer) went to my son.



attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • pp.jpg
    pp.jpg
    80.4 KB · Views: 663
The Edcor are fine, but you need to really like their blue bells (or order the black ones if they offer the option). I hated their blue color so much I dismounted the bells and gave them to the paint shop. granted this is an affair of taste but when you invest so much blood and tears into an amp, you want it to look good. This one (Millett Engineer) went to my son.

Yeah, I was planning to ask for them to be painted black, or to paint them myself.
That's a nice looking Millett amp you gave to your son. I just finished building Pete's "NuHybrid" headphone amplifier, and after some tweaking it sounds pretty good.
I'm actually waiting for the transformers from Edcor to arrive for Pete's "Jonokuchi" headphone/speaker amp. I stuck with the classic blue Edcor transformers for that one, because I think they'll look good with the silver case from Front Panel Express. They're still 5-10 weeks away though, based on the initial lead time estimates from Edcor.
 
This Toroidy transformer says it's for the EL34 tube. Would this work with the SSE?
It's the TTG-EL34SE.

Intended for
Single Ended
Core type
Toroidal
Ultralinear tap
43%
CFB Windings
% Ra
Nominal Power
40W
Nominal anode current
100mA
Frequency bandwidth (-3dB)
10 Hz - 56 kHz
Secondary Impedance
4 and 8 Ω
Primary Impedance
3,2 kΩ
Turns Ratio (Np:Ns)
28,28:1 (4Ω) , 20,00:1 (8Ω)
Primary Inductance Lp
51,2 H
Primary Leakage Inductance Lsp
0,73 mH
Total Primary DC Resistance
111 Ω
Effective Primary Capacitance
11,2 nF
 
Yep, that's the puppy.

Those covers are a cheaper solution, bt someone is coining it in with just stamped bits of steel.

I will use the stainless covered transformers one day. If you are like me, you will get the bug, and then thanks to the affordability of the Toroidy transformers, you can buy a PP pair as well, and build a few things, and plug and play, and not have to invest big bucks to build different types of amplifier.
 
The Edcor are fine, but you need to really like their blue bells (or order the black ones if they offer the option). ....

They offer unpainted covers as an additional item. I can kind of understand them not wanting to mess with stocking different colors For the transformers as options. But since they already have the unpainted ones and each order is custom made, it seems like it would be pretty easy to specify having it shipped with unpainted ones to avoid the extra expense and having spare blue covers.

That said, I just roughed mine up with sandpaper and hit them with several coats of spray paint. 8 years later they look like I just painted them.
 
They offer unpainted covers as an additional item. I can kind of understand them not wanting to mess with stocking different colors For the transformers as options. But since they already have the unpainted ones and each order is custom made, it seems like it would be pretty easy to specify having it shipped with unpainted ones to avoid the extra expense and having spare blue covers.

That said, I just roughed mine up with sandpaper and hit them with several coats of spray paint. 8 years later they look like I just painted them.

Good to know, for any future Edcor orders.
 
I’ve purchased several transformers from Electra-Print and think they’re worth the effort. I bought a pair last summer and didn’t have any problems. Jack may have gotten more terse with age but I thought he was helpful over email. If you order as Tom advised it’s a smooth transaction. They occasionally have 3k 100ma 6 ohm transformers on their eBay store for around $300.

I almost bought a pair of excellent James transformers on eBay but they’re expensive and sold before I could scrounge enough $. The model# was JS-6123. I would avoid the smaller 10watt models. Hashimoto and ISO make similar 20 watt transformers with almost no wait times, if you have the budget.
 
I was one of those that got a weird email from Electra print last November after inquiring for a 45 Tubelab tranny, they stated I should use another tube. Unfortunately, I already have everything for my 45 SE except the output tranny's. I'm currently in the middle of a master bathroom remodel and my amp is collecting dust. Anyone knows exactly how to order a 45 tranny?
 
Last edited:
Back when Edcor first started selling transformers direct to hobbyists I bought a pair of the big ones. They came in "pimp my ride" bright metallic blue which was quickly replaced by the baby blue color seen today.

When I built my mono blocks back in 2015 I used Edcor PT's and couldn't live with that awful blue so I also ordered the unpainted end bells and had them powder coated black. In all three areas of the country I've lived in, there's always been a shop I could talk into running my end bells or top plates with their regular runs of black for big customers and pay only $20 bucks or so because of being a hobbyist. One place did it for free because the manager I spoke to was fascinated with the idea I was doing something with tubes.
gi.mpl


Now I'm building a P-T-P version of the SSE and chose the little Edcor GXSE series because of the low $43 price and George's recommendation from long ago. The Covid confinements led me to just go to Lowe's and buy a can of Krylon to paint my on hand Allied PT and Hammond choke the same blue color. Lo and behold, I thought they looked so good with the Sapele case I made, I painted the top plate, too.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
 
I've built 3 Tubelab amplifiers, (TSE-II with 45 output tubes, SPP with EL-84 tubes and SSE with 6L6 output tubes). I purchased Edcor, Electra Print and Hammond power and output transformers. We're talking <$500 in transformers for each amplifier. Frankly, I really don't hear much difference between the transformers. I'm not one of those touchy-feely kind of guys who likes shopping for shoes and clothes at the malls on weekends. But I like DIY and working on my home, cars, machining because its all mine if it's good- or bad. I can live with whatever color the transformers are and don't whine about someone's lack of proper planning to prevent **** poor performance.

Almost 3 months and nearly 100 posts since the OP, and still don't know how whatever transformers he bought sound???
 
I did end up using the Toroidy brand transformers. I had done a few tests of the setup, but just with my bench speakers because I hadn’t built a chassis yet. But as of today, my amp is complete. It sounds absolutely marvelous with my restored Bozak Rhapsody speakers.
Here is a picture of the amp. The chassis is made of laser cut cherry-veneered MDF.
sqxMkJL.jpg

I’m very happy with the sound. Thanks to everyone in the thread for the assistance and encouragement.