So, my amp sort of had a makeover.

[MrSlacker]

wow that looks amazing!

[luvdunhill]

Originally Posted by swt61

I won't quote any prices on here, but I will say that little bit of Gaboon Ebony alone was $65.00.
When I told jay I wanted to use it, and told him how much it added to the cost of the project, he didn't bat an eye. I told him it would be small, subtle doses of it, but it would really add a lot to the project. He may have had a heart attack on the other end of the phone, but if so I was never aware of it.
Jay just let me do my thing, and I hope he loves it as much as I do.
That key end is Gaboon Ebony also, though it's hard to see in the pics.

just curious, since the face plate was welded on, did you send dimensions to Steve? You must have measured that thing like 1,000 times to make sure everything was exactly right

[philodox]

Originally Posted by swt61

Jay just let me do my thing, and I hope he loves it as much as I do.

Oh, I do love it.

I've always found it is best to just find good people, give them a general idea of what I'm looking for and then just letting them do what they want.

Originally Posted by facelvega

I see one major problem here: the slippery slope.

I'm not going to quote the whole post, but that was seriously funny... sort of choking at the moment.

Originally Posted by tbonner1

I am surprised you covered the transformer case.

Replaced is more like it... the original metal case is in Texas.

Originally Posted by daveDerek

there's no pl12 info there. how do the 2 units differ and from there what are the heavy mods done to the pl12? did you do the mods or was this built to your spec by mcalister?

Actually, I am not positive of the differences between the PL10 and PL12. You'd do best to ask Peter about that. As for the mods done to the PL12, I don't have any specifics, but this is a completely custom design. I asked Peter to build an over the top balanced amp to drive my K340's and gave him a bunch of parts from a previous failed amp build of mine, which is where those large motor run caps came from. I then designed the top layout once he let me know that there would be 9 tubes in the amp. The second row of tubes was added in later on as Peter was not completely happy with the initial build. I then owned it for quite a while and had a few concerns... it went back and Peter addressed those. I had planned from the start to get a custom plate from Steve, which is part of the reason that the first faceplate looked so ghetto... I told Peter not to waste his time there. I was originally going to get a goldpoint stepped attenuator, but when I talked to Mikhail [owner of singlepower and goldpoint], he recommended I get one of the new singlepower stepped attenuators and gave me an attractive price on it. There were also a couple other tweaks that we did while we had it open to install the volume control and faceplate [credit goes to Kevin Gilmore for these].

whew, that was more typing than I originally thought.

Originally Posted by daveDerek

Jay, can the amp simultaneously run balanced and se cans? are the two se jacks the same or do they have different impedances?

Good question... I believe it can, but I'm not positive. I usually just run one balanced headphone or one or two unbalanced. The unbalanced jacks are nice for comparisons.

Originally Posted by agile_one

I'm perplexed, though, by the pretty hunk of rounded wood perched atop the 2nd cap from the left.

Is that a volume knob waiting to be attached to the front? Perhaps a mini radome that is part of the North American Early Warning system? Do tell.

LOL, glad you like it Gene. I'm not sure what a radorne is, but yes, that is the volume knob. I've been too busy listening to the amp and haven't had a chance to affix it yet. I'd like to give it a day to dry after I stick it on.

Originally Posted by luvdunhill

just curious, since the face plate was welded on, did you send dimensions to Steve? You must have measured that thing like 1,000 times to make sure everything was exactly right

Yep, we just sent Steve the measurements. It helps that both Renato [looser101] and Steve are both perfectionists. Also, I sent him all of the parts that would be affixed to the faceplate except for the stepper so that he could mount them [I had an extra set of XLR's and 1/4" jacks and we sent him the key start switch]. I love how he recessed the XLR's and mounted them to the ebony from the back... looks so slick.

Getting that original faceplate off was a pain though. Some of the aluminum weld joints were pretty thick.

[Topplayer]

one word amazing love everything

[NiceCans]

OMG that is magnificent!

if the sound even approaches the aestetics it should be stellar sounding.

[Towert7]

Stunning work as always for all those involved in your amp.

[Carl]

Beautiful amp you've got there.

[philodox]

Thanks again guys.

EDIT: ...and girls.

[agile_one]

Originally Posted by philodox

LOL, glad you like it Gene. I'm not sure what a radorne is, but yes, that is the volume knob. I've been too busy listening to the amp and haven't had a chance to affix it yet. I'd like to give it a day to dry after I stick it on.

That's radome, Jay, and here's a pic:


Stands for Radar Dome, and they were conceived back in the '50s for airplane and missile tracking. Nicknamed Ike's Golf Balls, after U.S. president Eisenhower, they were placed all over North America - yes, many were in Canada - and called the DEW Line (Distant Early Warning Line.

For some reason that pretty little knob made me think of them.

[itsborken]

Beautiful. Absolutely Beautiful.