Bijou All Tube Futterman Headphone Amplifier - Page 130

Another flawless night without a single scratch / hiss / whatever - dead silent background. And, let us dispell this myth of rolled off bass - Geddy's Rickenbacker 4001 sounds _exactly_ like a Rick should, with every note precisely presented, and deep - you can hear what sets a GREAT bass player apart from the pedestrian - maybe I'll listen to a little Cris Squier and John Entwistle this evening.

She seems settled in, or there is some other mischief afoot, so, for now, it is done, but I'll keep a couple of sockets on the desk in case.

For the 6n1p and 6n6p crowd - any quality issues with either tubes, and, perhaps, do they just take a week or so to settle in?

And, Senior fishski, what are your impressions thus far?

n/m - double.

Glad to hear you're back in business pabbi.

So Alex, I too am looking into a tube speaker amp, would you perhaps have a rough ballpark figure of the power output and the price range you are shooting for?

PS: pics tonight of something fanci I got from Australia (gogo USD exchange rate)

chobint, this would be a tube hybrid amp with the O/P power still provided by sand.

I am shooting for 100W into 4R. I believe this is relatively easy to achieve for the first version of the amp.

As for cost, I can't estimate that yet. I've already designed a board for one channel of the amp, but in a power amp like this most of the cost is in the PS, the heatsinks, the auxilliary circuitry, and the box. The only way for me to even rough this out will be to build one.

I have another project, however, between here and there which is in the works now. I am a little hesitant about how quickly to proceed because, like many of you, I am wondering where the economy is going. Nevertheless, I have just ordered pieces for the enclosure for the project that is on the drawing board now.

Wish I could be more specific, but I can't right at this moment.

I think it really was close to 50 hours of solid use before my 6n1p-6n6p bijou settled in.

I gave an account of it's wanderings over on HW back in the day.

Just got these buggers in from Australia middle of this week. The combination of a favorable exchange rate and exemption from Australian taxes put these at 84$ each. That's less than half the best price I found from US vendors. What a steal! I hope to be donning these inside my amplifier by the end of the night, time and SPACE permitting
edit: thanks for the info runeight

Shall we call it 'The Ferrari Factor'?

Though, the PartsConnexion prices are very nice until Saturday - 20% off the Mundorfs and Jensens, if anyone is also leaning this way. I have some M-Tube caps inbound, but for another project.

haha ya, or "Ferrari Fever" perhaps. All who see his Bijou build get a sudden insatiable itch to buy large film caps. I had actually given up wanting these, but after stumbling upon them at that price I had to jump on it. Merry xmas to me

These things are friggin huge. I had to redo some wiring to fit them in. My dad says to me over the phone while unpacking them for me last week "What am I looking for here? It looks like a couple of soda cans." haha, good times. Looking forward to more listening over the long break.

Hooray for cellphone pics

i finally received my resistors to re-build my attenuators today, and another 4-pin XLR to balance my HD650. like i said before, i still only have 5 clicks worth of resistors soldered in, and my max SPL is around 75 dB for "hotter" mastered recordings - thus, classical and jazz have been MIA during my listening. i typically listen a bit louder, with peaks up to 85 dB. i've been a bit reluctant to post much re: sonics until i can get some more dBs. but i think i can safely make a couple of observations that will translate as well, or even better, at higher dBs with the K701 balanced.

-the Bijou has a very beguiling way of carving out a "wave of sound" for a particular instrument/musician. it's hard to describe. it's as if each instument has a different way of pressurizing the air that hits you ear drum. i don't know if you would call this timbral accuracy or what, but instruments feel more like this real thing rather than just sounding like a facsimile. there's also the superbly detailed transients that help to create this as well.

-notes start and stop on a dime with zero muddling overhang. timing and the ability to unravel multiple musical lines while still retaining a "cut from the same cloth" presentation is equal to any Naim i've heard. musical.

-massive soundstage in all directions, especially on the z-axis. on several recordings the K701 have disappeared and i felt like i was "there". i feel cheesy for saying saying that, but it's what i heard/felt.

any comparisons between balanced and unbalanced would be pointless at this time as i have yet to wire for unbalanced with my new attenuators in place. before balancing my Bijou, i was using a crappy RS pot.

i'm in the middle of a 72 hr work week and am leaving town for the weekend. i won't be able to get around to re-building my attenuators until Sun. night, but will definately be balancing my HD650 first thing when i get home in the a.m. .

ooh la la...

Good stuff Chobint! Ferrari knows good caps! ;-)

Well Pabbi, let's just see how much your amp settles down.

balanced Bijou + balanced HD650 =

it's nice to have some bass back in the sonic window.

i'm in the front row, with some dBs to spare....nice.

where did you get those from exactly????

Ok...this is cool. Just listened to the Doors Riders on the storm...and heard something I never heard before (or maybe just never this clearly). One of the other band members clearly whispering the lyrics. I betcha it sounds bad a.. with the balanced version.

I have to agree. Classic Rush is the best. I just bought remastered Rush (1st album) and a remastered Caress of Steel and the Bijou makes 'em really live. ...Wonder what it sounds like balanced... bet it's uncomparable.