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To Tube or Not To Tube

post #1 of 8
11/12/09 at 12:53am
Thread Starter 
So I have been lusting after a Starving Student for a while, but I am not sure if this amp is in the realm of possibility anymore with the tube shortages for it. I may attempt to get a Beezar kit but the odds of that seem pretty low. I wanted the SS Hybrid for my Grados as suggested in multiple threads, but alas.

What are my best options for a replacement project i.e. SOHA II, MilletMAX, MiniMAX? Trying to keep it <$150. If all else fails I may just go with a total solid, Mini^3, etc, but I want some tube action.
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post #2 of 8
11/12/09 at 1:01am
There is options, with minor changes for using other tubes. There are a couple of posts on the thread for how to do it.
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post #3 of 8
11/12/09 at 1:11am
Check out the Kurt Strain OTL over at Headwize. If you're careful with part selection, you should be able to build it for $150 or less. It's a good design and several commercial amps use a similar circuit. Don't worry about the point-to-point. It'll take a little more layout and planning than a PCB, but you'll end up with a well made amp that's easy to tweak.
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post #4 of 8
11/12/09 at 6:04am
The SSMH is easily modified to use a couple of different tubes. The metal version of one of them is a dollar a pop and in stock at a lot of tube suppliers. Check the SSMH thread for details.
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post #5 of 8
11/12/09 at 9:39am
Quote:
I may attempt to get a Beezar kit but the odds of that seem pretty low.
Why is that? It took several weeks to sell the kits the first time. That was with 30 kits in the offing. This time we have 25, not a big difference. So unless there are a lot of new users out there, I doubt that they would be gone as quickly as you're thinking.
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post #6 of 8
11/12/09 at 5:42pm
Checkout the CTH, It's a great little hybrid, and you could build one for about $150
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post #7 of 8
11/12/09 at 9:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tomb View Post
Why is that? It took several weeks to sell the kits the first time. That was with 30 kits in the offing. This time we have 25, not a big difference. So unless there are a lot of new users out there, I doubt that they would be gone as quickly as you're thinking.
Well that is quite a nice thing to know. I was assuming a pretty decent demand and that it would be like trying to by Hannah Montana concert tickets.

I saw the mods to the SSH for other tubes, but I wasn't sure if the PCB from Beezar would still work with those, since I was trying to be lazy this time and not have to plan the layout myself.
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post #8 of 8
11/12/09 at 11:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smrtby123 View Post
Well that is quite a nice thing to know. I was assuming a pretty decent demand and that it would be like trying to by Hannah Montana concert tickets.

I saw the mods to the SSH for other tubes, but I wasn't sure if the PCB from Beezar would still work with those, since I was trying to be lazy this time and not have to plan the layout myself.
Yep - still stand by what I said - but we'll see how well my prediction works out. However, you are correct to think that the other tube mods will not really work with the PCB. Equalizer's mod still uses 7-pin sockets, but the pinouts are different from the 19J6. The 12AU7 mod uses 9-pin sockets, so neither is something that can be done very easily with the PCB.
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