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Made a 6N1P OTL tube amp

post #1 of 7
8/11/10 at 8:52pm
Thread Starter 

I completed my tube amp. It took forever with a total parts cost somewhere around $250-$300.  The hardest part was drilling all the holes in 20 gauge steel.  Hooked the power supply up wrong a few times, then got it right and wired the rest, plugged it in and music came out.  It was making a low volume hum at first, but after around 20 minutes of running it, the hum stopped.  I'm not sure what it is or if it will come back. (Edit: Hum came back 10 minutes later).  There's no knob because I need to replace the volume potentiometer.  It's absolute garbage.  Don't buy them from Radioshack.  I thought "How bad could it be"?  I learned my lesson.  

 

The amp sounds like my STX, but it has a nice warm tube sound and I can't run it at more than 3% max volume or my ears bleed.  It also seems to have a higher noise floor.  

 

I currently have it hooked up to my Triports.  I have a HD650 in the mail.  Can't wait to try them with a higher impedance headphone.  Got rid of all my others before I made the amp. 


Edited by PointyFox - 8/12/10 at 2:48pm
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post #2 of 7
8/11/10 at 9:10pm

That is wonderful.  You must have a tremendous feeling of accomplishment after putting that together.  I wish I had more skills....it seems like it would be a lot of fun to DIY.  Congrats!

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post #3 of 7
8/11/10 at 9:32pm
hodgjy, you should give DIY a try - everyone else started out at the beginning, too.

Great work! Did you design the circuit yourself? I'd like to know more - please share.
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post #4 of 7
8/11/10 at 9:43pm

 

Perhaps I might once I buy my first house.  Right now I'm renting an apartment, so I don't have much of a workspace.

 

And yes, please do share the circuit.  I like to learn new things.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post

hodgjy, you should give DIY a try - everyone else started out at the beginning, too.

Great work! Did you design the circuit yourself? I'd like to know more - please share.
Reply
post #5 of 7
8/12/10 at 2:50pm
Thread Starter 

I made the project here:

 

http://gilmore2.chem.northwestern.edu/projects/showfile.php?file=bender_prj.htm

 

I made it with no experience and a 4'x4' workspace.

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post #6 of 7
8/12/10 at 3:18pm


 

Quote:
Originally Posted by PointyFox View Post

The amp sounds like my STX, but it has a nice warm tube sound and I can't run it at more than 3% max volume or my ears bleed.  It also seems to have a higher noise floor.  


Sounds like the gain is set too high. Lower it and the noise floor will go with it. Maybe change the circuit so that the gain is selectable? Ideally you should set the gain such that you get a comfortable listening level somewhere between 50 to 75% on the volume dial.

 

Jack

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post #7 of 7
8/12/10 at 7:58pm
Thread Starter 

Yeah, I'm thinking of putting in a voltage divider. 

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