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Cheaper DIY tube amp?

post #1 of 7
3/22/11 at 5:30pm
Thread Starter 
I'm selling off my surround stuff since I listen to music 90% of the time and it is not really benefitting anything there. Instead of just replacing it with some mass produced stereo amp, I thought I'd try out some tubes for a change of pace. The pull of headphone amps is kinda keeping me from just going all out here since I have yet to build a cmoy just to have a cheapo portable amp. However, I think some full size speakers would be nice to have going properly again since I hate gaming in headphones, and every once in awhile it's nice to have background music as opposed to the analytical and dedicated listening that headphones kind of bring out of me.

I've looked at a few different tuts, but I keep finding that they end up being really expensive or impossible to find tubes for (everything involving a 6T9 which are otherwise pretty cheap tuts)

So are there any tutorials or schematics and possibly parts lists with those out there for cheap amps with easy to find tubes?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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post #2 of 7
3/22/11 at 7:58pm
Thread Starter 
Bumpity bump bump

Anybody have any recommendations here? I'm lost in a mess of expensive stuff right now.
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post #3 of 7
3/22/11 at 8:13pm

Have you looked at the starving student millet hybrid?

With the 17EW8 variety only requiring tubes that cost $3 ea

 

If you're looking for a full size amp for speakers, make a similar thread a diyaudio.com, and you'll probably get more hits.

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post #4 of 7
3/22/11 at 8:20pm
Thread Starter 
I was talking about full size stuff. Been looking for a good place to find fill size info, but I figured I'd try here first in case somebody is into DIYing full size stuff.
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post #5 of 7
3/22/11 at 11:10pm
Take a look at the projects over at HeadWize. The Strain OTL is pretty cheap and doesn't use exotic tubes.

You might also consider the Bottlehead Crack kit. Only $200 and it comes with everything you need.
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post #6 of 7
3/23/11 at 9:19am
Thread Starter 
Thanks UE, the Crack would be great, however, right now I'm looking at full size amps and 8Ω loads. HeadWize and Head-Fi are both great resources and I've found plenty of amps here, but full size dedicated sites have been pretty confusing in their layout and hard to browse in comparison. I'm still checking over at DIYAudio for any ideas.
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post #7 of 7
3/23/11 at 10:14am

You might want to check out Pete Millett's "Jonokuchi". It's  basically a small speaker amp with headphone capability. Very nice design with  an available inexpensive pcb to get you started.

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