[maxpudding]

Now that’s very exciting. Controllable LEDs? Never seen that in a tube amp before! How do you control the colors? Using an app?

Btw, congratulations @raindownthunda and @A2029

 

[raindownthunda]

Now that’s very exciting. Controllable LEDs? Never seen that in a tube amp before! How do you control the colors? Using an app?

Btw, congratulations @raindownthunda and @A2029

So there was a lot that went into the design/prototyping/build for the LED setup. In summary, there's a DigUno ESP32 board w/ Ethernet inside the amp controlling 9 RGB LED's per VU meter plus the single RGB LED power switch running off the amp's 12V line. The ESP32 board has a program called WLED which can be accessed from any web browser (also has an app). There's another software called LedFX that interfaces with WLED and uses your music source to create visualizations with the LED's. Feel free to drop me a PM for a more detailed breakdown.

Inside each VU meter is 9x WS2815 LED's:


Prototype with SMD LED's individually soldered. Turns out using the premade strips was WAY easier/faster/more reliable:


Here's what WLED looks like (for setting static colors, animated effects/gradients, brightness control, network settings, etc):


And LedFX for music visualization:
I just started playing around with LedFX, there's about a million options so takes some tinkering to find what looks good.



Basic rainbow effect with WLED:



Music visualizations with LedFX + WLED:




One more fun tidbit is the DigUno board has a temperature sensor to monitor the amp's internal temp. You can view this anytime from the WLED app in the browser:

 

[raindownthunda]

Love how it turned out! Please list the specs for us waiting for ours =)

Here's a quick rundown of the build options(@A2029 feel free to correct me / add anything I missed):

• 6x 6080/6AS7G/6BL7/6BXL power tube sockets
• 2x 6J5 and 1x 6SN7 driver tubes sockets
• All tube sockets upgraded to bakelite with gold plated brass connections
• Lundahl transformer
• Miflex KPCU-01 Coupling capacitors
• Miflex KPCU-01 bypass capacitors
• 260uF TDK film output capacitors (~100 ohm or greater headphones)
• 1800uF KEMET electrolytic output capacitors (~20 ohm or greater headphones)
• Extra long life heater capacitors (~30 years before recap)
• Kiwame power resistors
• Vishay RN55/RN60 signal resistors
• Khozmo 48 stepped attenuator
• AudioNote knob - solid brass, matte black, 30mm
• Upgraded power regulators (5A to run 6336/6258 power tubes)
• Upgraded toroidal transformers for tube heaters, can handle ~38A max
• 12V/6V driver switch
• Blue Halo / Blue Halo+ output mode switch
• Power tube heater switch (to keep power tubes plugged in when running BH mode)
• Low ohm switch to run the high capacity electrolytic output caps in parallel
• CCS/RES switch to change between Constant Current Sink or Resistor for BH+ mode power tube bias
• 2x 120x15mm Noctua fans for active cooling underneath amp
• Customized VU meters with RGB LED's backlight (provided by me)
• Black power switch with RGB LED (provided by me)
• DigUno V3 Ethernet LED controller (provided by me)
• Rubber/bakelite vibration isolation feet
• Customized front plate layout design (provided by me)

Adapters (coming soon!):

• 1x 12AU7 -> 6SN7
• 1x 6080 -> 6SN7
• 2x 6J7 -> 6J5
• 2x 12BY7 -> 6J5
• 2x C3G -> 6J5
• 2x 6922 -> 6J5
• 2x EL34 -> 6J5
• 6x EL34 -> 6080

 

[ThanatosVI]

Here's a quick rundown of the build options(@A2029 feel free to correct me / add anything I missed):

• 6x 6080/6AS7G/6BL7/6BXL power tube sockets
• 2x 6J5 and 1x 6SN7 driver tubes sockets
• All tube sockets upgraded to bakelite with gold plated brass connections
• Lundahl transformer
• Miflex KPCU-01 Coupling capacitors
• Miflex KPCU-01 bypass capacitors
• 260uF TDK film output capacitor (~100 ohm or greater headphones)
• 1800uF KEMET electrolytic output capacitor (~20 ohm or greater headphones)
• Extra long life heater capacitors (~30 years before recap)
• Kiwame power resistors
• Vishay RN55/RN60 signal resistors
• Khozmo 48 stepped attenuator
• AudioNote solid brass knob matte black 30mm
• Upgraded power regulators (to run 6336/6258 power tubes)
• Tube heater transformers can handle ~38A max
• 12V/6V driver switch
• Blue Halo / Blue Halo+ output mode switch
• Power tube heater switch (to keep power tubes plugged in when running BH mode)
• Low ohm switch to run the high capacity electrolytic output caps in parallel
• CCS/RES switch to change between Constant Current Sink or Resistor for output bias
• 2x 120x15mm Noctua fans for active cooling underneath amp
• VU meters with RGB LED's backlight
• Black power switch with RGB LED
• DigUno V3 Ethernet LED controller
• Rubber/bakelite vibration isolation feet
• Customized front plate layout

Adapters (coming soon!):

• 1x 12AU7 -> 6SN7
• 1x 6080 -> 6SN7
• 2x 6J7 -> 6J5
• 2x 12BY7 -> 6J5
• 2x C3G -> 6J5
• 2x 6922 -> 6J5
• 2x EL34 -> 6J5
• 6x EL34 -> 6080

• 1x 6080 -> 6SN7

Wait wut?!
That's a quite unheard of replacement. The 6080 draws over triple the current of a 6SN7

 

[raindownthunda]

• 1x 6080 -> 6SN7

Wait wut?!
That's a quite unheard of replacement. The 6080 draws over triple the current of a 6SN7

That was my reaction too. @A2029 has apparently designed some magic circuitry with extra-beefy components and custom adapters to allow such a wide range of tube rolling possibilities. With both 6J5 and 6SN7 sockets being active at the same time it's going to take several lifetimes to attempt all possible driver tube combinations. Not to mention BH vs BH+ and CCS vs RES combinations.

 

[whirlwind]

Burn-in has begun with new pairs of Tung-Sol 6080 and Raytheon 12J5WGT



Ethernet is for controlling the VU meters and power switch RGB LED’s over the network

Will do a more detailed break down once I get some time to sit down with it. Today our micro-preemie twins turn 1 year old after a very challenging start to life, so a lot going on over here today!

Awesome.....enjoy

 

[Marutks]

That's a quite unheard of replacement. The 6080 draws over triple the current of a 6SN7

It works in BlueHalo amp as well. ( 6080 in 6SN7 socket )

 

[Xcalibur255]

Lots of creativity on display here. Enjoy the results!

I have a feeling that this LED implementation is going to be seen and copied at some point and will show up in some commercial offering down the road for massive $$$. If that happens you can smile and know that you did it first.

 

[mordy]

So there was a lot that went into the design/prototyping/build for the LED setup. In summary, there's a DigUno ESP32 board w/ Ethernet inside the amp controlling 9 RGB LED's per VU meter plus the single RGB LED power switch running off the amp's 12V line. The ESP32 board has a program called WLED which can be accessed from any web browser (also has an app). There's another software called LedFX that interfaces with WLED and uses your music source to create visualizations with the LED's. Feel free to drop me a PM for a more detailed breakdown.

Inside each VU meter is 9x WS2815 LED's:


Prototype with SMD LED's individually soldered. Turns out using the premade strips was WAY easier/faster/more reliable:


Here's what WLED looks like (for setting static colors, animated effects/gradients, brightness control, network settings, etc):


And LedFX for music visualization:
I just started playing around with LedFX, there's about a million options so takes some tinkering to find what looks good.



Basic rainbow effect with WLED:



Music visualizations with LedFX + WLED:




One more fun tidbit is the DigUno board has a temperature sensor to monitor the amp's internal temp. You can view this anytime from the WLED app in the browser:

Congratulations on the new amp! Would love to hear your impressions of how it sounds once burned in (especially a comparison to the GOTL if you have it).
Re the multicolored LEDs on the meters - the technology is there to adjust the colors via Wi-Fi from your smartphone.

 

[raindownthunda]

Congratulations on the new amp! Would love to hear your impressions of how it sounds once burned in (especially a comparison to the GOTL if you have it).

Thanks @mordy! I’ve never heard the GOTL unfortunately (I was in the queue for a few years before Glenn stopper building). I have a Bottlehead Crack that I’ll be able to compare to when I get some more hours in. Hopefully I can get the amp in the hands of someone like @TylersEclectic who have heard many more amps than I have for some more nuanced impressions

Re the multicolored LEDs on the meters - the technology is there to adjust the colors via Wi-Fi from your smartphone.

Definitely. I’m able to control the lights with my phone via an app or web browser as the controller is on the local network. I have a few other WLED lights and other smart lights around the house all integrated with Home Assistant, which is a nice solution to have a single dashboard to control everything.

Originally we were going to use a WiFi controller board with an external antenna on the back of the amp, but chose the Ethernet route to limit any potential for WiFi signal interfering with the audio. We also explored externalizing the controller, which for future builds may be an easier thing for @A2029 to implement and is far more user serviceable and would allow you to use WiFi outside ot the amp.

 

[leftside]

Adapters (coming soon!):

• 6x EL34 -> 6080

Hehe... I presume this will enable you to also use most of the tubes on the KT66/EL34 thread as well. That ain't no rabbit hole my friend. It's a giant wormhole.

 

[raindownthunda]

Hehe... I presume this will also you to use most of the tubes on the KT66/EL34 thread as well. That ain't no rabbit hole my friend. It's a giant wormhole.

Lol you ain’t lying. Mischa tells me the amp can run EL34/KT66/KT77/KT88/6L6GC and (maybe more?) power tubes. Running at least 4x is required though as 2x runs the tubes too hard to be worth it. I have 6x RFT and Mullard XF2 pairs ready to go. After I started looking up KT66 etc prices I quickly decided I would try what I have first to see what the ROI is compared to 6080 style tubes. Mischa told me the output tubes should have far less influence on sound than the driver tubes given the cathode follower output stage, so may be a rabbit hole worth filling up with cement before it becomes a wormhole/blackhole

 

[ThanatosVI]

Lol you ain’t lying. Mischa tells me the amp can run EL34/KT66/KT77/KT88/6L6GC and (maybe more?) power tubes. Running at least 4x is required though as 2x runs the tubes too hard to be worth it. I have 6x RFT and Mullard XF2 pairs ready to go. After I started looking up KT66 etc prices I quickly decided I would try what I have first to see what the ROI is compared to 6080 style tubes. Mischa told me the output tubes should have far less influence on sound than the driver tubes given the cathode follower output stage, so may be a rabbit hole worth filling up with cement before it becomes a wormhole/blackhole

If it can run 6080 it should also be able to run KT120/KT150 and maybe 170, maybe check with Mischa

 

[leftside]

Lol you ain’t lying. Mischa tells me the amp can run EL34/KT66/KT77/KT88/6L6GC and (maybe more?) power tubes. Running at least 4x is required though as 2x runs the tubes too hard to be worth it. I have 6x RFT and Mullard XF2 pairs ready to go. After I started looking up KT66 etc prices I quickly decided I would try what I have first to see what the ROI is compared to 6080 style tubes. Mischa told me the output tubes should have far less influence on sound than the driver tubes given the cathode follower output stage, so may be a rabbit hole worth filling up with cement before it becomes a wormhole/blackhole

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...el51-el39-4654-4699-kt63-kt61-6v6-etc.959519/

 

[A2029]

Lol you ain’t lying. Mischa tells me the amp can run EL34/KT66/KT77/KT88/6L6GC and (maybe more?) power tubes. Running at least 4x is required though as 2x runs the tubes too hard to be worth it. I have 6x RFT and Mullard XF2 pairs ready to go. After I started looking up KT66 etc prices I quickly decided I would try what I have first to see what the ROI is compared to 6080 style tubes. Mischa told me the output tubes should have far less influence on sound than the driver tubes given the cathode follower output stage, so may be a rabbit hole worth filling up with cement before it becomes a wormhole/blackhole

Running two EL34 tubes (1x per channel) runs the tubes at around 90-95% dissipation - still possible, but pretty hard on the tubes and relatively short tube life. Running 2x tubes per channel drops the dissipation per tube down to 50% or less dissipation per tube for long tube life

If it can run 6080 it should also be able to run KT120/KT150 and maybe 170, maybe check with Mischa

That's correct, it can run the KT120/KT150 (max of 2x per channel) as well using the same EL34 -> 6080 adapters The KT170 is a bit too wide to fit without scorching some paint off the transformer covers behind them, and I've also heard about reliability issues with the KT170 on launch (though they may have solved those by now).