[tdogzthmn]

Any more impressions?

 

[mrarroyo]

Todd that amp looks great, same with yours ironbut.

 

[igotyofire]

going to start working on mine now, im sure im going to have alot of questions and comments as this will be the most complicated thing ive ever built, going to try using gorilla glue for the base since thats what i have lying around,figure once its together then i can start the light sanding & stain process

 

[ironbut]

One detail of the building of this amp that some might skip (or in my case, forget) is putting the feet on the bottom of the base. It might seem kind of trivial but I find that the top plate stays much cooler with this ventilation.

Properly ventilating amp cases is something that I've found is often skipped with commercial builds. In some cases, it's for aesthetic reasons which I can sort of understand, but getting components too hot shortens their useful lives.
And with some components, their values can even change with extremes in temperature.
So, don't forget the feet. Your amp will appreciate it.

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdogzthmn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Any more impressions?

Yeah,
I'm pretty impressed with how good it sounds. I swapped in my Sylvania 7236 and got even more improvement. The original tube was a touch polite sounding.
I might bring it to CanJam if someone would let me sit it on their table.

 

[nikongod]

Im anxious to get cracking on my crack build, but one of my pieces of wood came chipped. I emailed bottlehead and they said they would get a new piece out for me ASAP. IME there is noting that a shipping service can not screw up, and bottlehead was nice enough to fix it nice and quick. I suppose they should be here Monday or Tuesday.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd R /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, I'm pretty impressed with how good it sounds. I swapped in my Sylvania 7236 and got even more improvement. The original tube was a touch polite sounding. I might bring it to CanJam if someone would let me sit it on their table.

I dont know how things are going to go this year, but there was basically a DIY room at last year's can-jam. for sure someone will have room to plop the amp down. Bring your own y-splitters

Id for sure let you share a table, but I'm bumming from someone else at the moment (and I dont even know who yet!).

 

[ironbut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd R /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, I'm pretty impressed with how good it sounds. I swapped in my Sylvania 7236 and got even more improvement. The original tube was a touch polite sounding. I might bring it to CanJam if someone would let me sit it on their table.

That would be very cool if you could bring it. I still haven't made up my mind if I'm going to drag any gear along with me.

I put a nice mid 50's CBS Hytron 5814 in mine yesterday and I'm lovin' it.
BTW what tubes are you guys getting with your kit? Mine came with an RCA 6080 and a Toshiba 5963 labeled HP. The Toshiba was a little edgy compared to the Hytron.

 

[Todd R]

I'm sure it's in one of the huge threads, but what was the deal with member tables? How did you get one?

 

[aristos_achaion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ironbut /img/forum/go_quote.gif That would be very cool if you could bring it. I still haven't made up my mind if I'm going to drag any gear along with me. I put a nice mid 50's CBS Hytron 5814 in mine yesterday and I'm lovin' it. BTW what tubes are you guys getting with your kit? Mine came with an RCA 6080 and a Toshiba 5963 labeled HP. The Toshiba was a little edgy compared to the Hytron.

I got a GE 6080 and a bit of a mystery 5963...it's clearly labelled "USA / 5963", but the manufacturer below is mostly rubbed off. I can make out the end of the label as

ARD
RCA

It's got fairly normal-looking plates and a halo getter. The only tube manufacturer I can think of ending in ARD would be Mullard, but would they be making tubes in the US? Or with RCA?

Anyhow, my very noobish build is nearing completion, so we'll see how it sounds sometime in the next few days (unless, of course, I've screwed the whole thing up, which is very much not impossible).

 

[ironbut]

It could always be another supplier that Hewlett Pack-ard relabeled for use in their equipment.
They used tons of nice tubes in their test gear. Lots of Amperex 7308/6922 types in fact. After all, the stuff they made would have been used to "test" things like medical equipment that were already as low noise as possible.

 

[Todd R]

Mine came with an RCA 6080. The 12AU7 I have no idea, all the lettering is gone.

 

[igotyofire]

I was reading ahead and was just curious are you guys doing the voltage checks? that seems kinda dangerous & id prefer to only do the resistance check, seems like they accomplish the same thing. as far as determining whats to connected to what & what its measuring at.

 

[ironbut]

If you just keep the same ground as the resistance checks, all you really need to do is touch the indicated terminals with the red probe to do the voltage checks. You just need to be careful not to touch more than one at a time.
For the most part, the voltage checks just assures that you're not feeding the high voltage or filament supply to the wrong place. The resistance checks will still be in the right neighborhood even if they aren't.
Doing the one hand in the pocket will keep you out of trouble even if you do get zapped (in other words, don't ground your free hand).

 

[ironbut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd R /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm sure it's in one of the huge threads, but what was the deal with member tables? How did you get one?

I was looking for one myself. They usually have a "Sign Up" thread going once they have some kind of table map penciled in.
I haven't noticed an official "Vendor list" thread posted yet either.
I would imagine that those are some of the things that go into those "reserved" posts at the beginning of the main thread.
Last year, the table sign ups didn't begin till pretty late too.

 

[aristos_achaion]

What's the best way to contact Bottlehead? I managed to break off one of the leads of one of the 3KOhm resistors, and need to see if I can order a replacement.

Also, does anyone know a good source for such a resistor? I'm a bit hesitant to order just one resistor from, say, Mouser...it seems like that would kill me on shipping.