[jonnywolfet]

hi all.
i just got given this baby from my girlfriends father, who went solid state and never looked back (i think he kept getting burned). which is awesome for me!
anyway, here is a pic.

its a diy amp called the Millenium 4-20 built in 1995. a 20watt class AB1 push-pull amp. (i have no idea what that means, if someone could enlighten me...) with russian tubes.

my question is this.
what would be the best solution for a pre-amp? i plan on diying one in the relatively near future, and it will include a source selector.
im unsure if i should go passive or active, as i will mostly be using low power sources (ipod, pcdp, laptop) as sources untill i get a dedicated cdp. if i go active (which is likely) i will include a bypass switch for higher power sources.
so what pre-amp stage should i look for? i am using a mint at the moment, but it is far too noisy for my liking (a background hissing noise). i think i want something that will be completely neutral and free from colour, as the amp is allready pretty dark sounding.

while i am asking, what would be a good paint to use on this (it gets hot!)? im going to paint it black, replace that hideous power switch and put a new faceplate on (probably a pretty piece of wood), as well as a headphone out (im guessing an attenuated headout would be the best way of doing that?).

if there is anything else i should be considering, please bring it up.

cheers.
jon.

 

[Jon L]

Well, pop the hood and take some detailed photo's inside for us.

Also read what tubes are used; there should be some letters and numbers on the tubes.

Class AB push-pull tube amps can be a tricky beast to get sounding great, and your amp does look pretty good from here, except the output transformers appear to be a bit undersized for 20 watt push-pull.

Once you pop the hood, you will likely be surprised by the sheer number of parts inside, much more than single-ended triodes. In such setting, parts upgrades still help, but not as much as in SET.

Anyways, give it a go!

 

[jonnywolfet]

ok, well i have learned (after figuring out how to spell millennium correctly and using google) that the output trannies are probably the best thing to upgrade, at the moment the highs are really rolled off, and the bass has no control. But, such lovely mids!

ill take a few pics later when i stop listening to it.