[L0rdGwyn]

Thanks for the info man! I really appreciate all the info, and I am absolutely loving the amp. The Telemachus was the one custom I was considering, but I am just going to stick with what I have as I am happy, and I am at the max of my budget anyway.

Cheers bro!

No problem! Glad you are happy, your setup looks great

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I was able to get the ship date for the last part I need moved to 8/31, so barring some completely unexpected issue with it, CanJam SoCal should be a go for this amp really excited about that, can't think of any better way to get some feedback on it.

 

[Deleeh]

Yes, that would be great if that could be realised.
I would be interested.
Since you are still in "development" so to speak, how about the Eu side with its 230v environment?
Would the amplifier also be compatible with the power supply?

At the CanJam SoCal you can of course get good feedback and certainly also test planar headphones and other headphones on how they do on the amplifier.
And tweak a screw or two if necessary.

Fingers crossed that it will be available as a diy kit at some point in the future,

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Yes, that would be great if that could be realised.
I would be interested.
Since you are still in "development" so to speak, how about the Eu side with its 230v environment?
Would the amplifier also be compatible with the power supply?

At the CanJam SoCal you can of course get good feedback and certainly also test planar headphones and other headphones on how they do on the amplifier.
And tweak a screw or two if necessary.

Fingers crossed that it will be available as a diy kit at some point in the future,

230V would be no problem, the mains transformer can be wired for parallel (115/120V) or series (230/240V) primary windings to accommodate. We'll see what happens

 

[Xcalibur255]

Yeah I bet KT90 would work well in your amplifier. Like the KT150, it is a KT88 type with a higher plate dissipation, 50W. So maybe you would use the KT150 setting unless they KT150 are biased pretty hot, obviously Mischa would know. Are they new production KT66? Like the KT88, prices for NOS are a bit crazy. I have found big differences in sound in my circuit with different 6L6 types, pretty drastic in fact. Best one I have is the Ken-Rad 6L6G.

No NOS power tubes for me yet. The prices make my eyes water. I have NOS covered on the driver side for this amp (because it's mandatory there ) so I decided to be lazy and just buy power tubes the easy way. The KT66 are the new sensor Gold Lions. I think they're impressively well made, but the Sophia EL34ST and TungSol KT150 are both better in the sound department.

So, if a KT90 has a 50W rating then they'd run in the hotter KT150 bias mode. It's pretty conservative actually at 38W. There are so many KT tubes out there I have not looked at them all and this is one of the types I sort of just ignored. I was going to try a KT77 but decided the Sophia EL34s kind of covered that already.

Honestly I'm still bummed out about my KR KT150 taking a dump on me. I may try again someday (definitely not from the same seller), but I've been slowly becoming more and more uncomfortable buying the megabuck tubes and this only accelerated that attitude. The only real listening session I got from them before they died suggested they might be a pretty sizable upgrade over the new sensor product though so the temptation is still hanging out somewhere in the back of my head.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

No NOS power tubes for me yet. The prices make my eyes water. I have NOS covered on the driver side for this amp (because it's mandatory there ) so I decided to be lazy and just buy power tubes the easy way. The KT66 are the new sensor Gold Lions. I think they're impressively well made, but the Sophia EL34ST and TungSol KT150 are both better in the sound department.

So, if a KT90 has a 50W rating then they'd run in the hotter KT150 bias mode. It's pretty conservative actually at 38W. There are so many KT tubes out there I have not looked at them all and this is one of the types I sort of just ignored. I was going to try a KT77 but decided the Sophia EL34s kind of covered that already.

Honestly I'm still bummed out about my KR KT150 taking a dump on me. I may try again someday (definitely not from the same seller), but I've been slowly becoming more and more uncomfortable buying the megabuck tubes and this only accelerated that attitude. The only real listening session I got from them before they died suggested they might be a pretty sizable upgrade over the new sensor product though so the temptation is still hanging out somewhere in the back of my head.

Yeah the prices are crazy, I was unawares of how crazy they'd gotten, since I primarily build with DHTs, I hadn't really paid attention to the market for a few years, youch. But at the same time its great there are so many new production options, and sounds like many of them are really good, part of the reason I went with them for this new amp, so I guess I better be willing to try them out

38W for a 50W tube would be a good place to be, a little under 80% of maximum plate dissipation would increase tube longevity at the cost of some power output, but with your speakers being what they are and headphone use, shouldn't be an issue.

Big bummer on the KR KT150. I can't recall, were you refunded for them? Maybe worth trying again if there is a warranty. Yeah it's tough with expensive and super rare tubes. I remember at one point I was seriously considering building a PX25 amplifier and another time a type 50 amplifier with the full intention of collecting NOS tubes...not sure I'd be into that nowadays lol to spend close to $1K only to have a tube die would be tough to swallow.

Plus I have my huge stash of HY69 now, which is like a type 50 on steroids

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Coming off of a night shift, gonna power through today, listening to some Waylon Live, back on the Ken-Rad 6L6G.



For CanJam, thinking I will send along two sets of tubes - RCA 5R4GY and Philips GZ34; Tung-Sol 6SU7GTY and RCA 5691; Ken-Rad 6L6G and Philips EL34. The GZ34 + EL34 combo has the most wow factor in terms of soundstage and airiness, while the 5R4GY + 6L6G has great tone, should be two good options.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Big bummer on the KR KT150. I can't recall, were you refunded for them? Maybe worth trying again if there is a warranty. Yeah it's tough with expensive and super rare tubes. I remember at one point I was seriously considering building a PX25 amplifier and another time a type 50 amplifier with the full intention of collecting NOS tubes...not sure I'd be into that nowadays lol to spend close to $1K only to have a tube die would be tough to swallow.

Plus I have my huge stash of HY69 now, which is like a type 50 on steroids

I did eventually get my money back. After giving them 2 months to make things right and being completely ignored I finally filed a dispute with Paypal and the seller completely ignored THAT too it so it was decided in my favor by default. It's the first time I've had to do such a thing and hopefully also the last.

I'm kind of surprised you haven't done anything with your HY69 stash yet! You were pretty excited about them when you first found them and they're pretty darn cool tubes. There's always tomorrow of course. I'm guessing you would get power output in the same range as a 2A3 from it right? What kind of driver tubes would suit it well?

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I did eventually get my money back. After giving them 2 months to make things right and being completely ignored I finally filed a dispute with Paypal and the seller completely ignored THAT too it so it was decided in my favor by default. It's the first time I've had to do such a thing and hopefully also the last.

I'm kind of surprised you haven't done anything with your HY69 stash yet! You were pretty excited about them when you first found them and they're pretty darn cool tubes. There's always tomorrow of course. I'm guessing you would get power output in the same range as a 2A3 from it right? What kind of driver tubes would suit it well?

Wow! To ignore a CC dispute is an impressive level of negligence. Well good you got your money back, maybe you can try again with a more reputable dealer.

Yeah I'm still excited about them, but the amplifier I would build with them is similar to my 801A amplifier in terms of use, and I just don't have room for more amps right now lol also trying to be better about curbing my enthusiasm and not getting overburdened with DIY gear again.

If used only in class A1, they would get power output somewhere between a 2A3 and a 50, but since they are transmitting tubes, they have grids built to handle grid current, so if direct coupled or transformer coupled, they can swing pretty far into positive grid territory and the power output goes up to maybe 7-10W. In terms of drivers, they have a mu of 6ish so a little higher than a DHT, so don't need a super high gain input tube.

Lots of options for them, but what I had drawn up was very similar to what I did for Zach's 45 amplifier, a transformer coupled fixed bias SET design with E182CC inputs, but for speakers instead. I have a stash of E182CC and 7044 tubes too whenever I decide to do it. Long term I'd also like to start winding my own transformers, so I might make that a focus of this particular build whenever the time feels right to do it. Also need to do some sort of cage or plexiglass enclosure, not super comfortable with 450V exposed on the anode caps with my dumb cats lurking around.

Anyway, long story short it's all drawn up, just waiting to the right time to do it!

 

[triod750]

Anyway, long story short it's all drawn up, just waiting to the right time to do it!

How about next week?

 

[L0rdGwyn]

How about next week?

Next week I will be in the Bahamas

 

[triod750]

Forgot about that. I feel sorry for you and wish you better days in the future .

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Forgot about that. I feel sorry for you and wish you better days in the future .

It's a true burden, but I'm doing it for the good of humanity and world peace.

 

[Monsterzero]

Next week I will be in the Bahamas

I lived in the Bahamas, on Paradise Island for a year. The Bahamians are lovely people.
Try to get to the Turks and Caicos Islands too. Not as popular as the Bahamas, though that has changed quite a bit since I lived there (too). Better diving and less touristy.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I lived in the Bahamas, on Paradise Island for a year. The Bahamians are lovely people.
Try to get to the Turks and Caicos Islands too. Not as popular as the Bahamas, though that has changed quite a bit since I lived there (too). Better diving and less touristy.

I'm pretty sure you've lived everywhere at one point, D.