[bhjazz]

I ran into another place that had them for, you guessed it: $10. Now we'll be calling it the Really Starving Student. In spite of that, I think I'll get a spare pair or two. The sound of the amp is great for what I put into it, and I'd like the amp to at least outlast one set of tubes!

Tube magic!

 

[tomb]

The final round of Starving Student Millett Hybrid PCB kits will go on sale at 11 PM EST, Friday, 1/29/2010!

 

[UKToecutter]

Ooh. Can I order and pay for one now then?

 

[Juaquin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UKToecutter /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ooh. Can I order and pay for one now then?

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomb /img/forum/go_quote.gif The final round of Starving Student Millett Hybrid PCB kits will go on sale at 11 PM EST, Friday, 1/29/2010!

I don't mean to be rude, but Tom was pretty clear about the exact time they would go on sale. When the first round was being offered, I set the alarm on my phone so I would remember to order one right away. Of course, it took several days to sell out but I wanted to be sure. I'm not sure how long this final round will last, though.

 

[UKToecutter]

Juaquin

Point taken, however, I'd hate to end up at the back of the queue if he was taking pre-orders.
I apologise for my haste.

I'd better google EST and find out how that relates to GMT

 

[Juaquin]

No problem, like I said, I didn't want to be rude, just answer your question. TomB posts the time so that everyone has a fair chance at getting one should there be a huge rush, although so far I don't think any of the kit offerings have sold out quickly enough that you have to have your cursor hovering over the "Buy One" button like I was doing.

 

[UKToecutter]

Just out of interest, how does one order the kit?

Is it through Tom's website?

Hmmm... 11PM EST is 4AM for me.
I think it's gonna be a late one!!!

 

[Juaquin]

Ouch, yeah that's either a late one or an early one. It'll listed on this page when it goes live, I believe: Beezar.com

 

[Logos]

Is there any way to find out about how much one of these bad boys will run?

 

[UKToecutter]

I guess it'll depend on how much Tom has paid for the tubes.
Also, the case fabrication isn't cheap on small runs.

We'll find out on Friday.

I have to say, I'm looking forward to building this.

 

[tomb]

I'll have to review the parts cost before I set price. The first round of kits was $110 each. The last round was $115. However, prices are rising all the time. Just as a for instance, the heat sinks have gone up 2-3 times since we built the first prototypes.

Pricing will be based on the BOM on the SSMH PCB website:
Starving Student Millett Hybrid .
I'll be updating the BOM pricing today - if there are any changes.

EDIT: My price for the tubes is fixed. I purchased the initial stock well over a year ago. However, please let me repeat - since these are the last volume stock of 19J6's left anywhere, matching will be first come, first serve with the kits and in this order:
1. Fully matched
2. Triodes and construction matched (not brand)
3. Construction matched (not triodes and brand)
4. Two tubes, period.
Sorry, but there's no other way I can do it. As Dsavitsk has often mentioned, there is very little difference even with matched tubes - the design tends to minimize any differences.

 

[tomb]

OK - the price for this round of kits will be $120.

As stated, the heat sinks continue to increase and the cases are slightly higher than before. Finally, even though the BOM shows $118, there are a couple of hidden costs for me:

1. The power caps are Panasonic FC's. Those are $2.65 each at DigiKey.
(Pricing is based on the Mouser column except for these.)
2. For this round of kits, I am drilling and gluing the tube sockets so that you can use the tube LED's without any additional work.

#2 is a significant added feature, but one many of you have requested.

 

[UKToecutter]

Don't keep us in suspense LOL

I'll bet he's gonna give us all a free pair of HD800's

 

[revolink24]

I've got a puzzle for everyone.

I said earlier that whenever I tapped one of my tubes, there was a very loud cracking sound coming out of the headphones. I swapped tubes, and lo and behold, the other side began cracking, so I ordered some new tubes. 5 of them, in fact. The problem is, that the problem occurs with ALL 5, and only one tube of the seven I now own seems to not do this. I doubt that all of them are bad, and can only hypothesize that the one is very good and there is another problem somewhere. Anyone have any idea what that might be?

Oh, and I'm using a pcb build.

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by revolink24 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've got a puzzle for everyone. I said earlier that whenever I tapped one of my tubes, there was a very loud cracking sound coming out of the headphones. I swapped tubes, and lo and behold, the other side began cracking, so I ordered some new tubes. 5 of them, in fact. The problem is, that the problem occurs with ALL 5, and only one tube of the seven I now own seems to not do this. I doubt that all of them are bad, and can only hypothesize that the one is very good and there is another problem somewhere. Anyone have any idea what that might be? Oh, and I'm using a pcb build.

I think I actually suggested this before, but you may have something wrong with the sockets. Intermittent connections on certain of the pins can cause huge noises in the audio circuit. After all, the tubes are the amplification device, so if the connections aren't good ... it may only take a slight tapping on the tube to reveal the problem. Even if you have good connections - if you happen to torque a tube around in it's socket while the amp is on and you're listening - you'll get some very rude noises - or worse. (Don't try it on purpose!)

Look for a bad solder joint, or if you drilled the sockets for tube LED's, maybe there's some glue on the socket pins? Ultimately, if the amp performs well otherwise, why tap on the tubes and cause problems?