Oblivion | UltraSonic Studios
Feb 11, 2021 at 2:46 AM Post #1,141 of 7,481
In private talks with Tomas regarding my next amp. More details once design are finalised. Tomas is outstanding as usual in his correspondence. The ideas he put forth gets me really excited. I'll get in the queue like everyone else but expect to see production of it happening in June or July pending no unusual circumstances that might prevent it.
 
Feb 11, 2021 at 3:04 AM Post #1,142 of 7,481
In private talks with Tomas regarding my next amp. More details once design are finalised. Tomas is outstanding as usual in his correspondence. The ideas he put forth gets me really excited. I'll get in the queue like everyone else but expect to see production of it happening in June or July pending no unusual circumstances that might prevent it.
@UntilThen This will be your 2021 amp I hope it will deserve a good place in your Rack3 :wink:.
I also agree Tomas is very knowledgeable very kind during amp design discussion a huge :thumbsup:
 
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Feb 11, 2021 at 3:07 AM Post #1,143 of 7,481
I am really curious about you both and what have you decided to add to your amps. I am sure that each new amp will be different and I will have something to learn from it. And if the plans are for summer, it means there are 2-3 other people in between. Let's hope they will step forward and tell us something about their upcoming amps.
 
Feb 11, 2021 at 4:05 AM Post #1,144 of 7,481
@UntilThen This will be your 2021 amp I hope it will deserve a good place in your Rack3 :wink:.
I also agree Tomas is very knowledgeable a very kind during amp design discussion a huge :thumbsup:

There will be no 3rd rack that I can assure you. Some of my present amps will go. Eventually only Elekit combo, Oblivion and Odyssey will remain.... and v280 as my only solid state amp. I might change that to v281 because I like that shape better. I know it's been discontinued but that won't stop me from owning it.

I have let the cat out of the bag. The next amp will be call Odyssey, my logon in my local forum. This amp will be special because I even get to choose my own name for it and it will be on the badge. Odyssey will sit on the top of the 2nd rack because it can get hot with KT120, KT150. Yes those tubes are in addition to what I have stated before. Power will be aplenty to drive speakers and hard to drive headphones. He6se and Susvara will be too easy peasy for it. Oblivion will slot below because it's hardly hot and I don't need to change tubes in that amp.

I wasn't going to give out more details but since @OctavianH ask, I just might volunteer some info but do remember this is the concept phase and things can still change. The main idea is that because I already have Oblivion which sound very clear, full of micro details, 3D wide soundstage, Odyssey will be a classic old school tube kind of design. It will be SET, ie transformer coupled and using good specialised transformers with taps of 8 and 50 ohms for headphones and speakers, Mundorf S/G/O caps and maybe Visnay resistors. It can be use with KT88, KT77, KT66, 6L6GC, 6550, 5881, 807, EL34, EL12 SPEZ, KT120, KT150, etc. With the last 2 tubes, output power will be plenty to drive speakers and certainly any headphones, including He6se and Susvara and any other power hungry headphones.

I don't like the chassis to be as big as Infinity. Even Oblivion chassis will work but it's most likely I'll opt for a special chassis that has a Viking look haha. It will have triode and ultralinear modes and I've ask for a 'keep it simple and stupid principle' in looks. I.e no manual adjustments of bias. Maybe 2 settings that will be accomplished with the flick of a switch.

There will be speakers banana plugs out and preamp out. xlr and rca input even though it's not a balance amp, purely to cater for my 2 inputs - Yggdrasil via xlr and turntable via rca. 2 beautiful meters - I don't care what it does as long as it dance in time to the music lol. Tomas will have given up by now lol.

Headphone out will be 1/4 inch jack and xlr balance out. Again I repeat this is not a balance amp. Those xlr balance connectors are just for convenience as all my headphone cables are terminated with 4pin xlr out and also in consideration of Yggdrasil balance out being better. I'll use primarily NOS tubes - drivers to be decided or I'm not talking about it in case ebay sellers watching jack up those tube prices. Power tubes are all NOS and will be source from my private 'friend' who will make me bankrupt investing in the likes of GEC KT88, KT77, KT66 and Philips Miniwatt 6CA7, Tung Sol 1960s 6550 (super rare), Radiotron 807 with the D^D logo, my own 5 pairs of NOS Telefunken and Tesla EL12 spez tubes. There's is a possibility that I might get a pair of GEC TT21 NOS tubes. I think that's enough. I won't be using 6V6 or 6L6 as those require less power which means another bias setting. Besides I want good sounding and powerful and sweet sounding tubes. This is when the odyssey voyage comes to an end, so it will be some amp but not overly over the top. There should be budget later for Susvara, He6se and Abyss 1266 phi TC.

After which I'll be spinning my vinyls and going through Tidal HiFi catalogue. Am I interested in a streamer later? Possibly but certainly a power conditioner, proper power cables, interconnects and speaker cables. After which I'll retire UntilThen and come back as TheEnd.

P/s as I type, I get a message from Tomas, suggesting a stylish wooden chassis. Now I'm getting a bit more excited. Either that or a stylish aircraft grade 10mm aluminium casing in gun metal grey or maroon red or gold. Now I'm getting over the top.
 
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Feb 11, 2021 at 4:45 AM Post #1,146 of 7,481
Thank you for your detailed explanations. Congrats! Odyssey is also a very special and nice name. It sounds to me you will be, in the end, TheEnd!

:o2smile: what I want Odyssey to be is a classic tube amp tone with great 2nd harmonic distortions. When I heard Auris Nirvana with LCD-4, I told myself that my next amp will sound similar to that. Texture laden, slight warm, great dynamics, clarity and details, good soundstage and solid seismic like bass that will hit you in the chest, slam and with some bite. Top end must be revealing and not rounded off. It has to go low to middle earth.

I hope I'm not asking too much. :relaxed:
 
Feb 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM Post #1,147 of 7,481
:o2smile: what I want Odyssey to be is a classic tube amp tone with great 2nd harmonic distortions. When I heard Auris Nirvana with LCD-4, I told myself that my next amp will sound similar to that. Texture laden, slight warm, great dynamics, clarity and details, good soundstage and solid seismic like bass that will hit you in the chest, slam and with some bite. Top end must be revealing and not rounded off. It has to go low to middle earth.

I hope I'm not asking too much. :relaxed:

Solid seismic bass makes me think about Thor. That is also a good name for a viking shaped amplifier. By the way, I do not want to discuss here offtopic but it is not clear to me what inputs you will have.
 
Feb 11, 2021 at 5:08 AM Post #1,148 of 7,481
Solid seismic bass makes me think about Thor. That is also a good name for a viking shaped amplifier. By the way, I do not want to discuss here offtopic but it is not clear to me what inputs you will have.

Inputs will be xlr and rca. xlr for Yggdrasil and RCA for my turntable to connect. Is that what you're asking? So I have 2 source input and there will be a switch at the back, so as not to spoil the looks in front. A wooden case most likely in walnut black like this BUT not sure if all that I ask for will fit in .... so a slightly bigger case maybe needed. Btw this case is almost Oblivion size.

Now I'm tempted to have tube rectification.... but not sure about this.... I'll be guided by Tomas on this. Sound before looks that's for sure.

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Feb 11, 2021 at 5:22 AM Post #1,150 of 7,481
I was thinking about input tubes (drivers, but on UltraSonic amps Tomas calls them inputs).

I see :) Now I'm giving out more secrets lol.

Drivers are my suggestions and subject to Tomas making simulations to ensure that they are optimum to drive the power tubes. I suggested 12au7, 12at7 and 6sl7. Was going to suggest 12sl7 as I have a pair of very beautiful Tung Sol 12sl7gt bgrp. However I won't go this route if it complicates things. Remember the KISS design philosophy. Whatever is not needed will not be in. So keeping switches, tube variations to just the right sensible amount. Not going nuts asking for multiple inputs and power outputs.

Most likely will be the 12au7 as I've already invested and will continue to invest in very good 12au7 - such as Brimar 12au7 long plates, Philips Miniwatt 12au7, Amperex 12au7 at $200 a piece and rare Tung Sol 1960s 12au7 - again $200 a piece. In the Elekit TU-8200R, driver changes affect the tone more than those fancy expensive power tubes. Not sure if that is the case with Odyssey. I could use and will have to use current production tubes for KT120 and KT150 because there aren't any NOS ones for those. KT150 especially can output some serious watts in this amp but I ask that it not be over driven to burn out my precious NOS tubes too quickly lol and also I ask that the old school amp be given some consideration to make it a bit cool. Hopefully it's not as hot as the 8 x KT88 in my previous Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP. That is a Winter warmer that's for sure.
 
Feb 11, 2021 at 5:40 AM Post #1,151 of 7,481
It looks like I may not use my precious Telefunken and Siemens EL11 and EL12 as in the words of Tomas, these as power tubes will be too skimpy compared to the KT88 and cousins monsters. So I may be looking to sell off my NOS brand new mother of pearl EL11 and some EL12. PM me if interested.

I'm editing this post now because I'll put the idea of selling EL11 till later when I'm absolutely sure I can't use them as drivers because they sound great as drivers when I experimented with them in Elise and Euforia.
 
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Feb 11, 2021 at 6:51 AM Post #1,153 of 7,481
Just hooked up Oblivion to my Axis Voicebox S and it's driving it so well at nearfield listening. Oblivion is only 2.3w into 8ohms. Imagine Odyssey driving Voicebox with 10w triode or 12 to 15w UL @ 8 ohms.
 
Feb 11, 2021 at 12:58 PM Post #1,154 of 7,481
I'm very stoked about this amp conceptual journey because Tomas is very keen on the idea and is constantly providing his input which I will need, especially the technical aspect because I won't know anything about that. He discuss about custom winding transformers... now the transformers are very important in this design and I will go with the idea of a Mercedes but not a Ferrari because I can't afford a Ferrari. However after a few glasses of wine, I might be ok with a Lamborghini !

Was even thinking of a model to go with it but hmmmm ..... might have to think hard about that. This is when you have to make smart decisions. What do you say @paramesh ? I always consult my guru friend. I don't normally joke like this with friends but Paramesh is special and I have gotten to know him very well ! The problem is he keeps wanting to buy my Oblivion after buying my Glenn OTL amp. Later he might want my Lamborghini. :wink:

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