[Blze001]

So, I've built two kits already (CMoy and Torpedo) and I want to try building something that doesn't come with an instruction manual. That said, while my soldering ability is pretty adequate and I understand what circuit diagram symbols mean, I have no idea how to actually assemble something given a schematic. The specific amp I'm looking at is this one:
 
http://diyaudioprojects.com/Solid/12AU7-IRF510-LM317-Headamp/
 
The schematic only shows one channel and doesn't really show what to parts to solder to which posts on the socket. Also, would there be a way to swap the 12v battery for a power cable?
 
I have the mechanical ability, it's the mental that I'm having fits with.

 

[Mr Rick]

  So, I've built two kits already (CMoy and Torpedo) and I want to try building something that doesn't come with an instruction manual. That said, while my soldering ability is pretty adequate and I understand what circuit diagram symbols mean, I have no idea how to actually assemble something given a schematic. The specific amp I'm looking at is this one:
 
http://diyaudioprojects.com/Solid/12AU7-IRF510-LM317-Headamp/
 
The schematic only shows one channel and doesn't really show what to parts to solder to which posts on the socket. Also, would there be a way to swap the 12v battery for a power cable?
 
I have the mechanical ability, it's the mental that I'm having fits with.

The tube pin-out is figure two.
 
Typically, you would power the circuit with a 12 volt power supply that you have built into the circuit.

 

[tomb]

Just an FYI, but this is basically a Starving Student circuit except the LM317 is used to bias the MOSFET instead of the tube's heater current.

 

[Blze001]

  Just an FYI, but this is basically a Starving Student circuit except the LM317 is used to bias the MOSFET instead of the tube's heater current.

 
Really? I thought Starving Student amps only used 19J6 tubes that have become really difficult to find, I'm going to have to poke around some more.
 
I wish I could find some resources for newbies trying to make the jump, everything I find about DIY amps assumes you're already knowledgeable. Guess that's why you start out with a cheap project!

 
 
EDIT: The crux of my issue continues to be how you know what pins to connect to what. I've tried every variation of Google searching for wiring tube pins and tube circuits and all of them assume you already know how to do it. I know the 1-6 anode are positive and 3-8 cathode are negative and those presumably are the audio signal input-output, does that mean the power comes in on the 9 heater center tap and sent to the two channels with the 4-5 heater pins? What do you connect the 2-7 grid pins to?

 

[tomb]

 

  Just an FYI, but this is basically a Starving Student circuit except the LM317 is used to bias the MOSFET instead of the tube's heater current.

 
Really? I thought Starving Student amps only used 19J6 tubes that have become really difficult to find, I'm going to have to poke around some more.
 
I wish I could find some resources for newbies trying to make the jump, everything I find about DIY amps assumes you're already knowledgeable. Guess that's why you start out with a cheap project!

 
 
EDIT: The crux of my issue continues to be how you know what pins to connect to what. I've tried every variation of Google searching for wiring tube pins and tube circuits and all of them assume you already know how to do it. I know the 1-6 anode are positive and 3-8 cathode are negative and those presumably are the audio signal input-output, does that mean the power comes in on the 9 heater center tap and sent to the two channels with the 4-5 heater pins? What do you connect the 2-7 grid pins to?

 
There is a variation on the Starving Student using 12AU7 tubes right here:
SSMH variants
Fred has been selling PCBs of his own making right here in this forum section.  It's based on the 12AU7.
 
Some of us - including the info on the site above - go into excruciating detail on how to build amps, DACs, and what does what.  Others that are out there are Pete Millett (pmillett.com), AMB (amb.org), and Tangent (tangentsoft.com).
 
You have to look at the amplifier schematics to determine the pinouts for a tube.  Every tube can be different, number of pins, what they connect to, etc.  Any amplifier schematic will use standard tube symbols to represent the Plate/Anode, Cathode, Grid, and Heaters.  Simply cross-reference that with the data sheet for the tube (pins are represented from looking at the bottom of the tube, not top), which shows all of the pins in detail.
 
It can be a bit confusing sometimes, because dual triodes (two amplification channels per tube) are sometimes shown separately if the amp is only using one tube, or the heater portion of the tube can be shown separately from the amplification stage in a schematic.  Noting the schematic designer's notes and labeling and counting the total number of tubes that make up the amp can clear this up quickly.
 
Again, if you poke around in that first link I gave you up there and in the Pete Millett reference, you can figure a lot of this out.  There are plenty of schematics and tube data sheets to go around.  Also, look here to find a tube data sheet for just about every tube ever made:
http://tdsl.duncanamps.com/tubesearch.php

 

[Blze001]

Okay, I think that answers my question. I don't know why I didn't recognize the symbols. Looks like on this one the Grid is connected to the audio input through C1, Anode gets 12VDC through P1, Cathode is signal grounded through R2 and C2, and the Heater gets 12VDC directly, then a direct signal ground.

 

[tomb]

  Okay, I think that answers my question. I don't know why I didn't recognize the symbols. Looks like on this one the Grid is connected to the audio input through C1, Anode gets 12VDC through P1, Cathode is signal grounded through R2 and C2, and the Heater gets 12VDC directly, then a direct signal ground.

Yep - although in my description up there, I keep getting the Anode (Plate) and Cathode mixed up.  I've corrected that.  Note that in that schematic, the 12VDC to the plate (through P1) is often referred to as "B+."