(Login shaneus) Member from IP address 72.174.28.219
Reading post about building an amp started me thinking. I have always wanted tube amp for stereo but could never afford what I wanted. After a little searching I see the options are endless. Any advice for a first timer on kits and suppliers? Thinking about pair of monoblocks for use with good HK citation 17s pre-amp I have. Would use with pair of very efficient infinity sm152 speakers.
Have carver 4.0t amp and c-4000 preamp now, love these parts but have always wanted to try tube amp. Now that I'm more mature (o.k. damnit, older) I don't need the massive noise current parts can make and I'm starting to think more about quality of noise,(15 years ago before kids and marriage I removed all the window glazing on first house with stereo).
Also have Fisher X100B integrated tube amp with one bad transformer (tubes o.k. , one channel gone), any thought on if this is worth putting money into fixing?
I think I'm going to give the CGV-300B kit a try and see how that goes. It's not as expensive as some of the mono block kit stuff and while these circuits are extremely simple I think I'll use a kit on a first attempt. I'm thinking that with so few components in the circuit it can't help but sound good, or possibly terrible, we shall see. I'll post my results for sure.
Yesterday I received and assembled my GCV-300B amp kit, it took me about 4 hours and it was not too difficult. The amp is built using point to point and terminal strips which is not really my favorite construction but for a circuit that's this simple and for something that's not going to be hauled around to gigs, it's fine.
The kit comes with all of the tube sockets and transformers mounted to the chassis. It comes with a Hammond mains transformer and One electron outputs. The only control is the on/off switch. On the back there are two RCA jacks and a set of banana/binding post connectors, that's it! The layout is clean and nicely done using a Hammond chassis.
Inside of the chassis all but one of the terminal strips came mounted in place with machine screws. All the wire and enough to build another amp is included as are all the components. Everything seems to be quite high quality and it still seems like this guy isn't making a whole lot of money on an amp kit. My kit came with JAN 12AT7's and Electro Harmonix 300B's, good stuff. The tube sockets are ceramic on the 9 pin and high quality plastic on the 4 pin. AC cord is also included.
Gabe uses a DC bias scheme on the 300b filaments and it's really noise free when the amp is idling. There is a hum balance pot on the back of the amp that you adjust after it's had a chance to warm up for a while. The hum is noticeable when you first turn on the amp but it fades quickly as it warms up and after a few minutes it's gone.
The instructions are nicely done with only a few errors but the illustrations are quite good and they give you some great tips on how to arrange the components as you build the amp. Wiring the heaters is the first step an that makes sense because they need to be twisted and placed close to the chassis.
How does it sound? VERY VERY VERY impressive! I'm playing the amp through my Altec Iconic speakers and it sounds incredibly good! The imaging, reverb tails etc are very clear. So far my amp has about four hours of use on it and most people say that it takes about 1-200 hours for the 300b tube to really sound it's best. The sound is not muddy or wooly at all and in that respect it defies common thoughts about what a tube amp sounds like. It's quite revealing and relentless when it comes to hearing edits and things like that in the recording. For instance, I was listening to Pink Floyd "The Wall" and I never noticed before tonight how the song "Mother" doesn't really end all that smoothy. You hear the noise floor drop away sort of oddly.
The amp is also louder and more powerful than I expected, it pushes the old Altecs very easily with plenty of level in a moderately large room.
I did a lot of looking around before getting this kit on the way and now that it's done I'm thinking that I'd like to build one of his tube preamps, I'm satisfied. This is a budget amp and it's not filled with hype or fancy parts it's very basic but sound quality is not sacrificed at least not when compared to what I'm used to hearing. It would take a very expensive amp to beat this thing by any amount.
No matter how you cut it the 300b's are not cheap but this amp kit was money well spent.
congrats on the amp and the new record collection !
November 10 2007, 4:04 PM
that's what it amounts to . you'll listen to that on and off for days and hear those old recordings in a completely different light . good speakers can make some things sound worse (more revealing) and others seem out of this world !
emotional rescue stones
rocky mountain way walsh
joan crawford boc (this one's a real treat )
smoke deep purple the original on vinyl prefferably machine head
blade runner soundtrack I'm serious
wild at heart soundtrack
abba
wagner
and many morrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre .
there ain't no tellin what you'll find but report back when you do !
Awesome page, I forwarded it to several friends, "Let Me Touch Him", no thanks! I also liked "Satan is Real", that one was on Capitol records and I THINK I've seen that one somewhere before...
the dancing outlaw ! the documentary they made that aired on pbs was heeeeelarious . funnier than monty python even .
He went to a dancing,singing gig one time and forgot his sunglasses ,told his wife to turn around she said they didn't have time , he told her "YOU'LL TAKE ME BACK TO GET MY GODDAMN SUNGLASSES OR I'LL BLOW YOUR ASS AND BRAINS ALL OVER THAT CAR DOOR ! I AIN'T GOIN UP ON THAT STAGE LOOKIN LIKE SOME KINDA FREAK !"
I've been up in that region, where jesco lives, many times . You better watch ya mouth up in there.
one of these days I'll tell you boys about a dirtbike trip I hade to the hatfield-mccoy trails and how I was stopped by the republican national gaurd for being left of center .
What I think may be happening is a sneaky comment on the quality of music that's often listened to by those who are into having a single ended triode powered amp in their stereo system!
that was a drawing ! You don't hear much out of old scratch these days ,looks like he would turn up for a photo op every now and then I mean c'mon .
Nothing was said or implied about people who listen to whatever kind of amp (when I was being serious) I'm flexible about amps . I take a dim view of bose though .
I also like to raz buddy and tom from time to time , and will spring at most any chance to tease them . cause they like it . they'll deny it. WHATEVER I SAID TO THEM CATS DONT APPLY ACROSS THE BOARD THOUGH !
No Dave I don't believe that many SET exponents listen to jesco white , or satan , I have heard some claim that they heard the voice of god thru some sort of hifi rig but forget what that was.
Tom Custom (Premier Login 58custom) Moderators 75.30.146.1
Tru-Sonic.
November 15 2007, 7:17 PM
Not 3000 ohm, but around 600. They were cathode-driven run directly off a push-pull parallel quartet of 2A3s. Trode heaven theater sound. I owned a pair of amps once. I found a driver system on the "third floor", a prop storage area of the old MGM studios (now Sony). Prop manager would not give it up.
I bet they have or had a lot of old stuff like that sitting around the Hollywood film studios. How did they do it? Did they place the amp right next to the speaker? It seems like they would....
Anonymous (Login rancherohell) Member 203.144.143.3
I am jealous joe,
November 17 2007, 6:40 PM
at the moment I don't even own a CD much less anything on vinyl. I can't go gear shopping for a while...so no amp or speakers either. I'm reduced to a winamp player on my PC, flac flies and an set of Bang&Olufsen headphones for hi fidelity reproduction...hahaha.
I dream of having the air kicked out of my chest by a set of JBl's or anything larger than 1/2 in. across...bwaaaaa!
On the other hand....an early morning cancaphony of screaming roosters, a millon croaking frogs and the hellish buzz of swarms of pissed off and hungry mosquitos all playing to the thumping rythm of a rather large and wiggling snake being chopped up for someones breakfast makes for a unique symphonic experience. And in a cold shower, you hear every drop!
So I guess I got my own jesco thing going on here...haha
