Building 400 wpc Tube Monoblocks....

nooshinjohn

I have started this thread to chronicle the build of my Carver "Silver Four" vacuum tube monoblock amps. Last week, I recieved the chassis from Bob for the "Cherry 180's" he builds for sale on Ebay, along with the schematics for them, and they will form the basis of this project. Bob has given his blessings for naming the amps and will be doing custom transformers and advising on the project.

Currently, the chassis are being fitted with 3/8 inch highly polished black granite decks and faceplates, along with polished aluminum bezels that will ring the tubes at their base. I will post pictures as I get them of every step of the build.:cool:

fishbones

Holy crap!....Sounds like a very cool project!

Your gonna need your own power-grid with the equipment in your house. :eek:

Good luck and enjoy

ShinAce

Please tell me you're considering using these tubes:
http://www.rell.com/Pages/Product-Details.aspx?productId=187746

heiney9

nooshinjohn wrote: »

I have started this thread to chronicle the build of my Carver "Silver Four" vacuum tube monoblock amps. Last week, I recieved the chassis from Bob for the "Cherry 180's" he builds for sale on Ebay, along with the schematics for them, and they will form the basis of this project. Bob has given his blessings for naming the amps and will be doing custom transformers and advising on the project.

Currently, the chassis are being fitted with 3/8 inch highly polished black granite decks and faceplates, along with polished aluminum bezels that will ring the tubes at their base. I will post pictures as I get them of every step of the build.:cool:

Beyond the cool chassis, what do you know about electronics? Building high power tube amps is not for the faint of heart. What testing equipment do you have? A schematic and some mentoring isn't going to cut it without a pretty thorough knowledge of electronics.

I have a pretty good understanding, albeit basics, about circuits, etc and I'd be a little anxious building these, especially without any type of equipment for measuring beyond a DVM.

http://www.elekit.co.jp/material/english_product_html/TU-879S.php?page=1&ssi=

I assume for your project all the tubes will be checked and tested before you use them.

nooshinjohn

heiney9 wrote: »

Beyond the cool chassis, what do you know about electronics? Building high power tube amps is not for the faint of heart. What testing equipment do you have? A schematic and some mentoring isn't going to cut it without a pretty thorough knowledge of electronics.

I have a pretty good understanding, albeit basics, about circuits, etc and I'd be a little anxious building these, especially without any type of equipment for measuring beyond a DVM.

http://www.elekit.co.jp/material/english_product_html/TU-879S.php?page=1&ssi=

I assume for your project all the tubes will be checked and tested before you use them.

All tubes will be tested and checked beforehand, and the amps will be tested and triple-checked before being plugged in. The last thing I want to be responsble for is crashing the power grid for the entire east coast!:p:D


I will be using cryo'd KT120's... two sets of six that have been matched and burned in for 100hrs before they go in the amp.

zingo

Congrats on the projects, and get ready for more man hours than you ever dreamed on investing in a project. I love DIY projects and you are a brave man for undertaking something of this nature. Please post lots of pictures and good luck!

Polkersince85

Go outside and watch the Bug Zapper for a little while to learn what not to do.

ben62670

I think it is a great idea for John to build these amps. If you are going to go for it go big. You don't need any test equipment, or a variac. Fire those bad boys up and video it.
Ben

nooshinjohn

Thanks Ben.

zingo

Don't do this please...

nooshinjohn

LMAO....

That is not the reaction I will be getting.

headrott

zingo wrote: »

Don't do this please...

Great photo there!!! It's kinda shocking what is posted sometimes.:D

Greg

messiah

Wow, that's crazy, but cool! Please keep us up to date with pics.

sm88

1.21 Gigawatts?!

nooshinjohn

I am buying all the parts myself, as there is no "kit", but I expect they will cost me about 3 grand by the time they play their first note. The granite work alone is going to be $400 bucks.

Midnite Mick

wow that is quite the undertaking. Good luck and stay safe.

Regards,
Mike

ShinAce

nooshinjohn wrote: »

I am buying all the parts myself, as there is no "kit", but I expect they will cost me about 4 grand by the time I get the next power bill. The granite work alone is going to be $400 bucks.

Fixed!

wz2p7j

Awesome project! Pics or it didn't happen!

Good luck, Chris

nooshinjohn

wz2p7j wrote: »

Awesome project! Pics or it didn't happen!

Good luck, Chris

I will begin posting up some pics next week after I get the granite work back from the shop.

For those of you not familiar with the "Cherry 180's", here is a link to the latest set to hit Ebay. I am building a highly modded and hotrodded version of these amps.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Stereo-Pair-Monoblock-Tube-Amplifiers-Amps-Carver-KT88-/180561402275?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item2a0a4c59a3

kawizx9r

Goodluck with the project John, definitely can't wait to see how it all comes out.

-Freddy

chargerman426

Sounds really cool. I have been wanting to see an amp built around the new KT-120s and you look like your ready to take them for a spin. Good luck and if you need anything let me know.

thsmith

nooshinjohn wrote: »

I am buying all the parts myself, as there is no "kit", but I expect they will cost me about 3 grand by the time they play their first note. The granite work alone is going to be $400 bucks.

Looks like Bob winds his own transformers. Are you going to stick with his parts list or make changes?

I bet they are heaters.

nooshinjohn

I will be following the parts list, except where instructed otherwise. I will be buying the transformers from Bob as well.

amulford

I wanna see this project. I will be following it very closely. I need a high powered tube amp, too, and this sounds like just the ticket...:cool:

Conradicles

John...great project!!! The rewards will be well worth the time and effort and Bob Carver is a legend.

tonyb

Nice John, a big undertaking for sure. My advice to you is to stay commited,do it right,use quality parts. I never heard a full blown tube amp of 400 watts but I can tell you back in the day,I had some Sonic Frontiers stuff that would blow your mind at 200 watts. Who knows,once your done,you may find alot of new friends stopping by for a visit.:)

nooshinjohn

Thanks guy... I gotta say that I have learned quick and early that each and EVERY detail must be triple checked, verified and checked again. The granite is still being cut and already the first calculation I missed was caught. The holes being cut for the KT120's were about an 1/8th inch to small, so the specs had to be reloaded into the cutter.

My intent is to make these amps look, feel, and sound like they were built by a professional. The only way I know to accomplish that is to become one.

I will be heading to North Carolina to hang out with some fellow Carverites, and meet with Bob. The granite comes home next week, and the next task will be to finish out the cherrywood side panels for the amps and prep the chassis' rear panels and tube sockets. I will post the first series of pictures Wednesday night.

Again, thanks for the encouragement and support.

John

devani

wow, great project...so let me get this straight, you are building a beautiful looking space heater, correct?

nooshinjohn

devani wrote: »

wow, great project...so let me get this straight, you are building a beautiful looking space heater, correct?

A pair of space heaters actually.:p

I am working on setting the amps up for a common ground connection so they will play nice with my SDA's.

SolidSqual

nooshinjohn wrote: »

A pair of space heaters actually.:p

I am working on setting the amps up for a common ground connection so they will play nice with my SDA's.

I'm telling Obama and Gore that you are living beyond your acceptable carbon footprint. If you want, I can sell you some of my carbon credits? I have some left over thanks to my Icepower!

Outfitter03

In my reading I have been under the impression that watt ratings on Tube Amplifiers vs Solid State are not an apples to apples comparison, just as they are not a good apples to apples comparison from an AVR to high current solid state power amplifier. To illustrate I have read about pushing a set of speakers with a 80 watt tube amp with excellent results where a 200 watt solid state power amplifier would be required for same kind of response. In general is this true?

With that in mind what kind of speakers would need, or the listener hear a significant improvement with a 400 watt tube amp vs 180watt tube amp?

This amp sounds really cool, can't wait to see pictures as you put it together.