cheap, small tube amp kit.. cool!

nadams
nadams Posts: 5,877
edited November 2006 in Electronics
Thanks to Jstas for pointing this one out. It looks interesting for someone wanting to dabble in tubes. 8watts would be enough for my SDA's, but it'd make a good amp for the R15's. Thinking about this for a little project in the future-

http://www.tubesandmore.com/scripts/foxweb.dll/moreinfo@d:/dfs/elevclients/cemirror/ELEVATOR.FXP?item=K-502

Around $140 from www.tubesandmore.com
Ludicrous gibs!
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  • Phasearray
    Phasearray Posts: 437
    edited November 2006
    nadams wrote:
    Thanks to Jstas for pointing this one out. It looks interesting for someone wanting to dabble in tubes. 8watts would be enough for my SDA's, but it'd make a good amp for the R15's. Thinking about this for a little project in the future-

    http://www.tubesandmore.com/scripts/foxweb.dll/moreinfo@d:/dfs/elevclients/cemirror/ELEVATOR.FXP?item=K-502

    Around $140 from www.tubesandmore.com

    call me a noob(caus I am), but how does something like this compare to the generic $200 Onkyo receiver that pumps out 100watts/channel?
    Receiver - Onkyo HT-R340
    Front - Pioneer S-HF21
    Center -Onkyo SKC-340C
    Surround Back - Polk R15 <--Ticket to club polk
    Subwoofer - Onkyo SKW-340
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  • Libertyc
    Libertyc Posts: 915
    edited November 2006
    I always wanted to build one of these little tube amp kits. They also sell an enclosure with a plexiglass window. Some guys make their own custom enclosures. Maybe I'll buy myself one for Christmas.
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited November 2006
    Libertyc wrote:
    I always wanted to build one of these little tube amp kits. They also sell an enclosure with a plexiglass window. Some guys make their own custom enclosures. Maybe I'll buy myself one for Christmas.

    Billy, you have a PM.
    Joe
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  • Fireman32
    Fireman32 Posts: 4,845
    edited November 2006
    Sounds like a fun project to do. Mignt have to consider one myself
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  • surfntomm
    surfntomm Posts: 185
    edited November 2006
    would i be able to power lsi7's or rti70's with this thing? i know the wattage doesnt matter that much but i dont think the lsi7 is very efficient i think its at 88db @ 1watt 1 meter. anyone know where i can get a cheap preamp tube kit cus id like to try out some tubes but i dont want to break the bank since im a college student :(
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  • halo
    halo Posts: 5,616
    edited November 2006
    tube amps don't work well with LSi's. Sand amps are better. Tube preamps and CDP's are fine with LSi's.
    Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
    HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 34,018
    edited November 2006
    That's a perfectly decent little amplifier. I built one quite a few years ago. It's served as the college hi-fi amp for our older kid, and is now doing the same for our second kid. I sprung for the enclosure, as I have no mechanical or design skills at all.

    http://www.s5electronics.com/tube.html

    Approximately 8 watts per channel. You can read a good review of the original version of the kit at:
    http://www.audioxpress.com/reviews/media/1102hansen2145.pdf

    The thumbnail shows a picture of ours, taken by my son (its current caregiver) to show a reflection of his source component -- an iPod.

    dsc00012(13).jpg
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  • surfntomm
    surfntomm Posts: 185
    edited November 2006
    why is this tube amp considered so good (assuming im reading the graphs right in the above post) considering that it has thd above 1% for most of the frequency range? am i missing something?
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 34,018
    edited November 2006
    Yup... sounds to me like you are missing having ever listened to one.

    Harmonic distortion is in practice fairly inaudible and can even be "euphonious" (i.e., umm... "harmonic"). It's still distortion, but it can be pleasant.

    Example of good sounding harmonic distortion. The seminal, famous "fuzz guitar" riff in the Rolling Stones' song "Satisfaction".


    EDIT: THis amp isn't particularly good in any quantitative respect. It's on the mediocre to crummy side. It is also low powered by the standard of today's inefficient speakers. But it is quiet and it sounds good. For its price, you won't find much if anything that sounds better.
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