eBay Chinese Valve amps?

[Richard]

Originally Posted by kt66se

Hi,
Thanks for the links, I am thinking about a steel plate mounted on a wooden plinth possibly but I also need to look into transformers / size etc and how many components will be mounted on the top - i.e choke etc.
(Might have the power supply on a seprate chassis using GZ34's) Would also like meters on the amps displaying bias current as well as power supply voltage but no-where seems to stock 1940's style panel meters?
Where does the HiFi industry get them from?!

Also looking into SE vs P-P, head is spinning at the mo, so going to have a coffee then back to the Internet!

Hi Adam

You'll go round in circles trying to make a choice this way. Get a listen to some amps or start with a complete kit such as KEL84 which will be more than satisfying as a first build and will put many things into perspective.

I preach from experience - I can do metalwork, have a full workshop with lathe, welding gear etc and 30 years hifi hobby exp - but - started valves in more depth with a WAD KEL34 kit. I was thrilled to bits with the results and kept it 2 years before building - another WAD kit!

Rich

[kt66se]

Hi chaps,
Looked at some other forums over the weekend, mostly america but it was interesting that a few mentioned a valve amp based on the Aurora 6610. It is a SE amp using KT66, 2 per channel and a 6SL7GT input valve. Output around 20 watts, triode config all the way through. Has anyone ever heard of this amp? I can't find any reference to it on the web?

My mate brought a Leek TL12(?) EL34's, he has had it for a while, so I popped over to have a listen to it at the weekend. He was running them through a pair of Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 3 speakers. They did sound good but for me, far too bright, good bass but not chest thumping - even with Stanley Clarkes return to forever playing double bass. The amp seemed to weaken / struggle with the lower frequencies.

I want an amp that will not shy away when it comes to the lower end.
I also looked at the Soweter site, they can custom make O/P trannies for any configuration - are Soweter any good for transformers, or is there anywhere else to go?

Cheers

Adam

[prince of darkness]

Hi Adam,

Leak TL12's use KT66's triode connected, TL12+ EL84's ultra linear connected, both good for about 12 watt. Unless they have been serviced, there will almost certainly be some components out of tolerence, which will affect sound quality. Highly regarded classics, but perhaps not to everyones taste.

Sowter transformers are highly rated and I am sure that others on this forum will pass on their experiences. Also worth consideing are Ask Jan First, who do a fairly compehensive range, AE who can custom build to your requirements and Bluebell who supply the Hammond range.

http://www.askjanfirst.com/eindex.htm
http://www.ae-europe.nl/uitgangstrafo_engels.htm
http://www.bluebellaudio.com/

[Deco-Doctor]

Originally Posted by kt66se

I want an amp that will not shy away when it comes to the lower end.
I also looked at the Soweter site, they can custom make O/P trannies for any configuration - are Soweter any good for transformers, or is there anywhere else to go?

Adam - Sowter transformers really are top quality. I have used thier transformers for several projects, not cheap, made to order, expect to wait a while for delivery, but IMHO certainly worth it.

Martin

[Cobblers]

Originally Posted by kt66se

Hi chaps,
Looked at some other forums over the weekend, mostly america but it was interesting that a few mentioned a valve amp based on the Aurora 6610. It is a SE amp using KT66, 2 per channel and a 6SL7GT input valve. Output around 20 watts, triode config all the way through. Has anyone ever heard of this amp? I can't find any reference to it on the web?

My mate brought a Leek TL12(?) EL34's, he has had it for a while, so I popped over to have a listen to it at the weekend. He was running them through a pair of Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 3 speakers. They did sound good but for me, far too bright, good bass but not chest thumping - even with Stanley Clarkes return to forever playing double bass. The amp seemed to weaken / struggle with the lower frequencies.

I want an amp that will not shy away when it comes to the lower end.
I also looked at the Soweter site, they can custom make O/P trannies for any configuration - are Soweter any good for transformers, or is there anywhere else to go?

Cheers

Adam

The Brightness you heard was those metal cones. I had a pair for a short while. Nicely detailed but very wiry sounding, mainly I think down to those pressed (not spun) alloy cones. A grating tiring sound with everything once your ears tune into this. Rich in balance with very good imaging and a shiny sounding mid. The bass is loose and lacks control whatever the amp driving them. They are a budget speaker with audiophile pretensions, a frustrating design I found. Very good at sound staging even close up, so they are well integrated in mid/treble, even though the Bass sounds like completely separate entity.
They also ring very unpleasantly in the crossover region, ruining female vocals and other instruments.

In a big room sat a long way from the speakers they could be a good value speaker for a non discerning rock listener (with softer sounding budget solid state), kept a good distance from walls with low cabinet colouration and a big punchy sound. There is a lot of budget speakers that are much better for tubes out there, not necessarily of the high sensitivity type either.

They don't time at all well and get distorted when asked to handle deep Bass (high powered solid state or tubes).
Put simply they try to do too much at their price point.

[The Shadow]

I'd concur with Cobblers here

I listened to a pair of these speakers at a dealer's a few years ago.
They had 5 stars in What Hi-Fi.

With rock they were impressive but with soul and jazz which are my first loves they were horrendous.
Vocals, male and female, on 60s soul were forward, shouty and generally unpleasant. Tenor sax was forward and nasal.
Altos nearly took your head off!

Horrible things indeed.

I bought a KEF KMS 2002 sub/sat setup from another dealer, much better.

I began to think seriously about maybe moving to valves not long after that.

Steve

[Cobblers]

Originally Posted by The Shadow

I'd concur with Cobblers here

I listened to a pair of these speakers at a dealer's a couple of years ago.
They had 5 stars in What Hi-Fi.

With rock they were impressive but with soul and jazz which are my first loves they were horrendous.
Vocals, male and female, on 60s soul were forward, shouty and generally unpleasant. Tenor sax was forward and nasal.
Altos nearly took your head off!

Horrible things indeed.

I bought a KEF KMS 2002 sub/sat setup from another dealer, much better.

I began to think seriously about maybe moving to valves not long after that.

Steve

That's the scary thing, as they're recommended by the self appointed valve guru from Affordable valve Company specifically for valves, stupidly that's why I had 'em!

If I had to buy new budget speakers for valves (if kits and s/hand market didn't exist) I would not buy a large high sensitivity floorstander.
I would buy a decent quality 2 way and sacrifice Bass output, preferably with paper cones and silk dome tweeters. Sadly fashion has pushed poorly manufactured "hi tech" metal/kevlar/carbon fibre drivers into the realms of the marketing friendly budget loudspeaker where paper and polyprop's equivalents easily murder them.
Sensitivity measurements would not come into it. Cheap speakers that go loud all do so at the expense of control.

[kt66se]

Hi,
I am using Yamaha NS200, they sound sweet enough but lack lower end clout. Looking at this forum, there are a lot of pictures and mentions of the Fostex speakers? Are these more suited to valve amps, I also like some jazz stuff, mainly stanley clarke, danny thompson etc, I am aiming for a setup to be able to cope with this form of music.

I am going to pop along to a HiFi store this weekend to listen to some valve stuff, I think it's mainly croft but I have my eyes on KT66SE / KT88SE, have priced up OP transformers but I need to find a good valve supplier, I looked at the Chelmer site, they are refurbishing their site, then looked at HiFi collective. I do not know where to go on the rectification part though, GZ34 or 5U4. It would seem that my current draw could be around 0.3amps at 365v, after rectification it's going to be around 450v. I used the Duncan PSU program as a reference.....any suggestions on valve suppliers / which tube for rectification? Not buying anything yet, just creating a shopping list

[kt66se]

Forgot to ask - Is it better to provide a DC supply to the heaters of the valves or stick with AC over a twisted cable?

[pre65]

Hi-The GZ34 is good because it is indirectly heated and the HT buils up a bit slower,which is useful.

the GZ37 is similar (not the same) but draws 3 amps from the transformer (rather than GZ34 2 amps).

their are rather a lot of valve suppliers to choose from,most of mine have come from e-bay sellers.

are you planning to "design" your own circuit,because if you follow an established design all the components will be known.

i built a "cheapie" amp from a design on the net,although i did deviate a bit,and learned a lot from the experience.

Philip