A BeePre and a Kaiju

[Superman]

Look what I made. The first pic is a BeePre, which is a preamp. The second pic is a Kaiju, which is a power amp. "Power" is a little relative here since this "power" amp makes a pathetic 8 Watts per channel. Both amps are directly-heated single-ended triode devices using 300b tubes. They power a pair of Klipsch Cornwall III speakers. Yes, my stereo sounds good.

These come as kits from a company called Bottlehead. The plates were powder-coated a lovely bronzy color.

[A930Rocket]

I have no idea what you’re talking about, but it looks cool.

[Superman]

I'm just proud of the accomplishment. I am not an electronics expert, but I built these. They come in kits. Four pieces of wood to glue together. A metal plate, Transformers. A bag of hardware (terminal strips, screws, nuts, washers). A bag of electrical parts (resistors, capacitors, diodes). wire. When finished, they sound about as good as any stereo can. At least, some people think so.

[herr_oberst]

That's fantastic. 8 watts is plenty. Nice work.
A question, slightly off topic.
Did you have soldering chops before you started?
The reason I ask, I have a Yamaha CA800 solid state amp and a companion CT810 tuner from the '70's that need to be recapped. There's a fella in NYC who will sell all the caps necessary for a DIY, and I'm tempted to try.

[devodave]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

That's fantastic. 8 watts is plenty. Nice work.
A question, slightly off topic.
Did you have soldering chops before you started?
The reason I ask, I have a Yamaha CA800 solid state amp and a companion CT810 tuner from the '70's that need to be recapped. There's a fella in NYC who will sell all the caps necessary for a DIY, and I'm tempted to try.

Not hard to do. May I recommend using the woven copper desoldering tapes (fluxed or non-fluxed but I found the fluxed version didn't work much better) and some flux in a syringe to assist in removing the old solder. Solder used on a 70's rig will most likely NOT be lead-free, which, IMHO, is a whole lot easier to reflow than today's lead free products.

[Superman]

I had done some soldering before these kits, but building these kits tripled my soldering experience. It is very important to get a soldering station that can adjust the temperature. Some good ones are quite inexpensive. Mine is a Stahl brand. Lots of tutorials to watch and read. These kits involved both point-to-point soldering and also circuit board soldering. The latter is trickier than the former. Solder comes in different thicknesses. For circuit boards, you will want the thin stuff. For removing solder, there are solder suckers and solder wick. I have better luck with solder wick. "no clean" solder wick is WAY better than the other kind.

I don't know much about solid state stuff, but you can certainly read up. AudioKarma and other sites have surely discussed your amp and tuner. With tube stuff, safety is pretty important. The B+ voltage for the Kaiju pictured above is about 530 Volts! Capacitors can retain this voltage long after the unit is unplugged, and can release that voltage in a millisecond. Capacitors should be drained, and you should basically keep one hand in your pocket while you are touching the amp with the other, wearing rubber soled shoes.

[Superman]

Don't use lead-free solder. Leaded solder is MUCH easier to work with. Just wash your hands afterwards. And again, use "no clean" solder wick. It has a special kind of flux in it. Works great.

[Superman]

Mouser. Digi-Key. Parts Express.

This is the soldering station I have:

https://www.parts-express.com/Stahl-Tools-TCSS-Temp-Controlled-Soldering-Station-ESD-Safe-374-200?gclid=CjwKCAiA_omPBhBBEiwAcg7smdiu6GqoQMV95Ngs WORciL_5MnhJ47tTdBsh0bPj0GBBlAjBRk7_GRoC0LEQAvD_Bw E

But this would probably work about as well:

https://tubedepot.com/products/stahl-variable-temperature-soldering-station?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=&scid=scplpTL-STSSVT&sc_intid=TL-STSSVT&gclid=CjwKCAiA_omPBhBBEiwAcg7smazX_B8QYTJC_eImQXBB BiDQAR7trIlXNE2D-QgoeProkxUY4tcxExoCGwQQAvD_BwE

[herr_oberst]

Thank to both of you for the hints. I was thinking I might find some old relic from JC Penney or something at the thrift store and sort of practice a little before I spent 250 bucks on the caps.

And buying a new tool for any reason is certainly another reason to get up in the morning!

[Superman]

Expensive caps....now that's a can of worms. Sure some of the caps in your amp will make a difference in sound, and it might make sense to spend a little extra. And yeah...grab something at a thrift store for $10 and take it apart. Great idea. I also agree that tools and experience are resources. That is....it is nice to be able to do stuff, because you have the tools and some experience.

[asphaltgambler]

Looks beautiful

[greglepore]

Very cool. Nothing sounds warmer than SETs. Just hooked mine up after a move and am blown away at how it sounds, and I have tons of other good sounding stuff.


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