Tube audio, I'm looking to buy or trade for a tube amp

[tab tanner]

Anybody have one for sale? Dynaco, Heathkit, Homebrew, etc. I just have a bug to buy one? I have a Crown DC300a series II That I may trade for the right one
Thanks Guys

[austin552]

http://www.audiogon.com/

[Joeaksa]

Loads of stuff on Ebay in this area.

[kach22i]

I found a posting for a tube amp and preamp from a local dealer for a good price (Paragon sight and sound in Ann Arbor) a few years ago on Audiogon. I saved shipping cost and other unknowns, plus knowing the dealer looked over the trade-ins made me feel better.

[tab tanner]

I have looked on e-bay but I would rather deal with one person or a dealer on an amp. E-bay scares me on stuff like this, does it work correctly, or an I getting scammed?

[Joeaksa]

Tab,

One thing to do is to look on Ebay but restrict it to your area. I live in a fairly large city and I try to find items at time located nearby.

Agree that you can get screwed at times on Fleabay but either look locally or at sellers with lots of good and positive feedback and you should be ok. Email with them and you can usually get a feeling if they are a flake or good seller.

Joe

[imcarthur]

Ok, I'm seriously biased, but how can you possibly buy a piece of audio gear without listening to it?

Just 'cause it's a tube amp doesn't mean it's going to sound good. I have heard $600 components that sound better than $6000 ones.

Audiogon, eBay etc are fine if you know exactly what you want & you are willing to take the risk. A local audio dealer will charge more - his kids have to eat too - but at least you can look & listen & make an educated choice that suits you, your room & your other components.

Ian

[kach22i]

Originally posted by imcarthur
Ok, I'm seriously biased, but how can you possibly buy a piece of audio gear without listening to it?

My local dealer was good about this, took it home for an audition before the sale was final.

The other method is to purchase a well known name that is already stabilizied in value so you can flip without a loss. The names Audio Research and Conrad Johnson are at the top of the list, maybe some of the McIntosh.

The high value I got was because Graaf is not known or represented in the USA, and Golden Tube Audio went out of business a long time ago.

[}{arlequin]

one of the pelicans just recently finished building one. it sounds awesome!

here are some pics:
http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/showpost.php?p=104202&postcount=34

http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/showpost.php?p=108605&postcount=69

here is the test drive:
http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/showpost.php?p=111027&postcount=84


if you just want to get into this stuff, i can definitely recommend jolida amps. not too pricey but they do like to run w/ speakers geared for midrange. don't expect to hear improvements piping guns 'n roses though it either. it's mostly good for jazz/vocals/instrumentals

[kach22i]

Originally posted by }{arlequin
one of the pelicans just recently finished building one. it sounds awesome!

here are some pics:
http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/showpost.php?p=104202&postcount=34

http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/showpost.php?p=108605&postcount=69

here is the test drive:
http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/showpost.php?p=111027&postcount=84


if you just want to get into this stuff, i can definitely recommend jolida amps. not too pricey but they do like to run w/ speakers geared for midrange. don't expect to hear improvements piping guns 'n roses though it either. it's mostly good for jazz/vocals/instrumentals

What amp design is that?

Awesome, just awesome.

[scottmandue]

I was looking at new tube amps made in China on evilbay but the things are so damn heavy the shipping was almost as much as price of the amp. Plus if something is wrong with the amp you are pretty much stuck with it.

But then I found these guys stateside that import them and pre test them so you are not running the risk buying a hand grenade:

Pacific Valve

[}{arlequin]

Originally posted by kach22i
What amp design is that?

Awesome, just awesome.

i have no idea ab that. the pelican is "kstylianos" and he may tell you a lot more about it than i can. from what i know, he's been reading and sifting through others' designs for months before he settled on one.

it's been well-regarded for a while and even then, i know few other tweaks have been done on this one. i'm not technical enough to know it, but i do know it sounds great.


good link on the chinese amps scott. interesting stuff.

[IROC]

Originally posted by }{arlequin
one of the pelicans just recently finished building one. it sounds awesome!

here are some pics:
http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/showpost.php?p=104202&postcount=34

http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/showpost.php?p=108605&postcount=69

here is the test drive:
http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/showpost.php?p=111027&postcount=84


if you just want to get into this stuff, i can definitely recommend jolida amps. not too pricey but they do like to run w/ speakers geared for midrange. don't expect to hear improvements piping guns 'n roses though it either. it's mostly good for jazz/vocals/instrumentals

Mmmmm....Mullards.... :>)

[}{arlequin]

yeah most of the stuff was hand-picked and chosen wisely. right down to the top-o-the-line 300b's

[creaturecat]

worth checking out:

http://www.space-tech-lab.com/Products.html

[kstylianos]

Originally posted by kach22i
What amp design is that?

Awesome, just awesome.

The design is Joseph Esmilla's JEL 300B-Deluxe:

http://members.myactv.net/~je2a3/se300b.htm

Tube rectified, single ended triode.....true Class-A design/amp. It uses a highly filtered power supply using chokes and large caps. Mullard GZ-37 rectifier tubes, Sylvania 6sn7 signal tubes, and KR-Audio 300B XLS output tubes. Very simple and unclutterd design.

Derek Walton has a great DIY section for this schematic and has truly taken this design to its highest audio potential over 3 iterations......Don't look at his bottom line:

http://www.iol.ie/~waltonaudio/mk2300bmk1.html

Being new to this, I used the 'best bang for the buck' transformers to keep overall price relatively low. Resistors, tubes, sockets, switches, wire, etc I used the best I could find.

-Enjoy

[kach22i]

Originally posted by kstylianos
The design is Joseph Esmilla's JEL 300B-Deluxe:

I need at least 50 watts of power, have 100 watts of push-pull EL-34's now and love it. I wish there was a single ended tube design out there which could drive a Martin Logan electrostatic hybrid speaker (Aerius).

Is that amp around 18 watts?

[kstylianos]

Originally posted by kach22i
I need at least 50 watts of power................Is that amp around 18 watts?

In its current configuration it puts out about 7-WPC. The good thing about the KR 300 tubes it that they can be used at the original Western Electric specs which yield about 7-10WPC, but they can also be 'run hotter' and supposedly sound much better and can yield about 13-15 WPC. To run them hotter, I would need different power and output transformers.

Runing it on }{'s B&W 805's (88dB sensivity, }{ I looked them up), the amp sounded powerful. Cranking it to max, we couldnt talk to eachother w/o yelling.

Also tried the amp with 95dB sensitive Cerwin Vegas. Could not turn the amp up more than 1/2 way w/o ears hurting.

Key here is speaker speaker sensivity. I'd be happy with 90dB+ speakers. For what ever reasons, tube amp power is definitely not equal to SS power ratings.

[imcarthur]

The problem with Logans is low sensitivity AND a HF impedance drop to < 2 ohms. That needs current - not just power - for best results.

Ian

[tab tanner]

I just don't know If I'm really going to gain anything by going to a tube amp. Here is my currect set up, Carver 1.0t amp,Magnapan MG-1c speakers, I have had 3-4 different preamps and I like this one the best a Kenwwod C2 basic. Please don't flame me for using this preamp, I have had an old luxman, a carver, and a tube type dynaco. Please don't ask me the models of the old preamps I don't remember?
The set I have sounds great I just want a tube amp to play with for awhile. I looked at a Dynaco 70? Anybody listen to one? Good or Bad???