Finially…

    Sorry about not posting for a while, nothing came to
mind! Well, nothing worth writing about… I put the final component
into my preamp kit I’m building. Yeah, I started it a long time ago, at
least 6 months, probably closer to 8… Anyway, got all the stuff in
it, now I just have to wire up the switches and give it the old “smoke
test”. In other words, turn it on and see what burns:-)
    I’m plotting my first amp project. I was originally
going to get a kit, but what fun is that? I’d rather go the most
frustrating, time consuming, and educational route possible, I’m going
to design an amp from the ground up. My first one will be a pretty
conventional single ended pentode in  an ultralinear
configuration. To be a little different, I’ll use all 12 volt tubes,
why? For one they’re cheap, and two I’ve got them on hand. I think
it’ll consist of a 1625 output tube (a 12 volt military version of the
venerable ham tube, the 807) and a 12sn7/12sl7 combo fro the driver
stage. I may throw in a ccs load on the driver as well, we’ll see…
    I’m also plotting a wilder amp in the future… How
about a parallel single ended 2e26 amp with complimentary
pre-distortion sound to you? WTF is that you ask? Well, think of the
2e26 tube as a miniature 6550 with a top cap. The complimentary
pre-distortion bit is what really sets this apart. The idea is to
inject distortion into the circuit out of phase with the output. Since
the tubes will be the same kind, the distortion figures should be
virtually identical. With the distortion 180 degrees out of phase with
the injected distortion, it should cancel out. It acts much like
negative feedback without the sonic compromises… at least on paper.
    Anyway, I’m going to stick to something fairly
standard for my first one, I’ll have my hands full. I’ve done a good
job finding good sounding, cheap tubes but one thing is never cheap
with tube amps, quality transformers. I’ll be spending around 300 bucks
per amp just on the iron. The good news is that I should be able to use
them for various other projects. I anticipate breadboarding these
things and see how they sound, if they suck, I’ll say the hell with it
and do something else…

Isaac