henry4841

How many circuits did you have to build in that amplifier George? I'm counting 7 or possible 8.

Looks really nice and neat. I like. 🙂

Guys we have enticed an audio giant to interact with us on this forum! I am honored to have him take the time to do so. Not many have a chance to hear what an audio engineer has to say. I think it is great for him and great for Klipsch as well. The little business I had most of my entire life was built around word of mouth. I cannot think of a better way for Klipsch to have word of mouth advertisement than on this forum. Roy has a big megaphone for word of mouth promotion of Klipsch products here. We get to hear directly from the guy designing the horns and speakers. Word of mouth is the best form of advertisement in my book. What you guys think?

I failed to mention the biggest single difference between what I have been building and this amplifier is it is a mono build. Probably has more to do with what I am hearing than anything else. Having never built mono's before I really did not know what to expect. Imaging is as Maynard said dead center. My stereo Sweetie has center imaging but not as precise. Definitely an improvement in bass that could be contributed to the better electronic components or the different iron. When listening to Area51's Sweetie I did noticed the bass seemed mighty good, better than I remembered my Sweetie sounding. I did not do an A/B comparison between my Sweetie and Area51. I wanted to put some hours on Area51's before shipping it to be sure no unexpected problems showed themselves. I am now convinced, for a Sweetie build, the Hammond iron does have something to do with mine and Area51's amplifier having great bass for such a little amplifier and being a SET. Maynard said as much about the bass when first introducing the Sweetie. Still undecided on what to build next. When I get started building I like to keep the ball rolling. I have a number of tube builds that I could improve on. Some of them were built years ago and I like to think I know more now than when they were built. One of them is the George Anderson SSE amplifier. It is an SET that can be used with many different tubes by changing the cathode resistor. I mentioned previously about using different tubes from the EL34 family and also said that it is not the optimal way of doing it which it is not. My Tubelab SSE was built for the EL34 tube and it was optimized for it. The best sounding tube I have tried with it is one of the Russian 6L6 substitutes, the 6N3C. I did some checking on this tube in my amplifier yesterday and I am running this tube way too hot. It must be a well built tube not to have the plate glowing red hot the way it is being run in this amplifier. Might have something to do with the best sound I have been hearing from it as well. Typically the hotter you run a tube, or a transistor for that matter, the better it is going to sound. That is until it burns itself up. I am considering taking all the hardware and putting everything in a chassis like the one I just built using Hammond iron and better electronic components along with making it a mono build. There are so many excellent tubes one can use in a SET EL-34 amplifier. But the tubes I want to use have gotten really expensive. I would really like to use some NOS EL-34 tubes. Those Russian 6N3C's are being sold as NOS on Ebay which makes me believe that they truly was a tube built years ago for audiophiles in Russia as a 6L6. In other words a Russian version of the 6L6. Here is the schematic of the Tubelab SSE. http://www.tubelab.com/images/AssemblyManualSimpleSE/Simple_SE_Amp_Sch_11-08.jpg Some purist tube builders will not like the idea of a SS component in the audio circuits but they need to realize that the 10M45 is only being used as a constant current source and just like a tube constant current source has no or very little influence on the sound. It is just a CCS and nothing more. Used frequently in SS A/B amplifiers and Nelson has stated many times really does not effect the sound character of an amp. It's job is much like a SS PS in a tube build being it's job is to provide good clean voltage for the tubes. The CCS job is to provide a constant current for the preamp tube just like the circuit is called. Many if not most SET's just use a resistor in that spot where the 10M45 is. A CCS is just better way to do the job a resistor can do it. Other than using a SS CCS in the preamp circuit the amplifier is a pretty standard SET amplifier. Another option is a PP amplifier built by Eico years ago I bought on Ebay. I put off restoring it a few years back not having a tube tester to check and see if the tubes were still in good shape. A set of tubes for that amplifier gets really expensive, for me that is. I took the tubes to Classic Audio yesterday and tested all of them and they all were almost new or at least little used. Instead of restoring that old amplifier I could just build it in chassis like the one I previously built. The problem of a PP vs a SET is it is much more complicated. You have many more circuits to build than the 3 circuits in the Sweetie build. A rough count in my head for a PP build is 9 circuits. Most will not build a PP amplifier point to point but use a PCB board made for the PP amplifier in question. The Tubelab SSE is just two more circuits to build. At least now I have a few things I need to think about before starting another build.

Boys from my home state. They sure can harmonize.

😃

Florida is included in the deep south.

I just wanted to say I enjoy looking at what you are doing John. I hope to see more of your projects with pictures. We need more like this on this forum. You do excellent work.

I should have added to my description "old redneck country boy in the deep south."

Yep, redneck country boy in the deep south. Hardly ever been too far out of the State. Couple of trips to Cancun years ago and the neighboring states is about it. Sweet Home Alabama is the way the song goes.

I second the motion. Be nice if he just dropped in on this thread and just said, Hi. That way we would know he has noticed. If we can get any post from him on this thread I believe we can reel him in entertaining us with his knowledge at times. Nelson on his diyaudio thread seldom post himself but when he does we stand up and take notice.

Already posted here and they frown on double post so maybe a mod will notice and move this thread. Neat place, I could spend a day there just looking. The owner did say on a previous visit many guys do spend a few hours there. I was not planning on spending any money this morning but did walk out with 2 Lp's. Mainly went there to test some tubes and the guy was interested in seeing my latest tube build.

First off I am not affiliated with this co whatsoever. Just a customer of theirs. I mentioned on another thread of them having 3 sets of Klipsch speakers on their showroom floor. A pair of K-horns, a really nice pair of Cornwalls and a pair of Heresy's. Stopping by this morning to test some tubes, he has a free to use tube tester, he told me he also has a many more Klipsch speakers stored in his warehouse. He started naming them off, all Heritage speakers. I have not seen or heard of anyone having as many used Klipsch speakers in one spot. I did notice some prices, the Cornwall's appear to be walnut and priced at $2500, the Heresy's at $600. I was going to ask the price of the K-horns but the guy was busy and I left before talking to him. Those anywhere around this neck of the woods should check out his store. A fabulous spot for vintage audio gear. I saw a McIntosh 240 that really caught my eye. 5 Grand was the asking price. Those things sure have kept their value. Check out the video and you will see those K-horns off in a corner. Also saw a Thorens turntable, $800. On my wish list. I am not afraid to offer a store such as this one an offer. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=644430303626651

Way you go JefDC. This is what I was after when starting this thread. More specifics of Klipsch R&D and their products. Perhaps Roy will smile and join in the conversation at some point. I sure want to hear any and everything he has to say! I bet he has to peak at this thread from time to time. I am bad about waking up at 3 in the morning and will stay up for an hour or so and guess who I see online? The Chief himself.

I've been meaning to post my thoughts after giving it some more thought. It very well could be that the better parts along with Hammond transformers has raised this build over my previous 3 Sweeties I have built. All I can defiantly say is boy this amp delivers with our Klipsch speakers. This one is a keeper. This one cost more than $100 more, just a good estimate over the components of the previous Sweetie. At my age I just do not care to keep up with cost like an accountant for an amp I decided to keep. A good estimate though is getting close to $500 for parts alone. I have not priced what the solid cherry boards cost these days for an chassis like this. That and the aluminum sheets have gone up in price as well. A used a grade better hardware such as input and output jacks along with a premium potentiometer among other parts. That does not include the higher cost electronic parts. Is it worth it? Let me put it this way. I do not want to build myself another amplifier any other way. That being said the previous one Area51 bought sounds great as well. Absolutely nothing wrong with the way it sounds. The focus of that build was to build a good sounding SET amplifier using good parts as low a priced as I could. The way most of my other amplifiers have been built. This one just seems to be a bit better but that is what one would expect when spending more money. Does not always work that way but one expects it to be that way on any purchase. If you throw in looks, I do like the looks of this one better but I am not one to look at an amplifier when listening to music. Looks of an amplifier has nothing to do with what you hear. Then there is always the factor that most everyone that builds amplifiers favors the last one finished. At least that is the way it was when I first started this hobby. Now I am more picky. The last SS project I did was very disappointing for me. It was one of Nelson Pass' projects and it did not impress me the way I thought it would. A little bit disappointed in it. Nothing wrong with the sound, it is a SE V-Fet amplifier. The problem for me was the cost and I have many SET tube amplifiers that sound much better. Maybe I was just expecting more from it.

Perhaps Full Range will not get too upset if I post another cartoon. I just can feel this one. I can delete it if he insist.

Excellently recorded with some of the best drums you will hear on an LP. My favorite Joe Cocker LP.

My newly built SET 6Y6 amplifier. Little Sweetie By Tubefanatic.

I did some more testing of this amplifier. I measure 8.64W and 8.62W of plate dissipation on the tubes. Well below the 12.5W maximum rating of the 6Y6 tube which means the tubes should have a long and happy life. My voltage from cathode to plate was 201V and 196V along with 41.3ma and 44ma of current. The amplifier clips at 1.3W the same as Maynard tested. These figures are subject to change slightly as the tubes settle in some more. At least they have changed some from when I first fired it up and did some test.

Since I mentioned Electra-Print Audio I thought Shu may be interested on where I got my information about Jack Elliano's transformers. My info came from George Anderson, a well respected designer of tube amplifiers, on his website describing Jack's transformers. In case he or someone else is interested about what George has to say about Jack's transformers the links are below. http://tubelab.com/articles/component-testing/budget-output-transformers/ http://tubelab.com/designs/tubelab-se/applications/

I would love to hear what Chief and his guys are working on now as for as horns. I think that is something many of us would love to hear about. Not specific details, just a tidbit please.

After a discussion with Maynard he seems to think a 2A3 SET amplifier is going to sound much the same as this Sweetie. At least judging by the curves in the tube data sheets. I have to agree with him. I dug out 2 pair of the 6EM7 tubes from my stash and just looking at the tubes I am not too impressed. Not near the size of the 6Y6. From looking at the prices of new production tubes has anyone but myself noticed that it seems the bigger the tube the bigger the price? Could be the larger plate surface area catching the electrons has an very profound effect on tube performance. I think one is going to be hard pressed to find a 2 watt or less tube for SET use that will sound as good as the 6Y6 tube.

We need more like you on this forum. Very welcome indeed.

I would certainly like to hear more about the old timers you were taught your craft by. That is the kind of subject I have an interest in. I have told you in private my threads are your threads as well so please tell us more.

I am undecided on what to build next. I have been discussing this over with Maynard getting his opinion. I have mentioned a SET 2A3 build but not really wanting to deal with a pure triode cathode heating again. I have two of them now, my SET 300B and SET 45 tube. Watching one of Modjeski's videos, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qg9ot20EdA , he is saying one of the EM7 tubes is a modern built and sounding 2A3. I believe an EM7 SET amplifier was my first tube build. If not one of my first. I took it apart for no reason other than to use the OPT's on another build to satisfy my build passion at the time. And it was not Modjeski's design. I may have to revisit this tube. I already have a PS transformer and tubes I could use. The cost of building will not be that great if I decide to build an EM7 amplifier. A little discussion of OPT's. For the most part I have always used Edcor OPT's. Mainly because they were much cheaper than Hammonds. Not anymore so I have decided to use the ones Maynard likes the Hammonds. After building Area51's amp I thought the bass might have sounded better on his amp compared to mine. I did not do an A/B comparison between the two fearing I would hear an improvement and not wanting to know being that at that time I had not planned on building another Sweetie. Last night I decided to do a quick A/B comparison. Now there is no doubt in my mind that the bass is stronger and quicker with these Hammond OPT's on this build compared to the similar rated Edcors. Edcor GXSE10-5K - 10W, 5K are $62.36 with a few weeks wait against the Hammond 125DSE at Tubedepot for $61.95 with quick shipping. The Hammonds do need to be installed under the chassis for appearances, not the prettiest, but it should not be a problem if one chooses a big enough chassis. Yesterday I visited a neighborhood old audio gear dealer called Classic Audio in Prattville, Alabama. In it he has 3 sets of Klipsch speakers. A nice looking set of K-horns along with a nice looking set of Cornwalls and Heresy's. He has them stuck in with a bunch of other old speakers where I could not look them all over but from what I saw all three sets look really nice. I looked at the prices and they were inline with the prices on like speakers these days. The Heresy's looked nice and I do remember he was asking $600 for the pair of them. Also he has a tube tester on the showroom floor anyone can use to test their old tubes. That is something I am going to get some use out of. The owner also has an interest in seeing this Premium Sweetie amplifier I just built. Who knows he may be an outlet for selling a few Premium Sweeties helping us both out. That is if there is a market for a high end SET 1 watt amplifier in our vicinity. This kind of amplifier is not going to appeal to the mass market. It is going to only appeal to someone with efficient speakers and desires quality over quantity when it comes to sound. I wish we all had a store like this in our town. I could spend hours looking at all the old gear he has in there.