coolhandjjl Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 McIntosh will never be in my price range, so I am looking for alternatives. My application is just for the midrange in my tri-amp syste. I'm using Dave's Eliptrac 400 with a Radian 950PB driver. I came across the Bob Latino Dynaco clone, his ST70. Any comments on these kits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Would you be building or buying a completed amp? What would be your price range? Those amps are great, BUT those drivers won't need near the power those amps can provide. You need something that is great in the milliwatt range, even if they have some power. I would be tempted to look for some Quicksilver Audio Horn Mono amps. I am sure they are too much new ($1695). http://www.quicksilveraudio.com/products/hornmono.html (opens in new window) Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolhandjjl Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Those Quicksilvers look great, but out of my price range. I have to keep it sub $1000. The ST70 kit is roughly $700 or $800 depending on caps, tubes, something like that. I did not know tube amps at exptememy low levels can produce distortion. As you mentioned, most of the time it will be operating in the sub 1 watt level unless I set up my rig at my daughters graduation dance or something extreme like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 For most tube amps I think the problem is not so much distortion at low levels, but the thermionic noise or hiss that can be present. That level won't necessarily change with the volume/gain so it might be easily heard. Is there anyone in your area who has a tube amp you could try? Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolhandjjl Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Is there anyone in your area who has a tube amp you could try? Not really. Right now, I have three ss amps hooked up, so I am enjoying the system. The idea of using a tube amp is for my next journey, so there's no rush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmi Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I have the ST-120 tube amp from Bob Latino and have nothing but praise for it! It is dead quiet and sounds better than any other amp I have ever owned. The ST-70 would definately be overkill for just mids. I ran a bi-amp set up using my Latino ST-120 for the lows and a pair of 5 watt tube amps for the mids/highs, and it was more than enough power! I found that the Latino amp used by itself sounded better than any bi-amp or tri-amp set up I used, so I'm sticking with that. I'll bet that if you bought a ST-70 kit from Bob, it would become your favorite amp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolhandjjl Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 Any leads on 5 watt amps you could share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubav Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 How about a rebuilt Magnavox console amp? Lots of documentation on the internet. Here's my 6BQ5 version. I also have a 6V6 version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolhandjjl Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 Triode Electronics has Dynaco ST35 clone with a kit price that is approaching my budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 The st35 clone clone would work. Also check out the diytube site: http://www.diytube.com Shannon has an st35 clone board... he lists the parts required and there is plenty of help. Not a kit, but really nice stuff. There are some guys on here who have built his designs and they work great. He also has some lower power designs as well (in the 2A3 range). A 2A3 with a 2500 ohm output tranny will give you aboue 4 watts. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmi Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Any leads on 5 watt amps you could share? The 5 watt amps I used were a pair of Decware SE84 kits bridged mono. I think the kits sell for about $300.00 each. I still have the amps, but they have a little too much background noise for me to use on a daily basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dousterhout Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 I was wondering... it sounds like perhaps you are not using your SE84's? Any interest in selling them? Dean Ousterhout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David H Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 The 5 watt amps I used were a pair of Decware SE84 kits bridged mono. I think the kits sell for about $300.00 each. I still have the amps, but they have a little too much background noise for me to use on a daily basis. Kevin, you can drop the back ground noise signifigantly by adding 50uf 450v caps to the power supply. There was a mod for it listed on the Decware threads. I tried it, it worked perfectly. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmi Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 I am interested in selling them-shoot me an offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmi Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 The 5 watt amps I used were a pair of Decware SE84 kits bridged mono. I think the kits sell for about $300.00 each. I still have the amps, but they have a little too much background noise for me to use on a daily basis. Kevin, you can drop the back ground noise signifigantly by adding 50uf 450v caps to the power supply. There was a mod for it listed on the Decware threads. I tried it, it worked perfectly. Dave Thanks for the info Dave, I'll try it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Dave: I run a ZKIT1 SE84, and I am interested in the mod you describe. Are these replacements for the 33 uf caps on the high voltage taps? I have sorted through the ZKIT1 posts and don't find any mention of this mod. Thanks! M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David H Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Idealy the 33uf caps should be replaced with 80uf 600v, this cuts the noise in half. The larger caps may no fit on the board. What I had done as a test was parallel a 47uf 600v with the 33 uf 450v. You may want to contact Steve Deckert, I suspect he would tell you. Pay attention to the capacitor orientation as they are polarized electrolytic. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Thanks, will check with Steve as well. The ZKIT1 was an easy build, but mine was complicated by the fact that the board design and schematic were dated and the parts list incomplete. A major complication was the fact that builders invariably had to use the Edcor transformers, and the power transformer did not have a center tap as originally designed into the circuit and board. I fashioned a pseudo tap that worked fine. I understand all these things were corrected in the latest board rev (which also uses the same pseudo tap I used). Once I sorted those details, though, to ensure a clean build, it went together and worked without much incident. Just had to get used to working with tube amps again (feels a bit like picking up a rotary dial telephone, you know? But the sound....). -M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmi Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Idealy the 33uf caps should be replaced with 80uf 600v, this cuts the noise in half. The larger caps may no fit on the board. What I had done as a test was parallel a 47uf 600v with the 33 uf 450v. You may want to contact Steve Deckert, I suspect he would tell you. Pay attention to the capacitor orientation as they are polarized electrolytic. Dave I just did this parallel mod using Ruby Gold 47uf caps, and it really worked wonders reducing hum, but I also had to "lift" the ground for the quietest noise level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolhandjjl Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 ....but I also had to "lift" the ground for the quietest noise level. How do you do a ground lift on a system with unbalanced interconnects? Did you build your system with XLR or TRS interconnects? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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