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Single ended vs. push-pull


tube fanatic

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I loved it Maynard thanks for re posting it . Now here a few years latter in my search for 'the sound " the article was way more understandable & enjoyable having tried out most of the various build types  as one of the "The Brotherhood Of The Firebottle " . 

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Great article. 

 

Now as far as I can tell, in his conclusions he seems to be saying the way to go is to develop a high efficiency push-pull amp with low power of about 15 watts using triode (either 2a3 of 300b) power tubes.

 

So Maynard, is there such a beast or have you designed such a critter? Or somebody else.  Might be an interesting build if so.

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1 hour ago, thebes said:

Great article. 

 

Now as far as I can tell, in his conclusions he seems to be saying the way to go is to develop a high efficiency push-pull amp with low power of about 15 watts using triode (either 2a3 of 300b) power tubes.

 

So Maynard, is there such a beast or have you designed such a critter? Or somebody else.  Might be an interesting build if so.

 

Love my Cary CAD 2A3i

 

It’s a 2A3 PP designed by Dennis Had 🙂

 

 

F8C53726-2BA2-403D-8D61-9597BC6AFE90.jpeg

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2 hours ago, thebes said:

Great article. 

 

Now as far as I can tell, in his conclusions he seems to be saying the way to go is to develop a high efficiency push-pull amp with low power of about 15 watts using triode (either 2a3 of 300b) power tubes.

 

So Maynard, is there such a beast or have you designed such a critter? Or somebody else.  Might be an interesting build if so.

Frank Ng makes one... 

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Interesting to see that it explains, quite well, how  PP can be Class A or B or AB. 

 

There  has often been the explanation that PP is inherently Class B. 

 

Of course  Nelson Pass presents PP Class A transistor amps.

 

WMcD

 

 

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I also run a ss 7t into tubes. I am happy to see you do as well on your "forever" system. I have had problems with the on/off switch which is a bit of a pain but otherwise, I think it serves very well as a phono stage. 

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I have a pair of Brook 12A clones PP 2a3, PP EL37s triode wired, Luxman 50CA10 triode PP, and they sound good but my lil 45/2a3 direct couple two stage SET beats them all. I plan on building one with a bit more oomph for 50/300B triodes. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cool stuff and I wasn't out to hijack the informative intent of the article.  It seems that many like a PP amp of that nature (thanks for the great pic Mike and others!) and then there is the very present school of SET aficionados, which, I'm sorry to say, often sound more like proselytizers than who have already found the sound they like, and will brook no argument, rather then seekers after the holy grail of magic amplification.

 


Thanks to Maynard, I've built several SET's of various flavors, and I have a solid collection of 35 to 50 watt Push Pulls, my slightly modified Marantz8b being to me is where true magic resides. In other words, I feel it is my reference amp to paraphrase a line of Klipsch speakers.

 

Being my busy and tired all the time of the year, I've only been able to do a cursory internet search of schematics for amps that fall into this range and most seem to be cobbled together DIY which is not what I'd be seeking.  Now, the Brook schematic is intriguing, yet Ian (Seti) found it lacking somehow.  I guess I'm seeking some solid suggestion vis-a-vis commercially built and proven designs with schematics and maybe a picture or two of the undersides.  Your suggestions would be welcome for a Fall build. It's been almost 16 months since my last build and it's time for another!

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Seti, Jeff lessard posted some good 2A3 PP schematics with parts lists, etc. On the Magnequest website. But I cannot seem to find them now...btw a great small PP amp is the el84 type; a dynaco st-35 or the eico or pilot equivalents we’re both great sounding amps.    I love modern version from Roger Modjeski the Music Reference RM-10 MkII.

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There is a Part 2 !

 

http://www.x3mhc.no/dokumenter/SE-v-PP-Part2.pdf

 

Quite interesting stuff about low listening level PP with respect to hysteresis curve induced distortion. 

Anyone with high efficiency speakers will fall in this category most of the time.

The first watt matters most, and this is where Push-Pull design relatively lacks the more.

 

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On 4/12/2019 at 3:51 PM, tube fanatic said:

Given the popularity of Jeff's build thread I thought it would be a good time to re-post Eddie Vaughn's essay on this subject (I originally posted it years ago).  If nothing else, read the intro as it is extremely funny (although quite true in many respects!):

 

http://www.x3mhc.no/dokumenter/SE-v-PP-Part1.pdf

 

 

Maynard

 

=== a regrettable decision when I sold my Eddie Vaughn amplifier. A superb sounding piece —. 

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  • 1 year later...
On 4/12/2019 at 11:51 PM, tube fanatic said:

Given the popularity of Jeff's build thread I thought it would be a good time to re-post Eddie Vaughn's essay on this subject (I originally posted it years ago).  If nothing else, read the intro as it is extremely funny (although quite true in many respects!):

 

http://www.x3mhc.no/dokumenter/SE-v-PP-Part1.pdf

 

 

Maynard

Thank you for sharing with us

It's great job!

Jonathan

 

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