Erik Mandaville Posted January 30, 2003 Share Posted January 30, 2003 I appreciate your way of offering some comment on this subject, RB. Thanks for including the websites addresses for the Bottlehead sits, as well. In all my bantering (and attempt at defending), I managed to forget to include that information for those forum members who think they might like to have a look. By the way, there are other products available, such as a number of SET amplifiers, from the Bottlehead corporation. Athough highly regarded, some haven't gotten quite the same reviews as perhaps the Moondogs and George Wright amps. The Moondogs are pretty tough to beat, but they are no longer sold as kits. As you all know, however, Welborne Labs is offering a new line of amps and preamps -- the 'ultrapth' output equipment. If you are able to afford more than the Foreplay, and desire subjectively better parts, chassis, etc., Welborne Labs sells products that are built like tanks! Very good looking, as well! I would venture to say, though, that my experience is that the Bottlehead site is perhaps a bit better in terms of feedback and technical assistance. That notwithstanding, It can't be denied that Ron Welborne affers products for the DIYer that are very likely at or near the top. I think the Transcendent Sound preamplifier (the 'Grounded-Grid') is around $400 for the kit. I know a couple of people who built the GG from scratch, and they are extremely happy with its performance. They say it's incredibly fast and agile, with astonishing clarity and detail. The kit GG some with a very sturdy chassis, and uses PCB circuit construction. It is also said to be very quiet due to the use of isolation transformers, which would be a benefit to very efficient horn speakers such as....let me think....what company hosts this forum again.....???? oh yeah, Klipsch! And then there is AES, which sold my current preamp (which I like very, very much)the AE-1. Erik gee....having a bad cold and staying at home from work for a day does have some small advantages! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invidiosulus Posted January 30, 2003 Share Posted January 30, 2003 Erik, The foreplay preamp has become more and more appealing to me lately. I had a question about the tubes the foreplay uses, on the botllehead site they say, "The circuit uses one 12AU7 tube per channel, or one of the 12AU7 variants, 5814, 5963, 6189" I have a number of old RCA, GE, Sylvania and a few Amperex tubes some of which are the 12AU7. Many others are 12AX7 or 12AT7. Are these other 12--- type tubes similar in such that they could be rolled into the foreplay with little or no modification?? I have no previous knowledge of tubes and their numbering schemes and their "families". I'm just curious because if they will work then I would have a number of tubes to roll, if not I still have enough 12AU7's that I would be set for awhile. Also someone(perhaps you)mentioned moding the amp to use tube rectification, any thoughts or comments on the difficulty or benefits would be great. Btw, having a cold is still no fun, even if you get to hang out here. Get well soon Erik. Peace, Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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