aviserated Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 What is the less expensive way to achieve "one clean watt" to drive the Klipschorn? Put another way. Can anyone recommend a good new inexpensive triode amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triode Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 I'm not sure what your price range is, but Welborne Labs has some very good 45, 2A3 Amps that have that great 1 watt you're looking for. - albiet at a price of around $1500 per pair of Monoblocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiob Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 bottlehead paramours, 500 bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipsch RF7 Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 What Genre of music do you like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 The Paramours are the champs in SET bang for the buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviserated Posted November 26, 2004 Author Share Posted November 26, 2004 I like all kinds of music. But what if I wanted to play some classic Black Sabbath loud. Could the Khorns matched with a low powered triode tube amp deliver. I quote a statement from the book, The Life...The Legend Paul Wilbur Klipsch by Paul himself: "What the hell do you need a pentode tube for with a damn Klipschhorn when all you need is a damn triode tube, for godsakes? All you need is one good clean watt!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 "What the hell do you need a pentode tube for with a damn Klipschhorn when all you need is a damn triode tube, for godsakes? All you need is one good clean watt!" So you can play Black Sabbath loud. The first watt is "clean" only if you plan on just using a fifth of it -- you need headroom to cover dynamic peaks and to stay out of clipping. 3.5 watts of 2A3 will give you about 95db before it starts sounding pinched and compressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 You could look into 300B SET designs for about 8 Watts. There are a few transistor Class-A designs available that will deliver 30 to 50 Watts and tere are several "digital" or enhanced pulse-width-modulation designs that will deliver more than that. Generally all of those approaches will do a decent job on the first Watt. Also, you need clean AC power, generally obtained using a good rf line filter. Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviserated Posted November 27, 2004 Author Share Posted November 27, 2004 ---------------- On 11/27/2004 8:40:19 AM leok wrote: You could look into 300B SET designs for about 8 Watts. There are a few transistor Class-A designs available that will deliver 30 to 50 Watts and tere are several "digital" or enhanced pulse-width-modulation designs that will deliver more than that. Generally all of those approaches will do a decent job on the first Watt. Also, you need clean AC power, generally obtained using a good rf line filter. Leo ---------------------------------------------------------- I have a Parasound P/HP-850 preamp with built in MM phono stage, NAD turntable with Arum Beta S cartridge, Philips 963SA DVD video/SACD player. What amp would you buy to go with these components if your budget where limited to $1500.00? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 As long as you go with a good tube amp you can't go wrong. Shop around on audiogon.com buy and trade till you get what you like best. I don't have a decent hi fi shop so that is what I do. just a couple examples welbourne labs drd 300b http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1106691519 Fi x amp 2A3 Troide tube amp http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatube&1106050134 I've always thought the Fi looked to dam cool Mcintosh MC 240 http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1106504126 i've always wanted some vintage mac gear http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1106252314 http://www.wright-sound.com/products www.bottlehead.com www.decware.com good luck have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 ---------------- On 11/26/2004 10:21:52 PM aviserated wrote: I like all kinds of music. But what if I wanted to play some classic Black Sabbath loud. Could the Khorns matched with a low powered triode tube amp deliver. ---------------- The short answer is "No." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 I think you should upgrade your preamplifier first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 aviserated, The amps I use are my favorites. I use somewhat less power than you do. To approach them with more powerful amps you can purchase: The Bottlehead Parabee is just a bit over your budget. That amp wired for 4 Ohms out would be my suggestion for SET. Some people on this forum may have suggestions for a cost effective pair of 300B tubes instead of the meshplate offered by Bottlehead. (http://www.bottlehead.com/) Sugden has a couple of the most well received ss class-As available: A21aP stereo power amplifier (25 wpc Class A into 8 ohms) $1,395.00 The Sugden A21 is a pure class A amplifier ("integrated") $1,595.00 (http://store.yahoo.com/stanalog/sugden.html) Jean-François Lessard has designed an excellent 2A3 pp DIY amp. I can't quite figure out what the price would be, but I think it can be done for close to your target. It's a no feedback triode design but with more power than its single-ended siblings. One of my amps is similar, using KT66s wired in triode mode and I like it a lot. SETH 2A3 S-240 Monoblock (http://pantheon-audio.com/) Digitals, I've only heard my own design. Most of the digitals you can buy produce what I consider ridiculous amounts of power, which my understanding of the technology says compromises that 1st Watt. However, some forum members have tried them and with excellent results. Their 1st hand comments are probably worth more than my theoretical guessing, esp. since good power supply design can give you a good 1st Watt and ridiculous amounts of power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviserated Posted November 27, 2004 Author Share Posted November 27, 2004 ---------------- On 11/27/2004 1:53:44 PM DeanG wrote: I think you should upgrade your preamplifier first. ---------------- What would be a good duel purpose preamp, amp combination to drive either the Khorn or the Forte2. My B&K 150 amp with MOS-fets seems to do OK, especially in the bass range. Would the correct tube sound just blow me away? I would hate to spend $1500 for a subtle difference in sound. Thanks everyone for your response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 How does this look? Pre Amp Specifications 3 inputs, 1 Record Output, 2 Main Outputs Tubes 2 - 6922 Sovtek (SRPP) 90 second delay warm up (soft start) Frequency Response at 2 Volts RMS 10 - 100,000 Hz Gain 11dB THD ~ 0.07% Input Impedance 100,000 Output Impedance 10,000 Power Consumption 30 watts Dimensions and weight: H 3.5 x W 15 x D 8 inches / 5 KG At the unbelievable price of $399.95 (shipped). Amp Specifications Clean 9 watts per channel output (continuous RMS @ 8 Ohms) 2 Inputs 2 Electro Harmonix EL34EH Power Tubes 2 Electro Harmonix 12AX7EH Drive Tubes 5AR4 rectifier tube (not a 10-cent diode) Alps Volume Control Platinum coated switches Ceramic tube sockets Class A, consumes 35 watts H 6.5 x W 12.0 x D 10.5 inches Thoughtfully engineered - weighs 14 KG The Tube amp costs $399.95. (Shipped). This looks like a perfect Tube pre amp/ Tube amp combination to me! You can always switch out to different tubes to your liking later as well. So to your "one watt" question, yes it is possible. And with 8 watts of headroom too. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lipinski Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 anybody have any suggests on where to go to listen to tube amp equipment and klipsch speakers in Austin, Texas? or Houston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Mandaville Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 Those look like very good prices. A preamp with an output impedance of 10K ohms, which is on the high side, might be alright if the amplifier's input impedance were at least 100K ohms. Cable related capacitance effects can also come into play with higher output impedance sources, and in this case should probably be kept ASAP (As Short As Possible!)to prevent high frequency roll-off. A preamp, tube or solid state, with an output impedance of a few to several hundred ohms would, in my opinion, be a better match for a wider variety of possible amps. This sounds like it might be of an SRPP design, and some of those can sound really nice -- but again, there are some impedance related issues that are important to consider. The above suggestion for a preamp and amp did not specify the input impedance of the amplifier, so, depending on that, the two might work really well together. I have built preamps designed by companies such as Bottlehead, AES (division of Cary)Eric Barbour (who is probably familiar to some of the DIYers here, and Transcendent sound. All of these were tube preamps and quite good performers. I can say that for my personal tastes, the Transcendent Grounded Grid (under $500 for the kit, but very easy to build)is a very, very good preamp. Extremely transparent, very low output impedance, and dead-silent with high efficiency speakers. I have built two of the Transcendent preamps for forum members, and both have been very satisfied with them. Erik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 ---------------- On 11/27/2004 8:24:28 PM IndyKlipschFan wrote: How does this look? Pre Amp Specifications 3 inputs, 1 Record Output, 2 Main Outputs Tubes 2 - 6922 Sovtek (SRPP) 90 second delay warm up (soft start) Frequency Response at 2 Volts RMS 10 - 100,000 Hz Gain 11dB THD ~ 0.07% Input Impedance 100,000 Output Impedance 10,000 Power Consumption 30 watts Dimensions and weight: H 3.5 x W 15 x D 8 inches / 5 KG At the unbelievable price of $399.95 (shipped). Amp Specifications Clean 9 watts per channel output (continuous RMS @ 8 Ohms) 2 Inputs 2 Electro Harmonix EL34EH Power Tubes 2 Electro Harmonix 12AX7EH Drive Tubes 5AR4 rectifier tube (not a 10-cent diode) Alps Volume Control Platinum coated switches Ceramic tube sockets Class A, consumes 35 watts H 6.5 x W 12.0 x D 10.5 inches Thoughtfully engineered - weighs 14 KG The Tube amp costs $399.95. (Shipped). This looks like a perfect Tube pre amp/ Tube amp combination to me! You can always switch out to different tubes to your liking later as well. So to your "one watt" question, yes it is possible. And with 8 watts of headroom too. LOL. ---------------- Indy, So what preamp and amp is this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 Damn - $400? I have to wonder aloud if it's some kind of starved-plate design... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthfreek Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 lipinski you have a message. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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