Aercool

Yep - that's my Exodus preamp top plate. You can customize the front plate with coordinating graphics too - maybe the Discipline or Lark's Tongue graphics on the front plate! Like Matt says - it's whatever you'd like. TS Matt is a lot of fun to work with and is very accommodating! Lots of different wood and metal options to make it your "last amplifier purchase". Check 'em out!

What kind of rectifier is behind the KT-88? Is that a 6CA4 or EZ81 type?

You're going to love the Gold Lion KT-88's with the E80F's driving them. Matt tried to convince me for almost a year to try the GL's, now they're hard to take out to try other things. Really dynamic, great bass and midrange. This combo seems to be perfect for this circuit. Will look forward to your initial reactions later today!

I gave my reissue Gold Lion KT-88's a thrashing last night on my Toolshed T-12. The new box set from the Grateful Dead arrived yesterday coincidentally, five live shows from July of 1978. Wonderful Betty Cantor recordings, the speakers just disappeared and the imaging was pretty holographic. I was transfixed... Other tube complement was a vintage 1964 5C3S rectifier with the Winged =C= type of logo (a bargain on the 'Bay, rugged looking tube that should last a while), and a pair of the tall Siemens E80F's for the driver socket. I stayed up WAY too late listening to music last night. But it was fun!

Wow! That's a first-run! That will be powerful. What will become of the Genesis6? Congrats!

Have you checked out the Toolshed Renaissance 4 amplifier? Working with Matt at Toolshed has been great, lots of fun to discuss amps, music, vinyl vs. CD, etc. Oh yeah, and he builds a great amp t'boot! Just another one to consider in your search: http://www.toolshedamps.com/products/renaissance4-stereo-amplifier-1 I couldn't be happier with mine.

Agree on all points that Matthews states while working with Matt. My Trancendence 12 is still a joy, and now I wish all you people would leave him alone so I can start a preamp project with ME... ;^)

I went with the other flavor of "snake oil" in my Transcendence 12 - Jupiter Copper Foil w/ beeswax! Boutique-y, perhaps, but why not? In for dime, in for a dollar.

Those holes are probably for the "can" style capacitors. Yeah, you're probably right. They look to be a little larger than the holes for the 6J5G's.

Okay, so an 80/83 rectifier with a pair of 6J5G tubes - what are the other two tube sockets for? Or is it 4 x 6J5G? Looks cool!

Mmmm... Exodus... Is that the mercury vapor 83 tube based pre?

Wow - those are really nice. I'd love to have one for my amp - is it something that can be made again, or is it a one-off?

Glad to have new members. Hopefully they won't be just a one and done'er. Aercool, your Zu speakers seem to be fairly efficient (100dB). Have you looked at any of the Klipsch offerings? I did look at some Klipsch options, but the ones that were intriguing had a huge footprint and probably wouldn't fit in my car if I bought and picked them up. The array of Klipsch speakers was pretty daunting. I couldn't seem to find the ones that would work for me, and working with Zu couldn't have been easier. I guess I took the easier path. I am intrigued by horns and their efficiency, but (perhaps incorrectly) thought I'd need a subwoofer to get deeper bass response. Most of the specs for Klipsch speakers seemed to be in the 40-50Hz on the end of the spectrum.

What a roller coaster ride this thread has been! I just read through it and was amazed at the twists and turns it took! Matt was so great to work with through this project. I'm so thrilled with the outcome, the sound is exactly what I was looking for, it looks the way I want it to look - and works great with my Zu Soul Supreme speakers. I love the sound of the Zu's, but they have some quirks that make them a challenge with single-ended tube amps previously. I knew the Zu's could produce solid bass, but I just wasn't getting it from my previous amp. I've told Matt that the Transcendence 12 sounds "authoritative" a couple times, because it's the only way I know how to describe it. I listen to a lot of Americana music that isn't too demanding, but I do like it loud when the source music calls for it. My pass/fail test was a Lucinda Williams track (newest CD: Down Where The Spirit Meets the Bone) that had some bass that the Inspire KT-150 could not cleanly reproduce. My T-12 does it in spades. Anyhoo - just wanted to send out a thanks to Matt for being a pleasure to work with and accommodating my OCD in certain design elements of my amp! I have so much more time on my hands now because I'm not constantly searching Audiogon for a tube amp that I think might work with the Zu's. I've found one. Search is over. The only downside is that I'm not getting as much sleep as I used to, because I end up listening to music later into the night than I was previously...