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Pre-Amp Kit Upgrades

B

breadboard

New Member
First, thanks for this wonderful space, really enjoyed lurking. I'm considering one of the many 6J2 Tube Amp kits on eBay as a starter/practice project. Recognizing these aren't the worlds best items, but recognizing I'm a noob, it seemed like a cheap low risk way to try out the hobby.

that said, it also seemed like something it would be easy to use the pcb and buy upgraded parts, for example, a better tube like the GE 5654. I wonder if there are other things you could easily do to make it better. for example, a nicer looking RCA input or better capacitors.

If I like it, I'd tool a new chassis, so the cheap acrylic isn't a turn off for me. thanks in advance!
 
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I would recommend you look at the Decware Zen Kit. Sure, its more expensive, makes you source your own parts, but in the end, you will have a real high quality amplifier based on very good quality parts. It's more of a challenge, but the end result will be so much more rewarding. If you have never soldered before, by the cheap little Amazon kit to get some soldering experience - but to have something that's more than a curiosity, consider the Zen Kit.

Here's a link to the thread where Opa1 and I both built the kit. I decided to go point to point (following the schematic) but Opa1 built it directly off the $45 circuit board that Decware sells.

index.php
 
That is beautiful and def where I’d like to head. For right now tho I’m looking for true first timer stuff, so when I mess up it’s not too costly. My idea in this thread is there might be more minor upgrades that cost less than $20 that would make a big improvement. A la the better tube.
 
Those little 6BQ5 peanut pentodes are hard to beat for S.Q. and sensitivity, which allows them to be used in simple designs.
 
The one in your link is a hybrid. I have a small hybrid headphone amp with a line level out that I like. It has a 6J1 front end driving a small SS class A output.
I use it as a preamp for the tube system next to my bench. The 5654 tubes made a huge difference for the better.
 
breadboard said:
That is beautiful and def where I’d like to head. For right now tho I’m looking for true first timer stuff, so when I mess up it’s not too costly. My idea in this thread is there might be more minor upgrades that cost less than $20 that would make a big improvement. A la the better tube.
Click to expand...

You do realize that is a preamp kit right? You could probably drive headphones with it, but not speakers. Anyway, good luck - should be a fun project :thumbsup:
 
would be easy enough to change that. Add an op-amp as a zero gain buffer after it. That will drive anything you like. If its like the others with the +/- supply you can probably tap right off of whats already there. Or use some flavor of FET as a follower, would get you to the same place.
 
If somebody needed to drive headphones they could just buy one of the 6j1 units with a buffer already built in. If somebody wanted to build a headphone amp I, personally, would point them in the direction of one of the many well documented designs available
 
Sure, there are lots of options, I was just mentioning that if you already had one of these and wanted to run headphones it isn't impossible to make it do that. Just because it doesn't make any sense doesn't mean it can't be done anyway.
 
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