Taking the tube plunge-needing info & opinions.

Thanks Conrad. He wanted 4-5 bills for them. I thought pretty steep, but because of their age, maybe worth a restoration.

Glenn
 
I am so happy to chime in on this thread. I am surprised that HH Scott has seen little representation so far. I would jump at the chance to own those mono blocks. If you take the time to restore them you will have something very special. As far as the transition to tubes you might be surprised when you, also, look around and see you have no more SS gear. I am hooked. I have had a Eico hf-87 for years and after Nakamichi PA-5's and Sony TA-N80es as well as others I too have been selling SS to fund tubes. The Eico is my main rig now. I have a Scott 222 with 12 wpc. It is good for a small room at moderate volume. Klipsch may be a solution for the 12wpc deficit. I just picked up a Fisher X-101-D. I can't wait to hear it. A friend of had a Fisher 500c back in the 70's and I remember that amp today. Smooth and detailed. For me, I enjoy tone. I can get deep enjoyment from a single note from a nice guitar or vocalist. When a string is plucked and resonates there is so much to hear from the overtones of a guitar as the vibrations decay. I don't experience that with SS. Tubes are amazing! I don't know what model those Scott mono's are but I would look into that for sure. On $500 or there about, the Scott 299's could be possible and the Fisher X-101-D as well. The pre is on board so plug and play. I think the mono blocks will run up some bills from restoration and then you need a preamp. Thanks to all for making this such an enjoyable thread. Thanks to the Fisher 500c loner. What a guy!
 
Squirrely said:
I am so happy to chime in on this thread. I am surprised that HH Scott has seen little representation so far. I would jump at the chance to own those mono blocks. If you take the time to restore them you will have something very special. As far as the transition to tubes you might be surprised when you, also, look around and see you have no more SS gear. I am hooked. I have had a Eico hf-87 for years and after Nakamichi PA-5's and Sony TA-N80es as well as others I too have been selling SS to fund tubes. The Eico is my main rig now. I have a Scott 222 with 12 wpc. It is good for a small room at moderate volume. Klipsch may be a solution for the 12wpc deficit. I just picked up a Fisher X-101-D. I can't wait to hear it. A friend of had a Fisher 500c back in the 70's and I remember that amp today. Smooth and detailed. For me, I enjoy tone. I can get deep enjoyment from a single note from a nice guitar or vocalist. When a string is plucked and resonates there is so much to hear from the overtones of a guitar as the vibrations decay. I don't experience that with SS. Tubes are amazing! I don't know what model those Scott mono's are but I would look into that for sure. On $500 or there about, the Scott 299's could be possible and the Fisher X-101-D as well. The pre is on board so plug and play. I think the mono blocks will run up some bills from restoration and then you need a preamp. Thanks to all for making this such an enjoyable thread. Thanks to the Fisher 500c loner. What a guy!
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Hey Squirrely,

Thanks for chiming in. That Fisher 500C was sweet, and was an amazing gesture.

These mono blocks are E.H. Scott, not H.H. Scott. They were made before H.H Scott existed. I haven't found much info on them yet. The gentleman who has them said they put out about 40 watts each. I'm not sure about that based on Conrad's comments.

I will have tubes, but I LOVE my JVC A-X9 amp and it will stay. To me, it sounds every bit as good as the Fisher, if not better to my ears.

Cheers, Glenn
 
I did a little reading on E.H. Scott and it seems these may be somewhat rare and desirable. Any other comments on these that know more than I about them or similar amps? They will need a complete restoration, and knowing myself, I'd want to redo the chrome plating as well. I haven't found any power output specs for anything like these either.

Glenn
 
I have two Fishers a KX200 and a X101C both nice sounding amps, I do like the
KX200 more, it has bigger output transformers which gives you a little more. I did
just pick up a Eico HF-81 it's one of those wow amps with EL84's in them.

Tube
 
Those little EL84 tubes don't look like much, but they can really rock, both in small guitar amps, S-C amps and others. The speaker is all important here. In the original post it sounded like the desire was to run relatively inefficient speakers at reasonably loud levels. That's just not where the small amps shine. With decently efficient speakers, a few watts can drive you out of the room. I've found power specs to be a bit iffy as they're usually under the old IHFM standard, which I think was short duration music power, not full bandwidth 2-channel continuous operation. Measured under modern standards the numbers would be so low as to scare you off- pay no attention, just listen and go by the tube compliment as to capabilities.
 
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ConradH said:
Those little EL84 tubes don't look like much, but they can really rock, both in small guitar amps, S-C amps and others. The speaker is all important here. In the original post it sounded like the desire was to run relatively inefficient speakers at reasonably loud levels. That's just not where the small amps shine. With decently efficient speakers, a few watts can drive you out of the room. I've found power specs to be a bit iffy as they're usually under the old IHFM standard, which I think was short duration music power, not full bandwidth 2-channel continuous operation. Measured under modern standards the numbers would be so low as to scare you off- pay no attention, just listen and go by the tube compliment as to capabilities.
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It only works if you have >100 db/W horns. For most modern speakers you should still follow old rule that "there is no replacement for displacement" and get as much power and current as possible.
 
for_p1 said:
It only works if you have >100 db/W horns. For most modern speakers you should still follow old rule that "there is no replacement for displacement" and get as much power and current as possible.
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Actually, the old rule was, "the only substitute for cubic inches is more cubic inches." Tubes are fun to play with, but my normal amps are solid state, Usually a Crown PS-200, with a DC-300A on the next shelf for when the urge strikes, plus various DIY things I've built over the years. It's just random luck that I seem to be submerged in tube amps at the moment.
 
Those EH Scott amps look interesting, but where are the output transformers?
 
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I'd be conflicted between a vintage amp restoration and a Latino kit. Both would end up roughly the same money unless you scored the proverbial sweet deal that seems to be rarer these days.
 
Br1ck said:
I'd be conflicted between a vintage amp restoration and a Latino kit. Both would end up roughly the same money unless you scored the proverbial sweet deal that seems to be rarer these days.
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Those Bob Latino kits are sweet for sure! Love those mono blocks, but a nice chunk of change!
 
A few more notes on the Stromberg tune-up. Pretty much every single resistor had drifted high. In a full restoration you'd want to replace every resistor because they'll likely be out of spec or noisy, every electrolytic because they're dead or dying by now, every paper/bumble-bee cap because they're all leaky, and many ceramic caps because why would anybody in their right mind use crummy ceramics in the tone controls? The response and THD will be dependent on the condition of the output tubes, especially at the low end, so plan on new tubes. I noticed that the tone response is also very dependent on the impedance of the previous stage, so a bit of tube rolling might be beneficial there. I also notice that more 6U8 tubes seem to have internal leakage than not. Be sure to have some spares. Bottom line- you gotta rebuild 'em if you want decent performance.
 
HH Scott LK-72!

So a deal sort of fell into my lap from another AKer! This will be delivered tomorrow, Saturday! :banana:
Apparently all original untouched except the tubes, which it will come with! This is the Brown face version. I'm very excited to get my first tube amp. The seller has supplied pics and indicated which caps and the selenium rectifier that should be replaced and a few other possible items.

I'll post some pics when I can, and as always, look forward to comments, advice etc....

Glenn
 
Nice piece. I have one of the chocolate LK-72s as well -- although the one I have has an issue somewhere upstream of the phase splitter (low signal level) that I've never managed to suss out in the decade or so that I've owned it.
 
Congratulations! It won't be long till you're planning for your next tube purchase. :yes:

cubdog
 
I'm starting to think about what I will need to order to get this in good working order. The seller suggested replacing the selenium rectifier. Where would I find a modern equivalent or NOS replacement? We will go over the amp together, but figured I'd start getting some info ahead of time.

Thanks, Glenn
 
GD70 said:
I'm starting to think about what I will need to order to get this in good working order. The seller suggested replacing the selenium rectifier. Where would I find a modern equivalent or NOS replacement? We will go over the amp together, but figured I'd start getting some info ahead of time.

Thanks, Glenn
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This will fit the bill...
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062583

If you remind me, I believe I have a BOM from Mouser for a 299C I rebuilt. Some of that list should help with the various parts you might need.
 
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