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The "$250" Amp? - 6LU8 Compactron SE, UL

I haven't checked in on this thread for awhile. Question: if people had junk parts (chassis, sockets etc.) they wanted to donate to worthy AKers building this project (when it gets ready), I wonder how we could set up something like that. Obviously can't do that in here.
 
I'm extremely interested in seeing where this project ends up!

Might I beg for a sticky from one of the admins? :scratch2:

Anyways, somewhere along this thread I may have missed it, but what are we looking at for the output RMS wattage of the final product? I have some speakers I'd love to try this on, but they're only 89db sensitivity.

Keep up the great work!
 
The plan would be to offer a very inexpensive chassis on a limited basis. I have enough sockets on the way to make 8 chassis.
 
I made more progress on the amp over the weekend. My original plan didn't work as well as I had hoped, one half of the tube was beautiful, the other was not so much. I changed my choice of terminal, and I am going to rebuild it. This will result in a much cleaner and simpler build.

I took some pics, I'll post them later.
 
Squidward said:
I made more progress on the amp over the weekend. My original plan didn't work as well as I had hoped, one half of the tube was beautiful, the other was not so much. I changed my choice of terminal, and I am going to rebuild it. This will result in a much cleaner and simpler build.

I took some pics, I'll post them later.
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Yeah, interesting information - please post and also any detail on the changes you're making and the reasoning.

I'm glad we're doing this here - for those who want to buy parts - another good reason to just hang in there a bit longer. We are moving forward!
 
Marantz7 said:
Anyways, somewhere along this thread I may have missed it, but what are we looking at for the output RMS wattage of the final product? I have some speakers I'd love to try this on, but they're only 89db sensitivity.
Click to expand...

I don't want to speak for the main brains, but I believe we're looking at very low output - certainly less than 10, most likely 6 or thereabouts. I don't know how your speakers would work with that.

I'm planning to run a pair of older Klipsch KG-2's with mine - Kegger tells me that outfit will do the job pretty well. I also have a small room, so doubtful I'll be pushing any envelopes in terms of needing raw power.
 
Wigwam Jones said:
I don't want to speak for the main brains, but I believe we're looking at very low output - certainly less than 10, most likely 6 or thereabouts. I don't know how your speakers would work with that.

I'm planning to run a pair of older Klipsch KG-2's with mine - Kegger tells me that outfit will do the job pretty well. I also have a small room, so doubtful I'll be pushing any envelopes in terms of needing raw power.
Click to expand...

You know, thinking on it, my father has a set of Klipsch Heresies that might work well with this amp in a smaller environment, in fact I'd be willing to -find- speakers that would work with this if it turns out to be a wonderful sounding system! :music:
 
Marantz7 said:
You know, thinking on it, my father has a set of Klipsch Heresies that might work well with this amp in a smaller environment, in fact I'd be willing to -find- speakers that would work with this if it turns out to be a wonderful sounding system! :music:
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I bet those would work great with this. :thmbsp: I've heard lots of good things about them :scratch2: - one especially being how well they work with low power amps.
 
The klip hersy will work just fine w/these amps-I run a 3.5 wat set -using 2A3 tubes and it is running in db in my 12by 24 room at 86-91 db before clppind disstortion
 
The amp is coming along. Next weekend is the next SMAC meet, I'm sure it will make it's debut there! I'll get a few more shots of it's development, and I'll try to get them up soon.

As for the change, Wiggy, I underestimated how much space some of the components would take up. The build got really messy around the socket, one half was real nice, the other was too crowded. I got a different standoff, and moved some of the parts, and it has been greatly improved.
 
Hey Squidward, thanks for all your help over the phone these last couple weeks. I went through one bottle of wine drilling marble today and it looks like one more tomorrow...but then I can start slinging solder. Is the amp you've been working on 16 Ohms? My main system is. Cheers.
 
Thanks Dnew, I have a long term plan to tri amp my system and I thing this amp would be great for the woofs. Cheers.
 
Squidward said:
The amp is coming along. Next weekend is the next SMAC meet, I'm sure it will make it's debut there! I'll get a few more shots of it's development, and I'll try to get them up soon.

As for the change, Wiggy, I underestimated how much space some of the components would take up. The build got really messy around the socket, one half was real nice, the other was too crowded. I got a different standoff, and moved some of the parts, and it has been greatly improved.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. OK, sounds good.
 
A lot of progress has been made on the prototype. I'm glad I did it, I learned a lot of lessons that will get translated in to the final build. I'm really in the home stretch now. The amp will be ready for the SMAC meet this weekend, I'm reasonably sure. I will eventually get pics up, but if it's a matter of working on the amp or screwing around with a computer, I'm picking the amp.
 
Here's a progress report. I finished the amp, but made a wiring error. I finished it about an hour before I left for the SMAC meeting, so there wasn't a lot of time for me to debug it. I took it along, and handed it off to Kegger. He found my error, and is in the process of fixing it.

Here's a pic of the amp, this sort of shows off the power supply a bit more:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wigwam/2598807681/in/set-72157605740103398/

Here's a pic of the signal path, complete with wiring error and fried resistor:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wigwam/2598822283/in/set-72157605740103398/

The power supply for the group build will end up being the same in value as the one that I built, but with different caps. I built cap boards out of stuff I had laying around. The final product will feature new caps, and a build guide for how to use them.

The signal path will look very similar to the one in the pic, tho. I have a layout that I like a lot, and I don't think it will be too hard for even a first time builder to put together. Everything is fairly direct.

Once Keg get's the amp sorted out to his liking, we'll finalize the signal path schematic. We'll also draw up the power supply schematic. Then, we'll put together a BOM and build one with construction pics. At that point, we might do a group buy for some (or all) of the parts.

Thanks for staying tuned, we are making progress!
 
Thanks again, Squidward. I can't tell you how impressed I was that you drove all that way to the SMAC meet and drug the amp up and you and Kegger and PacProtector got down and got busy! Wild, just wild.

Folks, Squidward came prepared - with a big leather bag looked like a doctor's kit, but instead of hemostats and blood pressure cuffs, it held a variac and a complete soldering station, not to mention the neatly-packed boxes of gadgets, gears, and gizmos he had with him. Looked like he was ready to go to work at NASA. He could be the traveling amp doctor - he not only makes house calls, he even brings the patient with him!

How cool is that?
 
I was impressed with Squid's work. I think this is going to be a killer amp. Makes me think that I need to build one so I can tri-amp the Imperials. Cheers.
 
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