US made "Shell" high fidelity amplifier - Info?

[Sam Cogley]

That's a tuning eye tube.. no idea why it's on that piece though, because there isn't a tuner that I see of... interesting.. maybe using it as a power level indicator?

Maybe a balance indicator?

 

[pqrannes]

Cute little amp. I've got one almost exactly like it. Mine was labeled "XAM Mark IIIb", or something like that. I think it was sold in the EJ Korvette stores way back when. I gutted the nasty tone circuit out of mine, and added in a volume knob. It's a perfectly serviceable amp. One of these days I'm going to strip it down completely and rebuild it into an RH84. I've also seen the same amp under the "American Fidelity" name, except it didn't have the vacuum tube rectifier. They converted the supply to solid state diodes at that point.

Nice info and an interesting project.

I guess I'll keep mine original since I'm very pleased with it at the time being.

The multi cap in the power supply got bad earlier this year (the amp started to hum) and I changed it.

Then a month ago I changed the input tubes from Philips to Telefunken ECC83s and used a much bigger and heavier 220V--> 110V stepdowner.

What a difference!

These two upgrades gave me an amp with a much better grip of the bass and a more distinct high as well. I'm very very pleased with this little SE amp!

PQR

 

[KGBMAN]

Which amp are you referring to?

I don't have other pictures than the ones in the auctions (which are not mine).

Pictures of the underside of my amp are to be found earlier in this thread.

PQR

Thanks, I missed the entire segment with the underside photos.

The object I was referring to is depicted here:

 

[pqrannes]

Thanks, I missed the entire segment with the underside photos.

The object I was referring to is depicted here:

In that case, you are right. It is a power indicator light. Not the most beautiful one, but one that works!

PQR

 

[endangered]

hi all , i just picked up two shell electronic 2020p amps really cool amps i also call them my cyclops amps because of round cats eye tuner type tube in top middle of amp. its to show input level as far as i can tell probably so you don't overdrive/distort the amp . although i hear no distortion when i input power so the tube eye is closed or is that open lol?! ones in reply pretty good shape the other has a bit of oxidation going on . sounds pretty darn good powerful little amp . i am going to send out to tech to have a go over as it starts to hiss a little bit when warmed up. drives my restored ar 2ax speakers very well though. best tom

 

[pqrannes]

hi all , i just picked up two shell electronic 2020p amps really cool amps i also call them my cyclops amps because of round cats eye tuner type tube in top middle of amp. its to show input level as far as i can tell probably so you don't overdrive/distort the amp . although i hear no distortion when i input power so the tube eye is closed or is that open lol?! ones in reply pretty good shape the other has a bit of oxidation going on . sounds pretty darn good powerful little amp . i am going to send out to tech to have a go over as it starts to hiss a little bit when warmed up. drives my restored ar 2ax speakers very well though. best tom

Congratulation on the two fine Shell amps.

Mine had the OTs (output transformers) changed since one burned out and it never came back to former magic; it is now a museum artifact here in my hi-fi room.

Good luck with your amps.

PQR

 

[Brian]

Hmmm... My first thought was that now I know where AR got the look for their original amp from.

 

[endangered]

hi all , sorry bout an amp becoming a shell of what it was .... pun intended not so well ... ha !
i have one shell to nos valve and hope for the best .and thats the one in decent condition. the other is cosmetically a bit more pitted/corrosion and not sure how it kicks on . thats with a different tech at the moment but that may change quickly .
don't know about you all but since my fiddling days are at near end it seems mighty difficult to find someone that really cares enough to go the extra mile to fix stuff. thats why i am counting on nos valves . heard nothing but good stuff.

 

[endangered]

similarities

ar looks nothing like a shell amp