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G4003G...100 watts of wall shaking thunder
- Thread starter coolidge
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2012
- Messages
- 311
Guitar amplifier
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2014
- Messages
- 495
Dang... just... dang....
I built my own tube amp a few years ago. A birthday/christmas present to myself.
Three channel, 11W per channel. Two EL84's per channel, run in self inverting push-pull, 12AX7 input tube. Left, right, and *subwoofer!*
It makes a whopping 11 watts per channel.
Through my mid 80's Pioneer 18"+4"+1" speakers, it'll drive you out of the room at half volume. At full volume, you can hear it down the street.
On 11 watts.
Of course, it pulls about 150+ watts from the wall when running, and does a darn good job of being the most inefficient night light I've ever seen.
But the *sound*.... Oh, man, the sound. And, if I ever feel like I'm getting weak,I can simply lift the amp up a couple of times. At 37 lbs, it's no flyweight. Lots of steel and copper in that amp. A lot of time designing and building it, too. Compared to designing with vacuum tubes, machining is third grade math.
But - despite what the audiophools say, do not bother making big aluminum heatsinks for the tubes. It won't make one single bit of difference in how hard you can push them. Running the tube at it's absolute maximum ratings, you'll still be within the thermal limits of the glass, base, and socket. (unless it's a cheap recycled plastic socket from China. If it is, toss it and get a good ceramic China socket.) "heatsinking" the tubes is just a waste of a lot of nice aluminum. Sorry if that was your plan, but I wanted to prevent you from wasting your time if it was your goal.
For some tool gloat - here's *my* power transformer for my high powered projects.
Yes, that is what you think it is. A pole-mount distribution transformer. 14.4kV in, 240V out. Or 240V in, 14.4kv out. 10kW continuous, will handle 30kW for short runs. Positively *lethal*, without a doubt. A machine tool will maim and mangle. That thing is just *waiting* to end your existence. And it'll reach out about 6" to grab ahold of you. It's the most terrifying thing I own.
Yeah. I've got some interesting hobbies. :rubbinghands:
I built my own tube amp a few years ago. A birthday/christmas present to myself.
Three channel, 11W per channel. Two EL84's per channel, run in self inverting push-pull, 12AX7 input tube. Left, right, and *subwoofer!*
It makes a whopping 11 watts per channel.
Through my mid 80's Pioneer 18"+4"+1" speakers, it'll drive you out of the room at half volume. At full volume, you can hear it down the street.
On 11 watts.
Of course, it pulls about 150+ watts from the wall when running, and does a darn good job of being the most inefficient night light I've ever seen.
But the *sound*.... Oh, man, the sound. And, if I ever feel like I'm getting weak,I can simply lift the amp up a couple of times. At 37 lbs, it's no flyweight. Lots of steel and copper in that amp. A lot of time designing and building it, too. Compared to designing with vacuum tubes, machining is third grade math.
But - despite what the audiophools say, do not bother making big aluminum heatsinks for the tubes. It won't make one single bit of difference in how hard you can push them. Running the tube at it's absolute maximum ratings, you'll still be within the thermal limits of the glass, base, and socket. (unless it's a cheap recycled plastic socket from China. If it is, toss it and get a good ceramic China socket.) "heatsinking" the tubes is just a waste of a lot of nice aluminum. Sorry if that was your plan, but I wanted to prevent you from wasting your time if it was your goal.
For some tool gloat - here's *my* power transformer for my high powered projects.
Yes, that is what you think it is. A pole-mount distribution transformer. 14.4kV in, 240V out. Or 240V in, 14.4kv out. 10kW continuous, will handle 30kW for short runs. Positively *lethal*, without a doubt. A machine tool will maim and mangle. That thing is just *waiting* to end your existence. And it'll reach out about 6" to grab ahold of you. It's the most terrifying thing I own.
Yeah. I've got some interesting hobbies. :rubbinghands:
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2013
- Messages
- 858
or... 240V in 4.0V out... think of how many LED lights you could drive with that thing....
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2013
- Messages
- 2,012
Preamp tube shields and power tube spring retainer caps. A 100 watt 6L6 tube amp at full throttle through a 412 cabinet...BOOM!
