"Andy Evans" wrote in message
ups.com...
Quite a few of us started out by repairing our old Leak Stereo 20s and
the like. It's still a great road into amp building. for a first step
I'd do exactly that - buy a Leak Stereo 20 and upgrade it with modern
componants. It's all point to point wiring and totally accessible.
Plus you have the leak group as backing to talk you through it. Morgan
Jones even has a suggested circuit for it in his Valve Amplifiers,
which you absolutely must buy. (that's an order!!!)

I think to date I've been through about 30 different circuits in my
Leak Stereo 20!!!




Agreed Andy. A Leak Stereo 20 is a good place to start. I
have just finished one of those (actually I was putting it back to
original spec before doing the MJ changes and also those
suggested by my good friend Peter Lewis.

Leaks do have stability problems, and so cannot be claimed
to be unconditionally stable in the true sense of the term. Put
a 0.22µF across the output terminals and watch it dance:-)

But it's a great place to start. and much more informative than
building a kit.

There are plenty of people here, and also on RAT who are happy
to help.

Iain

On Oct 31, 4:05 pm, Andy Evans wrote:
Quite a few of us started out by repairing our old Leak Stereo 20s and
the like. It's still a great road into amp building. for a first step
I'd do exactly that - buy a Leak Stereo 20 and upgrade it with modern
componants. It's all point to point wiring and totally accessible.
Plus you have the leak group as backing to talk you through it. Morgan
Jones even has a suggested circuit for it in his Valve Amplifiers,
which you absolutely must buy. (that's an order!!!)

I think to date I've been through about 30 different circuits in my
Leak Stereo 20!!!



I can offer you the very, very rare Leak Stereo 30 Plus at a good
price...

Andre Jute
"I was at a board meeting for the LA Chapter of the Audio Engineering
Society last night on XM Satellite radio audio and data transmission.
Sadly, we missed you there, and at the SMPTE and Acoustical Society
recent meetings as well. Everyone was asking, 'Where is that wonderful
Andre Jute? The world just doesn't rotate without him...'" -- John
Mayberry, Emmaco

PS ... Pay no attention, Max. This is an insider-joke. The Leak Stereo
30 Plus is a very early silicon amp and it is truly, truly wretched to
the extent that I almost give it the Australian pronunciation of "rat
****". Mind you, my Leak Stereo 30 Plus has appeared in Glass Audio,
the temple of the ultrafidelista tubies, where it is shown as the
distribution amp in my review of the Electric Tonalities SEX kit amp.
It must therefore be famous as the worst amp ever shown in GA.

PPS The SEX kit as above is super for what you want; SEX stands for
Single Ended eXperimenter's amp but the carriage from Poulsbo near
Seattle will be a killer. A super kit if it is still made is the Arion
Adonis (their base the last time I heard was in Northern Ireland),
about 20W from 5881, lovely casework with a polished stainless
topplate and excellent transformers designed by the sainted Simon
Shilton.

I can offer you the very, very rare Leak Stereo 30 Plus at a good
price...

I might just sacrifice my collection of Max Bygraves records for that!

On Nov 2, 12:04 pm, Andy Evans wrote:
I can offer you the very, very rare Leak Stereo 30 Plus at a good
price...

I might just sacrifice my collection of Max Bygraves records for that!

I'll make change in Des O'Conor records...

"Andre Jute" wrote


PPS The SEX kit as above is super for what you want; SEX stands for
Single Ended eXperimenter's amp but the carriage from Poulsbo near
Seattle will be a killer. A super kit if it is still made is the Arion
Adonis (their base the last time I heard was in Northern Ireland),
about 20W from 5881, lovely casework with a polished stainless
topplate and excellent transformers designed by the sainted Simon
Shilton.


Hah!

The valve amp that was my introduction to valves (and slammed the door
shut forever on SS amps for music playback for me) was an Arion 'Tycho'
(still with the astronomical references today!) - ran as hot as a
blacksmith's forge with the odd red-hot resistor here and there, but
with a fabulous *fully Class A* sound from 8 x 5881 power valves. I only
got rid because it was a great big, complex bugger that needed a bit of
attention and because I had built my own not long after getting it.

It was also a bit humungeous:

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Arion01.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Arion02.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Arion03.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Arion04.JPG


:-)

Sadly, Arion Acoustics went bust in 1997, I believe...

On Nov 2, 12:56 pm, "Keith G" wrote:
"Andre Jute" wrote

PPS The SEX kit as above is super for what you want; SEX stands for
Single Ended eXperimenter's amp but the carriage from Poulsbo near
Seattle will be a killer. A super kit if it is still made is the Arion
Adonis (their base the last time I heard was in Northern Ireland),
about 20W from 5881, lovely casework with a polished stainless
topplate and excellent transformers designed by the sainted Simon
Shilton.

Hah!

The valve amp that was my introduction to valves (and slammed the door
shut forever on SS amps for music playback for me) was an Arion 'Tycho'
(still with the astronomical references today!) - ran as hot as a
blacksmith's forge with the odd red-hot resistor here and there, but
with a fabulous *fully Class A* sound from 8 x 5881 power valves. I only
got rid because it was a great big, complex bugger that needed a bit of
attention and because I had built my own not long after getting it.

It was also a bit humungeous:

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Arion01.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Arion02.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Arion03.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Arion04.JPG

:-)

Sadly, Arion Acoustics went bust in 1997, I believe...

I had dealings with Arion after that. One of their guys bought the
name and the stock of Adonis kits, and was carrying on. But it is a
few years now since I heard from him.

Andre Jute
"Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving
us wordly evidence of the fact."-- George Elliot

max graff wrote:

I am planning on building my own valve amp and need a
starting point
viz. books, forums etc. Any tips would be of good help.

I have proved to myself that I can solder well and don't
have shakey
hands and did EE in my previous life.


As well as Morgan Jones, you might consider "Valve and
Transistor Audio Amplifiers" by John Linsley Hood. This puts
the main design issues into historical context, with most of
the classic circuits covered. The two books make a good
pair.

The bible is RDH4, which is enormously detailed and
consequently turgid. Easily found.

Availability and cost of good transformers should be kept in
mind while you're thinking what design to build. A visit to
a few transformer suppliers' sites might be interesting,
such as

http://www.sowter.co.uk/

For valve datasheets and loads of schematics, this is a good
place to start:

http://www.duncanamps.com/

Good luck

Ian

"Ian Iveson" wrote in message
.uk...
max graff wrote:

The bible is RDH4, which is enormously detailed and consequently turgid.
Easily found.

Like all good bibles, the audio bible is divided into
two testaments. The first is indeed RDH4. The second
is that wonderful 1200 page book by Howard Tremaine
called "Audio Cyclopedia"

Iain

On Oct 30, 4:15 pm, max graff wrote:
Hi guys,

I am planning on building my own valve amp and need a starting point
viz. books, forums etc. Any tips would be of good help.

I have proved to myself that I can solder well and don't have shakey
hands and did EE in my previous life.

Cheer Max.

Hey, Max:

I don't have time to read all the agitations of the silicon slime
trying to rain on your parade before it starts, so I don't know if
someone has asked about your speakers yet. If you sensitive speakers,
there is a quick, simple, cheap amp on my netsite called the SEntry,
trioded EL34 in SE for about 2W. There is also on my netsite a design
for a speaker that is both sensitive and cheap to build, The
Impresario; the compromise for the low cost and ease of build is that
it is rather large. I emphasize cheap because my experience is that no
one builds only one tube amp: there is always something else they want
to try.

There are four books you must have: Radio Designer's Handbook by F
Langford-Smith, 4th ed; Valve Amplifiers by Morgan Jones: a late RCA
tube ref for the specs: a tube era ARRL manual (surprisingly many main
libraries still have them in the stacks, or any library can get it for
you from the British Library). A good tube-era author to dip into is
Norman Crowhurst.

Andre Jute
Visit Jute on Amps at http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/
"wonderfully well written and reasoned information
for the tube audio constructor"
John Broskie TubeCAD & GlassWare
"an unbelievably comprehensive web site
containing vital gems of wisdom"
Stuart Perry Hi-Fi News & Record Review

A good tube-era author to dip into is
Norman Crowhurst.

Very true and very overlooked. He writes very clearly. So does Bruce
Rozenblit when he's not counting his patents.