DIY Tube amps - where to start?

[jamesd]

For fun I’m interested in trying to dip my toes into DIY tube amps and preamps. I know very little about them and my understanding of electrical circuits is minimal, but I can use a soldering iron and am somewhat handy.

is this a stupid endeavor? Could I possibly put something together that would rival an off the shelf unit like Line Magnetic, Rogue, etc?

if it’s not a completely stupid endeavor, what’s a good spot to start reading/learning? I see that a bunch of books on the topic exist.

Any thoughts are welcomed and appreciated

 

[Dan K]

The actual physical assembly is not the hard part, there is a lot of hard won / hidden knowledge that people just won't share with you.

My strong recommendation for a pre-amp would be the John Broskie CCDA and if you prefer a pre with no amplification then go with his Aikido pre.

https://glass-ware.stores.yahoo.net/ailiam.html
https://www.tubecad.com/2009/03/blog0161.htm
https://www.transcendentsound.com/son-of-beast.html

for a power amp go with the Transcendent 'Son of Beast' - the sweet spot of the range.

only use a TKD pot

 

[jamesd]

The actual physical assembly is not the hard part, there is a lot of hard won / hidden knowledge that people just won't share with you.

My strong recommendation for a pre-amp would be the John Broskie CCDA and if you prefer a pre with no amplification then go with his Aikido pre.

https://glass-ware.stores.yahoo.net/ailiam.html
https://www.tubecad.com/2009/03/blog0161.htm
https://www.transcendentsound.com/son-of-beast.html

for a power amp go with the Transcendent 'Son of Beast' - the sweet spot of the range.

only use a TKD pot

thanks!

apologies if this is a stupid question: when referring to a point to point wired tube amp, where does the hidden knowledge lie? It appears like they would be fairly simple to reverse engineer?

 

[a.palfreyman]

Circuit layout is an art in itself. Typically 'bottle amps' have a higher input and output impedance and things like stray capacitance, cross-talk, hum pick-up etc. due to poor circuit layout become more critical. Even more so if you are driving high-efficiency horns with just a few watts!

 

[Arkless Electronics]

There's a "simple as it gets" valve line stage design from my good self here https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/a-valve-line-pre-amp-for-the-diy-fishy.210528/