Mine are 1.6w! (Swing)

by anubisgrau, Monday, January 26, 2009, 02:17 (5579 days ago) @ GC

Since January 1 (I was a good boy so Santa Klaus brought a nice present ), I'm running a 10Y/801A SET.

1.6w in A1, around 4w in A2 class.

Truth to be told: with 0.3V TwinDAC+ output through TVC into it, I've never managed to get it into A2 class in my 22m2 room no matter of what music was playing - it was already far too loud for my ears and too dangerous for my building.

Subjectively MUCH louder & dynamic than First Watt F3 it has replaced.

This amp was custom built to my spec and I doubt you will find plenty of these around. Maybe a few of similar ones, world-wide. Forget about any offerings from commercial vendors - you will end fixing the mistakes they made when designing or executing their amps.

It's 3 stage direct coupled, a la Loftin White circuit, Siemens E180F input via ECC88 (currently Siemens CCa) cathode follower/buffer into Sylvania 801A output valves (though circuit is optimized for 10Y, soundwise I prefer 801A) - 12k C core OPTs. No passive components on a signal path: input RCAs - silver wire - input tube - silver wire - CF - silver wire - output tube - silver wire - OPTs - speaker terminals.

PSU is 5V valve rectified (5U4/5R4 family, currently Brimar U52 and Chatham 5R4WGY on rotation), separate power trafos for HT and heating, a huge EI choke, 4 gas stabilizers (10C51 i think). all stages mosfet DC filament heating (zero hum).

Bloody best amp that ever played in my room.... transparent, fast, musical, extended, dynamic, linear, uncoloured, never standing in the way of music.

10Y is a very special tube and IMHO goes a step forward from the usual 300b or 2A3 offerings especially in terms of neutrality and a lack of negative valve artefacts.

The most frequently used word by visitors is just one:

brutal:eek:

Here they go:

[img]images/uploaded/20090126021530497d0eb21bc6d.jpg[/img]
[img]images/uploaded/20090126021603497d0ed3e10ba.jpg[/img]
[img]images/uploaded/20090126021634497d0ef2266c9.jpg[/img]