Tubes, glow and tube amps

LOL, I did the same. Not having to pay for train fare, restaurants, expensive vacations has created “entertainment funds”. My only problem was that I was thinking of starting small, getting an HD-6XX, but this forum has forced me to buy a Bifrost 2, Lyr 3, and both Stellia and Verite Open. And now @Paladin’s pictures have me lusting after tube amps.

Just be prepared for the months-long wait for the Verites after you’ve ordered them, since they’re hand-crafted from wood. Although I would imagine that you would probably appreciate the time it takes to make something like that.

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LOL you are talking to someone who ordered a Randall knife as a present for a family member. What he got was a card saying the knife would be ready in two years. :grinning:

I do not have space for a wood lathe otherwise I could consider making the cups for DT-990’s, similar to what Darth Beyer did.

http://www.headphile.com/page8.html

Come to think of it, a couple companies started out modifying Fostex headphones. Hmmm maybe a matching amp and headphone set could be done.
I bet I know someone who would want purpleheart cups on headphones to match an amp I may well be making. :sunglasses:

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Starting small is still a good option, especially with the amount of options out there for headphones, DACS, and amps. I wanted an incremental update at first, but reading the information on here and useful input of many of the usual suspects I had no problem making a big jump. The worst part was after I blew my budget on the Verite, I convinced myself to go big and order a DNA Stratus. With delivery ETA in 2021, I can worry about next year’s budget when the time comes.

At the end of the day, this is a luxury and there are people suffering from the health crisis, and it pains me to think about that aspect. The extra funds also allows me to give back more to charities supporting people affected by the crisis, and while it may not do much in terms of big impact it can be incremental to what others are doing.

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Looking at the inside of a Stratus there are a couple things I like but I have some pretty specific preferences so don’t mind me. Using a metal cabinet and some pc boards I would think the build time would not be too bad unless they do like Bottlehead and wait for orders to build up at times and then order parts. I can take a week to build a cabinet, longer if I cut off the tip of my right thumb but I hope to only do that once. :sunglasses: I guess we are talking tube amps so hopefully I am not off topic. I have not heard one and rarely read reviews but usually within the first ten minutes I know if I like an amp.

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I’m uncertain of his production/procurement practice. He used to have an assistant, but now builds each amp himself. No wood no care jk.

I’d be curious of your assessment of the components/inner workings of the Starlett and Pendant. Feel free to ignore :slight_smile:

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If you have any links showing the insides I could certainly take a peak. I have my cat Finnegan as an assistant, he manages to be in my chair in the shop whenever I am ready for the electronics.

I have some time to kill in between coats of lacquer anyway.

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Nice. I used to have gray/brown tabbies, with white mitts. That piece is coming along nicely.

Appreciate it but I’m not able to come up on any inside photos. This is a pic of the Starlett prototype.

I wish they’d disclose more on the transformers and capacitors used. For the Stellaris DNA uses Audio Note transformers.

This makes me appreciate more how Schiit shows the insides of each product.

I may be selling the rights to my amp so I do not show insides, I am using some of my own design factors, some methods are fairly common. My transformer is Russian military and between shipping and the price it is costly but important to my design, more often than not I use Mundorf output caps. Some wire I use is $60 a foot. I work in that industry so I have access others may not have. All silver solder and silver plated hook up wire. I want as pure a signal path as I can get.

I will not sell my design if it ends up in a metal cabinet, just not my style. :sunglasses:

I know Jason and admire some of his ideas.

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Decware 341.5 pushing HD600’s via Hifiman adaptor box. Great sound and looked awesome on my desk but the amp had to move down to the living room where a pair of Omegas were waiting on it. I tried but I have no skills in photography…

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What I guess is the power switch is in an interesting location, and the knobs look like something I used off of Fender guitars, pretty cool. I do like VU or current meters, illuminated and a bit more noticeable but that is just me. Different tastes.

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The meters are for biasing the tubes, and i agree the design is not that practical but the builder goes into in-depth explanation of why everything is the way it is on the papers he has posted on his site. Something about a minimalist design etc…Much better appreciated after it’s been heard IMO. Those of us that use Decware tend to be fanboys…

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@Paladin, your designs are very appealing btw!

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Thanks and that was my third choice, biasing. I have a Cary amp that auto biases. The electronics is easy for me since I have made a career out of it but I have to learn something new or I get bored. My father and father-in-law were pretty decent wood workers so I decided to learn some things myself. I built four identical amps for some blind tube testing but along the way some folks liked the sound so I have built more and more. It is rarely about money to me and I have donated seven of them but lately I am recovering a bit of my initial $20k investment. I may build five more then move on to other projects.

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Basic I know, but where there’s light there’s hope lol, Little Dot MKII

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Bottlehead Electrostatic Energizer

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I thought the Starlett arrived early for a second!!!

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:smiley: the power of getting the same color amps. Now got to get the Starlett so he has a partner in crime!

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Very exciting tube amp, not enough energizers out there. That model looks excellent in blue!

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I may live to regret this but I am in the process of purchasing a large group of 1963 Melz tubes new in the box. All the proper characteristics of the 1578 and I have bought them before, they are pristine. I do replace the solder in the pins because it can cause issues down the road.

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A bit of tube glow, those are a pair of VT-192’s in the first amp, military version of the 7A4 single triode tube.

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