El34 in push pull triode mode driven by 4 x 6sn7 for input & drivers. When I had the el34 in the dynaco st70 I thought they sounded overly warm driving the quads, but in this amp they are lovely. I can also do a straight swap and try some kt66, kt77, kt88 or 6L6. Xmusic have 6L6 for 40 a matched pair so I might just try them. The amp is very dynamic, seems like it has gobs of power and yet has the finesse and sweetness in the treble. A very good result for a junkbox build. Willsandbills - they're your JJ EL34s, and Rocker: thats some of the makings from the dead WAD amp you donated this way....
The circuit is the bigger brother to the one used in the el84 amp I built in the baking tin....
mcq wrote:A perfect song, Dermot. And it more than justifies its running time. There is no pompousity in the vocal delivery, nor are the lyrics unnecessarily verbose, nor the arrangement needlessly ornate. Everything is of a piece in this masterpiece. Whether taken out of context and listened to in isolation or listened to as the closing track to American Gothic, it is a powerfully vivid experience. The confidence of a man who can take what is bristling in his head and heart and articulate it so finely is to be admired. Heartbreaking, though, to see such a creative vision go so criminally unrewarded. According to his wife, who was interviewed shortly after his passing, he bore it stoicly to the end:
"Everybody who knew him would say he was very happy and optimistic," observes Janice Vogel Ackles of her late husband's life and the sometimes contrasting tone of his work. "He was saddened by the many vagaries and woeful conditions with life that we all have to encounter. In some cases, they affected him more deeply than others, like with most people. But it was hard for him to just kind of put them away and go on. They kind of ruminated within him and contributed to this sometimes overwhelming sadness about the condition of our planet. Having said that, he was a deeply religious and spiritual man. Not in the sense of evangelical or born-again, but a privately spiritual man who did in fact take part in a community of the church, had a daily ritual of prayer. He was constantly searching for meaning of things that we all have to deal with, and like all of us, didn't really come up with any answers."
As per usual it looks the biz. Whens the next meet up? I will have to figure out how to make one of those. If there were no electrics or soldering I would be having a go! I wonder when John will bring out a battery version?
mmm, 500V under the hood..... no go pokey the finger in there! First turn on is always interesting!!! Best go learn on a chip amp where the voltages might cause a flash and bit of smoke but not death.
The amp is in stability testing at the moment...... a soak test if you like.
Sorry for the OT everyone.... back to our regular programming....
