Tube amp builder opinion required

[Le québécois]

@ stargeezers : Thanks for the info. I also found AX84 site. I'm now with two other forum to find help.

I'll go with the governor or the red white and blue (these are easely available around here.)

[pinkjimiphoton]

another option is to scrounge parts from other amps. old organs, tube stereos, anything you can get for cheap.

you can build a 50 watt head for around 300 bux if it doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles....the transformers and chassis are the expensive parts.

scroll thru ebay or craig's list for blown up chassis...alot of times, you can get amps for free or close to it that way, and with minimal investment build the amp of your dreams.

but...it's NOT cheap...and quite addictive. and you can easily kill yourself.

my advice? if ya like the tone of the 10 watter, mic it. put it on a stand so it's closer to your head.

if you're a celestion guy, realize a  more efficient speaker will be twice as loud, but it will NOT have the same tone as the celestions you're used to most likely.

to answer your last question, you could indeed run a 10 watt amp into a properly designed power amp and do it safely, but it's overkill and you most likely won't like the tone at all.
a reactive load box could work.

me? i'd shoppe around for a good, USED nice sounding old tube amp. you don't need a twin... 30-50 watts is all ya really need.

btw...kustom makes very affordable powered monitors...you can mic your present amp into one of them and be loud as f****.

[StarGeezers]

  Pink, while there might be a financial advantage using old parts ,  certain parts should not be re-used , like old filter caps , pots, old carbon Rs  for example ...  Old chassis are good , but might not be laid out for your specific needs ...  We've found a Thrifty alternative  chassis material in door "Purlin"    (door casing)     Steel , the right size and weight , and usually FREE as a cutoff scrap  in our size needs ... (works for pedals too )
  With correct planning and shopping , it's easy to build a really GOOD tube amp for less than 100USD...   If you know how !!!!     All explained at the Tone per Buck Club .... 

[pinkjimiphoton]

agreed, star...

mah bad! i should have specified just the transformers and chassis are usually all that's salvageable. maybe the choke, if it has one.

i usually will even replace the tube sockets. but it depends on what it's for, if it's just for s-n-g's, i may re-use old stuff just to see what it sounds like.

but never re-use old caps. old resistors can be used, but are usually so off spec as to be useless.

but the iron, if it's good, well....i get a kind of joy out of re-cycling that when i can.



and thanks for the chassis tip!! that's an outstanding idea!!

namaste!

[StarGeezers]

 Here's an 18 watt , I built in a Purlin chassis ...  Using 6U8 preamp , 6N2P PI , and 6P1P ev output tubes ...   Cost only a little bit over a 100 USD to make ...

 

[pinkjimiphoton]

nice! how does she sound?

[Le québécois]

I'm convince, let go for a new challenge!
This 18w is exactly the kind of thing I would like to do.
Do you have gut shot? Or alternatively, can you tell me if you use PCB to do that? I saw another kind of thing. A piece of plastic or something similar with holes and metal plug inserted in it. They then solder the component on that (sort of flying in the air). I can manage PCB but I dont really want to go toward metal plug and plate. Can PCB survive to the higher voltage?

[StarGeezers]

 Here's my gut shot ...   Built P2P , old school ...  sounds "Killer" !!! 

[StarGeezers]

  If you like PCBs then this is a Good choice ...  We've built several of these , and there are many mods to make most any kind of amp you want out of it ... http://www.ppwatt.com/faq/tweed-5e3-pcb 
  This is also another excellent choice for a straight up 18watt ... http://guitaramplifierpcbs.com/liteiib.aspx

[Le québécois]

Audio loudness is measured in DB's.  Doubling an amps power only rises the output by 3db. So if you have a 10" celestron at 96db /1watt and switch that for a 103db/1watt Red Coat Wizard 12", your 10 watt amp will put out the same volume as a (103 - 96 =  7 / 3 = 2  or close enough) giving you the same volume as  40 watt amp would through your 10" celestron.

Sorry to wake the thread but after reading on the net I'm now confused. I understand the calculation above but to convert that in perceive loudness I think it's erronous. Doubling the power rise the output by 3db. This is also the case in my other lecture. But it seem that doubling the sound (increasing odd against my loud drummer) only occur every 6 db. Can somenone confirm, infirm this please?
If so, this suggest that the calculation above is rigth for power (x4) but would only double the sound pressure (7 / 6 = ± 1).

[iccaros]

your getting confused, it takes 6db of gain before the human ear can tell the difference, and you increase 3db by doubling wattage.  So getting a amp that is 20 watts into the same efficient speaker is only a 3db rise and not noticeable to the human ear.

[defaced]

It takes alot less than 6dB for your ear to notice the difference.  Play with an EQ and boost/cut a frequency.  I'm pretty sure I've read 3dB is about where we notice the difference, but I'm not going to quote the numbers since I can't find a resource at the moment to back it up.