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The Most Powerful Tube Amplifier Ever Built

198.8.32.65

For $55,000/pair they better be...

No relations to whatsoever.
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2007/11/15/the-most-powerf (Open in New Window)

Follow Ups:

RE: The Most Powerful Tube Amplifier Ever Built - AudioDoctor 19:09:52 11/06/09 (0)
Uhmmmmmmm, yeah...

"450 watts per channel in tetrode;
200 watts per channel in triode "

Happiness is a clean record, and warm tubes!
- VTL MB450 (Open in New Window)
ok, again... - LineArrayNut 19:02:11 11/06/09 (0)
they're conservatively rated at 200 watts each 1.5% THD, more like 340 at 4% THD wide bandwidth approaching 20 to 20 at rated power, 40 to 18 at peak and ran for 30 years straight - try that with sand, lol!
I *like* the loudness button!
Here's a post from the same thread... - Tom 11:28:24 11/03/09 (0)
that describes an amp that just "might be" the "most powerful" (Class A anyway).....

(I wouldn't enter the same room with this thing without weating a fire suit.
)

Evil-E · 67 weeks ago
A little place in North Hollywood made a nice Class-A tube amp back in in the 1970's that used two Eimac 1000Z tubes and would easily top 1.5KW rms output!
Of course it had a plate transformer that weighed 200 lbs, a 2nd
transformer (for the filaments) that added another 40 lbs to the total..
..I think they were called Kenton Audio Laboratory..and the amp was
dubbed "The Theater Reference Amp". We had a pair of them at KPFK-FM studios in the listening room..driving a pair of stadium-series (double 15" drivers) Klipsche Horns. Sounded great!
NOS design - wonderful - Bill Way 09:10:02 11/03/09 (0)
'Bout time someone dug out some of those NOS designs!

WW

There is NO substitute for the live performance.
RE: The Most Powerful Tube Amplifier Ever Built - hahax@verizon.net 21:02:27 11/02/09 (0)
Melos built triode mono blocks advertised at 400 watts(4 output tubes) but were actually capable of much more. Early models were well over 700 watts.
It's single ended folks ;^) - diamondsouled 17:18:18 11/02/09 (7)
Cheers

Lar

http://www.nataudio.com/products/Magma/Magma.htm
- http://www.nataudio.com/products/Magma/Magma.htm (Open in New Window)
- Even single ended... - Jim Dowdy 17:29:02 11/02/09 (6)
  Josh was well beyond 200 SE Watts at VSAC 2003:
  - http://www.nutshellhifi.com/VSAC2003-2.html (Open in New Window)
  - RE: Even single ended... - thermionic addictions 09:32:02 11/03/09 (4)
    I had no idea anyone had built an amp with the GM100's.
    I know Jim de Kort experimented with them some but as far as I know,
    never went much farther.
    
    I was tempted to buy a pair of them a few years ago but never did.
    
    Cool amp, how did it sound?
    
    Cal
    - RE: Even single ended... - Ed Sawyer 18:35:56 11/03/09 (3)
      it sounded pretty good, the whole experience was pretty much over the top. There wasn't much in the room to compare with it, but one just basked in the glow and didn't worry about it. ;-)
      
      the amp that was the start of this thread is a poser amp for sure.
      
      the real he-man Eimac 450TL amps to reckon with were those that Orey built back a while ago. Never saw them but the stories were outrageous! 450TL driving a push-pull pair of 450TLs (per channel)... completely insane!
      
      LOL
      
      -Ed
      - I never laughed so hard in my life... - Ivan303 13:23:12 11/04/09 (1)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Even single ended... posted by Ed Sawyer on November 03, 2009 at 18:35:56
        
        as when Orey told of the PP 450TL amp which went "China syndrome" through the floor of the trailer he was living in when one of the output transformers decided to arc over and cause a plasma fire.
        
        Boats and Fish!
        
        Made my day...."China syndrome", I can just picture it! LOL !8-))....(nt.) - twystd 13:40:28 11/04/09 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: I never laughed so hard in my life... posted by Ivan303 on November 04, 2009 at 13:23:12
        
        .
      - RE: Even single ended... - thermionic addictions 12:53:04 11/04/09 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Even single ended... posted by Ed Sawyer on November 03, 2009 at 18:35:56
        
        Hi Ed
        
        That's cool, I guess Ill have to attend one of these shows
        sometime. Sounds like fun.
        
        Cal
  - Holy freakin moly! - diamondsouled 19:06:30 11/02/09 (0)
    ;^)
Not true... - SET tube 15:22:06 11/02/09 (0)
As example, during 60s, 70s, chinese made hundreds of models of tube audio amps > 200 watts...
see the link below, click the "China Circuits"
- China Cirucits (Open in New Window)
How soon they forget.... MC3500 ? and several others (nt) - Door Nail 14:40:22 11/02/09 (1)
nt
- Only 350 watts? - E-Stat 14:51:25 11/02/09 (0)
  That's the output of my mid-range VTL MB-450s. OTOH, A Wotan monoblock weighs 250lb, uses twenty-four 6550/KT-88 outputs and produces over a kilowatt.
  
  rw
These can't be close to old PA systems? - FenderLover 14:13:29 11/02/09 (0)
Like ones at Yankee Stadium? Can they?
Not even close - Donald North 13:56:58 11/02/09 (2)
Here's a high power brute: Shoreline 800

Donald North
- Shoreline amplifiers (Open in New Window)
- RE: Not even close - markc2 21:12:49 11/22/09 (0)
  WOW an other brand I have never heard of. Quite a trip. Thanks
  
  No where near that, but I love the way they look, but still put out 150W per channel.
  - http://www.wavac-audio.jp/sh833_e.shtml (Open in New Window)
- No kidding...:) - PakProtector 14:04:00 11/02/09 (0)
  Consider the Altec 260; PP 813 for one. Now in the Eimac-final territory, one could do nutsy power with a pair of 304TL. I'm thinking 300W would be quite easy in AB1...:)
  cheers,
  Douglas
  
  Friend, I would not hurt thee for the world...but thou art standing where I am about to shoot.
Any AM Radio Station! - gusser 13:08:48 11/02/09 (2)
Any AM radio station that is using high level modulation has an audio amplifier that is roughly the power of the station RF output. High level AM modulation uses an audio amplifier to modulate the DC to the RF final.
- RE: Any AM Radio Station! - Michael Samra 13:05:10 11/03/09 (1)
  Guesser
  The audio output power is usually 50% of the RF output as thats all thats needed with dual side band and carrier. Thats the way all of my AM transmitters are running but then I am using plate modulation.
  If the power supply waveform isn't pretty,neither is the sound in most cases.
  - Only with a pure sinewave. - gusser 13:17:58 11/03/09 (0)
    Real audio including including speech can on paper require more audio power than RF drive but practically speaking equal power is enough.
    
    Edits: 11/03/09
Complete marketing BS! - Allen Wright 12:56:50 11/02/09 (0)
There are any number of amplifiers on the current hifi market with more output power than these things.

VTL just to name one brand.

Regards, Allen
RE: The Most Powerful Tube Amplifier Ever Built - Tom Bavis 12:41:10 11/02/09 (1)
I've worked on 1000, 10,000, 50,000W tube amplifiers... but they were RF, not audio. How about the one on my website below? (by the way - "honker" refers to the claimed frequency response... sufficient for "Now hear this - Man your battle stations...)
- Big honker (Open in New Window)
Edits: 11/02/09
- RE: The Most Powerful Tube Amplifier Ever Built - markc2 04:37:29 11/23/09 (0)
  Mcintosh needs to build this :-)
  
  Mark
RE: The Most Powerful Tube Amplifier Ever Built - LinuxGuru 12:35:40 11/02/09 (0)
I have seen in Russian radio magazine 1200W tube amplifier with GU81M output stage and 3.5kV B+ voltage. Output transformer size is 26x36 sm. Fillament current for each GU81M is 11.5A. A real MONSTER !
RE: The Most Powerful Tube Amplifier Ever Built - Doc B. 12:12:41 11/02/09 (1)
Maybe SET, but certainly not tube amps in general. I've had 250W class B PP amps and IIRC Paul Weitzel's big monsters were 400W each. Here's a 1000W project -
- http://www.chambonino.com/construct/const9.html (Open in New Window)
- RE: The Most Powerful Tube Amplifier Ever Built - becketma@yahoo.com 22:05:49 11/02/09 (0)
  I've got a triode, 8877 that will do 2K out, 24 hours a day. Its RF tho.
  
  A few years ago, I bought a BIGGER! plate xformer for it--seem to remember it being 8KV. Something about just 4KV that gives me pause. I never installed the xformer. But, its OK, cause the thing is simply a thing of beauty to look at.
  
  Best
  Bob
  "He (R.M. Nixon) was a foul caricature of himself, a man with no soul, no inner convictions, with the integrity of a hyena, and the style of a poison toad." H. S. Thompson

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