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YOLO dream amp list?

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Posted on May 16, 2020 at 07:53:03
The Killer Piglet
Audiophile

Posts: 4780
Location: FL
Joined: January 2, 2002
Having stumbled into the audio-life-changing Korneff 45 amp

-pure synchronicity one came on sale literally within a few hours of my beginning the search for on, original Korneff's seems to come up for sale every two or three years and sell within two or three days-

what are some see-if-you-can-find-and-keep-for-life amps, leaning towards the simpler lower power variety?

Seems maybe something by Don Garber, Sean Casper would be on the list; First Watt or Valvet for SS?

El84, 807, 801A, these are tube types I'd like to listen to but, really, open to any suggestions.

I know you all have your faves... I'd like to hear about them.

KP




 

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RE: YOLO dream amp list?, posted on May 16, 2020 at 09:55:17
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
As time goes on I find myself liking the EL84 amps over the more powerful / bigger tube amps.

 

RE: YOLO dream amp list?, posted on May 17, 2020 at 09:23:13
Don Reid
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Posts: 886
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  Since:
April 1, 2010
I bought a First Watt F3, single ended, single gain stage, Class A, J-FET output transistors power amp to use with my DIY tri-amplified horn speakers. I liked it so well I bought a second one. These amps replaced Cary audio 2a3 SET mono blocks. I bought both used at a good price. I like them so well I can't imagine replacing them.
I dream of an America where a chicken can cross the road without having it's motives questioned.

 

Got 'em - Snappers nt, posted on May 17, 2020 at 12:08:19
Bill Way
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nt
"Put on your high heeled sneakers. Baby, we''re goin'' out tonight.

 

Wonderful amps !!, posted on May 17, 2020 at 12:56:37
AbeCollins
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I heard a pair of Manley Snappers at a friend's house. They sound very much like the larger Manley Neo-Classic 250 mono blocks I once owned. Unless a huge amount of tube power is required, I'd go for the more manageable Snappers. Tubes Rule!



 

I've always been on the hunt for some Snappers, ever since High School ! ....... nt, posted on May 17, 2020 at 16:16:25
Cut-Throat
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Posts: 18251
Location: Minneapolis - St.Paul Area
Joined: September 2, 2000
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  Since:
May 16, 2021
nt



 

RE: Me too! Love me some Snappers, posted on May 18, 2020 at 07:41:00

 

Snappers, posted on May 18, 2020 at 09:06:47
Orchardist
Audiophile

Posts: 830
Location: NH
Joined: April 6, 2003
I lived on one of the islands off Cape Cod in the early 70's and nothing beat catching those Snappers, cleaning and cooking them within an hour.

 

Thinkin' you had something else on your mind ;) -nt, posted on May 18, 2020 at 14:59:23
E-Stat
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April 5, 2002

 

RE: YOLO dream amp list?, posted on May 18, 2020 at 15:37:54
RGA
Reviewer

Posts: 15177
Location: Hong Kong
Joined: August 8, 2001

I have (pretty much) my dream amps

Audio Note M3 preamp with Empress Silver 2a3 Parallel Single Ended monoblocks

Of course there are other amps that I can't (or perhaps I should say won't) afford as sanity takes over - AN M8 preamp with a TOMEI Kensei Stereo Power Amplifier (211s) or Niro (2a3) monoblocks - would probably be the end of the road for me.

Audio Note Tomei Kensei Stereo Power Amplifier (211 tubes) pictured above.

The Tomei comes as either an integrated amplifier or a power amplifier sits between the Jinro and Ongaku.

 

RE: Look no further than My System, posted on May 18, 2020 at 18:05:17
Like Mr. Way says, "Got 'em".



 

The big brother to mine would work nicely, posted on May 20, 2020 at 14:35:17
E-Stat
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April 5, 2002
VTL Siegfrieds along with the Odins. ;)



 

RE: YOLO dream amp list?, posted on May 20, 2020 at 20:00:19



2009, original tube set #26 (of apprx. 45) definitely done looking God bless Don Garber (and Western Electric)

 

I'd have to say the monos I built, posted on May 21, 2020 at 14:57:50
Maxamillion
Audiophile

Posts: 856
Location: New Jersey
Joined: May 26, 2006
6E5P driver, 833C power tube, 200WPC DHT SET. No problem driving big Infinity RSIIb speakers with SET finesse.






 

Yes.... -t, posted on May 21, 2020 at 17:47:03
The Killer Piglet
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Posts: 4780
Location: FL
Joined: January 2, 2002
KP

 

That is so cool in so many ways. -t, posted on May 21, 2020 at 17:47:26
The Killer Piglet
Audiophile

Posts: 4780
Location: FL
Joined: January 2, 2002
KP

 

Beaitful...., posted on May 21, 2020 at 17:48:56
The Killer Piglet
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Posts: 4780
Location: FL
Joined: January 2, 2002
Did you do the woodwork?

 

RE: Beaitful...., posted on May 21, 2020 at 18:12:33
I do the overall design from whichever schematic we choose: parts layout, machining, and wood.

My pal, Steve Brown, who can do Ohm's Law in his head, keeps me, in e-mails we trade, from blowing it up. We've been building mostly the same gear for years.

These mono blocks are an update done by Steve and other leading lights of diyaudio.com, of the Mullard 5-20 (5 tubes - 20 Watts) circuit ca. 1953. These are the resulting 4-60. The Mullard men would drool over the parts available to us today, especially the power and filament supply.



 

In Keeping with the Spirit of this Thread ...................., posted on May 23, 2020 at 12:53:17
Cut-Throat
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I like MINE the Best! -- I built these Welborne Labs 45 MonoBlocks about 17 years ago. The kit was the Upgraded DRD45 Amps with the best Parts available at that time. They were called 'Star Chiefs'. Bubinga Wood Chassis and Electra Print Iron. I like the Old Globe RCA 45s.

















 

That may be the most impressive job at hiding wires... ever, posted on May 24, 2020 at 09:41:22
The Killer Piglet
Audiophile

Posts: 4780
Location: FL
Joined: January 2, 2002
Wonderful stuff, love those speakers.

KP

 

RE: That may be the most impressive job at hiding wires... ever, posted on May 24, 2020 at 09:48:59
Cut-Throat
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Posts: 18251
Location: Minneapolis - St.Paul Area
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  Since:
May 16, 2021
Thanks! ... Yes, Hiding the wires was a major design consideration when I had that 'Audio Wall' built.



 

What? No cable elevators for those Odins?, posted on May 24, 2020 at 12:18:31
Feanor
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And on carpet too? Thousands for Odins nothing for cable elevators: does not compute.



Dmitri Shostakovich

 

When you're in a hotel room for a weekend show..., posted on May 24, 2020 at 13:14:42
E-Stat
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April 5, 2002
You don't get much in the way of dedicated power, room treatments, optimum speaker positioning, etc. ;)

 

Same Here ..., posted on May 25, 2020 at 15:37:15
Jim Hodgson
Audiophile

Posts: 399
Location: New York City
Joined: March 9, 2006
... my Korneff 45 -- bought new from Jeff in 2003 -- is my keeper. It hasn't found a home in my current system, and my place is too small for a second system, so it mainly waits for another time and another place.

The last time I had it out of storage and playing (along with the Korneff 76 preamp), I had this weird premonition: I saw myself as a very old man, no longer able to wrestle with a full-range horn system or anything like that, still with the Korneff 45 and 76, and back to enjoying recorded music on the simplest, purest, most intimate, and (in certain ways) most realistic terms I've ever experienced it.

WRT tubes for the Korneff 45, some nice substitutes to try are the 596 rectifier (depending on the rating of your power transformer) and either the 6F8 or 2 x 7193 input. All of these tubes have top connections (and thus require adapters), but I found them to offer some incremental improvements. Not because they represent a type switch (they really don't) but because "better tubes" had become affordable due to their relative unpopularity.

 

RE: YOLO dream amp list?, posted on June 3, 2020 at 10:31:12
Dr. Fuse
Audiophile

Posts: 48
Location: BC
Joined: May 12, 2020
My high end friend has a non-monoblock amp by the same manufacturer...


 

RE: YOLO dream amp list?, posted on June 24, 2020 at 02:09:14
JURB
Audiophile

Posts: 2056
Location: North Ohio
Joined: May 29, 2016
Mine. Transistors emulating tubes, I to it done on paper but I am not sure if I will ever get it really done. I got the transformers for a couple of prototypes but to make them and sell, well the cost of the transformers i like $350 each, that is $700 per.

I think I may be able to make one. I mean with a few resistors etc. I have most of the major components.

I want to hear this thing. But I could be dead by the time it happens. lol

 

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