|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
69.248.224.86
In Reply to: What a guy and what gear! posted by 2chJunkie on October 28, 2006 at 15:22:17:
Does Don make a el84 set?
Follow Ups:
Don Allen does make an exceptional single ended EL84 amp, his popular "cake pan" amp is a budget version of this design. It is actually SEP, Don and I tried both triode and pentode mode, the latter being a clear winner for the EL84 in this design. I've EL84 monoblocks that Don built using better iron etc., and after I had them installed Don brought over his 300B amp and we did a comparison. In my system the EL84 SEP was the winner, we both agreed. His 300B amp was spectacular with his system, which design would sound better with your speakers in your room is unknown.I met Don over 10 years ago, and he has been a true friend since that day. His experience is ..well.. he estimated years ago that he had worked on over 800 tube amp chassis in his lifetime, and this experience is evident with his designs. He has repaired or upgraded several vintage amps I own, plus I have 2 of his CD players, his preamp with phono stage, and 8 (gulp) custom monoblock amps. The value of his gear is tremendous compared to what is out there.
Boyd
If you'd care to see some pics of Don's amps, mine are pictured on this link, amongst the speakers.
I'm looking for a bed room buddy...don't like big tube amps emitting a lot of heat. thanks!
Don Allen's stereo 'cakepan' EL84 amp can built on as small as a 9" x 13" chassis, maybe a bit larger if you choose upgraded iron, etc.E-mail me if you'd like Don Allen's contact info.
Care to talk about Sunday night?? [-;What convinced me to take the initial plunge with Don's products was the fact you had some true horn exotica, yet chose Don's products to source and drive these magnificent speakers.... Along with being floored when I found how reasonably-priced (if not underpriced) Don's products were. All the rest was history.
What kind of got me was that I was aware of Don's products for three years prior to that (with Peter Clark's fine system), but I didn't make a move because I presumed Don's amps would cost at least four times what they actully cost.
And in retrospect, I really think I would have been a good ten grand poorer had I continued riding the merry-go-round for my second system, had I not discovered Don's products. For sometimes value is best served from **not** purchasing gear afterwards. And I feel as if I haven't missed a thing in the world of Stereophile and high-priced audio. (I know, I bought those V-Caps.)
Hi Todd,
That was Sunday ??Thanks for your praise, had you heard my systems "without" Don's electronics and assistance, your opinion would be much different!
Agreed, we can talk superlatives and the wonderfulness of Don Allen's gear, but as all who have found once they make the plunge, Don's gear makes this hobby much more pleasing on the EARS and POCKETBOOK!
Yup, I'm finding out more and more these days that there's some particular magic brew with single-ended pentode EL84. I usually do not particularly like the "lush" and "liquid" school of SET, and while 45SET can be very nice without being overly lush, I still think SEP EL84 I have now is more satisfying to my tastes.
I dont like speaking for him, however I imagine he could. He has been great in designing around my needs.I would say that if you were going for a single EL84 wired in set, unless you were trying to avoid the cost of 300B tubes, I would go with a 300B set amp. Your getting around the same power output. I know Don feels triode tubes such as the 300B, 45, 2A3.... so on do yeld some of the best sound. However his PP amps sound quite good also. His 6W6 PP amp has a number of happy owners, this is around 11 watts I believe. I have an old RCA console stereo amp that was rebuilt by him which is EL84 PP. I would guess it to be around 12 watts or so. It did MANY things better than my stock 300B amps. Hence my sending them to him for a re-work :-)
All the best
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: