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| From an early age I was always fascinated by valves (tubes) I was influenced by my uncle Wilfred who was a keen amateur electronics boffin. He never directly encouraged me to tinker with electronics but I guess his creations somehow influenced me... I have been into HiFi for over 25 years & always wanted a valve amp, Now I have finally taken the plunge. Here are some pictures of a valve amplifier I constructed from a World Audio Design kit purchased during a vacation in England a couple of years ago. It is an integrated design using 4 EL34 output valves, (2 per channel), power output is around 32 watts. I'm sure you solid state fans would complain at the low output & "warm" sound but as any valve audio fan can tell you it's not all about power. This amp has a lovely treble, a nice solid bass, & best of all a midband to die for. Coupled to fairly sensitive speakers, i.e. Klipsch, there really is plenty of volume & in my opinion the sound is superior to solid state.
Click the icons for a larger picture. This amplifier uses a valve & choke based rectifier circuit, the two large valves in the centre are the rectifier diodes (type 5U4G). The two small valves at the front corners are EC82 output tubes. All wiring is point to point, there are no printed circuit boards, only tag boards. Wiring is all Teflon dialectric, I tried to make the wiring as neat as possible, I look at pictures of some home built amplifiers with the cover removed & it looks like spaghetti hell! No wonder the owners complain about audible hum.. Click the icons for a larger picture. The amplifier took me a month to construct in the evenings after work & at weekends, probably around 40 hrs in total. I could possibly have finished it sooner but my preference is to take my time and check & then re-check prior to soldering. This is the most complex electronic project I've undertaken since I used to mess around with electronics in my youth so I was very pleased when it worked first time. I'm currently planning on a few upgrades, first will be a "Alps blue" volume potentiometer, then a Craddock input selector. Finally (for the time being) I'll be changing the internal signal wiring to DH Labs Silver Sonic.
Click the icon for a larger picture. This amplifier is currently waiting to be installed in my primary HiFi system. I'll be partnering it with a pair of Tannoy R2 speakers, (which I may replace with Klipsch RF15's or 25's due to their greater sensitivity & fabulous dynamics). Primary source will be a 1984 Logic record deck which I'm restoring. You can read about it elsewhere on this site by clicking here...
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