Welcome to
Another
stop on the DIY
Tube Audio highway...
It's been a long time coming
for an update
to my site. If you'd like to visit my original one, here's a
link.
Click a
logo above to go to a page of photos taken at the
European Triode Festival in 2006, 2007 and 2008 at
I started
building my own tube amplifiers some years ago after I made a
successful
electrical restoration on
four McIntosh
MC-30 amplifiers that I had owned for years. My repair
person passed
away so I was
forced to learn to repair them or change to <gasp!> solid
state. My
uncle who's a Ham operator
from waaaayyyyy back, turned me on to Antique Electronic Supply in
to restore all four amps. I later found a box at an estate sale
labeled
"Old Tubes" which I bought
along with some other goodies and found several used Type 45
tubes. About
that time I had started reading
Sound Practices magazine, the best DIY rag that's ever been
printed.
were doing with these flea power tubes got me interested and I built my
first
from-scratch amp. You can see
information about it and the other amps I've built. Just
scroll on
down and click the picture that interests you.
If you're interested in an amp you see here, I do build custom amps on
a
per-order basis. Just drop me an email.
I think
it's time to insert my disclaimer:
TUBE
AMPS AND OTHER TUBE EQUIPMENT USE LETHAL VOLTAGES WHICH CAN BE
PRESENT WHEN THE AMP IS TURNED OFF AND UNPLUGGED. ANYTHING YOU USE FROM
THIS SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. BE CAREFUL AND DON'T KILL YOURSELF.
IF
YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WORKING WITH HIGH VOLTAGES, ENLIST THE
HELP OF SOMEONE WHO IS.
That being said, have fun.
My first DIY amp, a SE Type 45. Crude compared to my current
work, but
this is where I started.
This is
still my shop amp today. I listen to it with a Teac CD player and a
pair
Electro-Voice "Aristocrat" speakers
which were a gift from the the builder, the father of a business
associate, who
knows I have this interest. They're
very efficient speakers and play with plenty of volume with only 1.5
watts.
It was
around the time I built this amp that I decided to use the name Time
Bandit.
It's a name I used some years ago
for a resale shop. It describes what I do with my amps: Take the best
of the
old and recreate it with new components run
conservatively. My aesthic ideas were inspired by the McIntosh amps I
have and
I appreciate the McIntosh build quality.
This is
the first amp I built for a client who found my website and emailed me.
This
amp went to the
area and now it lives on the east coast.
I built
another one of these amps which is still in use by a friend in
I had
read quite a bit about SE triode amps by this time and of course, the
300B was
featured prominently. I had to try one and
here is my first stab at a 300B amp.
I could
never get the hum level low enough in this amp. I eventually built
three
different amps in this chassis and I settled
on the WE91A circuit as my favorite.
My
friend, Ray Gallagher, owned a 2A3 amp like the one you see above, and
when he
heard the 300B, he had to have one.
This is the one I built for him.
This amp
was built almost 5 years ago and has had heavy use without a failure
(except
for the driver tubes).
I began to have problems with the Philips 6SJ7GT tubes that I was
using. They
were prone to heater-cathode shorts
in this circuit causing ugly hum. I tried the metal 6SJ7s with some
success,
but lately I have been using 5693s exclusively
with very good results. I've been collecting them for some time and I
have a
good stock on hand.
A friend
from
after a little discussion, we decided on a white finish. I think it's a
very
distinctive style, very clean-looking.
My very
good friend, Ton van Loenen, from
vintage jazz recordings when he visited me. He very much wanted an amp
of his
own, so I built him this one.
Sadly,
Ton passed way on 19 August, 2005. He enjoyed his amp even through his
illness.
I'm happy that I could do
this for him. The amp is still making music for Marlies Vonk, his life
partner.
Marlies is an artist. Take a look at her work
at www.marliesvonk.com (IE compatible only)
Until
now, I had used
good performers. I decided to try another brand about which I had read
good
things, the James 6123HS. I can say
that they do exceed the performance of the
do any meaningful comparisons, but from what I've seen published on the
web,
the James iron is very good.
This is the first amp I built using the James iron and it's the one I
listen to
every day in my own home.
Here's my
second European amp, built for Wouter Vriesman who lives near
Here's a
link to my monster project, the SE845. It's still a work in progress.
Here's a link to an amp I built in
August of 2007 for Larry Terry.
Here's a link to my 71A push-pull amp I finished in April 2009.
There's
more to come in the near future, so check back again.
I welcome
email from tube
hobbyists.
© Raymond Koonce
1998-2009 all rights reserved.