singlepower supra replica

[fillemon]

hello people, i wanna build myself a decent headphone amp.

so i thought maybe of building a supra. it uses 3 6sn7 or 6 (if you wanna do it balanced)

did anyone do this before ? what are the costs ? does anyone has the schematics ?

does anyone know a better amp for that price ? i know it is otl, and some are for

otl, some are for trannies. i just don't know what i'm up to. i would use it on a akg 701

which i still have to buy.

i need help guys, thanx a lot

[grawk]

Why replicate a singlepower when there are publicly available tube amp designs that are as good, and don't require that you steal someone elses' work?

[fillemon]

well grawk, i guess you are right. but what publicly design matches up ?

i have red all around that a 6sn7 is a great tube for headphones, as well as ecc99

i know there are tons of good tubes around, but i don't wanna go in expensive

tubes. cause i end up listing something like 10h a day. so you will never see me

building a headphone amp with a 300b, 245 or things like that.

i would like to build it otl, but than again, a good cap to replace the trannie is

very costly to. so that wouldn't make any difference.

there are indeed a lot of good designs, but few of them build a lot of those

and mostly they are always quite good, but witch one is the better one( i know

a very subjective question, and also: what headphone, cables, dac.......)

i would just like to know what you would build if you would had to do it right now.

i 'm looking at http://members.home.nl/deckersmoll/Blue%20Ear/Blue%20Ears%203.GIF

it's easy, not that much parts, the only thing that costs money are the trannies. but

they can be wind with all sorts of tabs. (primairy as secondary). so i could use it later on

for other tubes, (well i don't think i will build something new if it sounds good, just don't

have the time for it, or the money)

thanx a lot already

[grawk]

http://www.tubecad.com/2004/blog0011.htm

The aikido is pretty similar, and you can get boards. You're not really going to save money building your own 6sn7 amp, because by the time you buy tubes, you're still out quite a bit of money.

[n_maher]

Please pardon the blunt question but what else have you built before this? A high-voltage tube amp isn't a great starting point for DIY and I don't recognize your user name from other sites so I have no idea whether this is your first or 100th project.

[edit]And the example Grawk just pointed to is a very good one, one that I'll hopefully be building some time soon...

[JBLoudG20]

Please pardon the blunt question but what else have you built before this? A high-voltage tube amp isn't a great starting point for DIY and I don't recognize your user name from other sites so I have no idea whether this is your first or 100th project.

[edit]And the example Grawk just pointed to is a very good one, one that I'll hopefully be building some time soon...

x2

Plus, you mention that you wont save much on a capacitor as opposed to an output transformer. The transformer would arguably be the most important part of the project. Bad transformer=bad sound. Expect to pay at least $500+ for a good set of transformers, and its more like 1000+

[fillemon]

well i have been working around with high voltages, not with 1000 volts like an 845,

but the scheme i have is with plain 240 volt, i know very dangerous, but i'm actually a

bit very scary of it, so i take enormous precations, when i work on things which are powerd

by more than a few small aa batteries.

well i have looked into the aikido and this is one of the designs i was willing to build.

the link i have posted: that guy also made the aikido, but he told me the se ecc99

was the better one.

i know transformers are expensive. but i live in europe and will order them at

www.ae-europe.nl : a very high end manufacturer, made to measure, and no that

pricy at all. the complete set trannies for a 1 watt SE is around 400 euro for the good

ones, you want better (amorf) then it is something like 750, you want silver wire

(double it and you are there).

but to be quite honest, i don't think an aikido can match up a supra, (not that i have

heard any of them : so i admit it is very biased: but i just make this conclusion from

reading the internet. (not that is a good starting point but still).

so you suggest not to go with an 6sn7 for its price ? they range from 10-60 euro

and indeed 60 euro's is indeed a bit of money, where an ecc99 is only 10 and brand

new with a lot of hours to burn.

[n_maher]

well i have been working around with high voltages, not with 1000 volts like an 845,

but the scheme i have is with plain 240 volt, i know very dangerous, but i'm actually a

bit very scary of it, so i take enormous precations, when i work on things which are powerd

by more than a few small aa batteries.

Let me clarify, what other amps have you built? What is your experience with DIY electronics in general?

but to be quite honest, i don't think an aikido can match up a supra, (not that i have

heard any of them

Comments like this will get you roasted around here. You haven't heard either and yet you're willing to draw conclusions about relative performance. I don't know what else to say other than the Aikido is a very flexible platform and built properly should be able to compete with just about any capacitor output coupled amp. How can I say that without ever having heard one? Because the design itself is technically sound and the man behind it isn't exactly known for putting out crap.

[mjg]

who cares. If he wants to fry himself, that his problem.

[philodox]

I've heard the aikido and it is very nice, though I've not directly compared to the supra. I would imagine that with good quality parts the aikido would come out on top given that its design has a couple advantages over the supra. That is a pure guess though, so take it with a grain of salt.

[fillemon]

well i know i can be toasted for that kind of comments here, that's why i say it loud, that i have never listend to them.

i know the glass tube site quite well, and i'm fond of it long time, the articles are very instructive, so i'm not saying that

it is not good, not at all. what did i build, well a dac, but then again it was a kit, it is a non ovesampling very basic thing

also know as a "monica" and i have built an tripath amp, the charlize, some speakers: bob brines ft1600mkII and a coral flat 8

full ranger. i have worked on some tube amps, but only to replace caps or other parts, and things like that (for friends). i have an old

el84 push pull , but it is wrecked by the previous owner, so that is a drag, even the trannies are not in a good state. he used

brute force, which is not the way to go around with electronics. in my humble opinion.

well i'll go off and look again at the aikido. but it needs a trannie, and the link i posted, that guy build them both, and he told me that the aikido is a very fine preamp, and can be a very fine headphone amp, but the single ended ec99 beats it, (only by a bit), but

being so simple : the ecc99, and not needing a lot of parts and tubes, i would prefer that one, still i'm gonna look again, you never know what to see there

okee: the interface told me that there were 2 new posts: nice i will answer them too.

i will not fry myself, for all those years never been electricuted, i'm very scared of it, i use to place electricity in swimmingpools as a student job (the underwater lights: always playing very safe with it)

well that it another + for the aikido, i will even look with grater care to it.

but what kind of tubes you were listing at the aikido ?

[philodox]

I'll get my friend Renato to post here about his aikido and how he has it configured.

[fillemon]

thanx alot,

i have looked again, and i spy with my little eye, that you can buy almost a kit, that's easy for a start.

maybe i'll do it, i can go with ot without trannie, will read more on it. the price is ridicoulsly low.

gotta love the man for that

[JBLoudG20]

It is of my opinion, that if you need to buy a kit, just don't build a high voltage tube amp.

[Looser101]

The first question, after whether you are able to safely build a tube amp, is what impedance headphones you are planning on using. My Aikido uses 6CG7 input and 6H30 output tubes. There are some impressions in the Toronto Meet thread on Head-Fi. You can make an Aikido point to point wired but the circuit boards make life easier and give a cleaner appearance (my amp not withstanding). The circuit boards are extremely high quality and well worth the cost. There is loads of info on tubecad and about a million configurations you could use, the choice is yours.

[fillemon]

hello, i will certainly uses the pcb, it is very easy then.

well it depends wheter i want OTL or an trannie. i want to use an akg 701 on it that is an 61 ohm i think, i also have an 401 and 500. they both are 120 ohm.

a lot of threads are making an aikido preamp into an headphone amp; while now these days there are "dedicated" headphone tube aikido's. i need to take a better look on the site to see what are the offerings.

if i would use a trannie, then i don't think it matters that much. But off course not having an trannie, i will have to limit the choise of tubes.

a lot of questions, but i don't get it at this moment, to much options. gonna read a bit first, so that i don't have to ask the same questions.

[fillemon]

hello loser101,

thanx i will take a look at the headfi org.

i have bitten the bullet, i will build an otl stereo non balanced aikido. and it has to serve an akg k701, i know it is 60ohm impedance, not the nicest load for an otl.

i'm gonna order some boards at glass ware. i will use normal parts, nothing special, but i would like to know where you can buy 6CG7 input and 6H30 output tubes for cheap and what brand i should get, also the ouput cap if i use an 60 ohm load, then the cap should be around 470u, what kind of brand do you think is good. (i have heard that there are non poleraised in RS or other big shops which are quite good: i have red this on grotto forum for upgrading X-cans)

and what kind of psu do you use for your aikido ?

thanx a lot

greetings fillemon

[philodox]

For 6H30's you've got two choices. New production Sovteks or old production Sovteks. They are identical as far as I can tell, so I'd go with new production to save money. Parts Connexion sells them.

Renato [looser101] and I have tried a bunch of 6GC7's and 6GU7's in both of our amps and found that the RCA 6GU7's are the best... they are also quite cheap.

You really need to see a pic of Renato's Aikido... it's a beast.

[fierce_freak]

Yeah, looks like some sort of bomb, haha.

[Looser101]

There's some info here: http://renatod.googlepages.com/home

It hasn't been updated in a while but the basics are there.

Notes/changes:

My Aikido is based on the high impedance schematic.

Output stage cathode resistors are now 69 ohms and bypassed by 75uF film caps.

Components in box "not on PCB" are not used.

Output caps are 220uF Solens.

R* in PSU is 10 ohms.

Diode across choke is deleted.

Hammond 169RS transformer.

Hammond 169T choke.

15-18v 3A switching power supply, followed by LM350T linear regulator set for 12v for heater supply.

RCA 6GU7, Sovtek 6H30 recommended.

It will be cased up with I'm done with it.

~Renato

[fillemon]

thank you so much,

i'm on it.

[fillemon]

okee, i have looked around a bit;

so here is what i still need to ask. i will need to build the low impedance aikido for akg or grado's.

1)i probably need to build the low impedance aikido (i thought i red somewhere the high is better although you have a low impedance headphone : is this correct)

2)the ouput cap should be 470uf, so scheme on the internet pop up with 47uf.

3)i assume it has to be 470uf (well with a 64ohm akg it might be 220uf i suppose) but i would buy an photoflasher cap. what do you think: i have also looked at obligato caps, or maybe asc; but you can easily loose 100 dollar-euro for these caps, at that price i'm willing to double the money and buy a very decent small output trannie. If of course i buy an photoflasher and bypass cap i can be settled for not much money.

4)for resistors i would use holco/kiwame cause the dollar euro ratio is so low, and in absolute costs it is not that much

5)i would use jj caps in the power supply

6)how much difference is there on a tube or ss psu ? i have an old trannie of a el84pp, i could use it maybe.

7)if the cost price is not that much more, i dare to go for balanced, have to mod the new headphone, but that is not scary

what do you think

thank you so much people

[hungrych]

http://tubecad.com/2007/08/blog0117.htm

There's going to a be kit specifically for headphones soon, you might want to wait for that.

[fillemon]

yes i have seen that,

but he will only offer 33uf for example. so for low impedance caps it won't work i think.

and i would like to know what people think of my comments so that i can learn a bit.

still thank you very much for the link

greetings fillemon

[JBLoudG20]

yes i have seen that,

but he will only offer 33uf for example. so for low impedance caps it won't work i think.

So purchase some replacement caps. Whats the big deal?