Pars Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 8A. Still only 1000V though (only... hehe). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted June 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 OK, so more pics in the Flickr page, including the amp pics. Here is the link again: SDS-XLR PSU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin gilmore Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 (edited) current best guess updated after becoming one with the pictures Scared to hell i am... unplug umbilical to amp, leave gas tubes out of the socket, and accidentally turn it on. More than 1kv with enough energy to throw you across the room sitting on those gas tube sockets... I still think that is a 6m... not an 8m... Doesn't matter. Edited June 26, 2009 by kevin gilmore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt fury Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Sounds perfect for Canjam '10 Candid Camera! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin gilmore Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 (edited) RE: pics Unless there was a significant amount of drugs involved (like gallons of booze) there is no way in hell the same person built both parts of the amplifier. That or mikhail has multiple personalities. Edited June 26, 2009 by kevin gilmore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsavitsk Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Scared to hell i am... unplug umbilical to amp, leave gas tubes out of the socket, and accidentally turn it on. More than 1kv with enough energy to throw you across the room sitting on those gas tube sockets... Unless there was a significant amount of drugs involved (like gallons of booze) there is no way in hell the same person built both parts of the amplifier. However, it is clear that both builders did terrible jobs ... My sense, there isn't enough polish on this earth to shine up this turd. And I don't buy for a second that there is something special to the SP sound. It is poorly designed, poorly built, and inherently dangerous. I think you gut the amp, come up with a circuit that utilizes the case as best as possible, and build (or hire someone to build) something new. Short of that, if the amp portion is OK, at least build an all new PS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted June 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 (edited) There are two ways to assess the differences. First, the amp was built long before the PS so Mikhail had more help and was in a better state of mind. He says put in some additional items when he changed the PS, but I assume it was changes to a nicely built (if not perfect, Nate) amp section. Second, he was experimenting on the PS and was largely doing it himself at the beginning of the crunch-down by various big-money customers. I was helping Mikhail with other issues in the same time frame so he was at least trying to get me a working amp which may explain the fact it is cobbled together. Edited June 26, 2009 by Voltron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blessingx Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 OK, so more pics in the Flickr page, including the amp pics. Here is the link again: SDS-XLR PSUMan, I doesn't even appear to be happy with itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted June 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Man, I doesn't even appear to be happy with itself. Nice catch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt fury Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 RE: pics Unless there was a significant amount of drugs involved (like gallons of booze) there is no way in hell the same person built both parts of the amplifier. That or mikhail has multiple personalities. Could that be the real secret here - that Mikahil actually didn't build the "good" SP stuff? And that's why he can't repair/make anything new? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted June 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 However, it is clear that both builders did terrible jobs ... My sense, there isn't enough polish on this earth to shine up this turd. And I don't buy for a second that there is something special to the SP sound. It is poorly designed, poorly built, and inherently dangerous. I think you gut the amp, come up with a circuit that utilizes the case as best as possible, and build (or hire someone to build) something new. Short of that, if the amp portion is OK, at least build an all new PS. Many, many people can tell you how great this amp sounds (or sounded). It was by far superior to even the basic SDS-XLRs with typical 6 x 6SN7 tube complements. It is also among the very best amps, dynamic or otherwise, that I have heard by any builder or company. You can believe it or not, I don't really care. You have suggested my exact desire, however, which is to have a new PS in this same (or at least similar) concept that is better built, more stable and still does what it used to do. The amp section might use a few tweaks, and frankly the single ended output is weak at best which I never really understood. If an when a solution for a new PS is found, I intend to have somebody very good implement it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Hmmmm, 6 tubes on the amp section... we could run [2] 6SN7 input tubes and use a quad of 6AS7/6080/5998s on the outputs and turn this f'er into the uber balanced Menace. Lord save us for the PS that it would need but you just might have room in that hulking chassis for it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted June 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 I've figured it out! This is a Decepticon PSU! Sorry, little sleep and saw Transformers 2 with my son last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augsburger Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 X2, works for me Al! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted June 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Uploaded moar pics of the PSU to the Flickr, although not sure any of them are helpful at this point. ironbut picked up the amp and PSU and will do a little testing of components, etc. It will be interesting to see how fried the thing is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dBel84 Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Hard to figure out the part number with the chassis nut in the middle, but will try and find it. looks like a GU 6M series - 6A rated at 700V for a 1000V rev voltage limit. ps sorry to hear this went down Al, hopefully it will allow some reverse engineering to enable future repairs. ( gotta look at the bright side .. dumdedum...) ..dB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin gilmore Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Hmmmm, 6 tubes on the amp section... we could run [2] 6SN7 input tubes and use a quad of 6AS7/6080/5998s on the outputs and turn this f'er into the uber balanced Menace. Lord save us for the PS that it would need but you just might have room in that hulking chassis for it... It will have a very different sound signature however. Some would probably like that even more. Mikhail did build a couple of balanced platinum extremes and found a way to shove them into a supra chassis... Bet those are going to be real fun to fix when they go boom. You would need about 16 real amperes of filament juice to light one of those up. Plus about 75 watts of high voltage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin gilmore Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 looks like a GU 6M series - 6A rated at 700V for a 1000V rev voltage limit. I'm now wondering if mikhail did not do a reverse of what he did on that extreme. Wire the one transformer as a 220 vac input and run it on 110 vac. That way the output would be down to 400 vac, about 560 vdc into the caps... Very hard to see how the primaries are wired. If he did this, then it would be no wonder that the tubes don't light all the time. As you need about 2.7 times the starting voltage to get the tubes to kick in. So 3 tubes would need about 600 volts to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Kevin, I think that the 278X is a single primary, not a universal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Can you guys describe in layman's terms what is going on here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted June 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Can you guys describe in layman's terms what is going on here? Translation: I'm fooked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 (edited) Maybe not that simple? EDIT: Meaning, "perhaps a bit more specific?" Edited June 27, 2009 by Dusty Chalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spritzer Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Kevin, I think that the 278X is a single primary, not a universal. Yup, the universal unit is the 378X. Can you guys describe in layman's terms what is going on here? Fucked would be a good approximation. The PSU is a clusterfuck of underrated parts and highly questionable engineering/build quality which was a ticking time bomb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin gilmore Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Oops then he really is making 1100 volts with 900 and 700 volt parts. The green/yellow is the center tap and is clearly not connected, so the 2 greens go directly to the diode bridge. OK, so here is what i would do NOW. Go on ebay and look for a heathkit IP17. These things are workhorse units which got me thru a number of years at zenith in the plasma panel research department. Very hard to kill. And tubes! Its a slight bit light on the filament current, but i pushed one to 6 amps regularly. Completely adjustable. Here is a brand new one which is way overpriced NIB HEATHKIT 400VDC POWER SUPPLY 4 TUBE AUDIO AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 270406989290 end time Jul-11-09 10:00:21 PDT) here is one that is beat to shit for a lot cheaper. Heathkit Ip-17 Tube 6L6 H.V. Power Supply ip17 Buy Now - eBay (item 390060230006 end time Jul-18-09 17:59:25 PDT) buy some new neutrik connectors, and wire the thing up to the amp chassis. DONE... Then decide what you are going to do with the boat anchor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin gilmore Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 OK, this is a joke. Well it's not a joke, but if you buy this i will have to fly out there and take it away from you before you hurt yourself. But really this beast plus a large filament supply and you can run the world. HP 6479C 0-300 Volt, 0-35 Amp, 11KW, DC Power Supply - eBay (item 150353372151 end time Jun-30-09 12:37:17 PDT) Zero to 300 volts... absolutely perfect Zero to 35 amperes... A little bit of overkill 208 3 phase with neutral and ground absolutely required. Your electric company will love you. Trying to find a perfect and reasonable match for a pair of power supplies now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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