Tube Amp Archive

I helped someone take 12 or 15 to the dumpster at school. They were the worst sounding amps I had ever tried to play. No joke. I'd like to comment on this. First of all, I never sold a single amp to GIT. I would have remembered that. None of our dealers ever had more than just one or two in stock. ...

It's really a great analysis, man. Well done. I would like to clarify a couple points, if I may. Regarding the diodes, they're really not clippers as much as they're voltage clamps - to keep the grids from going too far negative. That causes a shift in duty cycle at lower frequencies (asymmetrical)...

Hi guys, I'm currently having some 6V6 amp projects laying around which I'm not completely happy with. Then I came across the Jim Kelley amp circuit which seem to sound really good - both clean and dirty. Basically the Kelley amps started life as Ampeg SB12 Portaflex but Jim seemed to make some min...

I've punished JJ6V6S at 440-460V on the plates for years with no failures. Screen voltages were about 40-50V lower. Dissipation was set to about 70-80% of max under these conditions. I agree with TM's comment that JJ's 6V6s are probably more similar to a 6L6/big bottle in a small envelope. One of t...

For some reason I never found tubes that were 'painted' black on the inside to be entirely trustworthy. Recently I've seen some non-commercial amp builders using "pull-down" resistors on the screen grids. 220K 2W to ground from the SG, and 1k to the second hi voltage node, for instance. What do you...

As much as one can feel sorry for a tube, yes EL84 or 6V6 run at elevated B+, OW! I'm more thinking "what were THEY thinking" referring to the designer/manufacturer. There's always some spec-sheet-reading wag who will sound off, "EL84 rated up to 800V plate, as long as you don't draw any current," ...

I want one I thought that clip sounded great but I can't pay that much for an amp I can't afford one either. The only thing I've ever paid that much for is an automatic transmission. Wasn't Kelley's amps the ones that ran 6V6GTA's at like 480 volts. Why does no one ever feel sorry for the poor litt...

Reeltarded wrote:Yeah, I didn't mean to come off like a dick!

But I am one, so it happens..

It was one of those kinds of things where at first I laughed, and then after a pause I said hey, wait a minute.

They all sounded really different because each one has something else really wrong with it. lol It is my hope that you're simply referring to the state of repair of your equipment at the time. Because otherwise, the implication here is neither fair nor accurate, in general. The experience you descr...