West Florida Components

A new project from Steve of VacuumTubeArt…

Steve says…

I just built this phono pre amplifier for my own personal stereo to go with the big purple power amp.  This is hardest amplifier to make correctly.  The phono pre amp is the green unit.  The lower chassis is the power supply and the upper unit with the volume control knob is the actual phono pre amp with the RIAA correction built into it.

They are built on separate chassis to keep unwanted noise from the power supply portion from reaching the very sensitive phono stage as hum or buzz.  Even though the video was taken with my digital camera, you can still hear the detail in the music.  Just listen to the guitar, you’ll not only can hear every note clearly, but you can hear the decay of the guitar strings.  This kind of transparency can only be achieved with a vacuum tube based system.  Transistors are switches and cannot do this,  where tubes are valves, so there is only a constant flow of electrons, much like a water fall, it just flows….

The song is Shakin’ All Over by a Canadian band called the Guess Who recorded back in 1965. Since this recording is prior to 1969, it would have been originally  recorded with vacuum tube based equipment, making this a really good recording to demonstrate just how wonderful vacuum tubes sound over solid state gear. I hope you enjoy it!

As always, we do, Steve! Thanks for the video of your newest project!

For those of you wanting to hear just how good a custom built vacuum tube amp or console stereo will sound, here’s a video from Steve at Custom Tube Art which shows the workmanship of his projects and the quality of the sound.

Steve had this to say about his latest project:

Here is a 1960′s style custom console stereo I built displaying the vacuum tube amplifier right next to the Garrard type A turntable. The 807 tube amplifier has a conservative output of 30 watts per channel and uses 6SN7 and 12AU7 pre amp tubes. The speakers are a pair of Jensen 15″ drivers and a pair of DeForest 3″ tweeters in each cabinet. The entire project took two months to build.

You can see more of Steve’s custom work on his Vacuum Tube Amp web site.

Just in from our friend Steve W. in Canada (who constructs the most amazing vacuum tube amplifiers)…

The best way to describe this next amplifier is it’s a Titan. It has to be the biggest, baddest, heaviest and most powerful amplifier I’ve made to date! Weighing in at just under 60 lbs. this push-pull-parallel EL-34 / 6L6 is conservatively rated at 110 watts per channel using EL-34 tubes. Capable of driving 4 or 8 ohm speakers via a switch on the back panel, this amp is a tube roller’s dream.

Simply by plugging in which rectifier tubes you want to use, be it a pair of 5Y3’s, 5R4’s, 5U4’s or even 5AR4’s you can match the correct plate voltage with what ever power tubes you choose, be it a set of 6V6’s, 6L6’s, 5881’s Kt-66’s, Kt-77’s, EL-34’s, or even 7591’s.

You also have the choice of running the amp in push-pull instead of push-pull-parallel simply by not installing the front four power tubes and switching off one of the two rectifier tubes via a switch located on the right hand side of the chassis. The signal and phase-inverter pre amp tubes used are my favourite large dual triodes 6SN7’s.

Now, about the transformers, seeing that this amplifier has to drive thirteen tubes, I thought it only made sense to use a separate filament power transformer. The transformer right next to the larger power transformer is the 20 amp filament transformer. By doing this, I’ve removed the heater load off of the main power transformer which now only has to supply the high voltages the amp needs.

Along with a hefty octet of 470 mfd 400 volt capacitors bought from West Florida Components, there is more than enough capacitance to keep this amp in the black during those high current moments when the music demands it.

By sharing the load this way, the main power transformer will not be taxed nearly as much. The output transformers are massive Hammonds that can easily handle the wattage this amp delivers.

You will notice a volume control knob located right smack in the middle of the mirror in front of the amp that’s surrounded in pure copper foil, and that is because this is a fully integrated power amp with a line stage pre amplifier built into it. That means you do not need to buy a separate pre amplifier. You only need to plug in your CD player, satellite, MP3, I-pod, or what ever type of line stage device you like to use, directly into the amplifier.

There are two benefits to an integrated amp, one, you don’t have to go out and spend money on a separate pre amp, and two, you are amplifying completely with tubes throughout the whole amplifying process from pre amp to power amp, and that makes it sound better, way better!

Vacuum Tube Amplifier

Vacuum Tube Amp from Steve W

The Titan - New Tube Amp

Once again – amazing job, Steve! Thanks for sharing this with our readers.

Steve White from Canada has been busy building more custom tube amps.

Here’s a beauty that Steve painted ‘caterpillar yellow’

Here’s what Steve had to say about his latest project:

So, here’s the new Caterpillar tube amp. Geared to appeal to the heavy
machinery crowd. Painted the classic Caterpillar yellow with brilliant
white sparkles in the paint. Painted by Joel my painter. This amp is
40 watts per channel. 355vdc on the plates of the 6L6 tubes. Selector
switch to go from 4-8-16 ohm speakers, a nice heavy duty on/off switch
on the side, and a authentic classic jewel pilot light.

Just beautiful! Check out more of Steve’s creations here: Vacuum Tube Amplifiers

We are always honored when customers share their recent projects with us. Very often they’ll send us pictures of the completed projects where they’ve used electronic components from our web site.

Steve from Peterborough Ontario Canada shared some pictures of his recently completed vacuum tube amplifiers. Steve is one of a handful of folks that can build these from scratch.

We were blown away by the amount of work and the craftsmanship and asked Steve if we could share these with our customers on our web site. You can see the original project photos here:

Custom Vacuum Tube Amplifiers

Below are some new pictures of twin 6L6 / EL-34 amplifiers that Steve just completed…

(Steve – not only were we very impressed by these latest amplifiers, we’re a little jealous that you already have leaves changing color up by you!)

Thanks for these pictures, Steve! Continued success to you!