How does it sound?

Sounds unbelievable. The midrange is amazingly smooth, pure, and so warm that I feel that the singer is in the room with me. The imaging has improved. Many say it is because of the sonic signature of the 300B tube. It produces 2nd harmonic distortion. Whatever it is doing, it is doing something right for our ears.  Also, this design has no NFB (negative feed back).  NFB helps cancel out 2nd harmonic distortion (If I remember correctly) and tightens up the bass, however, it will reduce imaging and nuances. These points are probably argued day in and day out by audiophiles.

If you want an amplifier that has 0.0004% THD, go for solid state. No tube amp can do that. But there is something about the sound of tube amps that make it so great and magical.  If you haven't heard one before, I recommend that you do and you may fall in love with them as it did to me.

There you have it! Over the course of a month, I have learned a lot about DIY tube amps, especially how well they sound compare to the commercial amps out there in the same category at a fraction of the cost!  It is amazing how much one can learn if they like what they are doing.  In the future, I plan to build more tube amps. I am interested in using the 212 tube (very big and bright!). A 212 will deliver around 50 watts in SE! Wow! 

If anyone wants to try to build my version or want more information please email me and I'll update this site or send you the schematics to make me feel like doing it. :-)

Comments, corrections and complaints?

Also, feel free to link my website. Lemme know, and I'll do the same for you - I'll setup up a links page and gallery for other images if anyone sends them in!

E-mail:  james.yeung@utoronto.ca

Credits:

Thanks to all that helped me from rec.audio.tubes

The Parts Connection now called The Parts Connexion

Other DIY'fers with websites I found on the net