A really, really tiny tube amp

front

After building his first tube amp from a kit, he set to work on his next amp build. Since tube amps are a much more experimental endeavor than their solid state brethren, [Jarek] decided to make his next amp unique with military surplus subminiature tubes, and in the process created the smallest tube amp we’ve ever seen.

Instead of … Read the rest

Frankenstein, an all-tube home theater amplifier

amp

Here’s an exercise in excess if we’ve ever seen one. While working on his undergrad at Michigan State, [Gregory] thought it would be a great idea to build an all-tube home theater system. He calls his seven-foot tall rack of amplifiers ‘Frankenstein,’ and we’ve got to agree this build is an impressive monstrosity of engineering prowess.

[Gregory]‘s Frankenstein is … Read the rest

Beautiful tube amp uses a TV tube

tube-amp-i

Most audio tube amps we see use common tubes – usually a 12AX7 for the preamp and one of the more common power tubes such as an EL34.[Daniel], on the other hand, decided to build his own audio tube amp with a 13EM7, a tube originally used for a television’s vertical oscillator. The resulting project is a wonderful stereo amp … Read the rest

Cute little amplifier has a tube pre

tube

While you won’t catch us in an argument with an audiophile regarding the sound quality of tube vs. solid state amps, there is a general consensus that tube amplifiers sound much better than their transistorized brethren. Actually building an all-tube amplifier, though, is a bit harder than one built around common ICs – there are transformers to deal with and … Read the rest

DIY amplifier minder turns off your stereo when you forget

arduino_receiver_minder

[zmashiah] has a nice Nova tube amplifier in his living room, and he often forgets to turn it off once he’s done listening to music. He feels guilty when this happens, as it not only shortens the lifespan of his stereo, but it’s not exactly the greenest behavior either. Rather than let his receiver idle any longer, he built a Read the rest

High Voltage Hacks: A 1000 Watt tube amp

Normally when we hear of a Champ guitar amp, we think of a sweet-sounding rig that puts out 6 Watts through an 8-inch speaker. [John Chambers] of Champ Electronics wanted to build a true champion for the field of battle and came up with The Champ 1000 Watt Tube Amp, an amplifier that probably puts out enough heat to … Read the rest

Baking pan tube amp sounds better than you’d expect

baking_pan_tube_amp

A few years back, [Gio] decided to try his hand at building a couple of tube amplifiers.

The first amp was more of an experiment to see how well a DIY single-ended tube amp would sound. The amp is based off the 6T9 design created by Spare Time Gizmos, and incorporates a pair of 6T9 vacuum tubes, hence the name.  … Read the rest