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Transformerless tube amps! WOW!!!


Destructobot

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http://www.vikingamps.com/

 

It's amazing, I get off this board and I start to actually learn things. Found this over on the webervst.com boards, which are actually some of the best I've found for getting good honest info about anything OTHER than effects. They're just not quite as stomper crazy over there.

 

Oh yeah, and check this crazy thing out:

 

THE BEAST!

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Julius Futterman pioneered a type of amplifier known as "output transformerless" (OTL). These forego the typical output transformer by paralleling (electrically connecting and operating side-by-side) perhaps one dozen or more output tubes in an attempt to reduce effective plate resistance and more closely match it with speaker impedances (typically 8 ohms). This design and its various incarnations tend to require numerous tubes, run hot, and because they attempt to match impedances in a way fundamentally different from a transformer, they often have a unique sound quality

 

 

 

ahhhhhhhhh

 

but what abooot the b+ :mad: ...

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OPTIONS

 

* Caddock Resistor package $1000

* Power Supply Boost (uses custom built filter caps for MA-2) $2200

* V-CAP Teflon coupling caps $500

* A/AB switch (useful for home theatre and parties...does not affect class A sound) $700

 

 

 

And to think we get all existential about $250 for a fuzz pedal. We don't have anything on the real audiophiles. Just look up the prices for high-end interconnects and speaker wire some day, it's astounding :eek:

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And for the budget-minded (ie, dirt poor like me) there's the Zvex iMPAMP. Zach builds badass pedals so you know this little bugger is no different. Tube audio gear has been around for a long time guys, it's long overdue for guitarists to walk the tube walk and use tubes in everything involving music, not just guitar amps.

 

Around $700 I think. Click the pic.

5zveximp2sp7.jpg

 

 

Hell you can even get motherboards for your PC with a tube (they need to put tubes on a soundcard though, I sure ain't giving up my motherboard).

dscf0008640fg4.jpg

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I have not checked out this most recent version of a "transformerless" tube amp, as I don't think it would be worth my time to do so. If for audiophile application, it is a sham that preys on the ignorance of easily deceived status-symbol buyers with alot of money to spend and little or no knowledge of electronics. If for guitar, I still would not consider such a design worth buying.

 

There HAS TO BE at least a power transformer, if not for the filament and plate supply voltages, then for the isolation of the power line voltage from the inputs and outputs. This is NECESSARY for safety and electric code compliance purposes.

 

See the article "Tubes vs. Solid State" on my website for more technical information. If you are tempted to buy a "transformerless" tube amp for guitar, or ANY tube amp for audiophile purposes, you might also be interested in buying a certain well-known bridge in Brooklyn.

 

Guitar pedal design engineering, repairs, and custom mods:

http://howard.davis2.home.att.net/

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There HAS TO BE at least a power transformer, if not for the filament and plate supply voltages, then for the isolation of the power line voltage from the inputs and outputs. This is NECESSARY for safety and electric code compliance purposes.

 

 

There is no power transformer in the old Danelectro design, nor isolation.

Works fine, but like all old tube amps you could get shocked. They used to not worry about it when a few people a year died. Now it's like the end of the world when one person burns their lip on a mic stand.

 

"whe we were young, we walked through 75 inches of snow to school, with bare feet, and ate cold cabbage soup for lunch, and WE LOVED IT!"

 

(sometimes I don't miss the olden days)

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I have an old Silvertone (Danelectro) Amp in Case and the amp is transformerless, the voltages all add up to 120V. About 50 years old, not so new
:)

 

 

Precisely...

 

You know all those crappy little 2-3watt student amps from the '50s and '60s with the weird tubes that start with numbers like 50 and 35? Those are transformerless. They'll also shock the living {censored} out of you if you're not careful.

 

Typically, they sound like crap.

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It's amazing, I get off this board and I start to actually learn things. Found this over on the webervst.com boards, which are actually some of the best I've found for getting good honest info about anything OTHER than effects. They're just not quite as stomper crazy over there.


Oh yeah, and check this crazy thing out:


 

 

I know that guy! He did work an amp of mine. He lived about 10 miles away when I lived in VA.

 

I heard a proto type yyyyyyears ago and it sounded pretty good. Glad to see he is in production. He tried to sell the idea to bigger companys but said if that did not work out he would build them himself. Very nice guy and yes he does know about electronics Mr. Davis.

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And for the budget-minded (ie, dirt poor like me) there's the Zvex iMPAMP. Zach builds badass pedals so you know this little bugger is no different. Tube audio gear has been around for a long time guys, it's long overdue for guitarists to walk the tube walk and use tubes in everything involving music, not just guitar amps.


Around $700 I think. Click the pic.

5zveximp2sp7.jpg


Hell you can even get motherboards for your PC with a tube (they need to put tubes on a soundcard though, I sure ain't giving up my motherboard).

dscf0008640fg4.jpg

 

someone didn't throw out their hot pocket trash.

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I emailed the guy and the head is 2800. Sort of a rip IMO.

 

 

Considering the fact that if you buy a really nice amp these days, the output transformer is quite possibly the most expensive part, you are right... at least from a hardware point of view.

 

Perhaps it sounds great, in which case maybe it is worth while.

 

That said, a huge part of what we call "tube sound" is the interaction between the power tubes (which have a high impedance/high voltage output) the transformer, and the Speaker.

 

If you run enough tubes in parallel you can drive a speaker directly, but the end result will sound quite different. The less tubes you use (at least if it's class AB) the more crossover distortion you will get.

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