To anyone trying to get in touch with me for the last couple of months, I apologize if I didn’t get back to you. It’s been a couple of bad months.
Continue readingA Couple of Bad Months
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About That Bias Point
Back in June, in the Competing Priorities post when talking about the 6AS7 SET, I made the following statement:
I also had another idea this morning which may lead to a little more prototyping work to check out a theory I have (another potential delay). But if the experiment turns out well, I may move bias points around a little on the 6AS7.
Well, I spent this morning with some prototype circuits and a stack of tubes investigating the bias points for the 6AS7 SET power stage. And I learned a couple of important lessons.
Continue readingAnother Option
This last week I was thumbing through my very dogeared copy the RCA RC-30 Receiving Tube Manual. I was not looking for anything in particular but just browsing and a data sheet for a particular tube caught my eye; the 6DQ5 Beam Power Tube. The only description was “Glass octal type used as horizontal-deflection amplifier in color and black-and-white television receivers”. As I began looking through the specifications I began to wonder how I had missed this tube up to now.
Continue readingSometimes Life Gets In The Way
It’s been a month since I posted about the new SET and I just thought I’d let everyone know that I haven’t forgotten about the project. The truth is, as the title says, life has gotten in the way. Most specifically, this month I started on a major project; I’m helping my daughter build a house.
Continue reading“Pecking” at the SET
“Peck”. This is a term with which I don’t expect most tube amp builders to be highly familiar. However, it is a term that is exceedingly important to my work this morning on the 6AS7 SET amplifier. Let me explain.
Continue readingCompeting Priorities
I’m now just shy of ten weeks into my new routine and there are a lot of projects vying for my time and attention. This situation has made it difficult to make serious progress on my 6AS7 SET project.
Continue readingAbout that SET…
It’s been several months since I’ve talked about my new 6AS7 SET and my guess is that some folks are wondering what’s happening. Don’t worry, it’s still in process. However there are some extenuating circumstances associated with the amp’s delay. Let me explain.
Continue readingIn Praise of the “Album”
For me, it really started about six years ago. I had been using an iPod for a while before that, but the real transition took place sometime in 2015. I had been notified that I was moving cross country for work and things were getting boxed up and ready. All my CDs and vinyl were carefully packaged up for the move. I was left with an iPod and my computer for playing music. That was when I started my slide into bad musical habits.
Continue readingA Different Twist
I often get emails and pictures from builders that have built some of the projects I’ve posted here at CascadeTubes. I like seeing all the different ways that people have taken what I provided and modified it to put their own spin on the project.
Continue readingBack to Work
The Christmas break saw me very busy with tasks other than amp building. So the new SET is a little behind schedule. In spite of it supposedly being a “quiet” Christmas with just immediate family, I ended up tackling several small projects which I had been putting off and I helped my daughter move. And of course I was back at work this week as well. Now that doesn’t mean that I got nothing accomplished, it just means that things are progressing slower than anticipated. This is where I’m at:
Continue readingAmps, Kits, PCBs, and DIY
I just wanted to touch on the subject topic this afternoon. I have recently been helping out an individual who is assembling an amplifier with a purchased PCB. And he’s having a few issues.
Continue readingThe New SET is Finally Set
No, really, it is. I swear. This time I’m sure!
Continue readingBump In The Road
So I took some time the other day and got all the purple heart planed to thickness and ready to go for the new SET amp. Then, when I was checking all the layouts, I discovered a problem.
Continue readingAbout Tube Books
I often receive some variation of the question “Are you going to write a book?”. While the answer to this query is almost universally “no”, I thought I’d take the time to highlight what I think are some of the best books available on tube amplifier design and why I think so.
Continue readingFinally, A Decision
Well, it took a while but I’ve finally settled on the wood for the new amp chassis. I had narrowed the decision down to either the Purple Heart as I used in The 6DJ8 Headphone Amp or the Wenge that I used in the Dummy Speaker Load. So I took a careful look at both previous projects.
Continue reading