Upcoming EL84 amps

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by itsikhefez, Apr 8, 2021.

  1. itsikhefez

    itsikhefez Acquaintance

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    I've been working on an EL84 (6BQ5) project lately and wanted to share where I'm at and gather some feedback from the community.

    This started when I finished a Tubelab SPP project, which is a push-pull EL84 based amp with 12AT7 drivers. I loved the way it sounded with vintage Klipsch speakers, (actually even better than my custom 300B SET which has much better transformers), that I got intrigued about other EL84 amps.
    There are a few EL84 based commercial headphone amps, such as the ZMF Pendant, Quicksilver, Decware etc, which was a positive indicator that this could be a good direction.

    This specific project is based on the RH84, which is a fairly simple design that has many builds in "in the field" with happy owners. Past builders have mentioned that the amp sounds good with basic parts, but also scales nicely with better parts.
    I wanted to avoid a point-to-point build, and decided to take a course on PCB design for moving this project forward. I had the board reviewed by a well-respected and knowledgable engineer from the industry to ensure the design is sound.

    Fast-forward to now, I have a few PCB's and a prototype build. Surveying the various parts I have on hand, I decided that I would build a few of these amp and offer them to the community for a modest price. I have sold quite a projects by now, with all owners being very happy with the result (for example: Bottlehead Mainline, Elekit TU-8600S, Custom 45 SET, Custom 300B SET, Custom EL84 PP, Firstwatt F5, Pass Pearl 2 etc etc)

    The current combinations are:
    1) Headphone/Speaker amp. Solid-state rectified with O'Netics output transformers. (first prototype, pictured and my own personal unit)
    2) Speaker power amp. 5R4 tube rectified. Edcor power and output transformers (8ohm tap)
    3) Compact sized headphone amp. Solid-state rectified, CLCRC PSU filter. Edcor power and output transformers, TKD potentiometer.
    4) Speaker power amp. 5U4G tube rectified. Hammond PT and Lundahl LL1663 output transformers (8ohm tap)

    All amps will be tested for power output, THD and frequency response on my PC-based (ARTA) spectrum analyzer.

    That is the current plan based on the parts I have on hand, but am flexible and would like to get a sense of what people are most interested in.

    Lastly, I have been able to acquire some nice vintage EL84's, such as Amperex and Mullard and have a decent stash of 12AT7's from Mullard, Phillips Gold-Pin 6201 and Telefunken, which I can offer along with the amp.

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