Direct into my all tube pre and amp...
- Thread starter JohnEss
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Justrucking
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Looks sweet! What brand of tube amp/pre are you using? I just picked up a little Cayin EL84 tube amp, running my WiiM Pro through a PS Audio DAC, sounds incredible on the Zu DW6 Supremes.
These are all DIY. The amp is single end with KT88's and the pre uses 6J5's. The amp is a build that has been popular on Audiokarma and there's a multi part video on Youtube. Amp is good for about 10 wpc...which I was surprised to find was quite adequate when I first started looking at single end gear. And the pre is just a totally basic circuit...kept as minimal as possible, and uses a Goldpoint stepped attenuator. While I'm waiting on a Geshelli Labs JNOG2 DAC, I'm using a JDS Labs Atom DAC 2, which actually stacks nicely with the Pro. It may not be the highest res DAC, but I needed to have something during the 6 week waiting period for the Geshelli. Speakers here are Focal Vestia #1 and cables are all DIY with Canare wire.
Justrucking
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Cool! This little Cayin is a PP 10 watt EL-84, just picked it up from Drop.com, $504 delivered. I just rolled in a suite of Gold lions and two Russian NOS 6N1P's. It is sounding great over the Zu DW6 Supremes. I'll have to look for that amp build over AK, I am really enjoying this tube sound, and have been thinking about building my own. And really want to try a SE amp with my Zu's, preferably mono blocks.
Look for the Kegger/Blueglow SEKT88 thread on AK. Mark..at Blueglow Electronics..has like a 14 part video series on YT about building and testing this amp. There are a couple of small issues with directions and schematic but nothing that you can't spot if paying attention. They could be done as monoblocs but doubt that you would notice the difference. I'm willing to bet this amp would kick the DW's in the butt and make them really come alive. SE is a whole different sound than PP. I always wondered what guys were talking about when they spoke of the "magic of SE"...now I know. Starting to work on EL34 version next week. Get in touch if you have questions about the build.
if your speakers really have high sensitivity, the el84 remains a always welcome solution.. it is often an approach that seems modeste with simple pushpull or *2. but often it is difficult to find the elegance of this tube on tube amplifiers more ambitious or expensive ;-)
Justrucking
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Hey, thank you John! This is my first foray into tubes, real tubes, not the Schiit Freya I owned, and sold... This is exciting stuff, ready to break out my soldering iron!
Justrucking
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I am very impressed by the sound coming out of the Zu's... Other, more tube experienced Zu owners, recommended the EL84 tube amp as a good match. I am very happy with the purchase of this little Cayin, it is a good starter amp at $500 delivered. Now to break out the soldering iron. ;-)
if the output transformers are of good quality and the diagram is very classic, maybe it would be in your interest to, without unreason, slightly tweak your caiyn...
the 88 77 etc will not have its qualities, will be expensive in component transformers etc.. will also be delicate or expensive in SE...
moreover the el84 remains an accessible and easily sourced tube etc..
there are sometimes happy marriages that we should not try to reject...
;-)
the 88 77 etc will not have its qualities, will be expensive in component transformers etc.. will also be delicate or expensive in SE...
moreover the el84 remains an accessible and easily sourced tube etc..
there are sometimes happy marriages that we should not try to reject...
;-)
My total cost for the SE KT88 amp was easily under $1k. The sound quality favors clarity, great detail, and a nice full sound once I started using the pre that I built. Acoustic instruments and vocals are where it really shines...although it can handle larger scale music without much difficulty. With single ended amps, speaker matching is a key item. And for the first time with tube gear, I can say that parts used in building will make a difference. I've had push pull gear that didn't act this way. I think overall that a user who doesn't have super sensitive speakers or maybe has a slightly larger room could easily do worse than this build. After using this amp for the last 3 months, I wouldn't build anything but SE. EL34 amp coming next.
Watch the videos and read up on building this and get an idea of what it takes. Good planning is helpful in making things fit and to have placement of parts so that there's no hum or noise. Some of this involves setting up good grounding technique. But none of it is rocket science. I started looking at the vids and reading the threads and I guess I'm OCD enough that I needed to have more of a plan than what I found. I started drawing the amp layout in lifesize with a graphics program...a very old copy of Adobe Illustrator. Very helpful. My build was dead quiet. Same thing for the preamp...even at full volume. If you want, I can advise you about parts used.
My new stack...just received my Geshelli Labs JNOG2. Ordered the bloodwood case and it looks very nice. Using a linear ps from eBay. Too early to comment about audio quality. I did open the ps to take a look inside...very nicely built and it looks solid. Time to play it...first music passed thru was Black Sabbath first album....very important to do this. 
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Very nice! I have two Geshelli DAC’s. The AKM4493 and the AKM4499 socketed version with Sparkos opamps. Great sounding DAC’s. Both single ended and balanced outputs work simultaneously so I have two systems working at the same time. The main system uses a Dynaco ST-35 EL-84 tube power amp or a Schiit Aegir or two Schiit Gjallarhorns set up as mono blocks to a Khozmo preamp. Speakers are Human model 81 and model 61. The bedroom system uses a couple of class D amps to a passive pre to Human QT-1 and QT-0 speakers. Wall of sound! I like the fact that the Geshelli has three fixed volume levels, high, medium, and low. Very useful.
Attachments
This one uses the 4493 as I wanted to keep cost reasonable. And I got the socketed version so I can upgrade later. Hah...got my start with tube gear thru Dynaco 30 years ago....MkIII's and IV's that are the big brothers to the ST-35. Kinda wish I still had the IV's, but the gear I just built is better. Speakers here are Focal Vestia #1. Cabling is all Canare DIY. Soon to start on an EL34 amp.
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Gotta love tube amps! My ST-35 was built about a year ago by Kenny Russell from Getdynaco.com. The build quality is superb as is the sound. How do you like the Focal Vestia #1?
Absolutely! Hah...had to chuckle after looking at his site. Blast from the past seeing brand new MkIII's. Looks like he does a nice job. The Focals are nice...very accurate and detailed. Great midrange for vocals. Excellent on acoustic instruments paired with my single end amp. Couldfn't pass them up as they were a nice deal as demo units.
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So your KT88 is a Kegger circuit. I’ve always wanted to hear one of his circuits. All the DIY guys say he was the best. Nice. Tell me more about the PS for your Geshelli.
Yes...the Kegger circuit. After watching all the videos that Blueglow did, I felt really confident that it worked well and was something I could build. I did a couple things differently...turned the output transformers so the cores wouldn't couple together...don't understand why they were so oriented. And I went with solid state rectification, but looked very carefully for the best Schottky diodes...ultra fast and ultra soft recovery. So many builders got arcing 5AR4's and humming Edcor power transformers...I wanted to avoid that and used a big ole toroid unit. So I use a variac to power up at much reduced voltage and then gently turn up the voltage till reaching 117 volts. No arcs, no sparks, no humming, no drama. And I'll do it again with the next amp.
Well not an expert or anything but you learn as you go. After 30 years of fooling around with this, something is bound to rub off onto you. Heck...even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally. Seriously though, tube audio at it's best is simple for the most part...simple parts, simple circuits. The less the better. So it's easier to understand and learn. Building is an amazing experience.
