My Aric Audio Super 300B Amp all lit up with Elrog 300B in the power slots. This is one sweet sounding amplifier.
Posted by admin as uncategorized at 11:26 AM GMT-0500
May 27th, 2024
LIT!
July 11th, 2023
An Unusual SET From Oliver Sayes
Here’s an unusual SET amplifier from Oliver Sayes. The output tubes are 6HJ5, these are Beam Power pentodes (Triode wired). The drivers are 6N7s and the unusual rectifier is a 5R4WGB. Lundahl & UTC iron and Dueland Coupling caps. The 6HJ5 characteristics are very much like a 2A3 and the output power is very similar as is the sound.
Posted by DRHamp as Audio at 4:02 PM GMT-0500
July 7th, 2023
Here It Is – All Together
The Aric Audio Super 6SN7 Linestage & The Aric Audio 2A3/45/46 SET Amplifier
Posted by DRHamp as Audio at 9:06 AM GMT-0500
June 17th, 2023
My Favorite Power Output Tubes Are:
The 46, 45, and 2A3 in that order. I asked my favorite amplifier builder if it was possible to build a single amplifier that could run all of these Power tubes —- AND HERE IT IS:
Aric Audio 2A3/45/46 Single Ended Triode Amplifier built by Aric Kimbell in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Posted by DRHamp as Audio at 10:18 AM GMT-0500
May 19th, 2023
My Audio = Constant Change
This is the latest piece of gear added to the ever-evolving audio system. The Aric Audio Super 6SN7 Linestage (Upgraded) is housed in gorgeous black walnut and has all of the possible component upgrades installed. According to Aric, this linestage will out-perform his TOTL Mother Lode Linestage. It’s a beauty and sounds fantastic in front of the Burgess 45/2A3 SET amplifier. It will eventually be mated with a custom SET from Aric which will run 45s, 46s, and 2A3s.
Posted by DRHamp as Audio at 9:14 AM GMT-0500
March 16th, 2023
So What Speakers Work Well With These SETs
I’m rockin’ a pair of Omega Speaker Systems Super Alnico HO XRS towers. They are beautifully finished in Flat-cut Walnut, they are 97dB efficient and are rated at 4-6 ohms. This is my third set of Omega speakers and I have never been disappointed.
Posted by DRHamp as Audio at 2:03 PM GMT-0500
Aric Audio Transcend 6SN7 Linestage
I running the Aric Audio 6SN7 Linestage/preamp in front of the SET amplifiers. This is my second linestage from Aric — I sold the first one and missed it so much that I bought this one. An outstanding linestage preamp running my all-time favorite tube, the 6SN7.
The USAF 596 rectifier is a 5U4G equivalent – it was developed to operate in high altitude aircraft without internal arcing. The 6F8G is a 6SN7 equivalent with external grid. As seen in the photo, both require an adapter to accomodate the external connections.
Posted by DRHamp as Audio at 12:47 PM GMT-0500
Another James Burgess SET Amplifier
The newest addition to the my audio world is another Single Ended Triode amplifier from James Burgess. It’s a 45/2A3 SET and my first foray into the 2A3 world. It can use either 45 or 2A3 output tubes and the selection is via a switch on the top of the amp. Craftsmanship is superb and it sounds wonderful. When asked about the sonic difference between the 45 and the 2A3, I can only come up with the 2A3 sounds bigger! “Bigger” – I’ve yet to define – not better, just bigger. Both provide tone to die for.
Posted by DRHamp as Audio at 8:01 AM GMT-0500
July 4th, 2022
I’ve Always Loved Music and Audio Gear
My interest in music goes way back to my teen years. The interest in audio gear really got started in the early 1960. That interest in audio gear lay somewhat dormant throughout the 60s dur more than anything else to a lack of descretionary funds. I pursued it fairly seriously through the late 70s and 80s. Starting around 2000, I dived right into the deep end and am still floundering there. I was heavily into headphones, amplifers, DACs, and streamers. That interest in headphones and headphone amplifier led me eventually into vacuum tube headphone amplifiers. I was and still am facinated and mystified by vacuum tubes and their history. How is it that these small glass bottles, many nearing 100 years old, still function and have sound characteristics that grab me right in the heart. They are beautiful, magical, and mysterious in ways that are hard to describe.
I’ve had and experienced vacuum tube headphone amplifiers, vintage vacuum tube amplifiers and receivers from the 50s, 60s, and 70s and have just fallen in love with Vacuum tubes and the magical sound they can produce.
Here is a photo of my latest Single Ended Triode amplifier built by a boutique amp builder out of California. It’s a James Burgess 45/46 SET amplifier putting out 1.25 – 1.75 watts per channel.
Posted by DRHamp as Audio at 10:24 AM GMT-0500
June 11th, 2022
My Long Hiatus From This Blog
I just went inactive from this blog in mid 2017 …. I don’t know, lack of interest, lack of ambition, who knows. My interest tends to jump around from time to time and it was just one of those times. So, why was I doing a blog to begin with? I think more than anything else, I wanted to see if I could learn enough to do it myself, without help other than online guides and searches. I think I did that to my satisfaction and just decided to move on to something else of interest. Most blogs/bloggers are chasing “followers”, people who read the content and appreciate if for their own reasons thereby validating the blogger’s effort. To be honest, there were only two people who really followed and read this blog anyway, me and my mother-in-law Virginia.
Here we are, half of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and now half way into 2022 — dang, that’s five years and a lot has taken place during those five years. I won’t go into a lot of detail on what’s taken place in that time, but will outline some key happenings: My one and only blog follower has passed on and we miss her; we lost our last golden retriever companion; Allie Mae and we miss her too; Our Son and his wife relocated to Dallas from Florida and that makes us very happy; Kay has had major foot and back surgery; Kay has become an active Dallas County Master Gardner; We lost a much loved grand daughter to gun violence; Kay and I both experienced Covid 19 first hand; Kay lost her younger brother to Covid; I have experienced and moved past prostate cancer; we have sold our home of thirty plus years and moved into the Highland Springs Senior Living Community. That pretty much covers the main events of those five years past.
Wow, a lot has changed in five years, but there is much that is unchanged. We are reasonably healthy for our age, we still love each other unconditionally, we still love and treasure our family relationships, Kay continues to be an active, competitive bridge player, we still love all dogs and especially our grand-dogs Bear and Goose, Kay continues to be the “much loved” social butterfly while I continue to be the “sometimes grumpy” social hermit, and we continue to explore and develop new interests along the way.
Posted by DRHamp as uncategorized at 11:44 AM GMT-0500