DIY Tube Amp

[scornful]

I've been toying with the idea of building my own tube amp, mainly for the learning experience. Below are a couple of links to designs that I've been considering:

KT88 Push-Pull (http://www.plitron.com/pages/Products/Audio/vtvkt88.htm)

EL34 Push-Pull (http://www.plitron.com/PDF/PB/Article/Atcl_9.pdf)

What pains me greatly is the issue of re-sale value if/when I decide to take my interests elsewhere. Would it be worth my while in regards to resale value to build a "kit" rather than one of the above designs? I suspect the answer is yes......


Thanks

[ND13]

The first one seems like the purest design from what I can tell.

[Early B.]

If the goal of building a DIY tube amp is for the educational experience, why concern yourself with re-sale value? How much is this knowledge worth to you?

[pjdami]

Scornful,
You may have seen the Bottlehead website before.. or maybe not. A good place to start with a "kit" like you say. Bottlehead amps are fairly well known and would have some resale value if you assemble it well.

If it were me and that would be a rookie at building a first tube amp, I would go with a kit first to make sure I could pull it off successfully.

http://www.bottlehead.com/et/et.html

[scornful]

If the goal of building a DIY tube amp is for the educational experience, why concern yourself with re-sale value? How much is this knowledge worth to you?


I understand your viewpoint. I guess looking at some old kits on Ebay such as Dynacos ST70 made me wonder if I wouldnt be better off in the long run with the kit. I actually had in mind restoring a ST70 or similar to begin with, then got side tracked while reading up on tube technology. Believe it or not, they dont teach this stuff in engineering school any more... or at least they didnt 10 years ago :)

[scornful]

Scornful,
You may have seen the Bottlehead website before.. or maybe not. A good place to start with a "kit" like you say. Bottlehead amps are fairly well known and would have some resale value if you assemble it well.

If it were me and that would be a rookie at building a first tube amp, I would go with a kit first to make sure I could pull it off successfully.

http://www.bottlehead.com/et/et.html

I've been here before. I'll look them over again. Thanks for the suggestion.

[scornful]

I finally got pricing back on the transformers listed in both of these schematics. $350 (output) and $250 (power) is little high for my "experimenting" when you consider I'd need 2 of each. Time to look at other designs I guess.

[audiobliss]

Ouch. That is a bit of coin.

[mhardy6647]

Try the current iteration of Doc Bottlehead's "SEX" amplifier. Even if you outgrow it, it should make a fine headphone amp.
http://www.bottlehead.com/et/adobespc/S.E.X./SEX.htm
http://www.bottlehead.com/et/adobespc/S.E.X./sexnuderedo.jpg
http://www.bottlehead.com/et/adobespc/S.E.X./SEXbacksideweb.jpg