Tube Amp < $500. Recommendations Wanted.

April 22, 2004 11:21 AM

Can anyone recommend a tube (valve) amplifier kit in the ~ $500 (US) range? I was going to buy one of the Passion Audio Kit i11 amps but the company that offered them, Rotac in Quebec, quit selling them April 1st.
posted by tommasz to Technology (3 answers total)

Best answer: i built foreplay - the instructions were clear, the parts good quality, and the people helpful. so you may want to check their more powerful amps.

i can't tell you whether it sounds any good, because - hangs head in shame - i haven't turned it on yet (i made it just before moving, and things have been kind-of busy since...).
posted by andrew cooke at 12:18 PM on April 22, 2004

Response by poster: The Bottlehead stuff looks nice, but I'm a little concerned about the low power and subsequent need for a high (>96dB) effeciency speaker. Of course, there's no reason I have to use their power amps.
posted by tommasz at 1:43 PM on April 22, 2004

i don't know what power they offer, but my solid state amp (an ancient mission cyrus) is rated at 20W, i think, and drives normal speakers fine. if you have a 'scope you could try playing music at reasonable volume with the speakers you have, with a small resistor in series, and have a look at the power being drawn (by displaying voltage across the resistor on one channel, voltage across the amp o/p on another, and scraching your head for 30 mins ;o)
posted by andrew cooke at 1:52 PM on April 22, 2004