My first Tube Amplifier

I used to help a guy bale hay on his farm. After we finished we’d have a drink and he would turn on some music. He had put together a Heathkit amp and matching tuner, which he played through homemade speakers — ElectroVoice coaxials in big cabinets. The only thing he didn’t build was the Elac Miracord TT. He either gave it to me after one summer or I paid him some nominal amount. It was really a pretty nice setup for a college kid, and loud enough to impress the guys in the frat house one semester. It also had a lot of hiss, which I was constantly trying to lessen by replacing tubes, having no idea which to try first and not realizing it was probably just part of the package. But in the early 70s even 7-Eleven had a tube tester and tubes for sale.

I gave it to my brother when I got a job and bought a proper system — Marantz, Advent, AR table. Only tubes  since are in my Sphinx integrated amp. I recently was all set to build a small tube amp, but decided that with my limited soldering skills the power supply was more than I cared to risk. So I built a Pass amp camp amp instead. I love the sound of its MOSFETs, and ordered a second to run as mono blocks. People say they have a “tube” sound. 

My your TUBE is ceartinly larger than my Tube ! All ESL jokes aside , I started in 1973 with a Dynaco SCA-35 and a FM-3 tuner . I’ve never supersized my Stereo due to cost . So today in my Mid-Fi world and hot summers , I run a larger amp during the cooler part of the year . As far as all you “ String Pluckers “ go , thanks for adding your amps . There are two groups here , those that still have their old equipment and those that wish they did . Happy Listening , Mike B. 

Hope you understand my english, I am French
I have just buying a FX audio, and got it since one month after purchasing it on e-bay
I connect it between my Audio research CD 5 and my audio research D 200, I listen most of my CD that I prefer and I think that it sound too thin
and it is ideal for guitars tunes as low as possible, for metal (ex)
but most of time , listening to jazz (Art Blackey) I though that it is too pitched for trumpets

@yannduquenne

Thanks for sharing your experience


You may need tube rolling for your tube amplifier.

If you change the input tube with Nos RCA or Amperax, then it will sound well for trumpet.

Thank you for answering me.
I must had precision, I have no tube amplifier , just tube pre-amp, and this is not an expensive product, this is FX audio build in China.
So can you explain to me tube rolling ? I don't understand rolling ( I am French)