DIY SET Tube Amplifier - Tubelab SSE

[bibin3210]

I was thinking about building a tube amplifier for a long time myself and my search ended when I came across "Tubelab SSE" designed by Mr. George. He has put a lot of effort in documenting the step by step instructions to build "Tubelab SSE". More details of the design are available here.

I decided to begin with EL34 and later upgrade to KT88. All components are sourced from US except the power transformer and output transformers (OPT).

Sharing few work in progress images of my Tubelab SSE build:

















Toroidal Power Transformer:


Choke:



PCB & Tubes:



OPTs:

I went for OPTs with primary impedance 3.5K ohms and 29H Inductance. Each one weigh around 4 Kgs.






Thanks,
Bibin

 

[sann]

Good one bibin, looking forward to hear about power drive impressions. OPT's are locally procured?

 

[bibin3210]

OPT's are locally procured?

Yes, made it locally. This was the most difficult part of the build.

 

[Srinath_seshadri]

Yes, made it locally. This was the most difficult part of the build.

What you mean made it ? You wound it ? This is a interlocking output trafo, as in primary gets one layer, secondary gets one then primary then secondary and so on.

There are people on diyaudio that wind their own transformer.

I am going to at some point in the near future wind a 36 turn power trafo into a microwave trafo body after cutting out the secondary. Thankfully I need only around 50v DC single tap for a TAS5630 based amp. And about 15 amps current. I've got a roll of 12 guage enameled copper wire, but not found the time/space yet.

Cool.
Srinath.

 

[quad]

Very nice looking build, Bibin. From the high standard of your past builds,
look forward to the final outcome.

The SET OPT should have an air gap between the E and I laminates.
Can't make that out from your picture. Did you take care of it?

An informative link here -
http://www.x3mhc.no/dokumenter/SE-v-PP-Part2.pdf
http://www.x3mhc.no/dokumenter/SE-v-PP-Part1.pdf

air gap

 

[GeorgeO]

Hi Bibin

Looks like an interesting build, I will also be following it. Quad has rightly commented that output trannies are a slightly different animal-AFAIK, winding them is part science and part art!

 

[Record Player]

Great pictures ! Which camera did you use? Flash ?

That's the beauty of the Canon 5D and the 50mm lens

Bibin - Great effort there. Will be following this thread closely. Cheers.

 

[bibin3210]

Very nice looking build, Bibin. From the high standard of your past builds,
look forward to the final outcome.

The SET OPT should have an air gap between the E and I laminates.
Can't make that out from your picture. Did you take care of it?

An informative link here -
http://www.x3mhc.no/dokumenter/SE-v-PP-Part2.pdf
http://www.x3mhc.no/dokumenter/SE-v-PP-Part1.pdf

air gap

Thank you Quad, Air gap is taken care of.

Thank you for sharing those docs.

 

[bibin3210]

Powered the amp yesterday with basic configuration ie Triode mode with no Cathode Feedback, Rk = 500 Ohms.

Initial impression:
No Hum, Very detailed sound and has enough power.








Will start the cabinet work soon. Most probably build something similar to the following design:




Thanks,
Bibin

 

[lifewater]

Great work ..... Another classy built .Keep up the good work

Lifewater

 

[GeorgeO]

Bibin

It's looking good. While EL 34s sound good and should do the trick for your Frugal Horns, as you indicated KT 88s may give a little more punch. 6550s are a mid point between the two. George Anderson has an interesting site with a lot of info, I'm also half tempted to jump onto the bandwagon, though on to the SE using 45s or 2A3s!

What is rated output using EL 34 and KT 88?

Thanks

 

[Hari Iyer]

Great finish and build quality. Alas only if this was available a bit earlier.

 

[mpw]

hi bibin,

your work looks so wonderful thru the lens of a good camera. I am sure it will sound quite good too.

Good luck & njoi !!

mpw

 

[vinylhead]

Hi Bipin,

The build looks great,also the camera work is superb.Enjoy the classy amp.

 

[bibin3210]

Bibin


What is rated output using EL 34 and KT 88?

It basically depends on the B+ and OPT. Power output simulation of various combinations are available here.

Thanks,
Bibin

 

[GeorgeO]

Thanks, noted.

 

[GeorgeO]

Lots of posts on Tubelab builds here:

Tubelab - diyAudio

 

[captrajesh]

A detailed review would be in order. An amp tour would be great.

 

[jmascreen]

Will it be available in diyaudiocart in near future?

 

[bibin3210]

A detailed review would be in order. An amp tour would be great.

Sorry for the late reply. I kept this aside to reply later and totally forget about it.

This amp sounds really amazing with my Frugel Horn (Fostex Fe126EN). In Triode mode it doesn't get too loud, but it offers amazing SQ and details especially the midrage part. It really does some sort of magic to the vocals.

In Ultralinear(UL) mode it is louder and more powerful and gave a good initial impression, but after listening in UL for few days mode I switched back to triode mode as it lacks the sweetness and the highs are bit harsh to the ears. The downside is it really needs a high efficient driver (above 90db).

I really recommend this amp and any DIYer should try this as it is really easy to build and Mr. George (TuebLab) has documented every step in detail.

Will it be available in diyaudiocart in near future?

I can build one for you if you need.

Thanks,
Bibin