Interesting compact tube head

Intriguing.......

 

I'd like to try that one.
MD

 

Here are the innards. Looks like a real tube amp to me. Heat has got to be a problem. Which other tube amps use cooling fans? (This is a real question; I am unaware if this is common or unusual.) I've been using a compact DVMark Micro 50 because of its portability; this amp is only a bit bigger. If it sounds good, I'd be interested.

 

Looks like a car radio though.

 

My Hartke bass head has a fan in it. Granted, it only has a tube in the preamp, but still.

 

That's a pretty amazing layout. I imagine changing tubes would be fairly difficult.

 

The Peavey Classic 50 head had a cooling fan. Not sure about the 30 or the combo version of the 50.

 

For 900 bucks, my amp better be bigger than that.

 

I have a little 6AQ5 push-pull head, which is rated I think the 'old way' at 10 watts before distortion. Remarkable little thing with 6AU6 preamps - each is half a 12AX7 or one triode. EL84 Mesa heads nearly all have fans today. No reason you couldn't do 400 VDC through a switching power supply.



Probably sounds more Vox than Fender but that's more down to preamp I think. It"s at least at loud as a 5E3.

 

I have a Z28 type amp built by a local guy Robert Hinson. It uses 6AQ5 power tubes, EF86 preamp tube and one 12AX7 and 5AR4 rectifier.
It's a great sounding amp, and surprisingly loud. I've gigged without miking it many times.

As was mentioned NOS 6AQ5 tubes are very plentiful, and they are robust, I ran the same set in the last Hinson Z amp for about 5 years and the amp still sounded good when I sold it.

That looks like a cool amp, and I'm sure the guy ain't getting rich but $900 is a lot of $, there are a LOT of other cool amps around especially used for that kind of scratch.

And I'd be concerned about heat in that small of an enclosure, the tubes in my amp get pretty hot and it's a lot bigger than that.

This is a picture of the head that I sold, still have the 1-12 cabinet.

 

Looks like a good recipe for heat and noise issues, but I wouldn't mind trying one.

 

Looks like I've been inadvertently chasing Mr. Kahn since I started playing guitar. A Crate VC3112 was my first real amp. I wish I still had it. Recently I traded for an Ampeg Jet j-20, which is actually a variation on a brown deluxe that he did for SLM. He even posts on Gearpage occasionally when looking for amp mods and things. That little amp has the goods, and I LOVE minimal gear. Hmmmmmmm..............?

 

Pretty amp(s)!

Just for completion: some fluid mechanics engineers claim that a tight enclosure is no problem. I ran no simulation at all but with a fan, it may work.

My own concern - if any, would rather be about the size of the transformers, the output one especially, but maybe this is because the head looks so compact that I underestimate its size -

 

Screw fluid mechanics, the heat thing seems to be an issue with this, simply because everything is PCB mounted. The tubes aren't even elevated off the board. It's going to likely cause issues down the line, even if it wasn't such a compact design. It's a low resolution picture but the PCB quality also looks a bit questionable.

I just worked on an Orange amp that I noticed heat stress from the PCB mounted tubes, too. (I don't think green PCB is supposed to turn black )

 

My concern is in access. How do you swap a tube in there? The layout is very compact, and it doesn't look like there's room to pull a tube without possibly bumping a voltage source. PCB mounted sockets don't have a great reputation, either.

But as far as the miniature chassis, does anyone have a pic of a vintage tube car radio chassis? I've been looking for one to compare this to.

 

The horizontal PCB layout with vents above and below is quite similar to some of the old Dynacord amps like my Eminent II. Because of the good air circulation, heat damaged PCBs are rarely an issue with those old amps despite using board mounted sockets. So I think it could be fine if the design and materials are good.

 

Great. Gassing again.

 

Or "AASing" again....

 

That is the top of the amp that we see in post #4. Access to those tubes is gained by removing 4 screws somthat the top panel can be removed....and there are the tubes. It appears to me that the heat issue has been thought through and dealt with as well as possible within the demands of the design regarding size....the heat from the tubes will rise through the vents that are directly above them. I have seen bigger amps where the heat generated by the tubes rises directly into the board that holds the tube sockets...as I am sure many of you have seen. If I wanted a tube amp that small that one would interest me.
That said, my latest acquisition was a Califone ‘industrial’ record player/P.A.combination with a single EL84,a 5y3 and a single 12AX7. The actual amp is almost that small.....and the package is not a lot bigger than this one. Outlay so far.....$25, and people fall out when they hear it.