Blackrazor1553552694 Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 40wRMS x2 parallel SET tube amp. Did a bit of looking into it and it seems to be a very, very nice unit http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=49638046
mihilli Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 Actually it's not a SET amp it's a push pull design. There were also some quality issues with those amps so anyone considering may want to see if you can try before ya buy.
mihilli Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 OOps, sorry it is supposed to be a SET amp although I would be curious how they get 40 wpc out of it. My comments regarding quality issues still stand.
Owen Y Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 Yes, these were being imported a few yrs back. 5881 is an old USA tube type, nowadays still Russian made, a 6L6 variant. It is a "Tetrode"(4 electrode) ie not a triode (3 electrodes)...... altho it can be wired as a quasi-triode. Apparently reasonably well made, I understood that Golden Tube were possibly a USA company but China-manuf. At 40wpc, with 3 x 5881 per ch in parallel, it would technically, probably be "Parallel Single Ended Tetrode", ie not Single Ended Triodes. Hope this helps, Owen
Guest Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 Yep, one of the first of the breed. At the time many asked how could an amp of such performance be built and sold for so little. The answer was most of the amp was made in China. At least Golden Tube didn't try to pull a quicky like Red Rose and their MIC speakers. From Defunct Audio: Solo Electronics A California, USA based company founded by the Lau brothers in or around 1990 to manufacture valve amplifiers under the Golden Tube Audio brand and did so with some success, but ran into problems in the latter half of the decade, started manufacturing home theatre amplifiers under the Golden Theatre name around 1999 and disappeared in early 2002.
curiousgeorgenz Posted March 8, 2006 Posted March 8, 2006 They were made in USA, just outside San Francisco. However somewhat unreliable. There's a crowd in USA called Sonic Craft that does various upgrades to improve reliability and performance. There is also a forum in Yahoo groups for this product. SE-40 was the pick of the Golden Tube amps.
Puunda Posted March 14, 2006 Posted March 14, 2006 Originally posted by curious_george They were made in USA, just outside San Francisco. However somewhat unreliable. There's a crowd in USA called Sonic Craft that does various upgrades to improve reliability and performance. There is also a forum in Yahoo groups for this product. SE-40 was the pick of the Golden Tube amps. It's up for sale again. This time with no reserve. Up to about $110 at the moment. It's an SE-40 right? So this is the one to buy? What do I need to know before buying it?
Owen Y Posted March 14, 2006 Posted March 14, 2006 Originally posted by Puunda What do I need to know before buying it? Whoa! You ask the hard ones first!!! Owen
Puunda Posted March 16, 2006 Posted March 16, 2006 I hope no one's replying because they're too busy, or dosen't know too much about this amp. NOT so that I don't buy it. I don't know enough about tubes, and know nothing about this brand to make a decision. From comments above, this is the amp to go for. Am I correct in this assumption? Thanks
curiousgeorgenz Posted March 16, 2006 Posted March 16, 2006 As I said in previous post, they can be unreliable. Check out the Sonic Craft website, they do mods to improve reliability, etc. Otherwise you can always get it serviced locally by Clarry Schollum.
mihilli Posted March 16, 2006 Posted March 16, 2006 You might be wise to do a little homework before you buy something you know nothing about. There's lots of info on the web about tube amps in general and you will find specific info about this amp as well. Do you know how to set the bias on a valve amp? Got a multimeter? Is your preamp going to be compatible? Do you own a preamp? Is 40W enough power to drive your speakers? What's their efficiency rating? None of this is rocket science but it helps to understand what you're buying to avoid disappointment. Just my $.02
Puunda Posted March 16, 2006 Posted March 16, 2006 Originally posted by mihilli You might be wise to do a little homework before you buy something you know nothing about. There's lots of info on the web about tube amps in general and you will find specific info about this amp as well. I am trying to do my homework. Which is why I'm asking these questions. Part of that homework said that this model is the pick of the Golden Tube amps. I know audio, I just don't know vavles/tubes. Do you know how to set the bias on a valve amp? Got a multimeter? Is your preamp going to be compatible? Do you own a preamp? Is 40W enough power to drive your speakers? What's their efficiency rating? No idea on how to bias a valve amp. Yes I have a multimeter. I thougth all pre amps worked with all power amps? I've never used my amp beyond 5W (except for movies). Speakers are 91dB/W/m.
Owen Y Posted March 16, 2006 Posted March 16, 2006 Puunda OK, your spkrs (what type?) should be fine, very sensitive @ 91dB/1W/1m... 2watts will hurt your ears at 4m! These are quite simple amps, nothing that can't be easily serviced...apart from the transformers...which you should be able to assess easily with a careful audition. There looks like no rectifier tube, so probably SS rectified, once again quite simplified. If the history of the amps is that they have not been modded, then that would be best. Biasing on most decent modern amps is either automatic (self/cathode bias) or quite simple & usually outlined in the manual (pic appears to show a manual included). At worst, a tube tech, like Clarry, will do it cheaply...seldom needs doing. Those output tube types are readily avail & not expensive. (See my post above.) Altho those Tung-Sols vintage jobs mentioned by the seller, will be costly. Any decent preamp should drive this amp, which should have universal 50/100k input impedance. (IOW if your preamp works OK now, it should drive this sucker.) In terms of sensitivity, 1V/full output is pretty standard too, so again I would say, no problem. The main issues are: Is it still in good nick & does it work well in all respects. Secondly, are you happy to accept (i)some tube replacement every 3~4yrs or so? (ii)some heat output (iii)some space required for size/ventilation? Go see & hear it, if you can! And report back if you wish. Cheers, Owen
Puunda Posted March 17, 2006 Posted March 17, 2006 Originally posted by Owen Y Puunda OK, your spkrs (what type?) should be fine, very sensitive @ 91dB/1W/1m... 2watts will hurt your ears at 4m! Conventional cone speakers. The main issues are: Is it still in good nick & does it work well in all respects. Secondly, are you happy to accept (i)some tube replacement every 3~4yrs or so? (ii)some heat output (iii)some space required for size/ventilation? Go see & hear it, if you can! And report back if you wish. Cheers, Owen Sounds good. Thanks for that. Let's hope I get them. What is 'Too much' for an amp like this?
Owen Y Posted March 17, 2006 Posted March 17, 2006 A quick ebay search reveals an extensively modded SE-40 for US$1150 Buy Now: http://cgi.ebay.com/Pro-Modded-Golden-Tube-SE40-Class-A-Power-Amplifier_W0QQitemZ5877233572QQcategoryZ50593QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem The seller also notes that the bias setting, in standard form, is an under-the-bonnet task, so you will need a meter and/or a tech, when you replace tubes. I stand corrected. Incidentally, 5881/6L6s seem to be priced at USD 25~35 (matched pr). The NOS Tung-Sols are closer to USD 50/pr, so question how many hrs done on those tubes. (The pic, when enhanced, seems to show a mixture of 5881s, which isn't ideal sonically, when tubes are in parallel, but that's a minor negative.) The reliability issues seem to stem from unregulated heater supplies, which should be able to be checked and addressed simply by a tech (eg. Clarry again). Do your homework, audition it if you can on the weekend, set yourself an absolute price limit & go autobid on Thurs nite as late as you can :cool: Cheers, Owen
Owen Y Posted March 25, 2006 Posted March 25, 2006 How did this auction pan out? Anyone? Cheers, Owen
Puunda Posted March 26, 2006 Posted March 26, 2006 Didn't get it It went above my limit. Will have to stick with SS for now I guess.
Puunda Posted March 26, 2006 Posted March 26, 2006 Sold for $800. Seems cheap compared to the ebay auction, but just over my limit.
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