Sckott - any nifty tube action lately???

[indy mike]

Hey Sckott, any tube action out yer way? Pick up any neat-o tubes or old equipment that needs reviving? I'm getting lured by a cool looking kit at Antique Soundlab for a mono 10 watt tube amp for about a 100 clams (120 with a cage) - man, that sucker is calling me!

[Sckott]

Someone on Ebay posted a Knight tube-oriented tuner, which was a very old kit tuner circa 1966? ($5.00) The unit was in top shape, except the FM was "silent". Twas only a 12AT7 that was bad, and I went to someone who I lovingly called "Obi-Wahn Tuboli", an older man, highly intelligent retiree from the Air Force. He fixed tube radios for both the AF and for a living back in the day.

The kit was simple, and the board was written with full notation, which tubes go where, which resisters, caps. Imagine me wih a volt meter and Obi with a 16-gage twisted wire over his head in a bi-pole, makiking himself an antenna, moving raidially until we found a signal. We also took turns resoldering some joints. It was done with some crappy resin solder, making it look like a soupy mess, plus it looked like the moron used a soldering *gun*.

I took him out to a very nice place in town, possibly the best burger I've ever seen. I had clam chowder, and we laughed about how his wife coulnd't figure out how to secure a bracket on the house with an American Flag. You had to be there, but the way he wrote on a napkin explained how she tried, and how she said over and over "The damn screws won't reach". I think we laughed so hard we made most patrons feel curious of what was so funny.

The bill was worth 2 radio tubes and a good laugh. (12AT7 and a 6AU6 I think..)

The better news was, I scarfed a perfect 12AU7 Mullard from it, and put in a simple Amperex I bought for $1. Now I have a matching pair for a Doc' Bottlehead "foreplay" which is still on it's 3rd week. In 12-13 days, I should have it. I intend to use the Knight tuner (wired with Cat5 strand as antenna), CD player and the Dynaco I fixed up with the Foreplay. Will make a nice little stereo for the bunker downstairs.

Coming, I have a KLH 8" sub someone left for dead for $40. I bet it's just a bad driver, and I hope the power supply is okay.

I'll tell ya though, on the Knight, you'd be VERY VERY suprised just how it made simple AM stations sound like a million bucks! Wow.

[ October 28, 2001: Message edited by: Sckott ]

[Drew]

Scott,

Did you order a stock foreplay or "the whole deal" from Bottlehead? I ordered "the whole deal" and a pair of paramours the first week of September and haven't received them yet.

On the other hand, a lot has happened in the world since then, and I'm not panicking yet.

On audioasylum.com Doc Bottlehead said they're in catch up mode.

[Sckott]

Yes they are, but Debby (I think that's her name) and Doc are really good about getting back to ya as far as when kits ship. I ordered the basic one "toobless" because I've now got 2 12AU7 Mullards and a 6-pack of 6189s, among other NOS used, so getting 2 more tubes would be silly. I saved a whopping $4!!

I bet it's the trannys that's find hard to get sometimes, and yeah they don't stockpile much, so... They said it's a 3-4 week wait for me, and I know if I ordered 10/14 or so, they gave me a fair assumption on ETA.
September though, I'd email them. They'll get back to ya.

[ October 28, 2001: Message edited by: Sckott ]

[Sckott]

This is the unit. It's paired mono, which means you get 2 RCA outs, wired together.
http://abacus.sj.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/5309701be953baa077324ec1a5/i-1.JPG

[Drew]

Scott,
You made a comment of A.M. radio stations sounding like a million bucks and it brought a childhood memory back to me...

When my grandmother passed away in 1980 I came into possession of an all tube A.M. radio from her home which I listened to the Philadelphia Phillies beat the K.C. Royals in the series in the fall of that year. I don't remember the model number and I don't have the radio anymore, but there was a lot of ambience listening to a ballgame from that radio.

[Drew]

Does anyone know if the AV-8 uses a pentode wired as a triode or it a true single ended triode amp?