In this last part five projects based on tubes 6C45, 6H30, 6C46 are
presented. I will don’t show in-depth descriptions
since this could require more space. However the audio experimenter can extract
useful informations both for a
duplication and elaboration.
The Single Tube Single Ended 6C45-PE Amplifier
This compact amplifier
summarizes the enormous potentialities of the russian triode
6C45-PE,
Fig. 1 and 2.
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I report the main specs in Tab. 1.
6C45 Single Tube Single Ended Amplifier (Technical Characteristics) TAB.1 |
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Class
A1 Power
1.45Wrms THD
1.25% Damping
Factor
4.46 |
Harmonic Spectrum (nominal power)
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Looking
at the schematic in Fig. 4, you can observe a relatively high plate load (5kW):
sound quality and tonal imprint are more important than output (although in this
project the theoretical maximum power is truly low...).
Low power amplifiers tend to have abrupt saturation phenomena.
Nevertheless I have noticed an unsuspected capacity of this amplifier with my
87dB loudspeakers with overloading effects very smooth.
The Single Ended 6C45-PE/211 Amplifier
The best use of the 6C45-PE
triode is as driver for power triodes with high voltage swing requirements as
trasmitting varieties but also 300B or the new Svetlana’s SV572-XX.
High
s
tubes remove the need of a three stages architecture (gain stage+driver stage
+ output stage) allowing easy building of more performing, more good
sounding two stages amplifier.
6C45/VT-4C Single Ended Amplifier Technical Characteristics Tab.2 |
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Class
A1 Power
19Wrms THD
3% Damping Factor
3 |
Harmonic Spectrum (nominal
power)
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A SRPPed 6H30 Line Preamplifier
I have essayed the wonderful 6H30 in a classic context, with top
results.
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The more impressive quality of this preamp is the easy driving of any
complex load. The schematic reveils a very simple project and I invite you to
experiment with different topologies as Mu-Follower and balanced structures.
Thanks
to the low voltage requirement for the 6H30 (plates of uppers triodes have only
120 volts) I use toroidal units as
power transformers obtaining a compact building.
I don’t show the power supply, but any HV unit with 80..120V- 60..70mA
well filtered is good. Heaters require 6.3V-1.8..2A.
A 6H30 Low voltage OTL SEEP Stage
High
s
tubes can be the fuel for the freak audio experimenter. In the recent past I
have designed a Class AB2
SEEP Stage with a low voltage power supply. The fundamental driver stage is
designed around a Compound N-MOS source follower.
The 6C46 integrated PSE Amplifier
At
the moment this amp lies inside a piece of PSPice code, but results are
confortable:
A
low voltage integrated PSE amplifier (only 100V) with 2W of maximum power,
Fig.13.
A plate load of 1000..2000 ohms is good. The output transformer can
benefit of a low cumulative plate resistance rp but its
building is slightly complicated by the current requirements of the output stage
(120mA). The low load for the SRPP reveils the application in this design of the
THD cancellation technique.
Conclusions
High gm vacuum tubes have always divided audio
experimenter in two factions:
a)
Enthusiasts,
tickled by their unique electrical specifications;
b)
Opposers,
twarthed by a supposed Solid State like sound, costs and apparent unreliability.
As
any other product of technology you has faced with merits and defects. Surely
designing with this tube family requires a lot of caution but the greatest
results are in the corner.
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think of this article? |