by Ty_Bower » Tue Mar 02, 2010 6:11 pm
Glad to be of some help. :)
I've never put the PT on a separate chassis, though I know that many do. I guess I'm not keen on having an extra piece hanging around, and I'm really not happy about the idea of an umbilical cord with 360 volts running through it.
If I had no space for the tube rectifier, I'd probably just build it stock and see how it works out. I made my ST35 with an old Knight PT, and the resulting B+ is just under 410VDC. I was worried about it at first, but the amp seems to hold up just fine. I would recommend checking the 6.3V AC heater voltage when it is done. You want to make sure it isn't too high, or you'll shorten the life of the tubes unnecessarily. If you need to drop the line voltage a bit, trying reading up on bucking autoformers. They're easy and cheap to build out of a spare 12 volt transformer.
Can't comment on the shunt regulator... I haven't seen that one before.
"It's a different experience; the noise occlusion, crisp, clear sound, and defined powerful bass. Strong bass does not corrupt the higher frequencies, giving a very different overall feel of the sound, one that is, in my opinion, quite unique."