Vaporware? Heck no!

[Shannon Parks]

We're still waiting for the 100 mpg carburetor, a mission to Mars, low fat food that tastes good and a $1 coin that doesn't look like a quarter.

But the Eiclone is here.



www.diytube.com/gallery/ike1.jpg
-Playing some Flying Burrito Bros, front shot, no chassis, KT88's running at 490VDC B+ and biased at 60mA

www.diytube.com/gallery/ike2.jpg
-The Rev Dash Eiclone for comparison

www.diytube.com/gallery/ike3.jpg
-Bottom view of the Eiclone

www.diytube.com/gallery/ike4.jpg
-Another view

Thanks for all the emails requests - not <much> longer. But as they say, if it hasn't been tested, it doesn't work. :thumbleft:

Shannon

[EWBrown]

I like it, I want two :D

What's that in the box behind it in the fourth picture, doesn't quite look like a DIY 35 or an "ike".

/ed B in NH

[Shannon Parks]

I like it, I want two :D

What's that in the box behind it in the fourth picture, doesn't quite look like a DIY 35 or an "ike".

/ed B in NH

It is also in photo #2 -- the original Eiclone. I did a major re-layout.

Shannon

[EWBrown]

I like the fat "coke bottle" tubes, they give it even more class. :D :wink:

I've been getting used to those skinny EL34s lately, between repairing the original ST-70, building the "Triode Special" stainless steel behemoth and most recently a 12AX7/EL34 2 channel SE. In that one, the first tube set of Sovtek 12AX7s and ElectroHarmonix EL34s sounded a bit harsh - but then those were guitar amp grade tubes, switched to Shuguang (Chinese) 12AX7s and Svetlana EL34s, sounded much nicer. Best was some old Telefunken 12AX7s and Amperex EL34s that I had on hand. Bought those way back when they were still cheap, and glad of it.

/ed B in NH

[gogzhad]

Ed - you are right, the old telefunken 12AX7's are hard to beat - had some in my Marantz 7, rolled in Mullards, a few late model brands, but nothing (that I tried) could beat the Telefunkens for clear, clean sound. In my ST-70, the Mullard EL34's sounded the best, though the differences did not seem as pronounced.
So, as they say, Funkengruven, I guess

[Thermion]

Hey Shannon, great pics. It is good to see a plan come together.

Ed, the coke bottles in the pictures are Sovtek KT88s. FWIW, these are very good tubes. I used a quad in my MKIIIs and put about 3000 hours on them. They still test like new on my Hickok. Nice shape too. When I build my Eiclones, I plan to use Mullard GZ37s as rectifiers. These are also gorgeous ST shaped glass. If I use the Sovteks instead of my JJ KT88s, it should look wonderful.

I recently purchased four Telefunkin 12AX7s on Ebay. I have tried them in my recently rebuilt ST70 and am very impressed by the results. Compared to any current production (Sovtek, EI, JJ) in this amp the Tele's are way out in the lead. They also compare well to my old stock stash of US 12AX7s. In fact, they are better than most of them. I also bought a Tele 12AU7 to use in my DIYtube Rev C amp currently under construction.

Unfortunately, I can't afford some Tele 6BQ5s to use in the amp.

JT

[gogzhad]

Last mention I could find about outputs and power xfmr's was the hammond (700 VCT) and the 1650P outputs. Is that where you ended up?
thanks.

[Shannon Parks]

Last mention I could find about outputs and power xfmr's was the hammond (700 VCT) and the 1650P outputs. Is that where you ended up?
thanks.

We'll be doing several different configurations during testing (solid state and tube rectification for example). I can't make recommendations yet, except that I think I will lean towards the 1650N outputs to be a little more 6550/KT88 friendly.

Shannon

[gogzhad]

The 1650N has nominal impedance of 4300 Ohms - which is cool because it is the same as the Dynaco outputs used on the Mk III - also available in re-issue form from Ned at Triode - not as economical as the Hammonds, but if you've heard a Mk III, you know they're excellent...maybe there's a Mk III vs. Eiclone shootout in my future?

[Shannon Parks]

The 1650N has nominal impedance of 4300 Ohms - which is cool because it is the same as the Dynaco outputs used on the Mk III - also available in re-issue form from Ned at Triode - not as economical as the Hammonds, but if you've heard a Mk III, you know they're excellent...maybe there's a Mk III vs. Eiclone shootout in my future?

Sure! Thermion is helping me test the Eiclones and his main amps are Mark IIIs.

I've been doing some interesting tests this morning. I just switched to the 1650N from the 1650P as the frequency response (with KT88s and their lower output resistance, mind you) with the 6.6K outputs was very midrange weighted. Though I imagine the results will change somewhat when I redo the test in the future with EL34s, I seem to recall that I have read remarks that the HF-87 had a sweet midrange. Hmmmm....

On a side note, these KT88s sure can dissipate the heat! I had to come in from the shop to double check their ratings.

Shannon

[gogzhad]

I've got a pair of Mk III's, one with KT-88's, the other with 6550's. To be honest, I can't hear a difference between the two, but the KT88's do light up noticably more than the 6550's, and the top of the cage over the 88's is pretty warm...have to admit, I like the KT88's better, just because they have that cool coke-bottle shape...my 6550's are straight sided...not too scientific, I know, but hey, if this was about science, we'd all be gushing about how low the THD numbers were on our solid-state hardware...