Film cathode resistor bypass caps

xcortes · 3408

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Offline xcortes

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on: June 01, 2014, 03:15:03 AM
Big :)

Xavier Cortes


Offline johnsonad

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Reply #1 on: June 01, 2014, 04:56:36 AM
Did you get a big enough cap Xavier ;)


Aaron Johnson


Offline xcortes

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Reply #2 on: June 01, 2014, 06:27:57 AM
Took me a few hours to do it in the six amps. Also adjusted the voltages of the driver tube. Right off, without any break in the improvement is brutal.

Aaron, you haven't bugged PJ with the SR45s recently (these will have all film caps iirc).

Saludos

Xavier Cortes


Offline johnsonad

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Reply #3 on: June 01, 2014, 07:31:05 AM
That's a lot of work shoe horning them in there!

No I haven't bugged him lately.  I'm thinking of building a JE labs simple 45 to keep me busy or maybe the older sr45 as I've got the parts sitting around, everything minus the schematic.

Aaron Johnson


Offline xcortes

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Reply #4 on: June 01, 2014, 07:41:37 AM
If we can talk dan into doing another run of the original modifying kit I'll get three sets.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2014, 07:43:21 AM by xcortes »

Xavier Cortes


Offline Paul Joppa

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Reply #5 on: June 01, 2014, 07:46:07 AM
The SR45 at present uses long-life electrolytic caps.

The original is not reliable enough to repeat.

Sorry guys, I got distracted with some more urgent new products (i.e. ones that we hope to sell a lot more of!). But it's coming along, and there will be some aspects that should be interesting to all.

Paul Joppa


Offline xcortes

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Reply #6 on: June 01, 2014, 07:49:22 AM
Business before art. What have we turned into!

Xavier Cortes


Offline johnsonad

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Reply #7 on: June 01, 2014, 01:56:17 PM
We could always do a small run of boards ourselves, that is, if someone still has the BOM for it.

Aaron Johnson


Offline Paul Joppa

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Reply #8 on: June 01, 2014, 02:39:55 PM
That design belongs to me; I licensed it to Dan for the initial run but I won't license it to anyone for any more runs, because I don't think it's suitable as a product, for several reasons - performance and reliability, mostly. The design is NOT in the public domain.

Paul Joppa


Offline xcortes

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Reply #9 on: June 01, 2014, 03:23:25 PM
That's clear to me and that's why I only built the one I purchased the kit for and am waiting for the new version :)

Saludos

Xavier Cortes


Offline johnsonad

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Reply #10 on: June 01, 2014, 04:54:05 PM
That's that :)

Had a JE Labs SE45 amp over today and was impressed at how good it sounded. It's been to long since I've had a 45 amp......

Aaron Johnson


Offline xcortes

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Reply #11 on: June 01, 2014, 05:08:32 PM
Power enough for the 755As?

Xavier Cortes


Offline johnsonad

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Reply #12 on: June 01, 2014, 05:14:07 PM
Mine are crossed at 80Hz to subs so the power amps receive 80Hz and above. And yes, plenty of power to full volume and more gain than my 300B amps (it uses a 6SL7 driver).  Very alive sounding in the way a 45 can do. 

Aaron Johnson


Offline Paul Joppa

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Reply #13 on: June 01, 2014, 05:28:52 PM
Apologies for sounding a little crabby.

I looked again at what the problems with the original were, since it's been a long time. Here they are:

The original used a 3K transformer, the BH-5. A great transformer, but the low impedance makes the damping factor very poor when used with the 45 tube. It seriously restricts the variety of speakers that will work well. I feel that 4K to 5K is the sweet spot for that tube, when restricted to the specified maximum voltage. The PC-3/OT-2 combination at 4K impedance would be more appropriate.

In the original, the biggest available clip-on heat sink (on the C4S feeding the shunt regulator) limits the maximum power line voltage to 120v, whereas most North American urban systems provide between 120 and 130 volts. So for most people, the heat is such that the regulator transistor will fail in a few years. (This is based on our experience with the FP-III, it's not just conservative engineering!) The original added that heat sink in a clumsy way since the PC board did not allow enough room for it but even with the current (v4.4) board the higher line voltages will be a problem.

The shunt regulator current is barely adequate due to the limitations of the (now out of production) PT-2 power transformer. I'd much rather use the more recent PT-7 which can provide another 10mA, nearly doubling the SR current. This will provide an improvement in low frequency power bandwidth.

For an amp of this sonic quality and low power, it seems to me inappropriate to me to use AC filament power. This amp will usually be used on very efficient speakers, so the residual hum will be a problem in many applications. Some old-stock 45s have lower hum due to a design that counters the filament voltage hum with the magnetic fluctuations of the current paths, but that technology has not to my knowledge survived past the Thirties - it's not there in modern production tubes, some of which are good candidates for this kind of amp.

Honestly, the TV vertical sweep tubes used for driver/shunt regulator duties are not free from heater-induced hum. Either an elevated AC supply, or preferably a DC supply, would improve that problem.

For both heater/filament supplies, the considerations of power line variability lead me to wish for regulated supplies here as well as for the high voltage. EML for example insists that the best performance is achieved by keeping the filament voltage within 3%, and - especially when operating the tube at its maximum ratings - I agree.

Paul Joppa