Paramour Iron Upgrade

matt99eo · 4872

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Offline matt99eo

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on: February 08, 2015, 05:11:53 PM
Is this still available? Are there instructions for this?



Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #1 on: February 08, 2015, 06:07:23 PM
Which Paramours do you have? 

Depending on what you have, Magnequest probably makes upgrade iron for you, or you may be able to install the current Stereomour iron, available here: http://bottlehead.com/?product=iron-upgrade-kit-for-s-e-x-kit-2-0

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline matt99eo

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Reply #2 on: February 09, 2015, 05:37:50 AM
Thanks for the info.

Trying to decide if I should put some love into the amps or replace them with an upgrade.  These paramours are running Sophia Electric meshplate 300B tubes that have a 2A3 plate voltage -- an upgrade a made a few years ago and am quite happy with. 

So the question is keep modding them or look at a paramount kit or something like that??



Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #3 on: February 09, 2015, 07:28:11 AM
Which Paramours do you have?  Are they the old 10x6, or the newer 10x8?  If they are 10x6, does the power transformer have solder tabs or lead wires?

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline matt99eo

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Reply #4 on: February 09, 2015, 01:36:40 PM
They are the 10x6 with the BH PT-2 power transformers (solder tabs).  :)

They caim with the C4s upgrades.



Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #5 on: February 09, 2015, 03:10:36 PM
PJ ought to weigh in at any minute about the suitability of the new iron to your particular amplifiers.

-PB

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline Paul Joppa

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Reply #6 on: February 09, 2015, 05:21:07 PM
OK, I'll weigh in  :^)

You have what I consider the "good" power transformers, for what it's worth. The new Bottlehead iron is quite suitable; I think it is approximately comparable to the original upgrade, now long since discontinued. I don't know where the original documentation is - it re-purposed the old plate choke as a power supply choke, so it was a thorough upgrade. We can look around for a copy if you need it.

At 2 to 3 times the cost, the Magnequest iron upgrade is better, particularly if you spend for the nickel core output transformer. Not everyone is a fan of nickel, but most are - I certainly am.

Here are some more details; remember, all this is just my opinion - and I designed some of this stuff. These notes are my honest opinion, but a grain of salt might still be in order  :^)

Original stock - 10 henry plate choke, output transformer with limited bass performance.

Original upgrade - 40 henry plate choke (Magnequest), built-to-spec output transformer of fair performance especially good in the bass.

"SEX upgrade" (current production Stereomour iron) - 20 henry plate choke, my own design output transformer with better than fair bass and better treble than the original upgrade. Note the choke has a tap for more inductance when used with a 45. $200

Magnequest Paramour upgrade package - a more refined version of the 40 henry plate choke, and a TFA-2004Jr output transformer available in M6, nickel core, or a pinstripe blend. It's no secret around here that I really really like the TFA-2004, especially in nickel. No, we don't get any referral fee! $400-600

The Paramount "soft-start" upgrade kit is also applicable, though there never were any instructions for this particular application. You have to have the PT-2 for it, too. $250

Paul Joppa


Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #7 on: February 09, 2015, 05:24:06 PM
While there aren't specific instructions on using our new iron in the old Paramours, PJ and/or I can walk you through the process on here. 

I would also mention that the lead time for the iron upgrade kit is generally pretty short.  There is some hardware you'll need to get it all mounted on the chassis, you can PM me about it, and we may be able to add it onto your order.  (I just put MQ upgrade iron in for a gentleman recently, so the hardware changes are fresh in my mind)

-PB

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man