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SET Asylum Single Ended Triodes (SETs), the ultimate tube lovers dream. |
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SET Asylum Single Ended Triodes (SETs), the ultimate tube lovers dream. |
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In Reply to: RE: Well - we're bound to have different views posted by 91derlust on September 2, 2017 at 18:07:38:
Dennis writes:
"DIY people have two advantages, and only these two: (1) their labor is free to them. How much it costs their wives and friends remains to be seen. (2) DIY does not have to be shipped or guaranteed. All of this costs money-- the DIY person can usually avoid all this."Yes, of course! And as RGA says, you have to factor in the low resale value of DIY builds if you are ever going to sell, though to counteract this the average commercial amp also has a pretty sharp falloff in value when used, even though the resale value remains intrinsically higher.
"BUT-- does the best DIY compare to the best commercial? Sorry, but I've never heard that happen-- ever."
I can well see that this would be true for you, Dennis, because your own particular theories involve a large amount of actual construction detail and layout. But in the larger DIY world where the circuit and quality of parts are the crucial factors, there is nothing to say that a really good - and tried and tested - circuit, built with high quality parts, and well constructed, will not perform to commercial standards or out-perform a number of commercial amps.
Several circuits have had many, many builds already. And the circuits - and indeed the PCBs where these are used - are constantly being uprated. A good example is the circuit I use - Bartola gyrator DHT first stage into PSE 4P1L into amorphous OPT, all in filament bias. Rod's filament regs are now in their 7th version, having been updated for well over 7 years, and the Bartola gyrator is now in version 2, or version 3 considering add-on boards. Several builds around the world and a constantly evolving blog on the Bartola website for support and user experiences. The same with Bottlehead and K&K, to name two other examples with good website, forum and user support.
RGA says, "Many of the SET making companies are DIY at heart anyway", and I'm sure this is true. Usually a talented designer or design team goes through a large number of prototypes and then decides on a build that will work commercially. But many DIY designs also - as above - go through several iterations. What they don't usually do - as Dennis points out - is have to deal with all the users (plus "idiots") who then road test the stuff and feed back any construction glitches, which is where the construction itself and any accompanying safety issues that have to be engineered in becomes important.
In theory, DIY amps can outperform commercial ones. That's the theory, and as RGA says there are a number of existing amps to prove this. In practice construction comes into it, and how important this factor is depends on the actual skill and experience of the constructor, which can vary considerably. You expect good construction from commercial amps, but in the end you still have to balance that against the theoretical and possible advantages of state of the art design and part quality. An EL34 SET amp doesn't compare with a 300b or 2a3 in my universe, and I wouldn't even stop there.
Edits: 09/03/17
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Follow Ups
- Comparisons of DIY and commercial amps - andy evans 01:31:49 09/03/17 (1)
- RE: Comparisons of DIY and commercial amps - tube wrangler 13:14:18 09/03/17 (0)
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