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Jonboy
31-08-2009, 17:16
Just got back with this one, complete with pre amp, not bad for a swap of an old valve radio chassis that was given to me. it came with about 100 old valves that i have got to sort through as well mostly radio ones i'm afraid. but there are a few gems in there as well.:smoking:
I seem to be collecting amps running ecl86 valves, looks like it could be an interesting project though judging by the sound of my other stereo 10 10 :)
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0183.jpg
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0184-1.jpg
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0185.jpg

Marco
31-08-2009, 18:58
Lovin' it, Jon, lovin' it! :respect:

Marco.

Prince of Darkness
31-08-2009, 19:07
The ecl86 is a great sounding valve (especially if you have sensitive speakers and can go triode connected):)

aquapiranha
31-08-2009, 20:35
That is really a lovely looking amp. today we would call it retro styling, back then is was the epitome of high fashion! I bet it sounds as good as it looks too.

Nice. Very nice.

Jonboy
31-08-2009, 21:37
Cheers guys, i will get it checked over and the caps etc done then report back, i was expecting a mono amp so it has turned out to be a bonus being that it is a stereo model, i set the deal up a few months ago and have had to wait with trepidation to see what pile of crap i was going to end up with but as a certain little man used to say "its turned out nice again":)

Jonboy
10-11-2009, 16:14
Its back and sounding mighty good, it only need a few bits changing and a couple of ecl86 valves which i bought in a French flea market for 1 euro!! (they are badged Dario Miniwatt but are Phillips i believe) it has slightly bigger transformers than my other mullard stereo 10 10. I had it playing for a few days then a cap blew but we managed to fing one of the right size and spec so away we went again, i'm currently running it on a passive as the original pre amp isn't that wonderfull, there is no hum which surprised us all so perhaps i will try it out on the Tannoys with a better preamp now that it seems to be running ok :)
It came with a solid state rectifier so that the original preamp could plug into the octal socket but this perhaps could be put back to being a gz34 like the original mullard circiut shows, anyway a nice sounding amp for next to nothing ;)



http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0087.jpg

Jonboy
24-01-2010, 14:55
I dug this out the other day, its made by Lafayette and is American which means it's 120v, it runs 4 number 7189 (el84's) a GZ 34 rectifier and 2 number 6AN8 on the boards. it also has two volume controls
I'm in the process of making up a transformer to run it up properly it all fires up but we need to check caps etc it should be a nice sounding little thing and very simular to Leak Stereo 20, could this be true SPPV lets hope so;)

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0146.jpg

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0144.jpg

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0143.jpg

DSJR
24-01-2010, 15:14
Nowt new under the sun, is there?

Looks good. Hope it sounds ok as well..

Rare Bird
24-01-2010, 15:17
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0143.jpg

Would look great with a faceplate on it.Gis it ;)

Rare Bird
24-01-2010, 15:49
Now you know i'm gonna try convincing you that Lafayette amp should be in my house dont ya...You'll never hear the last of it,i promise... well talk over pork pies & brown sauce :lol:

Ali Tait
24-01-2010, 15:58
Nice! Wonder how it would compare to a WAD KEL84.

Rare Bird
24-01-2010, 16:24
Well i've never heard a bad EL84 amp yet

Ali Tait
24-01-2010, 16:52
Me either.It's a very musical valve.

Jonboy
24-01-2010, 16:53
The Audionote OTO SE is a very nice sounding EL84 intergrated amp running 9 watts of very nice power they work well with Tannoys, but at £2000 its a bit dear,

We can talk all you like Andr'e at the pork pie show but you won't win it off me that easily:eyebrows:

Rare Bird
24-01-2010, 17:00
We can talk all you like Andr'e at the pork pie show but you won't win it off me that easily:eyebrows:

:eek:

:unfair:

Jonboy
27-02-2010, 11:45
Well its back from a service and check over and i have to say it sounds amazing, we can't believe how good it sounds, it has restored my faith in that my system can and does actually sound very good at the moment i'm just sitting here listening to the music now and not the system which is a bit of a revalation for me, the way it plays music is out of this world for such a small and simple amp, i'm finding words coming into my head like pluck, attack, decay, just so much information coming through, the bottom end perhaps is a little untidy if i'm being critical, but compared to a Leak stereo 20 it's miles ahead:wow:

If have been using it for only a couple of days but it is definately a keeper, i'm running it through my Audionote Zero pre, Caiman dac, Micromega Duo Cd3 and Tannoy Sterlings, we also tried a Audio Innovations L2 pre with it which has just had a good service and is a lovely sounding amp with a very good mid range but not mine so it going back to its owner:(

The amp has only required a bit of work to it including Jenson caps and a couple of mods underneath including the addition of a couple of bits to make the bias checking a lot easier ( sorry i'm not technical enough to say what exactly) and also matching Russian output valves, the Mullard GZ 34 was fine and tested very good. Don't always think that Mullards are the best because there are others out there that can sound better , Russian EL84m's are very good and don't command stupid prices.
I have resprayed the transformers after a quick rub down to cover up the surface rust but have not gone to town on it as it as this would require stripping the trannys apart which i don't want to do.

We can not find any info on it as of yet but my valve guru is sure that there is some Dynaco influence in there somewhere

Words have escaped me to say anymore to praise it up, others might not agree but my Guru who is well repected in Valve amp circles and myself thinks it's the Mutts Nutts

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0163.jpg

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0164.jpg

The Grand Wazoo
27-02-2010, 12:02
That's looking fantastic Jon. Glad it sounds good too!



We can not find any info on it as of yet but my valve guru is sure that there is some Dynaco influence in there somewhere


Those top mounted boards certainly made me think of Dynaco!

Rare Bird
27-02-2010, 12:40
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0163.jpg

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0164.jpg


:steam: Me Me gimmi gimmi ;)

The Grand Wazoo
03-03-2010, 00:39
Just to confirm to you folks that this Lafayette amp of Jon's is something very, very good indeed.

I was priveliged enough to hear it performing at the weekend and from what I heard, it shows, once again, that the old guys knew what was what. It's not perfect, but it shows more than just flashes of brilliance. With a little careful tweaking and some sensitivity in the choice of matching components, I think it could be the last power amp that Jon ever needs to buy. And that is quite a statement considering the array of amps he has populating his household!

I was very impressed with it indeed.

Jonboy
03-03-2010, 19:24
Cheers Chris for the nice comments and it was a pleasure to meet you at last, just an small update, the Audionote Zero pre has had some bigger and better foil caps fitted which has helped pull the bass together and rolled off that top end sharpness, we had a pair of Zero pre amps together on Monday night each fitted with the same value caps but from a different Manufacturer and swapped between the two, its amazing how different they each sounded, but mine came out on top so that was a bonus, all i need now is a valve Dac from Duncan to complete my system for now.
Never say never though especially as those Mark Grants keep calling me as well.

Happy Times

gregdee
05-03-2010, 16:19
Nice and clean layout .I believe re caping is a must anyway ,due to the age if not for other reasons.But it would be nice experience to hear his voice .EL 84 is my favourite
pento and I am lucky enough to be close to you Jon. :-)

Rare Bird
05-03-2010, 18:31
Nice and clean layout .I believe re caping is a must anyway ,due to the age if not for other reasons.But it would be nice experience to hear his voice .EL 84 is my favourite
pento and I am lucky enough to be close to you Jon. :-)

'EL84' are one of the nices sounding valves i've heard.Shame big heads have to choose large power tubes to look good, they don't know what there missing

:lol:

:sofa:

Jonboy
05-03-2010, 18:55
'EL84' are one of the nices sounding valves i've heard.Shame big heads have to choose large power tubes to look good, they don't know what there missing

:lol:

:sofa:

well said Andre, you know what they say "big Valves small Knobs" :ner:

Ali Tait
05-03-2010, 19:42
EL84's are very nice,but transmitter valves have a sound all their own,they seem to put a huge amount of space around things when you hear them for the first time.The old triodes have a magical sound too,45 being a particular favourite of mine,along the the lovely PX4 and PX25.Even 300b can sound fantastic with the right amp!

I guess pretty much all valves sound nice in the right amp.One of the great things about them is there are so many,and each has its own flavour,so there's always one to suit your taste.

Jonboy
05-03-2010, 20:39
I have had more satisfaction out of my ECL86 and EL84 amps than my 300b and 845 mono blocks , but perhaps as you say i havn't heard the right amp yet, and will admit to quite liking the 211 amp that i listened to :o

Ali Tait
05-03-2010, 21:57
I'm no expert,but I think there are a lot of indifferent commercial 845 and 300b amps around.The reason for this IMHO is that these two valves are actually hard to drive,leading to amps with front ends that are too weedy to drive the output valve properly,as to drive them properly would vastly increase the price of the amp.

I've heard a few different diy 300b amps,some better than others,but one I heard with all-regulated power supplies remains one of the best amps I've ever heard.Only thing is,it didn't sound like a 300b! Especially with a pair of very rare 300a's...

Another amazing amp was a diy 212 amp.Google some images of this valve,it's about a foot high.Used to be used in tv transmitters amongst other things.What a fantastic amp.

Jonboy
12-02-2012, 18:46
Picked this up today from the AudioJumble today, i'm well chuffed as a similar one went on Ebay for £310 last week, mine is fully restored and for less money,
sorry about the quality of the pics i was excited

Armstrong 226 tuner amp running ecl 86 valves, much the same as a Rogers cadet but with bigger and better transfomers

These have a phono stage and the guy who restored it is hopefully sending me the stereo decoder which was an optional extra :D


http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0819.jpg
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0820.jpg

The Grand Wazoo
25-02-2012, 01:24
Jon,
Have you still got the Lafayette?
Don't know if you've seen this - it's not your amp, but you might find it to be of interest anyway.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-meyyja6f8dg/TzGHTN12w5I/AAAAAAAAYD0/LpsD6XiW4A8/s1600/J172.jpg

Jonboy
25-02-2012, 07:49
Hi Chris,

I've Still got it and it's definitley a keeper, i havn't found any info on mine as of yet but that page looks interesting thanks for that

ATB

Rare Bird
25-02-2012, 17:23
I've Still got it and it's definitley a keeper

:(

:D

Jonboy
25-02-2012, 17:44
:lolsign:

Marco
28-02-2012, 21:53
Picked this up today from the AudioJumble today, i'm well chuffed as a similar one went on Ebay for £310 last week, mine is fully restored and for less money,
sorry about the quality of the pics i was excited

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0819.jpg
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0820.jpg

Awesome, John - that's a veritable classic and no doubt sounds fab! :cool:

Marco.

The Black Adder
03-03-2012, 14:59
some superb kit there fella... It's great to see some old kit still pumping away.

Jonboy
03-03-2012, 15:57
cheers Guys it really does sound good the bass is amazing

Jonboy
10-10-2012, 19:23
As i have the Rogers Cadet 1 and a Cadet 2 i thought i would go for a pair of Juniors especially as they run EL 84's which are one of my favorite valves, last week i managed to get the matching amp for one i bought earlier in the year, these are a bit different to the Normal Rogers Juniors as they have different transformers and look much like the Leaks, not sure what diffence it will make but we shall find out soon enough, the serial numbers are fairly close as well so they should be very simular in componants and build

Just sorting out all the bits needed for the rebuild mainly caps i have also managed to find a full set of valves for both of them in my valve box which is a bonus:D.

Only going to give them a bit of a clean up and not a respray, unfortuanately the seller of the second one thought it would be a good idea to label all the valves and their positions with electrical tape which lead to some paint coming off on the chassis when i removed it :doh:

I really hope they will both fire up ok and i'm looking forward to a first listen, also need to make up some octal to phono type adapters as i don't won't to drill the chassis and retro fit them

A few pics of before

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0518_zpsf601c016.jpg

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0519_zpscce86552.jpg

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0520_zps4b04dff6.jpg

Jonboy
06-11-2012, 11:27
Well they have had a good going through with lots of bits changed, valves all matched and sounding very nice, got a bit more control than the cadets but very similar in sound all the same, not much to choose soundwise between the cadet fitted ECL 86 and the EL84 fitted to these

These are early versions dating from 1954-61 according to Jonathan Hills book Audio! Audio!, we still need to sort out o pair of covers for the rear speaker octal sockets but at least they are both up and running, we have rebuilt them to pretty well standard factory settings and values using an original circuit diagram and have set the speaker taps to run at 16 ohms as it uses all the windings on the trannies and sounds the best to our ears,

Just gave them a bit of a clean with a combination of contact cleaner, meths and a toothbrush at the moment

Here's a few pics so far as you can see Mike has worked his magic underneath

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0523.jpg

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp272/jonboy_01/DSC_0522.jpg

gregdee
06-11-2012, 12:18
hi Jon

Lovely couple my friend
good lookers for the age , too ;)

Jonboy
06-11-2012, 14:55
hi Jon

Lovely couple my friend
good lookers for the age , too ;)


Hi Gregg, you say the nicest things :eyebrows:

We must get together soon i just don't know where the times goes another year nearly gone

The Grand Wazoo
06-11-2012, 18:29
They look really good Jon. Your office must be even more stacked up with stuff by now!

Jonboy
06-11-2012, 19:13
stacked aint the word Chris , i think i have got a obsessive compulsive disorder :doh:

The Grand Wazoo
06-11-2012, 19:15
Nah, you only need to start worrying properly when you have to use the skylight to get in!