Transciption Audio

[bumpy]

I'm currently having a little play around with this Transcription Audio amplifier. Its massive !!

[bumpy]

Talk amongst yourself :scratch:

[YNWaN]

Blimey, that’s an odd looking thing - I can’t tell on my phone but is that copper, wood or Bakelite?

[brian2957]

How does it sound ?

[YNWaN]

Sorry, didn’t mean to come over critical - does look like a heck of a thing - as you say, massive! :).

[bumpy]

Blimey, that’s an odd looking thing - I can’t tell on my phone but is that copper, wood or Bakelite?

The casing is heartwood, which is very dense, hard to work and is the centre of the tree which is notionally 'dead' and rich in resins etc and darker in colour. It is possibly the nearest natural wood to man made panzer wood which is the holy grail for vibration damping. Trim is copper sheeting. -- and yes it is draw droppingly ugly and massive.

It is a SET and the two triodes are VT-4-Cs which are transmitter tubes from the 1940's (NOS). They are fore runners of the 211 triodes. They have thoriated tungsten filaments so glow brightly like a light bulb. I will try and get some night time pictures.

[bumpy]

How does it sound ?

Will try and do a review later but at the moment it is the best amplifier I have ever had in my system (over 50 years). Inside it has half wave valve rectification, massive mains transformer, an oil filled 2Kv capacitor the size of a Tupperware lunchbox, interstage transformer and C core output transformers. Output is about 23 watts I believe. Driver valves are E182cc and the valve rectifiers are CV187

[chris@panteg]

I like it, big triode sound, I expect it kicks out some heat.
How much are the power valves to replace?

[bumpy]

I like it, big triode sound, I expect it kicks out some heat.
How much are the power valves to replace?

The VT-4-Cs do kick out some heat - about the same as two 100w tungsten light bulbs. The valves are no more expensive than 300Bs. Some, like my GE 1940's valves are becoming collectors items because or their SQ and can fetch up to £1000 a pair, but the Western Electric 300Bs can sell for more than this.
It does make the 45 triodes look exceedingly good value at about £100 for a NOS pair. I believe massive stocks of these transmitter valves were set aside by the American War Dept during WW2 and are gradually being released onto the open market.

The rest of the amp, inc transformers, runs quite cool as it is massively over specified. This also has the benefit that the transformers are not working over hard and are therefore mechanically silent.

[User211]

Did a 211 shootout between KR 211, Amperex, RCA and GE with 4 people.

SQ pecking order ranked Amperex the best. GE are OK, though.

That's not using my own amps, which require 4 211s, where I also rank Amperex the best (but never had the KRs in those).

Scoring Amperex 211s is hard these days.

Actually 211s used to be cheap as chips due to US army stocks. They still were in the 70s and 80s. Not true anymore, supplies are drying up I believe but GEs are the most abundant NOS 211s.

What you really want is a couple of STC 4242 metal plates according to PQ from Audionote who ranked it the best a while ago after trying a lot of options.

However it is a safe bet to say that, since getting a pair is extremely hard. Or a quad in my case. I would pay quite a lot of money for a quad, I must admit.

I have found NOS 211s to be extremely reliable. You'll probably never manage to wear a pair out if they were unused to start with.

[bumpy]

Thanks Justin, great info.

Just to satisfy my idle curiosity, are you the Justin that used to work in the Ivy many years ago?

[bumpy]

Hi again Justin. You obviously have more knowledge of the 211 than I do (in the land of the blind etc :) )

I see a lot of 211s going through E bay at very low prices as they claim they are untested being unable to fit many of the test equipment. Is this BS or is one likely to pick up bargains, accepting they are not part of a matched pair.

Are there things to look for visually within the glass envelope such as discolouration?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/General-Electric-VT-4-C-VT4C-211-Transmitting-Tube-Triode-66H3-Date-Code/113024047953?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.S EED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131017132637%26meid%3Dc061a c839a9a41ea8a0c9c313fcfa18b%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D 5%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D253606812738%26itm%3D1130240479 53&_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042

[User211]

Thanks Justin, great info.

Just to satisfy my idle curiosity, are you the Justin that used to work in the Ivy many years ago?Nope.

[User211]

Not many valve testers cater for 211 as they require very high voltage to test properly. So it's true.

Don't buy anything if it hasn't at least had a simple continuity test.

Burn marks inside the valve indicate it has been used. However, all my RCA 211s developed brown burn marks at the top of the valve very quickly, so it isn't necessarily and indication of a lot of use.

Given the service life of 10,000 plus hours, if the valve displays continuity it will almost certainly work and be fine for use. I have heard stories of 211s lasting 15 years if permanently switched on. Power cycling reduces service life, and that's the reason they can last so long if left on.

I do NOT recommend you leave your amp on at all times though!:)

[bumpy]

Thanks again Justin - very much appreciated.

[Old boy]

I listened to 3 of this guys amplifier’s at length at the Kent audio jumble a few years ago.They all sounded impressive but the build didn’t really inspire me enough to have a home demo.
A lot of heat output and the voltages within concerned me too.

[User211]

Here we go deck it out with some Telefunken RS237s.

Very reasonably priced, too:D

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F13 2630904383

[bumpy]

Here we go deck it out with some Telefunken RS237s.

Very reasonably priced, too:D

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F13 2630904383

Very nice !!!

[bumpy]

I listened to 3 of this guys amplifier’s at length at the Kent audio jumble a few years ago.They all sounded impressive but the build didn’t really inspire me enough to have a home demo.
A lot of heat output and the voltages within concerned me too.

Thanks Kev for your comments.
Yes Transcription Audio is something of a cottage industry, almost all casework being constructed in house by just Simon and most amps are bespoke. For this reason they lack the professional finish of mass produced stuff, but are assembled with massively over specified bits so should last the course.

This amp doesn't get any hotter than other valve amps I have owned and my biggest concern historically was funnily enough with a Sugden transistor based class A amp. It is always wise to give valve amps plenty of breathing space.

In his career Simon worked in the high voltage industry, so he has that side of it pretty well covered.

[bumpy]

I'm loving the glow of a warm 211