Thanks Justin, great info.
Just to satisfy my idle curiosity, are you the Justin that used to work in the Ivy many years ago?
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Thanks Justin, great info.
Just to satisfy my idle curiosity, are you the Justin that used to work in the Ivy many years ago?
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-E....c100033.m2042
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!:)
Thanks again Justin - very much appreciated.
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.
Here we go deck it out with some Telefunken RS237s.
Very reasonably priced, too:D
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F132630904383
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.
I'm loving the glow of a warm 211