My first SET amp
I've recently acquired this cheeky monkey to drive my Sachiko horns - and what a totally enthralling musical experience it is!
Talk about Little and Large!! The builder (another Steve) has refined the component choices while he's lived with the amp over a few years, to the point that he considers the sound optimised regardless of parts cost. As you can see from the pictures, Steve's build quality is immaculate and that he wears the badge of perfectionist with pride.
He's now built a more powerful design from the same company and I can see why you'd only want more of the same. It's a very balanced and complete experience that just delivers the performance to enjoy. No, make that it throws it at you.
The Lilliput power amplifier is a 2.5 watts per channel SET amp. http://www.megahertzaudio.it/lilliput.htm
The 6080/6AS7G seems to be most commonly found in otl headphone amps such as Bottlehead and perhaps most famously atma-sphere.
This tube is quite similar in sound to the 300B apparently, but has much lower power and costs nothing in comparison. I've just bought two matched section Russian 6n13s Svetlanas for £14.00 a pair!
The photos and Steve's choice are a Philips Miniwatt SQ E88CC and a CV2984, which is the UK military version of the 6080.
Inside the amp, resistors are Takman metal film, Takman carbon and the cathode has the big green non-inductive 30w resistors from DIYhifisupply. For capacitors we have Philips in the power supply, Nichicon Muse KZ on the 6080 cathode, Nichicon Muse ES on the E88CC, and Mundorf ZN coupling caps. Rectifier diodes are ultrafast MUR880EG. Switching on is two stage – top switch for filament power and bottom switch for HT. Earth arrangement is earth follows signal with both channels split until the last power supply cap.
There’s not a lot written about Megahertzaudio products, but the Italians are fond of their horns in more ways than one and of course low powered tube amps make them sing. Below are some comments taken from a forum contribution by F Grove. He really likes the Lilliput and the comments he makes about the sound of the amp (also driving large horns), and the Megahertzaudio iron are correct in mine and the builders opinion.
His comment “It doesn't sound like an overly romantic tube amp at all but rather crystal clear and precise” sums up the amp really. It has tube warmth but it isn’t rosy warmth. Very clear, musical, and even across the frequency range.
Here are mr Grove’s comments;
“The Lilliput amp is a very good sounding little amp. In fact, I think I must have mentioned this before, I heard it perform on horn loaded Lowthers a few times and was impressed: it was one of the few times I actually heard the music and not the Lowthers' notorious nasality for a change. Actually it sounded very similar to the AN Baransu 300B amp another friend uses on his Lowthers which is very high praise in anyone's book, I reckon.”
“I heard the kit in its standard form and was already blown away by the sound. It doesn't sound like an overly romantic tubeamp at all but rather crystal clear and precise.This is how I like an amp to be regardless of topology or genetic persuasion but it may not be to everyone's liking.”
“Why waste time and money on something mediocre when you can have some world class quality amp for such a small outlay? If I had some 96db/m speakers this would be the amp I'd use to go with it. No doubt in my mind about that, it's THAT good, it uses readily available tubes and the one that's going to burn up the fastest (6AS7G, 6080) is sooo cheap it's hard to believe...
“To answer your question once and for all, the Megahertz iron is extraordinary both in measurement and sonics: it's about the only OPT I ever heard that sounds like no OPT at all. Coming from someone who's been religiously devoted to OTL amps for well over two decades that's very high praise indeed.”
Photos, tech spec, (most) description and the reference comment are lifted from Steve's ad with his permission.
Valerie's impression: "Awesome!". If someone enquires what the new toy is like I just tell them to ask her. And that it reminds me of a Star Wars Stormtrooper. And my mum all but cried to Nerina Pallot.
Cheers Steve
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Originally Posted by electric beach
