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Awesome amp! The well written manual explained everything perfectly. The amp went together quickly with no problems and the finished amp sounds incredible. I'm ready for the next kit.
-Mitch B. | Memphis, TN - USA
Buy this Tweed Champ Kit.
just finished the kit... what a great little monster of tone!!!! This is my first tube amp full built and I don't know that much about electronics but fortunately everything went right at the first time.
Very clear and well explained step by step manual
again I tell you how positively impressed I am with the result. I'm wondering if is this addictive!?
But most important thing I built it myself!!!!!
Ok, you made a really simple and well explained step by step instruction file and that helped me a lot, and your kind support of course, I don't know mutch about electronics.
-Marco M. | Rome - Italy
Buy this Tweed Champ Kit.
I am a first time amp builder, and I couldn’t be happier with how this project turned out. The instructions were clear and easy to follow. I learned more about tube amps in the few days I worked on this project than I had in twenty years of playing prior. Most importantly, the amp sounds fantastic with a warm, rich tone only a tweed amp can offer.
-Joe M. | Owensboro, KY - USA
Buy this Tweed Champ Kit.
This kit was just plain fun to build! In the end I`d say I`ve learned a bit from building the L16 mono amp and the PL stereo preamp!
If you`re looking into building a pure tube amp this is it! I`m using my L16 amp as a guitar amp with a tiny vintage General Electric preamp as first gain stage. I wired the preamp point to point. Also great customer service from the TubeDepot team. Thanks guys!
-Frank B. | Bergen, Hordaland - Norway
Buy this Mono Tube Amplifier Kit.
My K12M kit was built with some modifications, and was given a beautiful chassis of wood.
The electronics were modified. I removed the global feedback and the input pots. The input pots were replaced with 2k fixed resistors (opamp preamps will handle
this just fine) and the output pentode long tail pair resistors were replaced with LM317 current sources. The low input resistance was necessary to keep the amp from oscillating, which it also did with the factory wiring with the pots set to maximum. The result was a drop in distortion from over 1% to 0.23% just below the clipping point of 5W, and no oscillation. A small DC fan was also added to keep the transformers cool; the fan was set to a lower voltage than specified to keep the noise below the audibility threshold at a distance. The line connection
to the power supply is thermostatically controlled with a passive reed switch-like device in case the fan fails.
The chassis was made of solid mahogany (recycled from a commercial dumpster), so the wood grain can be seen over every edge. The transformers were covered with wood also. The cover is made of bloodwood on top (which is slotted for
ventilation), figured redwood on the sides, and manzanita root burl on the edges. I collected the manzanita myself from the wild. The chassis is worth far more than the electronics! Tubes are a work of art, so the wood is right in line.
-Ken R. | California - USA
Buy this Stereo Tube Amplifier Kit.
Here are some pictures of my k12m Stereo Tube Amplifier Kit. I made the base from dark smoke 1/4" plexiglass, the top and bottom were made from 1/16" brushed aluminum stock and the protection posts are polished brass spacers (image 1). Later I made some modifications to solve 2 problems (image 2). Problem #1 was the heat radiated to the top plate by the tubes made the inside of the case hot!, also the transformers were being overheated, as well as the bottom of my turntable's glass shelf.
I raised the top panel 3/16" with rubber grommets at the 4 mounting screws, I also punched four 1/2" holes on the bottom plate in order to create a convection cooling system (the heat raising from the top plate draws cool air from the bottom through the the holes on the bottom plate) to keep the PC boards and the components inside the case Cool. I also added a right angle heat deflection plate between the transformers an the tubes, the vertical backplate has a plate of copper spaced from the aluminum by two 1/4" spacers, this modification also fix problem #2, (shielded the tubes from the electromagnetic field of the transformers inducing 60 Hz hum).
The amp performs very good with my home made tube phono preamp and my Project turntable. I am glad that someone created this affordable tube amp kit that works as good or better than other tube amps costing 10 to 20 times more $$$$$.
-Carlos O. | Montebello, CA - USA
Buy this Stereo Tube Amplifier Kit.
My DIY-K12m Stereo Tube Amplifier has been in continuous use for 12 hours a day since I built it 3 years ago. I wanted a vintage style amp to complement my mid-century decor, so I custom designed my box and featured the tubes. It was a real pleasure working on it, and simple to put together. The amp is a great conversation piece and sounds great!
-Fred G. | Capistrano Beach, CA - USA
Buy this Stereo Tube Amplifier Kit.
This is one of the kits I built. So far 3 unit where built in this fashion, and have orders for 2 more. This unit has all the updates, Solen caps and dc filament, small choke in the power-supply, sub woofer output. Owners of thousand dollar units are the ones that are placing orders for this amp, after hearing the sound knocked them off their feet.
-Steve V. | Miami, FL - USA
Buy this Stereo Tube Amplifier Kit.
Robert A. did not provide us with a written review, but he was kind enough to include these photographs of his amplifier kit.
-Robert A. | Denver, CO - USA
Buy this Stereo Tube Amplifier Kit.
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