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DIY? How to get feet wet?

I've read, in a number of threads in the analog forum, about the Bottlehead Products.

By nature I'm a tinkering kind of guy, but I'm young and when it comes to audio I've always let the pro's handle it for me -- really to avoid throwing money away.

The Seduction pre-amp is claimed to be an easy build, but I have no electrical engineering experience at all. How do I get my feet wet with this? How would I ever be able to learn if its for me with out actually trying to do it, rather than read about it?

Any suggestions, or stories?

--Jay
fightingwords
fightingwords OP
86 posts
 
Thanks for all the responses. I used to play in a touring band, and I would regularly fix cables, bias amps, and trouble shoot tube amp problems. Sounds like I could build one of these things if they are as point-and-shoot as they sound.

speaking of biasing, do these amps require biasing and other routine maintenance ?

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on the 4 piece bottle head package with the line stage, phono pre, and dual mono blocks. I'm guessing these are about as introductory as it gets and produce good results.
bicycle_man
99 posts
 
Hi,
The St70 does require biasing adjustment. It is easy to do -- you just need a flathead screwdriver and a voltmeter (even the cheap portable one from radio shack will do).
I have any original Dynakit St70, and the bias voltage drop is read from a pin from a tube socket on the front panel. I am not sure where it is measured on the new kits, but it is probably the same. Or else, the instructions will tell you how.
Enjoy!
fightingwords OP
86 posts
 
What is the likely-hood of one of theses things starting a house fire?

I had a nightmare last night that I raised my house to the ground after building a pair of mono-blocks and one of them caught fire while I was away at work.
swampwalker's avatar
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swampwalker
5,132 posts
 
I would not leave a tube amp on when I left the house. Tube amps generally warm up quicker than ss and the output tubes can be quite expensive. So I just turn them off before bed adn when I leave.
jopagi
7 posts
 
I took the plunge last month and built a Bottlehead Foreplay III as my first ever audio project. I built a couple of $5 christmas tree LED kits first in order to get a feel for soldering.

The Bottlehead instructions are amazingly clear, and the support forum is very responsive.

I managed to build the foreplay with no problems. It sounds great, by the way.

Good luck,
Jonathan
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