yeah that was bigofyou.Originally Posted by LowOhms
Jeff, I have no issue with your OP question.
What I do have a problem with is drafting posts. Keystrokes fail to register and have to be repeatedly redone. Inserted URLs get put at the top of the post and take considerable effort to place them where wanted. Then sometimes a line is missing when posted. Frustrating to the point where the message may have errors that I normally pick up before posting.
In this instance I typed your name when I should have typed 'members'. My error and I apologise.
By the way, this reply took 20 minutes to type.
Cheers.
Opinion is only as valid as its verifiable supporting evidence.
yeah that was bigofyou.
Sonic Barbarian
Jeff should be able to edit the title and just add OT and all is well.
Honestly, since Altec appears in the title....
That's an interesting tube. Two grids, but you would connect the one closest to the plate to the plate thus making it a triode.
If it biases close to a 45, can you just change the sockets in your amps and give it a whirl?
I see it has higher plate resistance.
To answer your question, I've not heard one. I haven't heard any SET amps on my Altecs.
I did hear my friends 2A3 design on his Altecs and it was very good.
Ron
Enjoying Altec Speakers since 1972
Hi Ron,
If you go to Frank's Electron Tube Data Page website, you can download the comprehensive Cunningham data sheet on the Type 46, which gives directions on what grid to tie to the plate.
Without building an amp with this tube, or ever hearing one, I think the extra grid makes the tube sound fuller and more euphonic, and an average builder / listener will LIKE that result, in comparison to a Type 45 Finals, playing back in the " average " constructed SET DIY amplifier. ( Which is inadequate to my tastes ).
The critique I " contemplate " is, "euphonic" is not a great virtue, but realistic, and uncolored is.
I THINK, am quessing, don't know, in a really well-constructed and designed SET, the 46's euphonic character will lay itself out to the listener over time, as not wanting to hear the system, a lack of mental involvement.
I may build one, just to hear it - since I designed a very nice direct coupled circuit last weekend. But my main interest at this moment, is going from dual mono to true monoblocks, on my Direct Coupled JJ 2A3-40 circuit. The JJ is a modern tube, very well designed and tons better constructed compared to a Type 46 !!! And the JJ 2A3-40 can put out two to three times the power, compared to a Type 46.
I certainly was disappointed with a Type 45 on my ALTEC A7-800s, after 18 months of using it ( with a fine circuit ), as soon as I A-Bed the Type 45 to a JJ 2A3-40. .
Low Ohms .... Jeff Medwin
Jeff
When I googled the type 46, Franks page came right up.
Very nice that fellow took the time to create that data base. I especially like that he copied right from the old tube manuals.
I did a bit of reading, and others say what you are thinking about the 46.
The JJ 2A3-40 is across between the orig 2A3 and a 300B. Pretty robust tube from what I hear.
Someday when I'm too old to drive 150 mph drag race cars, perhaps I'll build a pair of SET amps. Except for the output iron, I probably have enough good stuff in stock to do it.
Ron
Enjoying Altec Speakers since 1972
David Vorhis' "Last PAS" article in TAA is what got me started sniffing solder fumes back in grad school in the late 80s. I'm happy to hear that he is still in the hobby and is now a father and son team!
Anyway, back on topic, building a Type 46 SE amp is on top of my "to do list". I'm eager to hear it through Noguchi Finemet OPTs
JE
David Vorhis' "Last PAS" article in TAA is what got me started sniffing solder fumes back in grad school in the late 80s. I'm happy to hear that he is still in the hobby and is now a father and son team!
Anyway, back on topic, building a Type 46 SE amp is on top of my "to do list". I'm eager to hear it through Noguchi Finemet OPTs
JE
Hi Joseph,
I recall YOUR article in past decades. Was that in Sound Practices magazine? 'Think so.
David Vorhis posts on various AA Forums as "SELECTRIC". He is very up on high-efficiency high-end audio. II have had the true pleasure of meeting him, several times over the last decade, at RMAF shows in Denver, and I can say David is a true gentleman in every way I can think of. I am sure his son Michael is a chip off the old block.
If you have a schematic of what you will build using the 46 as Finals, send it to me, confidentially, at [email protected]. I'd be happy to reciprocate, with a " perfectly balanced " two stage Direct-Coupled circuit I designed, and like a lot, just two weekends ago.
Low Ohms ..... Jeff Medwin
PS, So far, NO ONE here has reported on USING a Type 46 amp on ALTECS. Lets see what develops in this thread. If the ALTECS were really well-wired, the amp would drive them no problem.
I was a featured "Homebrewer" in a Sound Practices issue that never saw print but in in the CD-R. If David Vorhis is "Salectric" then we've exchanged a few emails and through my blog due to our fondness for the WE/Altec 32 horn. I never knew that was David Vorhis, I should thank him for getting me started in DIY
A lot of my gear are in storage due to a recent move back to the USA from Manila. So it'll be a while before I get my hands on my stash of tubes and DIY paraphernalia.
JE
Interesting thread. Have any of you tried a 50 amp with Altec? I was recently listening to music reference 2a3 and before that a 245 from same company. From what I've heard his 50 amp is the best one. Just wondering as I've never heard a 46 and never heard any of them on my speakers
Most of the vintage tubes are made poorly, compared to the very best modern triodes. Only exception is the RCA ( or Italian Fivre ) monoplate " harp" 2A3, which is UNobtainium.
The best overall triode I know of ( excluding SUPER expensive EMLs ) is the currently-available JJ 2A3-40. That is what I use, and " go " to these days. It TOTALLY WIPED-out my NOS Type 45 tube, easily and by a WIDE margin, ultra wide margin. I wasted a year and a half of my ( limited, getting older ) life, using NOS 45s.
The JJ 2A3-40 easily makes the sorry Type 50 tube, Western Electric triodes, construction wise, look like what it really is, a piece of junk !! I am talking about things like: amount of vacuum ( internally, maybe 10 times more in a modern tube ) , thickness of the glass envelope, to HOLD a vacuum, internal construction and metallurgy of the tube's elements, lead outs to the pins, horrible lack of symmetrical cathode / filament structures, etc etc etc.
NO comparison what so ever, JJ modern, to all the old junk. Get smart and get with it !!
I just sold EVERY 2A3 biplate I owned, since the 1980's, on eBay last week.
Low Ohms.....Jeff
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