Expensive but...

**Old Guy** · January 14th, 2012, 07:45 AM

Pristine Pair Vintage Altec 1570B Tube Monoblocks, Super Clean, Rare Chance | eBay

**Panomaniac** · January 14th, 2012, 09:12 AM

Really pretty. That's a lot of triode power.

**Altec Best** · January 14th, 2012, 12:56 PM

Very,Very,Clean,the only dust I can see on it is in the back were the tubes are. Saaweet !

**cradeldorf** · January 14th, 2012, 05:11 PM

I brushed up on tube amps last night, not sure I'm ready to take the jump.

**Audio_by_Goodwill** · January 14th, 2012, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by cradeldorf

I brushed up on tube amps last night, not sure I'm ready to take the jump.

I think the cheapest way into tube amps is probably a console pull. Magnavox console amps are popular in particular.

**cradeldorf** · January 15th, 2012, 12:32 AM

Hmm never thought of that, you are saying find an old magnavox console and just yank the amp/tuner part out and run that out in the open? providing it has tubes and isn't SS.

**Audio_by_Goodwill** · January 15th, 2012, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by cradeldorf

Hmm never thought of that, you are saying find an old magnavox console and just yank the amp/tuner part out and run that out in the open? providing it has tubes and isn't SS.

Many of them have amps that are separate from the tuner. People modify them all the time to be stand alone. Basically you need to jump a couple of contacts to get it to turn on, since that's normally in the tunner that is no longer connected. People usually install a switch, and add biding posts........ and change caps like you might have to do on any old tube amp. Many people insist that some balance circuit needs to be modified, too....... not sure why.

If you find something called a "Concert Grand" re-sell that one whole......... that's the Holy Grail for many Magnavox Console affeciandos.

**bowtie427ss** · January 15th, 2012, 09:51 AM

Important to note what speaker load was originally in the console. Most console OPT's only have 1 secondary winding. Some Magnavox's had 4 ohm secondaries. I'm not aware of any that had OPT's approaching the full 20-20k hifi bandwidth.

Beef up the P/S and add a pair of Lundahl OPT's and you can have a pretty serious hifi amp. Of course you now have 700-800 invested in your 20 dollar console pull. But, it will sound mighty fine.

**Old Guy** · January 15th, 2012, 11:40 AM

There's a 1950's Voice of music console that has a dual 6V6 per channel amp for 50 asking in Columbus...the amp is actually a reciever with a 12" tall faceplate, nice and funky. I already bought a circa 1968 Harmon Kardon for the barn though.

**Audio_by_Goodwill** · January 15th, 2012, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by bowtie427ss

Important to note what speaker load was originally in the console. Most console OPT's only have 1 secondary winding. Some Magnavox's had 4 ohm secondaries. I'm not aware of any that had OPT's approaching the full 20-20k hifi bandwidth.

Beef up the P/S and add a pair of Lundahl OPT's and you can have a pretty serious hifi amp. Of course you now have 700-800 invested in your 20 dollar console pull. But, it will sound mighty fine.

Well, note I spoke of these as being an easy entry in tube........ which I'm sure will be fine for me. I've got one that I'd like to use. I really need a pre-amp for it, Though. Eventually, I'd like to use it for just the highs, and use my 9444A for the lows.

Also, they're not $20 pulls....... Magnavox's regularly hit $100 or more on ebay. Whole consoles are even going up in price........ but that's your best chance of finding an amp cheap.