If you were to build a tube amp only for bedroom use, nothing else,

robgilmo

How quiet could you make it? Quiet in that when cranked to break up point it stgill only sounds as loud as say a TV? Can this be done?

ecc83

Why go to all that trouble Rob when you can buy an HT-1?

The little amp puts out just about one watt and even 'our' biggest detractor ICBM say the One is quite a decent sounding amp!

However, even one watt into say a V30 will kick out 100dB SPL (at 1m) and that is a lot louder than any FSTV will go. The solution is pretty simple, one of those L pads, a 15 or 20 W one will be fine. Bloody sight easier to build than a complete guitar amp!

Get looking on Ebay.

Dave.

robgilmo

ecc83 said:

Why go to all that trouble Rob when you can buy an HT-1?

The little amp puts out just about one watt and even 'our' biggest detractor ICBM say the One is quite a decent sounding amp!

However, even one watt into say a V30 will kick out 100dB SPL (at 1m) and that is a lot louder than any FSTV will go. The solution is pretty simple, one of those L pads, a 15 or 20 W one will be fine. Bloody sight easier to build than a complete guitar amp!

Get looking on Ebay.

Dave.

Thats the thing, thats a practice amp, not a bedroom amp, a bedroom amp would be that but in a bigger box with a 12'' speaker.

digitalscream

robgilmo said:

Thats the thing, thats a practice amp, not a bedroom amp, a bedroom amp would be that but in a bigger box with a 12'' speaker.

HT-1 head and a 1x12" cab, then?

That's what I've got (well, a 2x12" only running one speaker), and it sounds great with all the dirt coming from pedals. Still too loud for the house when you wind it up, mind, so I've got an AMT PE-15 reactive load that has a 10% output (ie 10% of the power goes to the cab, the rest is eaten by the load).

ecc83

Define "practice amp"? The HT 1 is available as a head and a swift shufti on the bay shows peeps want about £120 for them but I did see one at £75. Now I doubt you could buy all the parts for a 'proper' (by your reckoning) guitar amp for that and you will have a shedload of work to do.

The HT-5 is in every way NOT a "practice" amp, has all the bells and whistles of the biggies, Tone stack, reverb, FX loop, The Five is much louder than the One, many folks gig'em but again, a 20W L pad can tame them.

Dave.

fretmeister

Use whatever amp you want with a Fryette PS-2.

That very clever bit of kit will get a Plexi all the way down to line level and then use a clean / fat power amp to get it back up to where you want it.

You can have a plexi, fully dimed, and have it whisper quiet then.

The Fryette, whatever cab you want, and whatever head you want will do it.

You can even dime a plexi and use it with a 1x12 with only a Greenback (25W) in it, as long as you don't crank the PS-2 itself.

MikeP

Expensive though aren't they! I'd probably build a 1w valve amp. Depending on the flavour either; primarily preamp overdrive with an master OR primarily power tube overdrive with vvr. Add an inefficient speaker but the largest i could manage.

Modulus_Amps

ecc83 said:

Why go to all that trouble Rob when you can buy an HT-1?

The enjoyment of the process, the learning along the way, building something that you can change and tweak to sound exactly the way you want it, just because you can etc

Modulus_Amps

Rob, yes you can and there are lots of ways to achieve it. You pretty much have to decide what output valve(s) you want to use and then get the loading and voltage right to get the power output you want. If you intend to use a classis valve amp pre amp you may need to have a higher voltage rail for that to work and sound right.

ICBM

50 *milliwatts* is plenty, probably even less. The ZVex Nano is about 100mW clean, from memory - around half a watt fully overdriven, still too loud for overdrive at home volumes with an efficient speaker. I had to build a little attenuator for mine…

ecc83

Modulus_Amps said:

ecc83 said:

Why go to all that trouble Rob when you can buy an HT-1?

The enjoyment of the process, the learning along the way, building something that you can change and tweak to sound exactly the way you want it, just because you can etc

Well there is that but if he can find an early HT 1 or 5 they are thru hole and he can mod it till the cows come home.

I had an idea a while ago about using the old battery radio valves? DL96 and so forth. Be tricky finding suitable transformers mind and further to ICBM's comment they would still be too bloody loud through a decent git speaker!

Dave.

paulmapp8306

fretmeister said:

Use whatever amp you want with a Fryette PS-2.

That very clever bit of kit will get a Plexi all the way down to line level and then use a clean / fat power amp to get it back up to where you want it.

You can have a plexi, fully dimed, and have it whisper quiet then.

The Fryette, whatever cab you want, and whatever head you want will do it.

You can even dime a plexi and use it with a 1x12 with only a Greenback (25W) in it, as long as you don't crank the PS-2 itself.

exactly my thought.

Im looking for a 1x12 combo - it will only hber home use. with some select pedals BUT Im looking for the one that sounds right regardless of the volume it sounds right at.  I have used - and am getting again - a PS2a (which will double as the power amp for my AFX) anyway - and Ill use that to use whatever that amp is at the right volume for my room.

nero1701

Modulus_Amps said:

ecc83 said:

Why go to all that trouble Rob when you can buy an HT-1?

The enjoyment of the process, the learning along the way, building something that you can change and tweak to sound exactly the way you want it, just because you can etc

I've just finished building one of the Modulus Amps, I really enjoyed the process. I have an electronics background but have spent the past few years in infrastructure. I was a little worried/anxious about the build. The layout diagram gives you everything you need. I done the deep fried marshbar, 2 different inputs. The Low Gain input is actually really dynamic and usable at room volume. the high gain input can be used at home also, but is obviously a bit louder.

The build has given me the confident to now do a non kit Tweed deluxe.

robgilmo

Guys the reason I ask is because I dont think one actually exists, I dont think there is one tube amp out there that you can turn up to break up point without annoying your neighbours. Which even makes practice amps pretty useless if you practice at home and need the amp to break up.
So, I was thinking, has nobody made one because it cant actually be done? Does tube tech and amp circuitry not permit low volume amps with big speakers?

Imagine if you could walk into PMT or Andersons and buy an all tube amp combo in a decent cab with a 12'' speaker that you could take home and crank straight out of the box without any neighbour annoyance at all?
Would that not be splendid?

strtdv

I think "bedroom amp" is a bit of a false distinction. Plenty of 100 watt valve amps sound perfectly good at bedroom levels, and even 5 watts is far too loud for home use if you're cranking it.

I've got an MJW Roadstar Twin which has separate gain and volume controls for each channel as well as a global master volume and built in attenuator. It's around 20 watts I think.

I find that while it's happiest at louder volumes, it still sounds very good turned down a bit and using the attenuator to take the volume down a bit.

I've never been totally happy with using attenuators to take volume down substantially (even fairly expensive reactive ones) as I think a lot of the sound and feel of an amp comes from the speaker moving quite a bit of air, and that only happens at reasonably loud volumes (just about ok for home use in a detached house).
My Laney has a 5 watt and 0.5 watt output and it sounds far better on the 5 watt setting even at broadly similar volumes

Stratavarious

I put power scaling into a 5w champ circuit and a couple of cathode bypasses as boosts..   huge gain tones at any volume.

andy_k

I picked up a half watt valve head, on here, not too long ago.
Can't tell you who built it, but it does a pretty good impression of a JCM 800, through a 4×12, with all knobs half way up, in my first floor flat,with no complaints.
Not quite whisper quiet, but it does go lower.
I have seen similar things on ebay, and I think they are heavily influenced by Rob Robinettes stuff.

goldtop

robgilmo said:

Guys the reason I ask is because I dont think one actually exists, I dont think there is one tube amp out there that you can turn up to break up point without annoying your neighbours. 

Guytron GT-100. From long before Fryette got the PowerStation twinkle in his eye.

57Deluxe

apparently, a silver faced Champ with a Princeton tone circuit...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb2P34IPDJk

cruxiform

I have a Blackstar HT40 which works very well at low volume levels and has done for around 8 years since I bought it from a chap on this forum. I've had more trouble managing a Spark 40 to do that, it is a bit on/off on the volume. I think it'll be up for sale soon.

Benm39

Master volume on a Bartel lets you play at pretty much any volume and setting you like,  but it's not a very cost effective means of getting great bedroom volume tones admittedly!!