DIY Audio Projects Forum

I have been lurking around reading as I get time on tube audio and it intrigues me. So i am at a thrift store the other day and find an old Hammond S-6 organ in perfect working order for $25. I figure there's enough tubes in it to build something with. I get it home, tear it apart and this is what I have: (18) Sylvania 6SN7 GT, (6) Ken-rad 6SC7, (2) RCA 6V6, (1) RCA 6SL7 & (1) RCA 5U4 G tubes. Now I want to build something but not sure what to make. This is my first venture into homebuilt audio but have built plenty of electronic projects/robots in the past. (yes i have already ordered a few books on tubes so i will get all the required safety info) So what would you recommend to make with it? My current setup is a Stanton T-80 turntable, a not very special Pioneer amp, and Klipsch Synergy F1 speakers. I am happy for now with the speakers and turntable (will upgrade someday) but want to replace the amp first. I would like to build something nice, that will last me a few years before I grow out of it, but dont want to spend $1000 in parts. I can etch the PCB if needed. Any and all suggestions appreciated.

Hi!

Welcome to the forum!

It seems that you made a good deal with that organ! You have many and good tubes. How much power are you looking for? You have plenty of 6SN7GT tubes. I would sell a couple of them, to get another pair of 6V6´s for parallel output tubes (quarttet output).

So this means I would build a small amplifier with RIAA phono-stage.

Cheers,
Miguel

If the organ is in perfect working order you might want to reconsider gutting it. Those are some nice tubes, but that's a vintage organ, albeit not a very expensive one. At the very least decide what kind of amp you're going to build and then see how many tubes and parts you can use from the organ and how many you'll have to buy before making a final decision on terminating the life of a vintage Hammond tube organ.

It IS a nice compliment of tubes.

_________________
Stephen

How much power do I need? It seems from what I've read that you dont need as much power when using tubes. I have a 15' x 20' livingroom or similar. My current Pioneer says its 400 watts but I am sure I dont need that much. I just want to listen at a reasonable volume, no needto shake the walls.

Whats a decent price to sell the tubes for?

Do you have any specific amp in mind? Maybe one that has printed transfer to make PCB or even one that I can buy a PCB?

Thanks for the help.

Uhhhh, way too late. Its already in NUMEROUS pieces (probably several hundred. All the chord keys are in a 20 gallon trashcan now. Man that organ had lots of stuff in it to produce all those chords). I had no need for the organ- bought strictly for the parts. I still have the wood frame, thought it might be appropriate to build the amp housing out of the wood from the organ housing-kind of recycle the whole thing.

new2tubes

How sensistive are your speakers? I´m running a EL34´s in PP, about 25W per channel into some KEF C1 Bookshelf speakers (87dB). I like to hear music at a certain high level. The sound is 5 stars in my small living room.

There are many factors involved to your satisfaction...

If you like to listen at high volume and feel the bass, my advice is to go for the KT88´s. But 4 6V6 tubes per channel might sound great! Maybe somebody over here has some experience with 6V6´s.

Cheers,
Miguel

Your first 2 sentences - I'm totally lost, I have no idea.
KT88's - do I have any now? Per my earlier post, no need to shake the walls with the bass. I have neighbors with a baby who would call the if it gets too loud.
4 6v6 per channel? So out of all those tubes, only the (2) 6v6's are of any use?

Do you know of anything specific to point me in the right direction, such as....look at the ABC kit from this person for a preamp and the XYZ board from this website for an amplifier ?? I'm just looking for something sort of straightforward to learn about tubes and have some fun indoors now that its below freezing outside. (It would be nice if it used more than 2 of the tubes also.)

Thanks.

Your tubes are OK.

Here is a schematic with 6V6 tubes in SE configuration.

It is possible to replace (not directly) the ECC83 with your Sylvania´s 6SN7GT.
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I just found this PP schematic!
Maybe it suits you better! Straightforward
Check here: http://diyaudioprojects.com/Schematics/DIY-Push-Pull-PP-6V6-Tube-Amplifier/