Testing my new 30W DIY tube/ss hybrid kit amp (Cort X6 SA Blackouts neck pu)

Phantasmagoria

Phantasmagoria

watch where you point that sabre
Started to put this together a couple of nights ago. it's an Aliexpress Tube pre/SS power amp kit I got shipped for $14.00. Bought the box for it off Amazon for about $10.00. Thought it would be fun to use with my modelers.

Evil-Ogre-New-5b-small.jpg


Here a quick/sloppy demo with my Cort X6 SA's Blackouts neck pu into my little Zoom G1X Four pedal (Nux Loop pedal into the Aux input) -> Amp kit's input -> Speaker out -> DI box -> DAW (Reaper)


Works great for recording & sounds really nice hooked up to my FRFR stereo speakers too. Louder than I will ever need for home use/practice/recording as well :bigthumb:

Waitin to hook it up to my Mooer GE300 and see what that sounds like...
 
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Same thing ..this time with my Grote semi-hollow guitar... (passive "Fokin - Rocket Queen" A2 neck pu)

 
Awesome! Looks like a satisfying project.

Questions -
​​​​​​— are the power cables just twisted together without solder?
- did it come with a 3 prong cable, or does it go out to some type
of walwart?
- did it already have jacks or do you need to modify it to accept 1/4”!
 
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Thanks! ...it was a fun little project to mess around with. I'm still not really done, need to add a few finishing touches lol.

Regarding your questions....yeah, the power cables were twisted together in the pics ...actually took those a bit earlier (while I was still checking the PS connections out)...

The output is solid state so just a two-pin input... like with most of my big hi-fi amps. It works with a 18-0-18V 5A tranny.

The two jacks in front are 'aux in' and 'headphone out'...but I used the 'speaker outs' at the back of the board (had'nt yet hooked them up in the pics) so I'd get the power amp output for my recording.. The 'headphone out' is just the preamp. As of now I'm undecided whether to use speaker posts/spring-type-connectors or 1/4" output jacks at the back for that..dont think I'll have place for both. The speaker connectors make it easy to hook up to my FRFR speakers, while the stero 1/4" inch out would be better for recording.

I'll also need some ventilation (drill a bunch of holes at the back/maybe the sides/bottom too...)..'cause it runs pretty hot with the lid on after an hour or so...

So still a little way to go...
 
ArtieToo said:
That IS cool. Did it include the tubes for $14? Can you overdrive the tube front end for real tube distortion? Gotta link?
Click to expand...

Thanks.. really like it myself! Yeah, with tubes. It does'nt really seem to distort much ..seems pretty clean. Maybe if you throw in a diode somewhere haha?

I got this kit in March but it reached me a couple weeks ago (thank you covid 19 lol) ....unfortunately they have gone from free shipping to $37.oo for shipping by DHL. The good news is they dropped the price from $14.00 to $11.00 or so :p.

They've really upped shipping costs across Aliexpress ridiculously for Covid 19, but if you look around you will probably still find someone selling it with free/low shipping.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3281...27424c4dJI5pjE
 
Hooked it up to my Mooer GE300 last night ("Znm Lead" patch) ...sounds pretty fine I think!

With my Cort X6 SA's Blackouts neck pup...

 
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Top-L said:
That is so cool. What is the purpose of the tube section? It appears to just serve as a power amp.
Click to expand...

Thanks! The tube section is a preamp/buffer... (I can use it as just a tube-pre from the headphone output). The output (power amp) stage is solid state.. (main/speaker outputs)
 
Phantasmagoria said:
Thanks.. really like it myself! Yeah, with tubes. It does'nt really seem to distort much ..seems pretty clean. Maybe if you throw in a diode somewhere haha?

I got this kit in March but it reached me a couple weeks ago (thank you covid 19 lol) ....unfortunately they have gone from free shipping to $37.oo for shipping by DHL. The good news is they dropped the price from $14.00 to $11.00 or so :p.

They've really upped shipping costs across Aliexpress ridiculously for Covid 19, but if you look around you will probably still find someone selling it with free/low shipping.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3281...27424c4dJI5pjE
Click to expand...

I just ordered it from that link. Shipping was only $1.08, but with a $2 "new user" discount. So my total was $12.67. This will be fun to play with.

Thanks for the heads up.
 
Sweet! ...& no problem.

....sounds really nice recorded from the headphone output (preamp out) as well, but I'm done with the clips now :p
 
Bought the box locally on Amazon.in (India) ..so I'm not sure if it's available to buy/ships to the US (?) I can't find the link in my purchase history either so sorry about that dude....

As for Tolexing ...too much of a PIA :lmao:

I like how it looks anyway :D

Just going to put some rubber feet at the bottom & I'm done as far as aesthetics go :lmao:
 
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