so the hamb deleted my last post, lame, I want to install a tube amp as the sound system in my car, if your not familiar with valve amplifiers you dont know what your missing, is an old school amp, so dont "Diss" I figured this would be the place for help, -Julio
What are you using as your preamp? An AM/FM radio receiver, CD player, or simply an iPod or mp3 player? Seems simple enough to me. Get your tube-driven amplifier, and power your speakers with it. You can slave your headunit for it's preamp and EQ, or run an external EQ. Where you want to mount this setup is up to you depending on what kind of car this is going in. I love tube amps as much as the next guy, but this doesn't make much sense to me. Though I certainly won't dispute that my Gretsch or PRS sounds bad *** through my 100 watt Marshall tube amp, I'm not facing the same packaging limitations I am in my car. The solid state head unit is the way to go.
I would be mounting it in my dash in the glove box (there is alot of room and I can easily ventilate), going straight from my ipod headphone jack, im mainly concerned with the whole voltage thing, plus Kustom ideas dont require practicality haha, and yes my gretsch and my 100 watt head do wonders together, i was going to use a relatively small head, like a 35 watter, nothing too space and energy consuming.
What sort of voltage is needed to run an amp like that? Will you need some sort of inverter or external power supply to step up the voltage of the car's battery to power it?
its just something you can plug in at home so maybe if I used a generic power inverter and hid it out of he way to keep it clean? I dont think its that hard all in all I just want to see if anyone has done it before
Maybe not as low as 50 bucks but for 99.9% of us a sound shop system that is all tucked out of sight with a proper jack/plug for the Ipod or what ever portable music device we carry on us would be more than sufficient. Probably a third of the guys on her don't or won't run any sound system in their rod and don't really like to have to put up with the ones that others think they have to have playing in their cars displayed at events. For me it is just going to be go to the car audio shop I have gone to before and have them put in a decent but not outlandish system that is all hidden and cruise happily. But I am like the majority of old hot rodders in that my ears are too far gone to tell the difference between one type of amp and the other anyhow.
Tube amps sound great for musical instruments, not for playing recorded music. Recorded music needs accurate amplification without distortion. You won't get much benefit from your idea, and the size/weight/cost are all greater than just getting a decent auto amp and plugging in. Having said that, if you modify a guitar amplifier to run your iPod and put it in your back seat a lot of people will think it's really really cool, so follow your own bliss on this one.
Though I agree that solid state amplification is the way to go when it comes to vehicles, I disagree that tube amps have no place in the home stereo realm. There are many HIGH end stereos and amplifiers that utilize tubes. The tone is very powerful and rich. My uncle is a big time audiophile and has a series of tube driven amplifiers powering his B&W speakers. The tone is impressive, not to mention the units themselves are aesthetically impressive
I side on the tube sound is great but I can't imagine that the tubes or units would withstand the constant abuse they would take in a car. What a pita in replacing the tubes all the time. It wasn't such a big deal when you could buy tubes anywhere.
you dont need a midi jack to plug in your mp3 player. i use an FM transmitter. got it for a few bucks at best buy some time back where theres a will, theres a way
Tube amps dont meen you get distortion there are tube amps for jazz-they do NOT want distortion,what a tube amp can give you is warmth compared to solid sate amps,its like comparing digital to ****ogue,all the old recording of music sounds better because for the "warmth" .Heres your problem tube amps are not durable,the tube goes bad very quick when there warmed up and they start to get bumped around a bit.Ive been playing guitar for 26 years and have a degree in music,Ive gone through many amps.What you want is a peavy trans tube-solid state w/ a Small tube in the preamp section,there are also Line 6 amps that are like this and there relatively small and have inputs for your i-pod .mp3 players expect to pay around a hundred for one od these .Search peavy trans tube and line 6 black widow amps----the smaller ones are combo amps and the heads can be unscrewed from the housing and slide rite out leaving just the speacker there---make sure you match up your speaker for ohms and wattage
The thing that makes no sense to me in this whole equation is that if the OP is so concerned about the warmth and tone of the amplifier with tubes vs. solid state amplification, then what is the rest of the setup to do the amplification justice? I'd highly doubt you're going to stick a set of JBL home theatre speakers in your Falcon. And even if you did, are you going to be playing mp3s off your iPod that have been digitally ****d of sound quality (sorry, but a song ripped at 128 does not equate to "CD quality")? If you're going to be pushing all this through a set of $140 Pioneer 6x9s that you scored at Best Buy, and you're going to be listening with your windows down, no sound deadening material in the body of the car, and the duals roaring out the back, then I got news for you; you're not going to be able to tell the difference between c***ette, CD, mp3, mp4 or solid state or tube amplified, and the whole question is moot. No offense man, but I'd be more concerned about not driving a stone stock 4 door 63 Falcon, than trying to stick a tube amp in one. I can think of better ways to spend that money
I dont care either way what you do in your car, personally id go for ease of use and practicality, but people who have not listened to mastered music through a valve or tube driven amplification system have not lived. Its the one and only thing missing from my studio and thats only because im waiting for the right set up.
You will notice a difference no matter what sound source is being put through the amp.period.Solid state proccesses the sound where as tube amps almost act as an instrument in them self,ex -turn a record player on with a record playing,unhook all the speakers put your head w/ in a foot of the player-guess what it you can still hear music playing-because it act as an instrument in its self-people pay thousand os dollars for old tube amps and then run new guitars /instruments through them yet the still get "that sound"And speakers are only part of the equation a small part when it comes to tube amps...what quality speakers do you think they had in the 50`s 60`s compared to todays speakers not nearly as good as 150 speakers at best buy not even close.Also when you rip a song at "128" its compressing the song thats all yea you loos a litle ,but tha tube amp could bring back that lost feeling ,also almost all music from the past was compressed as they could fit more onto the 2 then 4 then 8 track recorders they were using at the time...yet listen to old Elvis,Zepplin ,Hendrix ect it sounds better than todays music no valve state use there..at all
It seems like alot of you guys arent thinking outside the box enough, I do know where to buy tubes easily, all my amps have gone through more abuse sleeping in the back of vans for months on tour than cruising in the ranfla would ever provide,. guy from el cajon: they are not only used in guitar amps. I enjoy my car, its pretty difficult for a full time college kid and worker to have a daily driver that I get to work on that often, I wanna do what I can with it, that coupled with 5 bands on the side I think im doing pretty well. if you havent heard music from valves you havent lived, plus I would be mounting it so it is noticeable at night with the glow. the system all in all would cost roughtly 50 bucks, playing music you amount good equipment you dont have much to do with, and no I wouldnt couple it with ******** best buy speakers.
Tube amps provide warmth that solid state can't. The stock radio should be a tube driven radio. I think I caught your last thread, which I think stated that your OG one was stolen(?) or was broken(?), but I don't understand the need to "amplify" the stock radio. It's not like you're trying to broadcast "Feee Cennn" to other cars around you like some of these modern day dB blasters. It's just a radio. If you get a hold of the schematics you can put a jack to hook up the ipod or just get an FM converter if you have good local stations. I think my brother may have an FM converter if you need one. I just can't justify the need to have a tube amp to amplify a radio...in a car.
There was a post just on this subject subject will there be anything new in the world of customizing or something to that effect,If every time somebody wanted to try something different and people would **** all over it,and or make them feel like there complete idiots we wouldn't even have the automobile and when that was first introduced it to was luaght at and shot down,----let people use there inspiration,ideas-either help them farther there ideas or shut up.Its you people that kill thoughts that could evolve into something worth while,The telephone was laughed at, the light bulb, hell even crossing the Atlantic was considered impossable! We wouldn't even be here in America if it wasn't for free thinkers thinking out side the realm or whats considered "normal"
I'm interested in your idea. Whether it works is a whole different matter though. A Falcon isn't going to be the best soundstage- and what are you using for a source? At home- I used to have several tube amps. I went through a 20 year audiophile stage & now I don't have the time to just sit & listen. So now it's solid state, CD's & Ipod. Back then, it was a Thorens turntable or my Linn Sondek, either my Mesa Baron or Krell and my Martin Logan electrostatics. All that stuff is in storage now. I spent stupid money on that stuff & sat between those speakers for hours on end. Today? Wouldn't waste the time. FYI- nothing compares to the warmth of tubes- nothing! But you have to sit & listen, not listen while doing something else. I did find a pic of one of my old amps on line. The Baron is made by Mesa- famous for it's Mesa Boogie guitar amps. I ran 2 of these- in Mono. You think hot rods are expensive.............
Hey Julio, I actually like your idea. I will say this though, a tube amp in general draws A LOT more current than a solid state does. So converting it will be pretty tricky. I know there will be no way to run it while the car is off because it will drain the battery pretty quickly even with a converter. Tubes are easy to find. What tubes does it use?... El-84, 6v6?.. 6l6?... 6k6. Depends on how old it is. One other thing to consider is that a preamp of a radio is using a line level input, a tube amp like yours is uses a different level so you need a pre or something to boost your line signal so that the amp uses significant input volume. I work for a big guitar and amp co. I can ask one of our engineers with further info in the morning on pwr conversion if it's do-able. If you need tubes you can always get them from me 20% off HAMB price. Good luck with your project! Jason Lee
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