Bottlehead Paramours...a newbie review

[millerdog]

I bought the Paramour kits used; opened and inventoried but not assembled.
This part will only cover the hardware part. The wood is still drying:)

The Bottlehead kits contain everything you need to complete the amps. Most of the trimmed wire is used for the point to point wiring, so nothing else is needed except for a soldering iron and solder. I used 60/40 RadShak solder. I tried their lead free stuff but found it didn't mix. I had a hard time getting that stuff off the iron. Next thing I found was that it helps if you have a soldering station. The iron I had was just not cutting the uh, solder. So I went and bought a RadShak station. What a difference in assembly:) Cold solders were not a problem now.
The brushed aluminum plates are the same; side by side same. If you want mirror imaged tops, remember to invert one of the plates. I got all the way to hardware mounting until I realized I was making the same amp twice :( Now I have mirror image plates; meaning side by side, they are opposites of each other.
The assembly is easy. I only tried one other DIY project(headphone amp built on a pc board) and found this kit easy to build(with a good solder iron. If I had only my cheap single iron, I'm sure I would have kicked Miller).
The kit includes two pictures of the completed amp. I used the blow up on the completed amp much more than the four pics of different sides. You will have problems mounting the transformer. I had a conniption fit trying to the get them to sit properly.
The Bottlehead site is a good reference if you have problems. Not the forums, but the uh...parts and extra thing links. It solved my mounting of the transformers. They addressed the issues I had with the length of wire used to connect a resistor and wire connection.
Some of the soldering points invovle three to four inputs at once, so you must make sure the joints are not cold. I tried to get them from both ends.
The instructions are excellent. Can a newbie do it? Yes, if you have soldering skills or a good iron. Was it hard? No.
Well, I was shorted two resistors that I'll have to get on Monday. Not shorted, but I have two extras I don't need. The only flaw in the kit. By the way, you are given the exact amount of parts needed. There are no extras.
These are nice kits. I wouldn't hesistate to get the Paraglows or Parabees.
The only upgrades I would do would be the binding posts(WBT I think I will) and the caps(but there are too many to mention).
md

[MikE]

Yes, I would highly recommend upgrading to AuriCaps. There not expensive, nor are Kiwame or Riken carbon film resistors. So get the kits together, listen to it for a few months then start swapping some parts and report your findings.

MikE

[Billfort]

Good to hear assembly is going well - will be interesting to hear what you think of the sound of these md. I've heard these a few times in other systems and was really impressed with how good they sound. Assuming someone has the right speakers (a BIG assumption), I feel these are the best low dollar SET amps out there. A friend has a pair that I will be trying with the Altec 604s in a few weeks - looking forward to this.

I agree with MikeE's suggestion to build stock first and take a measured, step by step approach to mods. I heard from someone who tried to build one of these from scratch using "boutique", higher dollar parts and ended up with an amp that didn't really sound right - the stock amp sounded better. Seems the Bottlehead guys weaved a little alchemy here and got great sound through good synergy of sometimes lesser parts. 1 mod at a time, with guidance from the bottlhead board, should yield great results.

Billfort

[MikE]

... listen to it for a few months then start swapping some parts... ... someone who tried to build one of these from scratch using "boutique", higher dollar parts and ended up with an amp that didn't really sound right...

I was that guy. When I ordered my amp I asked Moth (with their approval) to install "boutique parts" (Exotica teflon caps, Kiwame resistors, 99.999% solid silver wire) BEFORE I ever heard the stock unit. Instead I relied on the designer to A/B mine vs one of his stock amps. He felt "my amp" was slightly more detailed and the soundfield more transparent and expansive. Thought he did not feel the upgrades were not cost effective for production units. Before shipping he communicated that I would be "very pleased" with the results.

MikE

[Billfort]

Actually Mike, the guy I'm talking about, tried this with the Paramour circuit. There is a group of us in Toronto who are scratch building 300B SETs based on the Angela model 91 circuit and a few of us started playing amp genius and second guessing layout and part specification (guilty :) ). He shared his dead-end Paramour experience with us to keep us on the sensible path - build it first based on the tried and true, then play around with tweeks in a measured manner.

I love getting humble advise like this from people who have made mistakes in the past and are willing to share with newbees like myself. The best place to get advise on upgrading Paramours will always be the bottlehead guys who are so helpful about this stuff on the bottlehead forum - they have done it all before and maybe even made a few mistakes along the way.

Billfort

[Thatch_Ear]

Glad your going for it MD. The only non kit mods I have heard of were for swapping out the 3.3 uF Solens for large oil caps. First 4uF and now 1.5 uF seem to be the choice. Johan does say that each does better with different types of music but both are better than the Solens. Of course you have to go original before you could tell the difference.

[millerdog]

Thanks for all the encouragement:)
Well, I got good news and bad news....I did the resistance check and all looked good. I put on some shoes and plugged the first amp in. Checked all the voltages and came up withing specs. I attached my speakers and the lowest hum came in dead center on the pots. I check the next amp. Again resistance looks good. Power it up an OHOH! Some very high voltage readings. Hmmmm...12AT7 doesn't even light up. I resolder a cap and now I got correct voltage to the 2A3, but still high readings (double) on the driver tube. So I double check the readings, for I wanted to post on the Bottlehead forum for help. Now I have low readings to the 2A3 tube. Oh, well.....I hope I get some replies tonight.
Man oh man, I was hankering to give them puppies a listen as my preamp came today too. Sixcats sent it off on Saturday, so this must be some kind of new record for USPS:D I sure wish I new more about how circuits work so I could troubleshoot on my own
:( I got a ham ticket so I know some basics, but all my readings didn't seem to indicate anything wrong; except for the power transformer. I hope that ain't it.
md

Okay, I'm an idiot:( When I reversed the chassis, I also reversed the numbering on the tube sockets:confused: Time to rewire an check out again.

[gonefishin]

Millerdog...any new thoughts?

[millerdog]

GF,
I thought I posted on the 'mours somewhere.
Here's a short: I went straight to the Sovteks. They sounded really nice. Detail was cool; a veil had been lifted compared to PP tubes (my Fisher). Going to some blackplate RCAs, well, now my amps rock. More bass, with a slight loss of high end detail.
I am SET all the way now. My next project will probably the welborne labs SETs I had asked you about.
Oh, and some high efficiency speakers.:)
For $500, the Paramours are a bargain.