Bogen Tube Amp Model DB20DF

[englissa]

HI All

Was at flea market this morning and a seller there had a Bogen mono amp for sale fof 100.00 . It looked clean and in good shape and he has two of them, he said they came out of some sort of console or something . I couldn't help but to slober a little but held it back.The seller says they have been checked out and work good and about thirty watts out. I'm looking for your thought's ,opinion's , comments on this mono amp, Think I've been bitten by the tube bug !!!!! Englissa

 

[Thatch_Ear]

If they had gold chassis run back and buy them. The blue green jog back, they are about the same but the DB-20 DF is probably one of the best 6L6 mono blocks made in the 50s. You can expect to need to recap but a clean pair should go for well over $200. Perfect working order I would say an easy over $300. The $ value isn't reflective on the quality. The chokes on these things are larger than most PP 6L6 OPTs.
Pre stereo days these were the top of the line home hifi built by Bogen. Definatly not PA gear at all. If the amps have the ST coke bottle shape 6L6s the RCAs are great sounding tubes.

 

[englissa]

Thach Ear Their base was greenish color . Are you saying that these wouldn't be good to use as an amp for home stereo if i got both of them , one for right and the outher fot the left channel ? Really don't want to go and buy something and find out that it's not what i wanted or needed Englissa

 

[Thatch_Ear]

The gold is a slightly better version, but as old as they are the differences are now probably nothing. There were possibly better caps, but since you should recap anyway that is moot. If they are original, working and have no hums from over the hill caps you can expect it to need recapping soon any way.

They are definatly HiFi. The DB line was HiFi, the DF the best of that and the gold either slightly better than the green, or just higher priced than the green. That I don't know for sure.

These amps were made almost 50 years ago and at that time were better than most, infereior to very few.

Resale value I don't know, but quality is definatly there and these were made for high end in home music reproduction, while the majority of Bogen products were pro sound and made for microphone use,ie; PA systems, guitars, harmonicas and such. The pro sound gear could have been limited bandwidth. The DB DF gear was top of the line used for high end music reproduction in the home.

I have a pair myself about to go to a tech for refurbishing. They are good amps and have some very nice features. The fact remains that they were made around 56,57 and some of the parts will need replacement.

A good working pair for $200 is a good deal. In my view except for the age a pair of DB-20 DFs is better than a Dyna ST-70 and $200 mostly will usually only buy you Dyna junk.

 

[englissa]

Thach Ear So these are worth getting for a home stereo system,,If I get them they would be for me not for resale . First i have an EICO HF 81 to deal with first but its not often that i have seen tube gear out there . Before i go off and get them are they a preamp/amp or are they just an amp and i saw a couple of inputs on them but i dont remember what they were ( keeped looking at the tubes ) can a phono be hooked up? I'm reall new to this if you haven"t figured this out . My motor is racing but i can only find nutural,,A list of specs on these would be a great help of what thet can and can't do . englissa

 

[tubino]

I owned one of these and enjoyed daily in a mono system for months. I think the DF stands for Damping Factor, as this model has a nifty little circuit to adjust... the damping factor! Well that's just trivia, but Thatch is right, if you can buy a pair for $100 (flea market? offer him $85, he'll probably take it!), you can't go wrong. I let mine go really cheap years ago...

 

[englissa]

Tubino He's asking 100.00 a piece and i have no idea if thats good or bad ? fifty a piece i would have gotten them only he had just one with him,,Would hate to miss something good becaust i just didn't know . I have his name and phone number and when i asked him about going to his house he wasn't totally opposed to the idea .From what i'm gathering there amps are worth getting . englissa

 

[tubino]

Oh, well if you get them, I think you'll have a lot of good fun and use. If you miss them for $200, don't beat yourself up for it. Probably worth a trip to the guy's house with some cash in your pocket. It might be that he has some excellent vintage speakers or other that he would let go cheaply.

 

[englissa]

Just talked to the guy that's selling thoes Bogens and he said all the tubes have been tested good , that they are original,, one is green the outher gold . He has had them hooked up and used then on and off at home . HE don't have the cages for them. he was quick to answer like he seems to know what he's talking about. Do I really want to start down this road of tube gear ?????????????? Englissa

 

[Thatch_Ear]

Yes, those are very good amps. You might need to get them serviced but they have phono sections, tone controls, damping factor and some other goodies. They really were trying to make the very best amp possible and I am sure they cost much more than $100 ea in 1957.

I use mine without the cages.

 

[englissa]

Thach Ear Are SAMS able to be gotton for these? Have you ever seen something that you really don't need but you just gotta have it !! that whats happening to me with these . How much wil it cost to upgrade the pair of these i wonder ? englissa

 

[RocknRoll]

The Sams folder for Bogen DB20 is 237-6. That is 1954 so the amps are from around about mid 50s. I can't find any Bogen manuals for free online.

 

[tubino]

that whats happening to me with these . How much wil it cost to upgrade the pair of these i wonder ? englissa

Depends on where you do your shopping! You don't have to pay retail for capacitors (good deals exist on surplus), you can follow Thatch's advice to use perf board with discrete caps, you can make sure you get good USED tubes and not spend $$$ on NEW old stock, just to be the one to take them out of the box...

Some very good binding posts and RCA's are available at good prices too. If you don't want to spend much, it helps to have patience and time, though.

 

[englissa]

If i get these I can assure you it will be a learning experence for me? Let see,, i'm on step one, purchase amps ! englissa

 

[Thatch_Ear]

I don't know how well you use a soldering iron but if you get these and want to upgrade I will braid you the signal wire you need for hooking up a CDP and Phono if you buy good copper RCAs and BPs.

 

[Thatch_Ear]

I know where there are some EV speakers in Southern N.J. that are about as old as those amps.

By the way the wire I am talking about sells for around $2/ft so if I do you up some runs the retail price on the wire would be around what 2 pair of RCA and 2 pair of Binding Posts would run. Get Vampire or DH Labs. Since I have a pair about to go out to a tech, when I get them back we might do this together.
One of my amps I have never even used so hopefully it will be OK. The other I used for a long time to run the center channel in my HT that was a folded horn, isobaric 10" mid range and a pair of 3" tweeters. I used the amp for hundreds of hours with doing only a few minor things which might or might not have improved the sound. The guy who will be looking the pair over is really into it and as long as all the iron is good on the second one I am expecting back some amps that should blow the doors off a Dyna ST-70 and I like EL-34s better than 6L6s.

I had a Datsun 1600 Roadster I was selling to a guy that had heard my Fisher 400 and Shahinian Obelisk rig. He is a guy into big SS and was surprised at the sound. Next time he came over I had the Bogen/DIY center playing some Cassandra Wilson and he turned to his GF and said, "See, I told you his stereo sounded great." He was surprised to find out it was a single speaker playing in mono, that the amp was mid 50s and the speaker I built myself. This guy fancied himself a bit of the audiophile, but he never heard tubes till he was in my house.

 

[englissa]

Thach Ear,,,stand a good chance i'll get them,but i have an Eico to work on first. Where at in Jersey are thoes speakers ? englissa

 

[Thatch_Ear]

Southern Jersey is all I know. I don't think he wants to sell but anything is possible. I just knew they would be efficient. What kind of speakers do you have now?

 

[englissa]

sansui sp2000,,,,,also picked up a pair of advents model unknown as i haven looked at them yet , they need to be refoamed along with a couple outhers englissa

 

[englissa]

Thach Ear I was talking to the owner of these amps and he was telling me that the chassie wireing looks different between the two? could it be because their hand wired by different people? One is gold chassie the outher is green ?? englissa