World's Cheapest Tube System

fredt300b

Active Member
I was up in a spare room last night and spotted the Voigt Pipes I had built last year for about $100 total (RS 8" drivers plus mdf for the cabinets), and it occurred to me that these could be used quite effectively in a very low priced, low powered system. So I built a passive "preamp" using a pair of Bottlehead Sweet Whispers stepped attenuators and a RS project box - total cost about $50. Then I connected my trusty ASL Wave AV-8 tube monoblocks ($198 for the pair new). Total cost about $350 for the entire system minus the source, which everyone already has. No, I'm not quite ready to sell my Cornwalls and 300B amp, but it's amazing how good this system sounds using an inexpensive NAD CD player. This would be a good project for someone who wants a taste of tubes without making a large dollar committment. The Waves put out about 10 watts, so if you already have a pair of 90db+ efficiency eight ohm speakers you wouldn't have to build the Voigt Pipes - total cost would be about $250 (and a lot less work) - about the price of a decent pair of speaker cables. Fair warning though - I suspect ASL sells the 8's for just $98ea cause they KNOW after you have heard them you will be back for bigger and better.
 
fred...nice post! There is alotta stuff out there that sounds good for very little money. This would be a great suggestion for someone just startin' to fiddle with audio or a second system.

any pics?
 
Reply to "Any Pics?"

I do have a digital camera and would be glad to post a picture of this system, but I was under the impression that you had to place the picture on your personal webpage and insert a link to that page. I don't have one - is there any other way to post a picture?
 
just hit reaply in this thread. type in your message as usual in the "your reply" section and then drop down to the "attach file" section. click browse and find the picture on your computer. then you just submit reply and it will upload the picture into the thread direct from your computer.
 
Compare / contrast

The Voight pipes and the Cornwalls. I've been looking at a Voight pipe design to replace my dynamic 3-way boxes. Then again, horms are good too! MikE
 
Picture of world's cheapest

Here's a picture or the system. You can hardly see the little Waves next to each speaker. The CD player is sitting on the 19th century gothic kneeler (doesn't everyone use a gothic kneeler as their equipment stand?) with the "preamp" on top. More info on Voigt Pipes can be found at http://www.melhuish.org and at http://www.ece.villanova.edu/~cdanjo/voigt.html This system has good synergy - the pipes are a bit bass shy, but the Waves have a small midbass peak. They combine to produce a rich sound, but one with no deep bass, and really excellent imaging. I used the RS 8" drivers, but if I were to do it over again I would probably use their 6.5" drivers. The tops of the pipes are cut off because I dropped one from about 6 feet right on its top and crunched it, so I cut the tops of both about 4".
 
If your interested:

The original AV-8 ($99)
aqwave.jpg

http://www.divertech.com/aqwave.html


The new AV-8CVR ($140)
wave-cvr.GIF

http://www.sonic.net/soundscape/antique/


The AV-8CVR is cheaper from SC Sound Gallery ($119)
http://www.scsoundgallery.com/july_sale!.htm
 
I have a better low cost system... I am being strictly objective here :) based on price to performance ratio.

Amp is EL84 pp stereo from a Magnavox console. source is a Sony CDP (don't ask me the model no.; I don't remember). Preamp is homebrew ss, and speakers are AR3's. It's a very good sounding system.

Total investment: $0. All the stuff was found over the past few years at the "swap pile" at the town "transfer station" (town dump). Exceptional performance for the $.

Sorry, couldn't resist...
 
Sorry About The Size Of That Image

I'll do some homework before I post another picture. Hey, MH, why didn't you ask if they could do better on the price of that system?
 
Cheap

I concur with the view that there are a number of ways to enjoy music for modest sums. I have four ASL 8s. Two are in my study at home - running a pair of BIC speakers with vintage (Radio Shack style) electrostatic tweeters. I drive the amps with a Conrad Johnson PV10AL that served for many years in my main system, until replaced with a Cary P7 Home Theater preamp. The other ASL8s power the rear speakers (Hornshoppe one-way horn system) on my home theater system.

I find working within limits and achieving satisfying results to be one of the more fulfilling aspects of this hobby. It's more interesting to me to work within constraints than to spend without limits. The trade-offs inherent in working within limits make more intruiguing the judgements one is forced to make to build a really good system.
 
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