-40%

Single ended vintage 45 tube stereo amplifier Tamura power & output transformers

$ 501.6

Availability: 100 in stock
  • Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
  • All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
  • Country of Manufacture: United States
  • Refund will be given as: Money Back
  • Brand: Tamura
  • Model: custom 45
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
  • MPN: Does Not Apply
  • Condition: Pure class A audio as good as it gets
  • Featured Refinements: Vintage Output Transformer
  • Item must be returned within: 30 Days

    Description

    Single-ended custom 45 triode tube stereo class A audio amplifier with Tamura transformers. Clean look & design
    Chassis size is 16" x 10" X 3".  Some of the features of this amplifier listed below
    Hammond brand Steel
    heavy
    chassis to better support the transformers & heavy metal bottom cover, to protect the amplifier and avoid electrical shock
    ElectroCube audio grade Mylar film capacitors
    Point to point
    hand
    wiring, with no circuit boards that are difficult to
    repair and often go bad. If other sellers do not show under the chassis it may be because they use overseas
    circuit boards. If they do not show under the amplifier, then it may be run using overseas
    circuit
    boards.
    two gain controls -- one for left and one for the right speaker. These are Alpha professional brand studio audio gain controls. you can use them as a balance control only better. As you do not need a preamplifier to accomplish this function. Some audiophiles do not use preamplifiers.
    Top of the line Tamura brand power transformer. Runs on 240, 220, 120, or 100 volts-- The Tamura power transformer in this amplifier is a 1960 vintage. It has a large heavy copper band shield around the
    windings
    to eliminate hum. It is one of the best power transformers ever made. If they were to reproduce a transformer of this quality today, the cost would be no less than 300.00. Many power transformers just meet the
    minimun amperage requirement so they get very hot. Not with this Tamura transformer it is a commercial-grade unit and can run all day and never get hot. The last picture shows the heavy duty quality of a power transformer just like the one
    in this amplifier. This amplifier is now set for 120 volts AC but, I can set the amplifier for 220 or 240 volts before I ship it if you would like.
    Superior 3-way speaker connector, that will not break or come loose.
    Solid copper buss bar ground strap wire.
    High voltage US Military-grade
    new
    old stock, surplus Amphenol tube sockets, that will last forever. Not the ones from China
    most builders use
    that fall apart with normal use.
    Hammond brand Made in USA 2.5 volt filament transformer. Not Chinese transformers that are low quality.
    Clean deck no excessive screws, bolts, hardware, or nuts showing. Open chassis not congested with tubes, and other parts placed two close together, which can  interfere with each other.
    Vintage, military grade silver over brass pilot lamp. Will last forever, like everything else on this amplifier top quality part.
    Vintage Hammond commercial grade made in the USA  filter choke reactor. The best quality you can buy.
    Vintage bakelite control knobs with set screw. Not hollow plastic ones that go bad.
    This is the best sounding amplifier available anywhere, at any price. Single-ended class A audio with Tamura transformers.
    The 45 tube is the most musical tube ever invented, Beautiful clean clear highs and warm but very crisp bass. You will notice the difference the second it comes on. You can pay more but you can not purchase a better sounding amp.
    The amplifier comes with two 45 tubes two 6SN7 tube and a 6AX5 rectifier tube. The 6AX5 rectifier should not be confused with the 6X5 tube which had problems. The 6AX5 was maybe the last tube rectifier designed. By that time designers had the sicence down. This tube is a slow warm up tube that is built like a tank, and is far superior to the 5AR4 5V4 5Y3 GZ34 or 5U4.
    I use some
    of
    the best parts that were ever available regardless of what year these parts were produced. Like in this amplifier, I might use tubes from the 1930's,  transformers from the 1960's, tube sockets from the 1940's, and modern top-quality Alpha brand gain controls.  I started building these amps because many of the new amplifiers people buy today do not hold any value and just fall apart with normal use --  their Chinese transformers open up, or the Chinese tube sockets break, or many times the RCA connectors come loose, or the screws that hold the speaker wires on strip out -- most of the time they just cannot be repaired. Most of the so-called hand made amplifiers sold today may have only one, or no parts made in the USA, They say assembled in the USA, but most of the parts are a low quality from China. I only hand wire point to point connections in my shop my self.  The other reason I build my own amplifiers is I can use some of the best triode output tubes ever made, in combination with a single-ended Class A output design. I can build Amplifiers that were never available for mass production. I also use low-mu triode tubes for sound quality, and to lower the chance of microphonics like Brook and Fisher did in some of their best quality studio laboratory amplifiers. I use new Alpha gain controls for each channel. That way they can act as a left & right balance control only better. You can hook your I-pod,  CD player, Am or FM source or phone directly to this amplifier, and that is all you need for great music.
    This auction is for one of the best sounding amplifier designs I have ever made -- my triode 45 amplifier with Tamura output and power transformers.
    I have sold similar 45 triode tube amplifiers on eBay in the past, and the eBay feedback comments went like — "WOW! best amp ever” —
    "
    This is the best watt I have ever listened to",  "
    Only one way to describe the sound of this amplifier: breathtaking"
    .
    Great sounding amp ~ Good packing ~ Excellent service ~ Thank you!!!
    And most recently "
    Amp has superb build and sound transparency that reveals deeper layers of music".
    This amplifier will put out about 1-1/2 watts per side to 8-ohm speakers (remember it is the first watt that counts). It is like beautiful music just floating in space.
    To make this amplifier sound best you should run efficient 8-ohm vintage speakers, like Klipsch, JBL Tannoy, Jensen, Altec and other speakers rated around 20 watts or less. My son runs a pair of Klipsch Heresy with his identical amplifier and it has the power to spare. This amplifier will not rattle the windows with power, but at normal listening levels, it will amaze you, and fill a room with plenty of great sound.
    To me, the most important part with my 45 tube triode amplifiers, is I am able to use 1960’s vintage Japanese made Tamura power transformers and Tamura output transformers. These transformers give my amplifiers that magical sound that no other amplifier can match and you can only get from Class A Triode single-ended design. Tamura no longer makes these transformers and the ones I used in this amplifier were made back in the 1960's. These are hand wound inner-leaved permalloy output transformers, and they produce a magical sound that you cannot get from any other transformers. The output transformers are designed for 8-ohm efficient speakers. Sellers that tell you that it does not matter what ohms speakers you connect to their amplifiers are wrong. You should only connect the proper ohm speakers to the corresponding connection.  These Tamura output transformers have a 5000-ohm primary which is perfect for the SE 45 tubes. Some sellers will say you can use several different numbered output tubes in their amplifiers. If that were true transformer manufactures would not need to build transformers to match up with the exact output tubes, they could just make a couple of output transformers that would work for many tubes. A 2A3 tube amplifier should have a primary transformer that is 2500 ohms. The 45 tube requires a 5,000-ohm output transformer. You cannot have an output transformer that would be the perfect match for a 45 and at the same time a perfect match for a 2A3 tube. It would be a bad mismatch for either the 45 or the 2A3 or maybe both. When you match up the correct Tamura output transformer to the correct triode tube you get those crystal clear highs and the very clean bass punch you have been looking for.
    My custom amplifier projects start off as raw Bud brand metal chassis that I punch out, then sand and finish.
    I round and shape the corners so they are smooth. This amp is all hand-wired,
    point-to-point
    , by me, I never would use a circuit board, so any part that might fail many years in the future would be easy to purchase and replace. You will enjoy the heavy, quality feel of this amp, the smooth rounded edges on the chassis, and the quality hardware nuts & bolts using lock washers securing the parts. The 8-ohm speaker connections on the back are better quality than with most amplifiers even those costing more money.  It takes me about one week to build one of these from start to finish, and longer to source the vintage top quality parts I want to use. I am an electronics Nerd so to me it is not just an amplifier but an art form, it must look as good as it sounds.
    This amplifier comes with the used
    tubes you see in the picture. I DO NOT USE THE CHINESE  or Russian KNOCK OFF TUBES.
    The tubes that come with this amp work great, but since they are old, maybe the 45 tubes as old as 80 years, used and not new, consider them a FREE GIFT with the amplifier and not part of the auction listing
    . You will at some point need to upgrade to new or more expensive new old stock audio tubes-and I will leave that for the new owners to decide.
    Please keep in mind tubes like light bulbs do not work for ever.
    PLEASE CHECK MY OTHER AUCTIONS TODAY ON eBay. I will be OFFERING OTHER HAND MADE CUSTOM TRIODE TUBE AMPLIFIERS. The amplifiers I offer may not always look the same. They are truly custom, Not the cookie cutter offerings you normally see. They all have the same basic circuit, I just adjust for the needed amperage, wattage values required and specks.
    Like a painter I would not want to paint the same picture over and over, or sell so many amplifiers that I have an assembly line coming in from China. I build these by hand one at a time. Each one is build only buy me, that is why some times it may take a couple of weeks before I make another offering
    You are welcome to pick up any amplifier you purchase
    from
    me in person here in Grass Valley Calif. and save all shipping costs.
    If you would like a custom color or have special requests ask me, I might be able to build a custom amplifier just for you. In the color you choose.
    Check out my feedback on eBay, and what custom build amplifier experts say about amplifiers at     glowinthedarkaudio.
    Thanks.   Alan Eaton amplifiers