I have a kit of parts for the famous Beast, comprising:
36 x JJ EL509, 30 BNIB, 6 slightly used. (HotRox are selling them for £55 each.)
The 6 required input / driver valves - see pics
2 x mostly assembled PCBs - see pics. Plus the 8 electrolytics for the board without them.
All the trafos, custom wound for this application.
There is a build guide and schematics. You will have to create your own enclosure.
As mentioned above the cheapest new price I can find for the EL509's in the UK is £55 each. This obviously has a bearing on the value of this kit of parts and I am asking £2,500 plus shipping.
Photos to follow shortly.
36 x JJ EL509, 30 BNIB, 6 slightly used. (HotRox are selling them for £55 each.)
The 6 required input / driver valves - see pics
2 x mostly assembled PCBs - see pics. Plus the 8 electrolytics for the board without them.
All the trafos, custom wound for this application.
There is a build guide and schematics. You will have to create your own enclosure.
As mentioned above the cheapest new price I can find for the EL509's in the UK is £55 each. This obviously has a bearing on the value of this kit of parts and I am asking £2,500 plus shipping.
Photos to follow shortly.
Very sharp photography and very nice collection of parts in those kits (Riken, Kiwame, Caddock MK132, Mills, Audio Note paper in oil, Elna Cerafine, etc...) !
I would buy it but I already have a Beast kit waiting to be assembled!
This is a very serious piece of kit for an unobtainium OTL amplifier!
Best of luck with the sale my friend.
Anand.
I would buy it but I already have a Beast kit waiting to be assembled!
This is a very serious piece of kit for an unobtainium OTL amplifier!
Best of luck with the sale my friend.
Anand.
I was wondering if you might be able to help unrelated to the sale. I also got ahold of a Beast kit that was not completed, but further along. I also see poseidonsvoice did too. Is there something that people run into that is causing them to be unfinished? I am hoping to find enough information to get it across the finish line, but I think I might have a transformer issue because it came from Australia and apparently set up for 240V. Sorry to be a newbie asking questions on a sale, but I was only a reader until I saw this!
I can only second Anand's comments. This is one serious amplifier, which I used for many years, and am now building another, as I haven't yet come across anything to better it. Best of luck with the sale Ian.
In answer to tbird_1957's question, this is a complex amplifier to build, and is not for the newbie DIYer. The instructions supplied are very good (as they are with all Rozenblit's kits) but there are a huge number of solder connections to make and as a result, there is plenty of opportunity for things to go wrong, and meticulous care is needed. You need to invest plenty of time in the build, but the results FAR outweigh the time, effort and money put into it. I think the main reason that kits end up part built is simply that people under-estimate what it takes to build a pair of these.
The other issue I had with my original pair was balancing the output stage. To keep costs down, I used the original NOS Svetlana EL509's with the anode cap. At the time, they were reasonably cheap, but I ended up having to buy many more than I needed, and also built a simple valve tester to check them out, as several were duds. Once I had a set that all had sensible current flowing through them, all was well and everything worked as it should. The modern JJ units are significantly better, and you shouldn't have the same issues that I had.
Cheers
Steve.
In answer to tbird_1957's question, this is a complex amplifier to build, and is not for the newbie DIYer. The instructions supplied are very good (as they are with all Rozenblit's kits) but there are a huge number of solder connections to make and as a result, there is plenty of opportunity for things to go wrong, and meticulous care is needed. You need to invest plenty of time in the build, but the results FAR outweigh the time, effort and money put into it. I think the main reason that kits end up part built is simply that people under-estimate what it takes to build a pair of these.
The other issue I had with my original pair was balancing the output stage. To keep costs down, I used the original NOS Svetlana EL509's with the anode cap. At the time, they were reasonably cheap, but I ended up having to buy many more than I needed, and also built a simple valve tester to check them out, as several were duds. Once I had a set that all had sensible current flowing through them, all was well and everything worked as it should. The modern JJ units are significantly better, and you shouldn't have the same issues that I had.
Cheers
Steve.
tbird_1957, check out the primaries on your transformers. They are usually split, so can be wires in series for Australia and the UK where we have 240V, and in parallel for the US for 115V. If the primaries only have 1 winding then unfortunately you are going to have to replace them
Cheers,
Steve.
Cheers,
Steve.
Thanks for chiming in Steve.
@tbird_1957 : I’m not selling it because I encountered any issues. I’m in selling mode ATM because I have too much stuff and too many projects I want to pursue, not to mention the money aspect. If my Yamamoto horns sell I may even decide to hang on to the Beast and complete it.
@tbird_1957 : I’m not selling it because I encountered any issues. I’m in selling mode ATM because I have too much stuff and too many projects I want to pursue, not to mention the money aspect. If my Yamamoto horns sell I may even decide to hang on to the Beast and complete it.