ok we have come to the conclusion that this amplifier has issues with the OPT winding topology, which resulted in tube failure. We could put a set of 84's in there and wait a year for the customer to return the amp.
Or we could fix the real problem, Why do we think the OPT is bad? they would not go to the trouble of putting that cap inside there unless there was an issue. So what do we do?
We grab a 100 EI square bobbin and wind 650 turns of #36 in four sections which sandwich three secondaries, the middle secondary being bi-filar wound like the Fisher X-100 input transformer that sound like a million bucks. So we have P-S-P-S-P-S-P instead of P-S-P,
all we have is .014" grain or sil , so now what? the inductance will go way up with the grain steel if we keep the same turns as was wound on the barn roof lams, we want the same transfer function so we match up with the speaker and cabinet, so we go from 3240 T to 2600 T and hope saturation happens when the volume knob hits 7. We will use Lap 2 like the Fisher so we don't completely freak the core out, this adds a natural air gap but keeps the inductance up compared to Lap 3.
since we are using smaller wire and less turns, we will have improved fidelity at the top end because of less stray C. This will also make the coil more stable. And we will keep the business end of the outer primary finish tucked under some copper to keep the preamp tubes from picking up too much hash. How do we do that? Reverse wind the last primary section.
How did it come out? Primary inductance is 260 Henries at 60 Hz, the original clocked in at 262 H so we good there. We have rez peaks at 45 KC and a surprise peak at 140 KC which the original transformer did not have. Next thing to do is a sound check after a bake and dip, are you with me so far?
here is the pri ind plot for the 100 EI gr or sil.
see the glitch down near 70 Hz? that is where we switch ranges on the HP 200CD, which has a very steady frequency but a not so linear voltage output, so as the knob comes back left, we get just a tad more voltage and therefore a tad more inductance. getting tired of smoothing those data points so we just leave them from now on.