Poor Man's v76

[strangeandbouncy]

I have used Siemens, so probably V72a, and I didn't think they sounded radically different. Quite the contrary. However, I wasn't doing a shoot out, and it was a decade ago at least . . .

 

[helterbelter]

I know all transformers have their own sound, but how good are the V72 transformers? Are they that much better than our best off the shelf units today?

"colouring as hell" says the person before you. Would indicate they are much worse than the high end we have available today.

You're not going to have a V72 with any of the Jensen offering, but likely something much better.

I didn't mean "colouring as hell" being a bad thing... Quite the opposite actually. IMO it makes it something special.
RR ?
Not Rolls Royce, more Rock&Roll.  ;D

 

[tommypiper]

I visited CJ a while back and heard his scratch build V76 first-hand, and CJ's sounded better than any original, IMO.  At the time my comment was that CJ's made a SM 57 sound like a U-47, seriously.  It was huge.  Amazing.  

I've also read here somewhere a long time ago that part of the sound is the power supply rectifier diodes, (which may be germanium I don't know?).  Replacing them with modern diodes for repair purposes totally changes the sound.  I would never underestimate the "mojo" effect and influence a power supply can have...

In any case, if you're going to clone, follow CJ's build and the materials he used, you won't go wrong.  BTW, he used only one EF-804-S, for the first stage, the others were the non-S versions, EF-804 which are cheaper and sounded fine and very quiet.  No need to use all S-versions.  Also, aren't there modern versions of the EF-806 and other similar and related tubes being made, or cheaper, which could be substituted?  In any case, the non-S version works fine.  

 

[CJ]

funny, i liked Tommypipers V76 better.

had more of the "funk"

could be the weird rectifier and old caps, i don't know.

a Jensen 10k input sounds fantastic on those v72 or v76 inputs.

not as much headroom as the mighty v76, but not as much core loss or hi end roll off either.

the 72 sounds real cool with a k 241 d on the input, 1:14, but pricey.

 

[MeToo2]

In any case, if you're going to clone, follow CJ's build and the materials he used, you won't go wrong.

Forgive me for being a noob, but do you have a link? [obviously I tried google & the forum search myself already...]

 

[tommypiper]

Here's one thread http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=322.msg3667#msg3667

Maybe you can get CJ to share more... and post some drawings or details, he knows how to do it and I think he documented it here, or maybe at the previous location...?  Do a search for v76 and CJ and you'll see more random posts and threads on the subject.

Be warned.  It's not something for the faint of heart.  You have to be somewhat obsessed and single-minded for a long period of time.    Like CJ....  If you have kids or a wife you may be disqualified...  :-\

 

[Michael Tibes]

What iron did drip suggest for it's V72?

Michael

 

[tommypiper]

What iron did drip suggest for it's V72?

Michael

http://dripelectronics.com/community/showthread.php?tid=217

I'm not sure why the Lundahl didn't work out, they are usually great, but there are so many variations on their designs and connections that one has to try, and also talk to Lundahl....  As CJ said, the Jensen is apparently wonderful, as mentioned in the link...    BTW, Drip is no longer offering his V72 PCB, according to his home page...  Anyway, reductive analysis ("it's the choke! no, it's the iron,  no it's the tubes!") in general misses the point of these designs.  It's everything.  Once you get transformers that work with the circuit (see link above), you don't need to worry about vintage mojo and all that jargon, IMHO.  It's the whole package that makes the mojo...  (I'm a bit worn out after 15 years of "vintage" mojo discussions by now anyway....)  

 

[CJ]

oh boy, did ollie go after drip on those v72 fabs?

does that mean no v76 fab? 

 

[Michael Tibes]

oh boy, did ollie go after drip on those v72 fabs?

I wonder how he could? The only thing I can imagine Olli really owns (probably apart from some original tooling) is his brand name, which is a creative combination of glorious defunkt companies' names. He couldn't have any 'rights' in the circuit, could he? I believe the circuits were actually originally from the german institute of broadcast technology? Sure he knows a lot and has dived into things very deeply, but he didn't invent the V72 / V76 and their variations.

Maybe drip just didn't sell enough or he has something bigger in mind already? Or he was just too busy doing the 660?

Michael

 

[CJ]

you are probably right.

thinkin about that telefunken mic/xfmr deal that got messy,