HarleyTechTalk

Has anyone started to use a 12ax7 or equiv as a first stage in a bike amp? Could you even hear the difference? A lot of people use all tube setup in there homes and spend a ton of money on them. Wonder what Audio Note would cost to build a small tube amp for a bike? It might be like the first days of the AM radio. Getting the required voltage is easy NOW due to better SMALLER components made. Can you say vibrators? high voltage LOW current (LED LIGHTS IDEA). Anyone heard 8 watts played into a set of efficient drivers? Anyone tried a BUTLER TD475 or TD750 ? Maybe a AD 2 line amp so the less then correct preamps used in the newer units can be used. Are the newer head units true preamps or like the older days a dropped output from the main head output amp?
Remember the converter box. tied to the speaker outputs and gave you a line stage input for your amp? I do know that you do not have to run 2 ohm loads for wattage but can run upwards of 32 ohms. Can you say speakers EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!! Play your guitar on the side of the road.
Questions from a  OLD time tube lover and owner. Say Marshal stack kind of head wattage PLUS++. PLAY THAT THRU YOU HD SPEAKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mate
Valves would bring nothing but problems on a motorbike...a 12AX7 (ECC83) is a twin triode developed around 1946 and has an amplification factor of 100 - you will need a 250 volt DC supply for the plate voltage, some really good vibration damping to stop the valve components being shaken to pieces along with other necessary interfacing components to make a below par amplifier.

The Harmon Kardon audio system does a good job and I would stick with that

Cheers from Australia

They ran all tube radios in the autos before solid state! They vibrated also!! With newer smaller components they/it could happen. That is why i wondered about the AD2 use,

They did run tubes in the old car radios. Have you seen the size of those old things?

Quote from: Templer on June 30, 2016, 01:15:15 PM
They ran all tube radios in the autos before solid state! They vibrated also!!

Yeah, they "vibrated" the DC so they could get the required high voltage via transformers.  Can't transform DC.

Quote from: Templer on June 30, 2016, 01:15:15 PM
They ran all tube radios in the autos before solid state! They vibrated also!! With newer smaller components they/it could happen. That is why i wondered about the AD2 use,

For a while they made "ruggedized" tubes that were vibration resistant. They were mostly used in aircraft, tanks, etc.

The whole idea of using tubes (valves) in motorcycle applications is ill-advised for many reasons, although it could be done.

Really, tubes on a bike? The nuances between an all tube system and a solid state audio system are hard for all but the most trained ears of audiophiles to differentiate. Outside of a quite dedicated audio room with sones panels, live-end/dead end arrangement, it is hard to make solid a-B comparisons of the two types of systems. Add in wind noise, pipes, other vehicles, etc, whats the point. Then there is the source material, which will be entirely digital.  Seriously, whats the point?

While I agree it's pointless, there's no denying the gracefulness with which tube amps clip.

Quote from: glens on July 03, 2016, 04:16:21 PM
While I agree it's pointless, there's no denying the gracefulness with which tube amps clip.

I have two Mac's and a Thorens in my audio room. Good source material is harder to find lately, especially stuff in SQ and CD4. My wife would love to for me to move my big Klipsch speakers out of the house. Still, the joy of vinyl, through tubes and out of horn loaded drivers is a neat experience. I just don't think it crosses over from the listening room to riding down the highway on the motorcycle. Will be interesting to see how many more posts this thread goes on for. 

and if you didn't know the tune you could just hum along with the amp