cbird:
There is no "Best"
Is this your first amp overall or your first 2A3?
If this is your first project I suggest that you don't try to build the amp of your dreams with really expensive iron the first time around. You can get great sound w/o the latest ultimate iron and learn enough to really know what you want the next time around. What exact circuit are you using?
http://www.angela.com/ link to Joe Esmilla 2A3 work with a "simple" and inexpensive Hammond transformer. It is really good too. See Joe's other site too
I'm not an old hand at his. Something that worked for me was to use a circuit that is well known and tweakable. That way there is lots of advice out there and you can pick a lot of brains and experiment with how sound changes with a given tweak. I use 300bs just to give me a little bigger speaker selection..
You can get Hammonds under $50. The Hammond 272BX power transformer has an HV 600VCT winding @ 100ma., 5V @ 2A and 6.3V @ 3A filament windings. If your circuit draws about 75ma. of current there will be a safety margin of 25ma from the HV winding.
Hammond's 125ESE is a great value for the money airgapped and multi-tap [2.5K, 5K and 10K] OPT, Highly recommended for experimentation with 2A3 circuits and DHTs.
If this is your first amp and you insist on using exotic iron I suggest get iron that has already been used and set up in the circuit (all the numbers are available) by someone with a lot of hands on experience with the circuit..
I'm really cautious only becasue i'm clueless.
Esmilla's review of a cheap T.
http://users.starpower.net/je2a3/OPTtestbench-1.htm
Have fun,
There is no "Best"
Is this your first amp overall or your first 2A3?
If this is your first project I suggest that you don't try to build the amp of your dreams with really expensive iron the first time around. You can get great sound w/o the latest ultimate iron and learn enough to really know what you want the next time around. What exact circuit are you using?
http://www.angela.com/ link to Joe Esmilla 2A3 work with a "simple" and inexpensive Hammond transformer. It is really good too. See Joe's other site too
I'm not an old hand at his. Something that worked for me was to use a circuit that is well known and tweakable. That way there is lots of advice out there and you can pick a lot of brains and experiment with how sound changes with a given tweak. I use 300bs just to give me a little bigger speaker selection..
You can get Hammonds under $50. The Hammond 272BX power transformer has an HV 600VCT winding @ 100ma., 5V @ 2A and 6.3V @ 3A filament windings. If your circuit draws about 75ma. of current there will be a safety margin of 25ma from the HV winding.
Hammond's 125ESE is a great value for the money airgapped and multi-tap [2.5K, 5K and 10K] OPT, Highly recommended for experimentation with 2A3 circuits and DHTs.
If this is your first amp and you insist on using exotic iron I suggest get iron that has already been used and set up in the circuit (all the numbers are available) by someone with a lot of hands on experience with the circuit..
I'm really cautious only becasue i'm clueless.
Esmilla's review of a cheap T.
http://users.starpower.net/je2a3/OPTtestbench-1.htm
Have fun,