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Futterman. Jump in? Or, not so fast...

Today I heard a Futterman OTL powering a pair of Quad ESL57s. The Futterman has been recently serviced and is in nice shape. It sounded wonderful. I understand this is a rare beast.

I've been advised a set of tubes can last 10,000 hours. But these are not common tubes and they need to be closely matched, an their are 12 of them. If I were to buy this amp I'd immediately start worrying about putting together a backup set of spares, which could run into quite a bit of money.

So - Futterman owners - what say ye?  Jump on the chance to own a legend? Or stick with my "set and forget" Quad 909 powering my ESL 2805s...
128x128markusthenaimnut
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,393 posts
 

I had a Frank Van Alstine-modified Dynaco PAS pre-amp (quietest pre I’ve ever owned. Frank used 5751’s in place of the stock 12AX7’s), but decided to go with a passive pre, so got the then-new NYAL Super It phono stage, and sold the PAS.

Well, NYAL sent out the first samples of the Super It with the channel identifications reversed: left was right, right left. Shoulda been a red flag, right? It didn’t take me long to realize the Super It was a fairly substantial step backwards from the FVA PAS. Lesson learned.

But Harvey was a very interesting character, quite entertaining. He wrote a lot, including about the original Quad ESL and his other passion, the Decca cartridge. I wrote him (remember letters? ;-), and he looked up my number and called me in Burbank, California from New York! Over the phone he provided me with a lot of wisdom on Decca use and ownership, which has been invaluable. Miss ya, Harv.

kingsleuy
173 posts
 
Go for it!!
When I spoke to Julius about my H3aa, he said:
- Matched tubes weren't needed.  The tube set can be "Balanced" via the balance pot and measuring pins in the 7pin socket to ground.  Pins 5 and 7 comes to mind.  But it has been a few years. No specific value.  Just equal.  But having a spares is a good idea.  6LF6s are getting harder to find.  I notice a source for them in this thread.
 -Of course test the tubes.  Especially for shorts.   
- If the balance voltages are way off,  check the wire fuse in the cathode circuit.  He had placed some replacements in a sleeve inside by the fan.
-may have to swap an upper tube with one of the lower to dial in the balance.  Do one pair at a time.  He had always been able to balance them.  As have I.

Other little info as memory serves  The "Bias" adjustment pot is not output tube bias.  They are "self biased".  It adjusts the plate voltage of the, phase inverted tube?  90 volts? Measured on that 7 pin socket.  Pin2 again comes to mind.  Have to trace it out.  Be very careful.  Those photoflash caps can do harm.  Even if the unit has been off for a few hours.  The B +or- bus under those 6 capacitors run close to the edge of the top cover/chassis.  Arced a good part of my 1/4" flat blade out.   Feedback came up in the thread.  The number 60db of feedback rings in my memory.  I contacted George Kaye to source replacement tubes. None.  But he has a modification to convert the 6LF6s to Triode.  Eliminating the need for the Screen regulators.  Another pair of 6LF6 would be installed their sockets.  If a problem arises with the screen regulator/s, this might be a way to go.
And finally LOL, Julius was my kind of guy.  "Sailor mouthed".  Some may take offense.  Made me chuckle throughout the conversation.
  
clio09
3,341 posts
 
I will look for them but recently I saw the hand typed instructions Julius provided for making adjustments to the H3. This was one of the areas where Roger simplified the design, using a 6 position switch and meter so one could easily take readings and adjust accordingly.
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
885 posts
 

I am jumping into this thread rather late.

I have had a pair of NYAL Futterman OTL3s since 1985, or for 38 years. For the first 20 years, they would go on the fritz every 5 to 6 years. Since Jon Specter, with George Kaye’s assistance, converted them to triode from pentode (still using the 6LF6 tubes [those are ’pentode’ tubes what do I know?]) some 15 years ago, they have been very stable, providing 130 watts into a 16 ohm load without once needing tube replacement.

Since it has been so long, I just days ago gave Jon the amps to go over. He said the tubes are now providing only 80 watts but otherwise show now signs of fritzing. I am having him replace them with NOS tubes anyway, and having him look for any caps that are so old that they are in danger of drying up completely, or can be replaced by something better.

As for ferrite beads, they are all over mine, but that was to ward off ham radio signals from taxicabs driving by (I lived on busy 3rd Avenue in NYC).

Jon claims that the amps have a bad rap: like any high end amp, they are sensitive to load. He says that they must be matched to the right speaker, and you need to check the bias and balance regularly, and that if you monitor them and use them properly, there are no issues, and especially with the new design that Jon and George came up with, see http://kayeaudiolabs.com/ NYAL/Futterman

As for number of hours, if I guesstimate that I listen for 15 hours a week x 52 weeks x 12 years, that's 9,360 hours, and they are still not done yet, I am 'retiring' them but marking them and saving them for a rainy day.

I think I have heard some of you complaining about not being able to find George Kaye but I just spoke to him the other day. He is still doing some builds and repairs but is mostly retired and focusing on performing and recording music.

If you have a pair of NYAL Futtermans, or any version of the Futtermans that need repair, Jon may be your guy, and you may want him to modify them as the mod lifted the performance, especially at the bottom end.

I am wondering what markusthenaimnut finally decided.

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