[TV MAN]

I did an experiment with these amps a month or so ago and I think they sound a lot better. I had been using a Douk preamp (tube), and had also used a PAT4 (different speakers tho), and really thought they sounded a little lame. Not bad by any means, but, could be better. I'd improved one with better coupling caps, and have been playing them through some old RCA speakers. I was too the point of trying some different output transformers, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. Those could still make a difference, ... But, what I found that really brought them to life was the Pas3 preamp I brought back from the dead! I truly truly wouldn't have thought that pre would have made that much difference, but it did! It sounds so much more crisp and smooth bass.  I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it for myself. I don't know if it was an impedance mismatch or just quality. 

Another big improvement was getting a better (commercial) CD player. I had been using a cheap portable (Onn), lame lame lame! I tried a Sharp (Japan) CD player, and it sounded a lot better, but when I plugged in the Tascam, it really brought things to life! So much cleaner, crisper and depth. So I guess the point is before tearing into a dead set, make sure it's plugged in!

I missed the mention by Arran about the 6GH8s. Originally the circuit design used 7199, which aren't cheap or easy to find. So I used the 6GH8. In my EL34 build, I used 6U8a. It originally called for a 6AN8a, but with the layout, the 6U8 worked better. I'd been crisscrossing about everything like spaghetti.