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Vintage threads from the first ten years

What's the largest tube amp known to man??

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7/4/2003 1:43 AM
Stu K	What's the largest tube amp known to man?? I'm aware of kg's BAGA but I think these are bigger... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3030523856&category=1591 just for interest's sake, anyone know of any REALLY large tube power amps, audio or otherwise? Cheers Stuart

7/4/2003 3:41 AM
tim	Rust never sleeps... That's the biggest one I've seen.

7/4/2003 6:01 AM
SLObrain	I think it was the 1 jigawatt amp on (Back to the future) that Michael J. Fox played on LOL....

7/4/2003 9:55 AM

Hi everybody!

Well,i'm pretty sure i've seen bigger than thoses on the net. I recall of a page where you'd see the same time of amp but stationary in a theatre or concert hall.

I was wondering about thoses transformers. The big one is certainly the output. The verry small one either choke or interstage. There's certainly a power one,and a filament one no?
Looking at the caps on the 700 watter,that seems silly no?

Best regards.

Max.

7/4/2003 9:57 AM
steve conner	I think it could be Ko'lok http://sound.westhost.com/kolok.htm That is unless you count the modulator at the Crosley Broadcasting Station. This was a 500kW RCA AM transmitter. The modulator was a 500kW tube audio amp and had two OTs each of which was 10ft tall and weighed 37,000lbs. If you don't believe me, here are the pictures http://hawkins.pair.com/wlw500kpics.shtml

7/4/2003 11:20 AM

When I was an apprentice back in the 80's, one of my jobs was decommissioning and dismantling a 1MW pulse AM transmitter that was used for Ionospheric research. I don't remember a lot of details, except that it had three output stage tubes that stood about 4-5 feet tall and were liquid cooled. The power supply (11kVAC) came into a switchyard outside and in through the wall of the tx room on giant insulators to the rectifiers and capacitor banks. There was an air circuit breaker that interlocked to a lever that locked the door and switched on the B+. The 'case' was the whole room, lined in stainless steel. Man I wish I had some pix.

7/4/2003 10:56 PM

quote:
"it had three output stage tubes that stood about 4-5 feet tall and were liquid cooled. The power supply (11kVAC) came into a switchyard outside"

Yep! That's the sort of thing I'm talking about. Works nice with a Strat, a Fuzz Face, and a wall of 1,200 4x12" cabinets

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