Hello, just joined the forum! Soon, I should be one of the group talking about the M-125 mono blocks that I should be receiving very soon. I found out about these kit products in a round about way. I was given a Heathkit W5M amp that I broke back down to kit form, and rebuilt. I started looking for another W5M amp, and ran accross the new kits from Bob Latino & company. I spent some time on the web reading about them. I also looked at some other options including the other tube amps out there, and the amps from Bob seem to be the best way to go for me. The 16 gauge chassis really looks nice, and I'm sure they will look impressive when they're built. I do a lot of tube restoration on radios including the high tube count EH Scott sets from the 1930's. I also like the Collins radio gear from the 1950's. I guess quality matters to me. I'm not an engineer, just a good rebuilder. So I'll be learning a lot of technical stuff from this forum. Thanks for reading this intro!
+5
sKiZo
Cubdriver
10-E-C
peterh
Frank111
9 posters
New member.
Frank111- Posts : 105
Join date : 2015-02-23
Location : Minneapolis/StPaul Area
peterh- Posts : 1869
Join date : 2012-12-25
Location : gothenburg, sweden
Welcome!
10-E-C- Posts : 267
Join date : 2014-02-12
Age : 71
Location : upper east tn
Welcome Frank
I just built a pair of M-125s over the holidays and I'm very happy with them. I used the KT-120s from Jim Mcshane as my output tubes, some NOS RCA 5963 with Westinghouse 12bh7 as the signal tubes. The kit is well laid out and no problems with the build.
Terry from Tennessee
I just built a pair of M-125s over the holidays and I'm very happy with them. I used the KT-120s from Jim Mcshane as my output tubes, some NOS RCA 5963 with Westinghouse 12bh7 as the signal tubes. The kit is well laid out and no problems with the build.
Terry from Tennessee
Cubdriver- Posts : 83
Join date : 2014-01-21
Age : 59
Location : Southeastern Litchfield Co, CT
Welcome aboard! I just started on the pair I bought back in November; have the driver boards about 95% done at this point. I hope to post a time lapse video of their assembly (if it comes out).
Based on my experience last year with the ST-70 I built, I expect these will be excellent amplifiers as well.
Enjoy!
-Pat
Based on my experience last year with the ST-70 I built, I expect these will be excellent amplifiers as well.
Enjoy!
-Pat
sKiZo- Posts : 1530
Join date : 2013-04-01
Location : Michigan USA
Welcome aboard!
Main thing is to take the time to familiarize yourself with the parts and pay close attention to the step by step instructions included with the kits. Check off each item as you complete it.
Couple things I feel help a lot to avoid any problems. You'll find some connections listed as NOT to be soldered at that point in the assembly. I highlighted those as I went along which made it easy to backtrack and make sure those got done right after the build. I also went through the instructions one more time step by step, and double checked everything. Most problems can be traced to cold or missing solder, or long tails on components shorting to ground. DO double check all the wiring around the VTA board as that's real tight to potential shorts. DO follow the initial start up instructions to the letter to protect your investment.
And most of all, have fun!
Main thing is to take the time to familiarize yourself with the parts and pay close attention to the step by step instructions included with the kits. Check off each item as you complete it.
Couple things I feel help a lot to avoid any problems. You'll find some connections listed as NOT to be soldered at that point in the assembly. I highlighted those as I went along which made it easy to backtrack and make sure those got done right after the build. I also went through the instructions one more time step by step, and double checked everything. Most problems can be traced to cold or missing solder, or long tails on components shorting to ground. DO double check all the wiring around the VTA board as that's real tight to potential shorts. DO follow the initial start up instructions to the letter to protect your investment.
And most of all, have fun!
Frank111- Posts : 105
Join date : 2015-02-23
Location : Minneapolis/StPaul Area
Thanks for the warm welcome and all of the tips on building my kits! I'm going to really take my time with this, and it might go for a few months of weekends. But I'm going to enjoy doing this, and I have to admit, that's half the fun of it for me!
Frank.
Frank.
Brap- Posts : 234
Join date : 2013-11-28
Age : 69
Location : Plainfield, illinois
Welcome Frank. I too rebuilt a W5M along with a WA P-2 preamp. Purchased a restored Eico FM tuner and enjoy mono FM jazz now. After this ventured into amp building and Bob's ST-70 is excellent. Enjoy the builds and especially the wonderful sound.
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
Frank,
As the others said, Welcome indeed.
You'll have fun building and even more fun listening to the M-125s. The tube options are limitless and enable you to "flavour" the sound. I go back and forth between Jim McShane's Russian KT-120s and a set of precambrian-age New Jersey Tung-Sol 6550s. Fiddling about with the driver board's tubes has an even greater influence on the sound. Some say even the rectifier (tube v. s/s) will tweak things differently.
One thing I would add to skIzo's excellent advice is to invest in a very good soldering iron, not a cheap Weller -- I learned that the hard way -- if you don't already have one. A high-temp gun is handy as well for securing the ground-to-chassis lug connexions -- that chassis is quite a heat-sink.
You'll find a few old Collins junkies in this crowd; the S-Line was perfection, IMHO. Also a ton of wisdom. To reiterate the cliche, the only dumb question is the one not asked.
Enjoy, hope to learn of your progress and experience.
deepee
As the others said, Welcome indeed.
You'll have fun building and even more fun listening to the M-125s. The tube options are limitless and enable you to "flavour" the sound. I go back and forth between Jim McShane's Russian KT-120s and a set of precambrian-age New Jersey Tung-Sol 6550s. Fiddling about with the driver board's tubes has an even greater influence on the sound. Some say even the rectifier (tube v. s/s) will tweak things differently.
One thing I would add to skIzo's excellent advice is to invest in a very good soldering iron, not a cheap Weller -- I learned that the hard way -- if you don't already have one. A high-temp gun is handy as well for securing the ground-to-chassis lug connexions -- that chassis is quite a heat-sink.
You'll find a few old Collins junkies in this crowd; the S-Line was perfection, IMHO. Also a ton of wisdom. To reiterate the cliche, the only dumb question is the one not asked.
Enjoy, hope to learn of your progress and experience.
deepee
sKiZo- Posts : 1530
Join date : 2013-04-01
Location : Michigan USA
Cheap Weller, no ...
Inexpensive Weller? YES!
Excellent performance, easy to work with, durable, fast recovery ... and still less than $100. Hard to beat combination.
Weller WES51 Analog Soldering Station
Inexpensive Weller? YES!
Excellent performance, easy to work with, durable, fast recovery ... and still less than $100. Hard to beat combination.
Weller WES51 Analog Soldering Station
Guest- Guest
welcome to the underworld of tubes!
As a well known lyrics in a well known song say....'you can check out any time you like....but you can never leave!'
As a well known lyrics in a well known song say....'you can check out any time you like....but you can never leave!'
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
MontanaWay wrote:welcome to the underworld of tubes!
As a well known lyrics in a well known song say....'you can check out any time you like....but you can never leave!'
Or, if yer not in California, welcome to Tommy's Holiday Camp. We all know why you're here
audiobill- Posts : 425
Join date : 2014-03-13
Location : Albany, NY
Get the Hakko 888 soldering station, and a Fluke 115, 117 or 177 meter and rest easy!
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
Yep, definitely get a Fluke, because you're going to be checking bias periodically down the road. I like my Fluke because it seems to know when I'm being stupid and resets itself accordinglyaudiobill wrote:Get the Hakko 888 soldering station, and a Fluke 115, 117 or 177 meter and rest easy!
pedrocols- Posts : 162
Join date : 2014-11-24
Location : Western MA
Welcome! Happy building!
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