trinityamps.com

Hello!

Lots of helpful threads here - I think I've read almost all of them. But ... while I wait for my own Trinity 5E3 kit to arrive, I'm kicking around some apparently unusual cabinet and speaker ideas and am wondering if anyone has tried something a bit different with their 5E3 combo.

I don't mind a 1x12" combo, but the sound of two 10" speakers is ... well, I love 10" speakers, for guitar - as in a tweed Bassman, such a beautiful sound - and I also like the spread and depth that, in my experience, I've only been able to get with two or more speakers. And I thought it might be interesting to build a 5E3 combo that would fit two tens. It's my first build, and it would make sense to do it the traditional way, but ... idunno! Could be fun to try something else.

I've seen suggestions on the Tone Tubby website to run their alnico speakers in combination with ceramics, and I've also run across that idea in the "bbq" forums as well, though it doesn't seem to be commonly done. I wonder whether any Trinity users might have tried this, with their Deluxe. Or, for that matter, two tens of any type. And to those who have tried mixed pairs: how have you managed to sort out the differences in sensitivity, and select speakers that balance each other?

And, of course, there could be a problem with crowding between the speakers and the tubes ...

I do like the prices of the "bbqs" over the TTs - say, the 10A100 or 10A125, either in a pair, or one of those with a 10F125 or 10F150. But it's definitely a challenge to sort out which will work with what. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions.

I think it could be done quite easily , Quill. You would need to build a cabinet the size of the 5E4-A Narrow Panel Super to accomodate the 2X10 speaker combination. Those dimensions are 18.5" H X 22" W X 10.5" D vs the 5E3 which are 16.5" H X 20" W X 9.5" D. The plans I have from Scott Cole could be modified easily to suit.

I too have heard of running an Alnico and a Ceramic together to get the compression of the Alnico with the punch of the ceramic. Should be an interesting combination.

And when did you order your Trinity you sneak?

Heh heh. Hi, Case. Canada Post has listed the delivery date as the 22nd of this month.

I've been looking at the Trinity kits, off and on, for almost four years! And others, too, like the Metro kits, which are gone now; also the kits from Allen amps look quite good. Reading and listening and thinking ... I haven't compared them part-for-part, but all the other kits seem either insubstantially documented or a lot more expensive than this one.

And speaking of documentation: your crystal-clear documentation of your own process didn't hurt my choice one bit. You'd be an excellent technical writer - not that I recommend the profession or anything

Thanks so much for the dimensions! I have the plans for the Trinity 5E3 cabinet, and I'll take a look at it with your numbers in hand and I think I'll start on the cabinet this weekend. Don't have two 10" speakers right now, but ... maybe I'll just make a 1x12" baffle for now, but build the cabinet to fit two tens when the time is right. I have a small window of time right now, and access to a shop and all the tools; I hope it lasts long enough for me to build this amp. It looks like there is much to learn from this particular amp.

See you 'round ...

Here we have a sketch of the "adaptabaffled" version of the 5E3 deluxe cabinet, using the narrow-panel tweed Super's dimensions:



Fit the first baffle for the 12" speaker I have now, cut another baffle later when I feel I can afford two 10" speakers.

I think this will work!

Great idea with the baffle! And thanks for your gracious comments. I enjoy passing on my experiences so others can learn from my mistakes! And I enjoy learning from other people.

Well, here we are with a cab sized more-or-less to the tweed narrow-panel Super specs. It will nicely fit one twelve or two tens or even one fifteen (the right ceramic or neo 15" might be fun, sometime!):



I, ah ... went for a glamorous soft-focus with these shots, that's it. M-hm. Isn't it amazing what we can do with our telephones these days? Anyway, I'm concerned about those butt-jointed 3/8" panels called for in several cabinet plans I've seen, the ones that hold the baffle, top and bottom, soooo I got to thinkin' and here's a typical example of the kind of trouble I can get into once the thinkin' starts:











The joinery isn't beautiful but the joints are tight and firm, and the box goes "tiiiiiiiiing" when I tap it. Where lives that saddest soul, who doesn't love pine?

Canada Post assures me that the parcel arrived in Richmond today ... !

Wow, Quill! That is outstanding cabinetry in my opinion. And that is a great way of attaching the panels to mount the baffle to.

Thank you so much, Case. With a table-saw tuned up as though it were a jet plane and a great table sander, it'd be hard to make too much of a mess. I cannot believe how easy it is to make finger-joints!

It's a shame there's no way to make serious money building things like this; it's almost be more fun than anything. But ... when you can buy a solid pine cabinet already covered with lacquered tweed and a nice grille cloth and a leather handle and feet for $300 or less ... it's purely about the satisfaction of doing it.

It is nice to go through the wood and pick out the right piece. That's worth a lot, in itself.

My package arrived on the promised day - a bit of a surprise, but I always find Canada Post to be pretty darned good.



Isn't that an exciting package? And the manual - possibly the most important part of the whole thing - looks just great!

Look at it all, glistenin' in the sunlight!



I love the line, early in the manual: "Electric guitarists can be fairly criticized for their reluctance to change to new ideas and technologies; however ..." - and that's all I should quote from this excellent package, 'cause if one wants to read the rest of it, one oughta pony up and purchase it! Anyway - I live in BC, where the power comes entirely from hydroelectric production. And whether they realize it or not, all those avid BC hikers who love to walk up and down steep hillsides beside waterfalls are feelin' the power, baby. And that energy, all a-sparkle in the air beside the streams, that exact feeling - I feel it when I play my music through a set of these:



I'm as open-minded regarding new technologies as I can be, but I don't get that sense of the power in that water when I play through any other set-up. That feeling has everything to do with why I play the electric guitar in the first place. The day tubes are gone is the day I go acoustic.

So far, I think this circuit is beautiful. I can hardly wait to appreciate it more fully.

A talented builder and a poet. Good work.

That is a clever answer to a potential weak point in the tweed cab design. I like it!

Glad to see the kit has arrived, Quill! Can't wait to watch this one come together and hear your response when you fire it up for the first time.

... a little nervous about the VVR, or VRM, or whatever is the acronym that refers to the power scaling device. It says in the instructions, DO NOT attach ground to a power transformer screw ... hm ... all right ... but ... if the MOSFET gets attached at the point where the power section ground would normally go, what choice does one have, short of drilling another hole, randomly, somewhere? Isn't that power section grounding point sort of specially chosen? Should the MOSFET go somewhere else, and the ground stay there? And: at what stage in the assembly ought the MOSFET and the rest of the assembly be assembled and attached to the amp, given that it is a thing very sensitive to static charges ... forget about playing too loudly, these are the sort of amplifier-related problems that really make blood run out the ear ...

I believe the instructions are refering to the fact that a transformer screw is not always a good ground. I grounded mine to the power section ground. And I installed my VRM after the amp was coupleted (two weeks after, in fact). Just don't forget to drill the hole in the side of the chassis for the MOSFET to mount; now would be a good time to do so. There is a picture of my installation in my build thread here: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2454

Excellent pictorial. Good advice to drill the hole now for possible retrofit later, once it's all debugged.
Excellent idea on the cab 'gable' too. Been considering that one for a while.

Speakers are very personal. I like the Alnico in there, but bgroup, for example, likes a Celestion ceramic I think. His get's very nasty sounding!

_________________
Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps

Thanks for the kind comments!

I've drilled a hole for mounting the VRM on the left side of the chassis, as Case24 has done with his. I just like the look of that power section ground. Don't want to put the VRM there. I really thought about replacing the standby ... I might do that; but I played with the VRM pot, it's got quite a nice switch in its base and seems like a really good part, and I can't see why the pilot light won't work with it, as I read somewhere would be a problem (when the power switch is replaced with the VRM pot). And I like to have a stand-by switch; I find that such a useful thing at rehearsals or jam sessions, don't think I could do without it.

I intend to install everything, but leave the VRM out of the circuit until I'm sure everything else is working. Then I'll wire it in.

For speakers - not sure what the "bbq" situation is, in this forum - but after seriously pestering my three favourite amp fanatics on the MLP forum, again and again and again, and after reading everything I could find on every possible speaker - I've settled on a 4-ohm 10A125 and a 4-ohm 10F150. I have a nice 8-ohm Jensen Jet that I'll use to test the 5E3 (it's very warm and clear with a lot of detail and has a very nice feel - at least, in the modernized BFDR-derivative it's sitting in right now). But I'm excited about the 10" alnico/ceramic experiment. I went with two 4-ohm speakers as I kept on seeing the idea, here and there, that a series connection somehow allows the differences between two dissimilar speakers to ... well, to speak. Whereas a parallel connection, or so the various claims seemed to go, can blur the distinctions. It was an idea of sufficient interest to me that I became willing to give up whatever one gives up by not going with the highest possible impedance per speaker and giving this crazy idea a try. It's only money!

If I survive the assembly, I shall report back on the results.

This is my first amp build - my first electronics project - not sure what's going to happen. It'll be interesting to find out what kind of conversations the signal wires will hold with the heater wires - will it be a nice, quiet, neighbourly nod-and-a-smile, or will it be a vicious over-the-fence shouting match?

The opportunities to learn things from a project like this seem to go on and on and on ... !

Very neat and tidy build, Quill! The standby will still function as normal if you use the VRM pot in its place. You will just need to make a mental note where you had the VRM set if you put the amp on standby between sets.

Question, what is the plastic do-hickey on the right side of the chassis?

Looks great. Very tidy wiring.

Is there a reason that the filaments aren't connected to the lamp?

Case: the thing on the right side of the chassis is to hold the DC blocking caps, which, as you found, will surely be necessary once the VRM is in. If this amp works at all, it will likely put in a few hours in the trunk of a car, and I don't want the caps (which have a bit of weight to them) supported only by their leads.

Cups! Don't rush me!