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Kid_vicious
Intermediate Member
Username: Kid_vicious

Post Number: 431
Registered: 9-2004
Posted on Monday, April 25, 2005 - 10:29 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

this has probably been posted more than enough times, but i would like to know the proper way to tune up my tube amp.

the amp is an Eagle VIII. it seems very close to the golden eagle 1k. this amp uses two 20LF6's driving five 20LF6's.
on the front of the amp there are two meters. one for relative watts out, and one for plate voltage and plate milliamps. there is a switch below the meters that switches between plate voltage and current.
the tuning knobs are labled from left to right: LOAD, TUNE, and DRIVE.
i have been told that the best way is to use an external watt meter and tune for max power out with a modulated signal.
i know there is another method, but i dont know it.
last nite i tried the wattmeter method and it worked. i got good signal reports back. i just want to make sure im running this amp at the utmost efficiency.
i dont know if the tubes are weak, but here are the radio shack watt meter readings.
on low-dead key 200 swing to 400-450.
on hi-dead key 500 swing to 700-750.
on hi, there was a pretty loud buzz when i keyed up, so i dont think i'll be using this amp on high very often.
thanks for any advice.
matt

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