Obsolete Electronics?

[Circuit1]

Kelley,

All right! I just happened to stop by here today for the first time in many months. Glad to hear that you are doing well and enjoying GIT. I have been pretty busy for the past 3-4 years and have not had much inclination to post online much. I no longer frequent the big musician/amplifier related chat forums. However, I always enjoyed the hell out of Ampage about 5-7 years ago--and it seems like the new format is a good thing. I think I'll be stopping by a bit more often for sure... The technical prowess on this board was always far and above most others IME. Good to see some familiar faces still hanging around.

As far as OEI goes, I ordered a few 3.4K Plexi OT's for use in one of my custom EL-34 designs back in 2001. I haven't heard a peep out of Joe since. I hope all is well. Knowing what I know about the music/amplifier business, I wouldn't blame him if he just decided to quietly live his life in peace. But man oh man, his Iron just blew away the competition in every respect. My hat's off to Joe and his work as a designer. My 2 EL-34 Purple heart amps have OEI Iron and perform like a million bucks. I actually prefer the 3.4K primary impedance on the EL-34 duet with OEI and prefer doubling up the reflected impedance when switching to 6V6's in these amps. When I designed the Golden Ratio amp [6V6 duet/cathode bias], I was trying to get ahold of Simcha to provide a couple pristine OT's for the prototypes to use as a "gold reference standard". Difficult if not impossible to get ahold of, so I went with Phil @ Heyboer instead for my custom stuff. No complaints--as a matter of fact, these are some of the best 20 watt transformers I have had the pleasure to behold as well as being an excellent company to deal with in every respect. Still, if Simcha Delft is still making Iron, I'd still be inclined to have her hand wound OT's for the occasional limited run/exotic flava' type of thing.

Good to see you around JKB.

[plexibreath]

Kelley,

All right! I just happened to stop by here today for the first time in many months. Glad to hear that you are doing well and enjoying GIT. I have been pretty busy for the past 3-4 years and have not had much inclination to post online much. I no longer frequent the big musician/amplifier related chat forums. However, I always enjoyed the hell out of Ampage about 5-7 years ago--and it seems like the new format is a good thing. I think I'll be stopping by a bit more often for sure... The technical prowess on this board was always far and above most others IME. Good to see some familiar faces still hanging around.

As far as OEI goes, I ordered a few 3.4K Plexi OT's for use in one of my custom EL-34 designs back in 2001. I haven't heard a peep out of Joe since. I hope all is well. Knowing what I know about the music/amplifier business, I wouldn't blame him if he just decided to quietly live his life in peace. But man oh man, his Iron just blew away the competition in every respect. My hat's off to Joe and his work as a designer. My 2 EL-34 Purple heart amps have OEI Iron and perform like a million bucks. I actually prefer the 3.4K primary impedance on the EL-34 duet with OEI and prefer doubling up the reflected impedance when switching to 6V6's in these amps. When I designed the Golden Ratio amp [6V6 duet/cathode bias], I was trying to get ahold of Simcha to provide a couple pristine OT's for the prototypes to use as a "gold reference standard". Difficult if not impossible to get ahold of, so I went with Phil @ Heyboer instead for my custom stuff. No complaints--as a matter of fact, these are some of the best 20 watt transformers I have had the pleasure to behold as well as being an excellent company to deal with in every respect. Still, if Simcha Delft is still making Iron, I'd still be inclined to have her hand wound OT's for the occasional limited run/exotic flava' type of thing.

Good to see you around JKB.

Great to hear from you Jason! Thanks for the pointer for the Heyboer OTs, I should get one and shoot it out against the Delft. I'm so spoiled on the Delft 20watt OT. My friend Heiko and I did a shoot-out of 15-22 watt OTs using a switching system for fast comparisons, with everything from an old Davis, some Fender Deluxe trannys, to a couple of Hammond 20 watt range transformers, (everything EXCEPT the Heyboer), the amp was a design with Fender Deluxe DNA but still quite different, using 6V6's, the Delft was clearly the favorite, much more complex in it's overtones and punchy on the bottom end. Unfortunately it spoiled me, I hope the Heyboer can get me there or at least close.

I checked out your site. It's great to see your designs becoming products and your well deserved notariety. Keep rockin' and sniffin' the solder fumes.

[Chuck H]

Well, since Joe WAS going to look for someone to take over the biz, maybe he could just sell the whole thing as a company. He'd have to fire it back up and roll for a short time. But the rep is there. He could probably use the coin if he's that busy. I guess the hitch is the time it would take. But it would be a shame if everything Joe did and all he was about in transformer R&D were just allowed to evaporate.

Of course, there is the Qs about who might end up running it. Not so much WHO but what kind of WHO. To secure the ideology he started, he would have to interview prospective buyers and all that crap. Which is just more time...

Just thinking out loud. And my best to Joe in ALL his priorities and goals.

Chuck

[Circuit1]

Kelley,

The Heyboer OT's are quite good--and affordable. I think that most guys who know me know that I don't just go for cheap--I tend to use the best parts for the job regardless of cost--which used to PO a couple other friends here on Ampage in years past.... I respect their opinions but still recommend doing it my way. That being said, and not having a Delft OT to compare to--I'd wager that the stock Heyboer 8K/20 Watt Iron is every bit as good if not a bit better than other 8K/20 Watt Iron for EL-84's from most manufacturers. I'd also wager that the Delft handwound Iron is just supreme and quite good--maybe the last 2% of perfection--which is what we pay dearly for.

In my amp, I am using Iron which which is similar to stock Heyboer offerings--but a different primary impedance, inductance, different wire gauges and splits [interleaving]. It is basically optimized for what I wanted to get out of 6V6's. Perhaps we could set up a "taste test" here at some point? I'd be interested in knowing your results for sure.

[simcha]

Hi Guys, Yes, I'm sorry I have been difficult to contact. And my apologies to folks who wrote about trannys and didn't get a proper reply. Life has been crazy for the last couple of years...but seems to be settling down now.
I still have all the specs on the OEI and Delft trannys I designed.
I do not have space in my life at this moment to make any significant quantities, though the music store in NZ for whom I just designed a little tube amp has shown an interest in making some models.

Meanwhile, the designs still exist, I have them, and any competent US tranny company could probably make them ....if they would source the same materials and follow the same winding and interleaving.
Personally, I'd very much like to see these trannys them available again - if only because I sweated blood to get some of them tweaked just right.
Sooo....over to you guys...... Maybe form some kind of collective, or make a deal with one of the established amp makers who posts here, find a willing tranny maker, and lets talk !! Just off the top of my head, as a possible winder, Edcor seems to be trying to get into the guitar tranny business and their prices are reasonable.
So are Hammond's .... Any Ampagers here from Canada?
Best regards, Simcha in NZ.
You can find me at a_zwolleXXYYZZ@mail2world.com ( remove the XYZ's to make this address work)

[uboat229]

this is 2016 and im looking to buy an Obsolete Electronics 'Bluesbreaker' OT...... does anyone out there have any info?

Frank

[Leo_Gnardo]

I expect any OT that would work in a JTM45, kit or original, will do fine.

[big_teee]

this is 2016 and im looking to buy an Obsolete Electronics 'Bluesbreaker' OT...... does anyone out there have any info?

Frank

Marshall Style Transformers By ClassicTone
That would probably be like a JTM45.
Marshall JTM 45 Output Transformer
It would depend on if it has KT66s, or EL34s.
T

[tedmich]

I think its gone, while there are several compatible OTs on Ebay, including some with very Italian names which say they are made in USA (?) I might look at a good Edcor unit for less than $80. For comparison a similar Mercury Magnetics version will cost $290.

[big_teee]

The ClassicTone is only $72.
Marshall JTM45 Style 45W Output Transformer 4/8/16 ohm 40-18039 - Amp Parts Direct

[Chuck H]

"Obsolete Electronics" was a member here (sn: SpeedRacer, incorrect above as Speedracer, and now simcha it seems). He made very few transformers overall and wrapped things up about twelve years ago. So now they're made of pure unobtanium. As the above thread informs us.

There are a lot of offerings for the JTM45 OT. Most sound good. I've followed a lot of threads here on the subject and read about many side by side comparisons. The difference between OT's (provided none are of poor quality) is no great shakes. So if you're looking to "Holy Grail tone" your amp don't get sucked into the magic OT vortex. There's probably nothing "inferior" about the OT you have now. The only reason anyone ever posted that they "Put a Mercury Magnetics OT into it and now it sounds amazing" is because they're drinking the KoolAid and they just spent a ton of money. What's amazing is what people can hear when they want to. There was a thread here where someone linked a side by side Marshall OT comparison with all other things being equal. There were four. Heyboer, Weber, Mercury Magnetics and I can't remember the last one. If it helps I remember the Weber came in last, but switching between the OT's was unimpressive. There's absolutely no earth shaking difference as some claim. My advice would be to keep the OT you have. Or, if you're building a new amp buy a quality unit but not the least expensive one and certainly not the most expensive one (you all know which one that is). Another member here (sn: daz) swapped his 50W Heyboer Marshall OT for one of the Hammond "guitar amp replacement" models and swears the Hammond was the better OT. And, of course, Hammond has a good reputation anyway. So there's that.

[pdf64]

There was a thread here where someone linked a side by side Marshall OT comparison with all other things being equal. There were four. Heyboer, Weber, Mercury Magnetics and I can't remember the last one. If it helps I remember the Weber came in last, but switching between the OT's was unimpressive. There's absolutely no earth shaking difference as some claim.

May be thinking of this? Paper Vs. Plastic

[Chuck H]

May be thinking of this? Paper Vs. Plastic

That's it. Unfortunately the audio clips seem to be gone That, or my poot just can't "see" them. Which happens sometimes.

[rjb]

That's it. Unfortunately the audio clips seem to be gone That, or my poot just can't "see" them. Which happens sometimes.

My Chromebook can "see" all four clips, but can't "hear" the first one (Weber).
When I initially accessed the page, all clips were playing at once. Talk about a "shootout"- it sounded like WWIII.

[big_teee]

Chuck:
where do I get some of that unobtanium, and what is the symbol on the periodic table?
T