About three months ago, I stumbled upon a single Linear concord valve amplifier in the back of a charity shop, I purchased it and brought it home, and in the back of my mind, knew that I had seen another one knocking about recently... was it in a friends house? or was it in a collection that i had seen recently?... then it dawned on me, my friend Cyril from Sussex had one in his garage, that he had had for ages, so i struck a deal and ended up with two of them, even though different colours, they were the same Mullard 520 based amps. I knew what i wanted to do with them, so it was time to plan the fate of the rather old, but potentially wonderful sounding valve amps.
The first step was to get our resident valve guru, Mike Pointer to check them over and make sure they were worthy of a restoration, with a full new set of valves, which included new Sovtek Slim Jims, pair of NOS RCA rectifiers, and the majority of resistors and capacitors changed, new for old, they were singing away in the workshop, and they measured identical on the 'scope....
I knew I had to get them looking the business, so i hand painted them with hammertite and sprayed the cages with Satin Back acrylic paint. the next step was the plinths, to cover up the rather tatty, drilled out chassis. A call to my master carpenter Colin 'the Antique' resulted in him making these simply stunning Mahogany plinths, using part of a sideboard from dated from around 1860... the veneers remain a mystery, as he's never seen anything like it, it is 'holographic' when you walk round it, the prettiest wood finish we have ever seen.
I knew I had to get them looking the business, so i hand painted them with hammertite and sprayed the cages with Satin Back acrylic paint. the next step was the plinths, to cover up the rather tatty, drilled out chassis. A call to my master carpenter Colin 'the Antique' resulted in him making these simply stunning Mahogany plinths, using part of a sideboard from dated from around 1860... the veneers remain a mystery, as he's never seen anything like it, it is 'holographic' when you walk round it, the prettiest wood finish we have ever seen.
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I have to say, that i am very please, as they have come out better than i imagined...
and the sound.... well, They have more grunt then any el34 amp of this type i have ever heard, they are fluid with vocal and as sweet as my 300b amp, needless to say, they have taken pride of place in the main room, driving the shop's Snell E and Harbeth speakers. If any one is interested, please give me a call ASAP, as they will be put up for auction on Ebay soon...
and the sound.... well, They have more grunt then any el34 amp of this type i have ever heard, they are fluid with vocal and as sweet as my 300b amp, needless to say, they have taken pride of place in the main room, driving the shop's Snell E and Harbeth speakers. If any one is interested, please give me a call ASAP, as they will be put up for auction on Ebay soon...
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