$225 · NEW in Box Archer-Eleca Set5 Tubular BK Tube Amp

Condition New 100% new never used in Factory box. Archer Tubular== This is a rebranded Eleca Set 5 Tube Amp All Tube Guitar Amplifier Single End Tripod design 5 Watts of Pure Class A power Perfect for Jazz, Blues, or Surf’s Rock All tube guitar amplifier featuring 12AX7 preamp tube and EL84 power tube. Single end design for the purest tone. 5 Watts of pure class A power combine with 8″ high output speaker is good for solitary practice or performing in a small club. Here is a review taken from the web: "IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT, "CALIFORNIA SET-5", "ARCHER TUBULAR BK 5W" AND "SUNDOWN ST5 COMBO" ARE ALL THE SAME AMP – THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BEING THE CABINET COSMETICS! I was pleasantly surprised when I got the amp. The cabinet looks solid and well built – bottom, sides and baffle board are plywood; top and back are MFD (kind of particle board but better). The cabinet also has internal plywood gussets for reinforcement. This is one of few amps that has cabinet vent for cooling. I am considering to add plastic cabinet corner protectors like the ones on the little Marshalls. Looking inside the amp, I realize that its circuit is almost the same as the Epiphone Valve Junior plus a Baxandall tone control, normally used in Hi-Fi tube amps; it allows for greater tone control flexibility than the conventional tone control designs. The amp is built with good quality components, fiberglass PCB and ceramic sockets – same as Fender Champ 600 reissue amp. It has one, channel, one input; volume, treble and bass controls. It has two 1/4 in. outputs for 8 & 16 ohms speakers. The OT has also a 4 ohms tap but, it is not connected (no available chassis jack). OPERATION: The amp is quiet and hum free, even at max volume. As the Epiphone Valve Junior, the California SET-5 has VDC to power the vacuum tubes heaters which helps a lot. However, like most new amp designs, it gets hotter than it should, especially the power supply transformer, approximately 15 minutes after turned-on. TUBES: The amp came with no brand, Chinese tubes - 12AX7B, short plate, preamp tube and EL84 power output. Similarly to the Fender Champ 600 reissue, the tube sockets are good quality ceramic and flush to the chassis, allowing for experimentation with several tube brands. Additionally, tube sockets flush to the chassis allow for easier installation of preamp tube shield and power tube retainer. I tried JJ Electronics, Mullard reissue and Sovtek tubes. I usually favor the Mullard reissue tubes but, for this amp I opted for the Sovtek 12AX7LPS and Sovtek EL84. They have slightly higher gain than the other brands and help to bring the tubes current down. To my surprise, the OEM Chinese tubes were not bad. Further circuit investigation, shown that the power supply voltage is more than 50 volts higher than the necessary to run the EL84 output tube. This excess voltage causes the EL84 to operate above its maximum design values and probably will shorten the tube's life. The power supply transformer label shows 250VAC but, actually it measures 285VAC!!! With solid state (SS) rectifiers, the power supply transformer high output, should be somewhere between 225VAC and 240VAC to provide proper operation voltage to the EL84 tube. As an improvised solution, I increased the power supply resistor that controls the EL84 screen grid voltage (R16), from 4K7 ohms – 2W to 10K ohms – 5W. This mod, reduces the tube's plate current and dissipation from 14W right down to its maximum design value of 12W. Additionally, when the 6 VAC winding is rectified and filtered, it elevates the heaters supply voltage to 7 VDC, which is also above the tubes design limits. The excess power transformer voltage could be easily correct by the manufacturer without any increase in production cost.