Magnetic Componants Inc Transformers?

[azatplayer]

Yeah man, the thig that bothers me about Greg V's demos, are that they all sound terrific. AND, i owned a Swart AST, and mine didnt sound like his.. cool amp, but not as huge sounding as his apparently is. Ofcourse it may have been tweaked, but the box cant sound to much different.
Im so enamored with my 30 watter, sans 2 tubes, that i cant think of a better sounding amp for my tastes anyways. So, those trannies may end up replicating that build, but for just 2 x el84's.
I converted my bassman/jtm into a JTM50 last week. Much better! Sounds killer actually. Got to try it as a plexi next, see if i like it, cos thats what the trannies will be used for i think. Or i would like a Matchless Phoenix.. great sounding amp! Could do with some help with the schemo tho..

[iknowjohnny]

Yeah. What you said

The thing that bothers me slightly, is the MC's appear a little undersized to what i might get in the same rating from heyboer. BUT, probably close to actual vintage sizes tho.
Anyways will see, er , hear how they go when they arrive.
Got some trannies coming from Heyboer to try that XITS build with. See how i go..

Not the marshall set i got. They're the same size as my hammond set and the OT is the same size as the heyboer 50w OT i also had in it at one point. I haven't measured them, but the 3 OT's appear to all be exactly the same as far as i can tell.

[azatplayer]

Yeah. What you said

The thing that bothers me slightly, is the MC's appear a little undersized to what i might get in the same rating from heyboer. BUT, probably close to actual vintage sizes tho.
Anyways will see, er , hear how they go when they arrive.
Got some trannies coming from Heyboer to try that XITS build with. See how i go..

Not the marshall set i got. They're the same size as my hammond set and the OT is the same size as the heyboer 50w OT i also had in it at one point. I haven't measured them, but the 3 OT's appear to all be exactly the same as far as i can tell.

The OT number is 40-18025, they make a deal of a comparison theyve done with other brands on their website, this is the OT used in that comparo.
The PT is 40-18023. Theyre the only trannies listed for a 50 watt marshall.

[iknowjohnny]

I'm just saying that it's the same physical size as both my heyboer and hammond mashall 50 style OT's. If yours isn't then i can't tell you why that is. i just know mine are.

By the way, my ears are extremely sensitive to my gear and tone, and i can tell the difference between all those OT's easily. But whether it's due to feel being the biggest difference or what, i can barely tell any difference in those audio files in that OT shootout. It just amazes me when i hear people say how one is so much better than the other. They all sound about the same to me ! I've never understood the whole online mp3 comparisons between any gear anyways. To me listening to a mp3 of pickups for example is like deciding who is the best looking women by viewing them at a mile away. Impossible at best.

[azatplayer]

Im glad you said that, cos i couldnt hear it either!

Im going by the spec sheets as far as sizing them gos, also that the PT is rated at only 150ma, seems pretty low to what i usually use.

Will see when they arrive. Amp parts direct seem to be on the ball, i ordered last night and have a tracking number this morning! All good so far!
Ive asked MC if they do direct custom orders like Heyboer do, their website states they deal direct for orders of 25 or more of the same item. Im not that busy with builds yet...

[iknowjohnny]

Yeah, i was a bit worried about the 150 Ma but it's fine and doesn't get real hot or anything. But i'm also just running 12ax7x3, el34x2 and ss rectifier.

[Gaz]

150ma is for each half of the HV winding.

That said, every build I've done with them, the PT gets hot as hell. Posted about it in another thread, but I actually wrote the company about the heat, and they assured me that the high temperature was not only typical, but that the insulation could easily withstand it. I still buy them and have not had a failure - I'm definitely not posting this experience again to scare people away, but instead to encourage folks to not get paranoid about a little heat, when they're other trannies 'run ice cold'.

Personally, I prefer the the tone to similarly spec'd Heyboers, however, with a few tweaks to the circuit I can get one to sound like the other.

[M Fowler]

Gee, your tranny getting hot isn't right, what I mean is that none of mine get hot at all.

Right after you reported that yours get hot I got concerned so I have purposely been checking mine and they don't even get warm.

For comparison my amps are:

JCM800 2204
Rocket Reverb EL34s


Mark

[iknowjohnny]

He may have an older one. I researched them for a while b4 i bought mine and i seem to remember something along these lines. That maybe they changed them at one point and they no longer heat up. Could be wrong but it seems like i read something like that.

[Cliff Schecht]

Even the way oversized Heyboer on my Express gets relatively hot after hours of operation. Actually most of my builds get the warm transformer syndrome, it's only when I can't keep my hand on the transformer that I worry.

[eddie25]

I had a Mag Comp 50 watt PT that got really hot, too hot to touch. Had me pretty worried, but I left it in and it's still going. In it's defense, I checked it after breaking it in at full blast for like 5 hours.

[azatplayer]

Yeah i built a double deluxe, 4 x 6V6, ages ago. Used the express PT, 300ma, and that sucker is huge, but it gets pretty hot too. In the rocket it stays cool.
Im just fitting a PT to a crate vfx5212. For a client, its US powered and hes sick of lugging around a stepdown. I measured it up and had heyboer make me one. Was surprised to see its exactly the same size as a heyboer deluxe PT, which i had on hand. Theyre about 150ma. That amp runs EL34's and is LOUD! But ive not touched the PT running.
I guess the vintage stuff was always undersized, or barely adequate, and by todays standards. We use bigger for everything these days. I built a brown vibrolux using a liverpool OT. I know the original was nowhere near that size, and wonder if im missing some/a lot of the magic of a squishier OT.
Still sounds great tho.

[Cliff Schecht]

The frequency limiting that occurs as you push a transformer past its rating (usually when the amp is fully distorted) can help the sound a bit. Cutting out some of the bass at full-on distortion gives you a very "middy" sound that is characteristic of amps like the old Deluxes (especially the tweed variants). Keeps the sound from muddying up and makes the amp sound like it has a lot of balls.

[Structo]

I'm wondering if the hot transformers are more a product of the power tubes transferring heat.
After an hour or so of operation, those tubes get cooking hot and could be transferring heat to all around them.
Especially in a tubes down amp.

[M Fowler]

Tom I was going to write about the tubes as well because naturally I can feel tube heat on my transformer but moving my fingers to the rest of the PT there is no warmth or hot spots only tube heat transfer.

I don't know what else to say about the subject.

Mark