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December 19, 2006
A special thanks is in order for the onlne community at 18watt.com, who graciously provided feedback on the User Manual, including corrections, both grammatical and spelling, clearer language, and even fixing layout and fonts.
THANK YOU 18watt.com - I owe you much (yet again)!
December 10, 2006: Soultone Forty-Five Users Manual completed.
The first draft of the Soultone Forty-Five Users Manual is now available online here. Be sure to check back, and refresh your cache, to get the latests revisions, and we appreciate the corrections you are sending in.
A great amp deserves a great manual - we think you'll be impressed at how thorough this manual is.
November 2006: Replacement for the Londoner? Yes, it's true.
Prototyping has completed for the replacement for the Londoner 18 watt amplifier. The new amplifier will have variable power (power scaling), of course, but additionally will be able to be configured as an 18 watt 1974x, or a 20 watt 2061x circuit. Switches will be included for selecting tube or solid state rectifiers, fixed or self-biased modes, and 1974x or 2061x preamp configuration. Check up on the product pages - we anticipate this new amplifier shipping in early spring 2007.
Best of all this amplifier will be available in a mini-plexi sized head!
September 30, 2006: Power Scaling upgrades.
The Forty-Five amp power scaling is being revised. Moving from the TO-3 type MOSFETS to HEXFET power modules, in an ISOTOP packaging. This upgrade, though costing several times more per piece, will increase power dissipation to 630watts, and is capable of handling up to 53 amperes current. This will bomb-proof the variable power design of the Forty-Five.
All existing Forty-Five amps can be retrofitted with this upgrade, no charge. Send an email to us to arrange for this service, and plan on having your amp gone for a week.
September 2006: Forty-Five clips now online!
Finally - clips online for the Forty-Five! Check the products page... more to come.
July 30th, "Happiness is a warm 45"
The first Forty-Five amplifiers are now shipping! Check the products page!
I'm hoping to get some sound clips on soon. This amplifier sounds freaking gorgeous, and it works perfectly, from the power scaling to the transparent by-passable all tube effects loop, and Plexi/JTM modeling. Hey, I want one of these myself!
June 30th: ex-Revolution 45 first run in soon
In a perfect world, there are no problems. But that's not the world we live in. I've had some difficulties, of a personal nature, that led to be me having to back-burner Soultone amplifier building for a bit. On top of that, there were some initial problems with the original "prototype" amplifiers, that needed to be corrected and have the changes incorporated into the production Rev 45. Last but not least, Krank amps has gone and trademarked the "Revolution" amplifier name... and the Soultone Power Scaled JTM45 is now without a moniker.
Keep smilin' folks. I haven't thrown in the towel yet...
March 4th: The Revolution 45 nears readiness
Here's some preliminary photos (pro photos will be coming soon):
January 27: Production version Revolution 45 finalized
It won't be long now - the final version chassis will be in soon, ready to begin the final prototype and first production units.
Jan 18: The Ebay Scammers are at it again!
If you are receiving messages for "Second Offers" from any Ebay user other than Soultone_Amplification, you are being scammed. There are currently no amplifiers available for Ebay sales, and those previously offered are already sold. There was a customer cancellation, which was sold to another customer (thank you Louis).
The following ebay users are currently perpetrating this scam:
EBAY ID: mr.staypuff
IDENTITY: Varlam Barik
EMAIL: varlam01@yahoo.co.uk
EBAY ID: lchshoppe
IDENTITY:currently unknown
EMAIL: currently unknown
WARNING - Neither of these work for, or are in any way associated with, Soultone Amplification, Inc. Enough said.
November 4: Product split - the JTM45ps and the Revolution 45
Clearly the expectations of the Revolution 45 cannot be fully met pre-production, but we can more-easily produce a JTM45 amplifier that has the power scaling. The JTM45ps will be provided until the Revolution 45 is produced.
September 21: The new "Great Glowing Tubes, Batman" style website
I had fun drawing this stuff. Don't ask why. I am especially proud of my ability to take exported drawings from Solid Works, and convert them to psychadelic line art, like that chassis to the right! Yippee for Corel Draw Graphics Suite 12! I read a lot of comics as a kid in the '60s - so I guess it shows in my influences. It's kind of a cross betwen Batman and the RCA Receiving Tube Manual. Goes without saying - everything on this site is Copyright 2005 Soultone Amplification, Inc. And every lick of it is original. Well, let's just say "my original copies, of the original... eh, copies!"
What do you think of the "new look?"
September 8: The Revolution 45 is born!
Take a JTM-45 design, add Power Scaling by London Power technology, build with premium components, include some coveted tone tweaks, and you have a Revolution 45. You GOTTA hear this thing! You don't need a 36 watt EL84 amp, you need this KT-66/EL-34 mix and match monster!
Needless to say, the credit for much of the ideas incorporated into this amplifier belong to Kevin O'Connor, and his inspirational series "The Ultimate Tone." As inventor of Power Scaling, through his Company "London Power, LTD." he has made the generous offer of licensing his technologies for use in our products.
Thank you Kevin, you have planted the seeds of the Revolution - this one's for you!
August 25: Forums offline!
Due to the overwhelming interest of the 3 members, the forum has been cancelled. LOL. Does anybody really care?
If you must go to a forum, may I recommend http://www.thegearpage.net ?
August 24: The Manchester, goes out dancing, get's run over!
Does the world need another AC-30? The 18 watt is great at dual EL-84s - I am not so happy at 36 watts and 4 EL-84s. Wouldn't a JTM-45 with power scaling be more realistic?
OBITUARY UPDATE - The Manchester, is cryogenically frozen.
July 8, 2005: Forums online!
With great effort the Cr%p posted by the bots has been removed, and the ability to sign up and get an account has been fixed.
Is anybody out there interested? Click on the "forum" link to the left.
July 8, 2005: Manchester News!
Well, it's being finalized! The Manchester will no longer be a 36 watt amp. We're using the EL-34 tubes. Have no fear - thanks to Kevin O'Connor's flexibility with the "Power Scaling (TM)" technology, we will be able to still achieve incredible tones at low volume. The prototype is anticipated finalization soon, for those of you signed up as testers.
Keep checking back!
June 1, 2005: Rev B. Goes production!
The first Rev. B. units have been manufactured, and the amp is quieter. I have been asked why the red tube cage was eliminated. Well, it's like this - while it was exceptionally pretty in red, with the laser etched markings, it was a bit overwhelming. I'm not trying to sell tube cages, after all ;-)
The important changes included minor tube layout changes, and improved grounding schemes throughout.
If you order a Londoner from June 15th on, you're getting a Rev. B.
The Rev B. Londoner is getting near!
It's a little thing, I know, but I think the small details put together make a great amp. I am close to the first revision of the Londoner 18 - minor enhancements to make the amp a better and more durable product. The Rev B. Chassis uses integrated standoffs for the tag board, and has many more integrated grounding lugs, to implement a "galactic grounding" technique that will lower the noise floor even further.
The chassis units are now at the production floor, so it won't be long. Here's a solid model of the chassis, where most of the changes are being made to accomodate the upgrades:
New DIY chassis unit coming soon!
It wouldn't be fair to do this for the Soultone amps, and not offer an upgraded product for the "Do It Yourselfer" (DIY) as well. Those of you who desire to "roll your own" will be excited to know that Soultone is about to release the best chassis ever made for DIY, at an unbelievable price.
This new chassis is miles ahead of anything out there, with closed sides, all components properly keyed, IEC receptacle and UL recommended integrated grounding lugs. It's even got constructed of 5052-H32 Aluminum! To put it bluntly, it's better than 90% of the tube amp chassis units in production amps!
Available mid-April: