Lance Cochrane Dark Expresso

This is a big and heavy unit. At least by my standards it is. It's pretty much a tank. This is a push pull 6L6 amplifier of about 25 watts a side. That's more than I need. I discovered long ago that the better the realized sound, the less the need to turn it up. If all is clear, clean, and luscious, volume becomes irrelevant. For me it does anyway. I don't run a disco. I just want to listen to music that sounds right. I obtained a steel 1940's Bud chassis at auction. It had a cover as well. That's unusual. That's why I got it. Some amateur had years ago tried to build something in it and apparently failed. I took out everything he had put in there and started from scratch. As always, hard wired by hand and tuned by ear. This unit sounds strikingly real, even to me. I named this unit Dark Expresso because that's the color of the paint I used. In the photos the darker ones show the hue more correctly. I didn't name it that because I wanted it to be stimulating and liquid sounding even though it did end up that way. I read all the HiFi sales pitches. I've been reading them for forty plus years. How this record makes the music dance on the floor and how the articulation on this cut does such and such and so on. Half the time I don't bother to read through all that stuff and go right to the conclusion. I don't mind fiction at all. I just like it properly labelled. What I do want in an amplifier and in a system is the ability to just sit back and honestly say, "Man, that really sounds nice." I know, that's far too simple in the world of audio but maybe I'm just a simple kind of guy. This unit does that for me. It does that in spades. When i get notes hanging in the air, well you know what I mean or if you don't, you should. Other guys have other criteria. To me, that's what this should be about. We have here a unit that has four 6L6, three 12AU7, a 5U4, some heavy iron, and a strut to it. I could go into the technical aspects, and in a bit I will but don't be deceived. A listing of the technical aspects of an amplifier tells you very little. It's all just talk until you get it in your living room. Then you know. You know pretty quickly too. If you've been an amp of the month type, buying this and that based on reviews and you've been less than delighted with the results, you know what I'm talking about. A fairly high percentage of the listings on this very website illustrate precisely that. Now I've frequently said that if you can find one of my units on the used market, snatch it up. Just grab it. The thing about that is that of the hundreds that I've made, they don't show up used very often. Mostly they go into living rooms and stay there. No more amp of the month club for those guys. That in itself should tell you all you need to know. The unit uses cathode bias. Each output tube is handled individually. Nothing for you to bother about. No adjustments to worry over or fuss about. All internal components much higher rating than required. If a 2 watt resistor is called for I used a 5 watt. That sort of thing. Built to last a very very long time. The output tubes do not require matching. Plug in what you like. It'll handle them with a smile. They're run softly too. Have other 6L6 types that you want to try? Plug them in. No adjustments. No issues. It's the same with the small signal tubes. I used three 12AU7 that I happen to like. If you have some others you'd like to roll, plug those in and give a listen. While you can use any of the 12A-7 family in the unit, like 12AT7, 12AX7, 12AV7, what have you, the unit has plenty of gain as it is. I prefer the humble and inexpensive 12AU7. The 12BH7 is essentially a taller 12AU7. If you'd like to give those a go it would be a nice match. Eight ohms output. That's it. That's how the output transformers are wound so there's no changing that. For what it's worth, it's currently driving four speakers that can take 250 watts each in parallel which presents a three ohm load. No issue at all. Don't overthink things. Seventeen inches by ten inches at the base. Heavy and a pain to pack and ship but that's part of the deal. I pack very well. This will be like shipping an anvil. The best buy in HiFi. Get it or regret it. Lance Cochrane P.S. - No International purchases please.