Audible Illusions Project Update

I was able to get my Audible Illusions amplifier project back together yesterday. It was quite a bit of work and I’m not 100% satisfied with my cable routing. Unfortunately I don’t know how the factory did it and I can’t find any pictures out there. I’m 100% sure someone has been into this amplifier already and taken shortcuts. For sure they didn’t put it back together like the factory.

 

One thing I can say for sure is thank god I took photos and documenged everything! There are no schematics avaliable online and Audible Illusions just ignored my requests for copies.

 

The left channel connections from the transformer secondary to the binding posts are way to tight for my liking. They come into contact with one of the power tubes. I will need to extend the wires in the near future once I confirm it’s up and running properly.

I was able to power up the amp slowly with current limiting. I brought it up to full line voltage and it sits at around 1/2 amp after the initial surge to charge the capacitors.

The driver tubes are lit and looking good. The major problem I have is I don’t have the proper filliment voltage on 3 of the 4 output tubes. Only tube V4 is lighting up and has 6.3v at the filliment. The others only have about 2v and don’t light. No light/heat no electron emissions… No dice. Unfortunately I think I will need to pull the board to get to the artwork. I’m pretty sure the problem has to do with the bodges I found and tried to fix. I guess I will resort to wires instead of getting fancy.

I’m super happy I didn’t release the magic smoke or have any capacitors explode. I see this as a win and a positive leaning experience. Its an opportunity to rewire it better next time!

I’m done with it for this week, will do another update when I rip back into it. For now happy tinkering!