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[AF6D]

I've got a little money left in the piggy bank and wanted to put it on a full 1500 watt amplifier. The first that comes to my mind is the Alpha 9500. But it seems long in the tooth and the website for Alpha seems lacking and well, unmonitored these days. Am I better off looking at a newer amplifier that uses solid state transistors compared to an Alpha 9500 that's seems to have always been the one to beat? New amps are definitely cheaper. I don't think the 9500 is worth nearly $9,000 but that's just my opinion.

[W9RAC]

I have been an Alpha fan for many years and have had three new ones. Today I own none. If I were considering an Alpha I would choose one of the older ones that are more easier serviced. 87A, 99, 8100 come to mind. Currently I run Acom 1010, A2100 and Elecraft KPA1500. I understand the attraction of the Alpha's but am like you uneasy about the condition of the company. 73 Rich, W9RAC

[NA4M]

In today's environment the cost of replacement/spare tubes for 1500 watt tube amps is a significant consideration as well as the cost of the new amp itself.

[W1QJ]

Alpha 9500 and 87a are microprocessor based amps.  Good luck getting them repaired if it’s a microprocessor problem.  The Alpha 99 is t that bad and the tubes are still reasonable.

[K7JQ]

It sounds like price isn’t an issue for you. For my money on a *new* amp, solid state is the way to go…the now and future of amplifiers. The only *all tube* amplifier manufacturer out there is OM Power. Who knows what’s going on with Alpha…I wouldn’t consider them. Every other company manufactures only SS, or a split between tube and SS offerings (Acom and Ameritron).

In the last 19 years, I’ve had three SS and two tube amps…currently an Acom 1200s. Through many hours of contesting, both tube amps have had problems and resulting repairs. Never a hiccup with the SS ones. Good luck with your choice.

Bob K7JQ

[K0XM]

I am one who is also in the market. I presently have a fully functional L7, and want to go solid state. Like a lot of us I cut my teeth on Alphas, but that time has passed. The Elecraft KPA500 is unbelieveably fast in band switching, and that is what is my main driving consideration. I was looking at the Mercury, but the web site says no QSK which eliminates that one. Our club is having a presentation by Reinhard on the RF2K-S which I am also thinking about. Alpha was good in it's day, just like the 940SAT was a good radio....but those days have passed.

[W9RAC]

I believe you are on point Chuck. With me I guess its the nostalgia part of my days with Alpha. In its day it was a great company and like you mention those days are gone. Maybe a guy could bring them back within their own shack with a 87A, 99 or the like but even by todays terms the 8410/9500 are just not the viable option for me. Regarding your comment of wanting to go solid state, Acom 1200s is a great amp for CW or SSB. Very clean and just a pleasure to run. I do own a KPA1500 which is also a great SS amp. Not a hint of a problem with it. Acom has two year warranty, Elecraft is an USA company which I prefer. I'm still kicking around buying an older Alpha which I guess is all of them at this point. Been looking for a mint 99 however the more I consider it maybe not. 73 Rich 

[KA4DPO]

I think the biggest problem is price and availability of replacement tubes.  All of the ceramic triode and tetrode tubes are terribly expensive and becomming harder to find by the day.  The only tubes that still make any sense at all are the 3-500, 572B, and 811A.  Those are still available and you can buy them without taking a second mortgage on your home.

I agree that solid state is the future and the technology is getting better by the day, while the prices are going down if you take inflation into account.  I have not heard much about the Acom 2020 solid state amps.

[W9RAC]

Well the quality of the 811a tubes is about ZERO. I have owned several 811H amps and if I were to purchase another (which definitely will not happen) I would be inclined to invest in a set of NOS RCA or the like 811a tubes and be done with it. SS amps are OK but I still like the tube amps also. The Elecraft KPA1500 is a great amp. But again, its like a automatic vs a 4 speed. The 4 speed is fun too. 73 Rich

[W9AC]

I see a lot of used tube amps for sale.  The availability of new solid-state designs plus tube scarcity is driving former tube amp owners toward solid state.  Those new solid-state amp purchases have created a glut in tube amps but most owners now refuse to ship.  As solid-state amps continue in popularity, that will create less of a demand for replacement tubes. 

We're already seeing amp owners selling tubes separate from the amplifier.  And, it's a lot easier to package tubes for shipment than an amp.  For ops like me who prefer tube amps, the scarcity and price problem may slowly correct itself.  Time will tell.

I do use an Elecraft KPA1500 at my remote station and an SPE 1K-FA as a back-up to my tube amps at home.  The KPA1500 has gone back to the factory several times for repairs.  Complete schematics are not available.  Just recently, a 10V regulator failed and I made the repair myself, but only after asking for a tiny partial schematic of the affected regulator board. 

The KPA1500 is loud during high duty-cycle emissions and like most solid-state amps, output power drops with PA deck heating, resulting in lower efficiency operation.  Place a brick on a key with an Alpha amp and watch the output power remain stable, no time limit.

One troubling design issue with the KPA1500 is that USB and Ethernet I/O is part of a large motherboard.  Despite best grounding/bonding technique, I experienced USB port damage from a nearby lightning EMP event.  That repair cost USD $500 + shipping expense.  With I/O being on the motherboard, a total board replacement during a surge event is not out of the question and won't be covered under warranty.  Like OM Power, I/O should have been placed on a separate daughterboard using consumable hardware for easy end-user I/O repairs.  My OM Power 2000A+ has a plug-in I/O module. 

Someone mentioned a concern with Alpha's microprocessors.  Each and every solid-state amp with a microprocessor is one failure away from becoming a door stop if the manufacturer closes its business and takes the code with it -- or a microprocessor becomes obsolete.  Obsolescence isn't limited to vacuum tubes.  Specific LDMOS devices are just as likely to go obsolete in time and may force end-users to kludge-in a new device to bring the amp back to life.  10 years from now, let's see if it's an issue.
       
As for the Alpha 9500, I have seen prices for good, working examples selling for as low as USD $3,500.  If you go that route, ask the seller if it includes all factory updates.  Several are important for trouble-free operation.   

Paul, W9AC



 

 

[VE7RF]

You got any idea what I can build from scratch with $9000.00  (tube amp) ?   But that's just me.

[KM4AH]

You got any idea what I can build from scratch with $9000.00  (tube amp) ?   But that's just me.

Don't know.  I have three good YC156A's. Four good 3-1000's . Plate transformer, C1 and C2, oil filled filter cap, sack full of brick diodes, sockets for the 3-1000's. Need a tank coil, filament transformer, plate choke, cabinet. I have several primary relays, and a few good vacuum relays.

I need to stop thinking about this.

[VE7RF]

You got any idea what I can build from scratch with $9000.00  (tube amp) ?   But that's just me.

Don't know.  I have three good YC156A's. Four good 3-1000's . Plate transformer, C1 and C2, oil filled filter cap, sack full of brick diodes, sockets for the 3-1000's. Need a tank coil, filament transformer, plate choke, cabinet. I have several primary relays, and a few good vacuum relays.

I need to stop thinking about this.

Piece of cake really.  I'm going to order a 16 ton hydraulic crimper, for crimping on copper lugs onto power cable.  They come with dies, to handle everything from 8 ga...up to 600 mcm.   Dirt cheap too.  Those copper lugs, you can get em in any hole you want, from 1/4"  up to (I think)  1/2".  Panel breakers on B+ supply  use 3/8" studs for the line + load.  Contactors use 5/16"  holes.   Saves me hassling my electrician ham buddy, who lives way over on the other side of town.

That 11 ton hydraulic punch I bought from Harbor Freight is a godsend.  Best $99.00 I have spent. Came with a bunch of conduit sized punches.   It also takes my greenlee conduit punches, identical.  Comes with 2 x different size draw studs.
4-6 meter holes, bam done.  Stupid fast.  They are all slug buster types too, that split the slug clean in half, for easy slug removal.  Socket holes, bam, done.  4 1/4" holes for 120mm fans, same deal.   I have used em on 1/8" thick 6061-T6 aluminum plate..and also 14 ga steel plate, like used by Hammond, and that stuff is  hard steel.

Smaller punches for  vac relays, SO-239,  7-16 din etc.

Also have a roper whitney  compound leverage hand punch.  Comes with dies from  3/32... up to 9/32 ( 7 x sizes in all). It punches 1/8" aluminum very easily.  Bought the roper whiney 7 ton bench punch, with a 5" throat depth.   I use that for punching  3/16" and 3/8" holes in aluminum plate, up to 3/8" thick.

Vertical/ horizontal bandsaws for cutting metal are cheap. Mine has 3 x speeds, 80fpm, 120 fpm, and 200 fpm.  Slowest used on hard steel, like CM / SS. Medium speed for reg steel.  fastest speed for aluminum, and anything soft..including wood.

The right tools sure make life a helluva lot easier.  I'm going to look at that tool that installs PEM nuts next.... shoulda done that years ago.

My dad never owned an electric drill....till my mum bought him one for xmas, like 1969.   Before that, he used a bit + brace for everything...pita.

ICA manufacturing has pre-made aluminum cabinets in various sizes.  They come with the 90 degs lips on em, all holes punched out.   They ship flat.  All u do is put it together.... then start punching holes for meters and socket holes etc.

[KA4WJA]

Rob,
I freely admit, up front, that I've been a fan of Alpha (ETO/Alpha) amps since the 1970's....since meeting Dick Enhorn himself at Miami hamfest, and seeing these wonderful amps (77dx, etc.) in person (in 1977/78 ?)...since hearing my first 77Sx on the air in the late 70's (took me ~ 20 years before I could afford one / find one....and another 20 years to acquire a second one)...

Yep...I own three Alpha amps, two 77Sx's and one 78....all working perfectly....and, I'm a very happy customer....wicked clean, almost indestructible, super easy-to-tune, etc.!

I've got a little money left in the piggy bank and wanted to put it on a full 1500 watt amplifier. The first that comes to my mind is the Alpha 9500. But it seems long in the tooth and the website for Alpha seems lacking and well, unmonitored these days. Am I better off looking at a newer amplifier that uses solid state transistors compared to an Alpha 9500 that's seems to have always been the one to beat? New amps are definitely cheaper. I don't think the 9500 is worth nearly $9,000 but that's just my opinion.

And, I highly recommend the older "legacy" Alpha amps, 77Dx, 77Sx, 76CA, 78, etc.!  They are very well designed and very, very well built!

I personally feel (and many of my fellow hams agree) that the Alpha 77Dx is the definitive "best" amateur desktop amp ever made. 

Now, it's clear that the 9500 is a great amp.  Well designed and well built....and, it will run 1500 watts out, carrier, brick-on-the-key, no-time-limit!  And, it's the cleanest HF amp on-the-market today!  (excellent IMD)  And, is almost impossible to over-drive, and/or damage the '9500!   All-in, a great amp! BUT...

But, even I don't recommend spending ~ $8500 for an Alpha 9500!

Yes, my email to Alpha (of earlier this summer) was answered in about 15 minutes, by the owner of the company Mike Dishop, himself....and, while I am a fan of Alpha, I still find it tough to recommend spending almost $9k on a 9500. 

A '9500 is simply not an "auto-tune version of a 77dx", it really isn't....it has less cooling capacity, has less-powerful power supply....has an air-variable Tune cap versus a 7.5kv vacuum-variable....and, looking from the other perspective, it uses a micro-processor to operate it, rather than a human being...oh, and it costs you twice the price of a used 77Dx, with a new Eimac tube, will cost you!

9500:


77Dx:



And, even an Alpha fan like me wonders why in the world they haven't updated / corrected their website?  Even if they don't want to do "online ordering", at least put a customer-service phone # into a page that you get to if you click on "order", etc., so you can speak to a live person (during regular business hours), yes?


As for some of the "other" used Alpha's, like the 86, 89, etc....yes, they too are well designed and well made, and if find one at a good price, I'd say go-for-it!

But, like some others, I'd be weary of an Alpha 87 or any used microprocessor-controlled and/or auto-tuning amps, unless you're well-versed in amp repair and/or modification....(now, if the processors/firmware, etc. fails in an Alpha 87 and there is no longer an "Alpha" factory to get any support from, nor anyone like Dick Byrd, etc. to assist....there is no reason an Alpha 87 cannot be modified to simply be a manual-tune-only amp, and remove all micro-processor-driven protection devices, etc., and still have a super amp....but, these modifications are not for a novice, etc.)

So...

So, to sum-up, unless you get some good answers from Mike D. as to why they haven't updated their website, etc...and, some sense of a good feeling that they/he is going to be there for at least the next few years....even a longtime Alpha amp owner and fan such as myself, cannot now honestly recommend the 9500 at almost $9k! 


My advice, look for a clean, unmodified 77Dx, and it will last you decades without issue! 

73,
John,  KA4WJA

[AF6D]

Thank you for turning this into an excellent thread. I will be the first to admit that I don't know everything an extra class is supposed to know. But I do know about IMD distortion and things like that. I also know old technology with tubes is questionable. In my business, web hosting and dedicated server leasing, we rely on solid state these days rather than the old Hardware versions. So I'm with you all on that. I was actually leaning towards solid state but always kept coming back to the 9500 as the one to beat. It uses what I have read a single tube, not an 811 if I have read that correctly, but still a single tube that's readily available according to advertisements. I'll have to look at that a little bit closer because that will be a deciding factor for me. I like the fact that an instant tune solid state is probably in my future. Smaller, quieter, but can it be a brick on 100% key down and never scream ouch? That remains to be seen.

I urge you all to keep this thread going because as you do I learn even more. That's one more thing I will readily admit - that I am always open to learning something new. Although I might write a post it seems to lean in a certain direction, I can also be moved in the opposite direction by those that have already invented the wheel so to speak.