Mounting the sockets...
The T-shaped Tufnol pieces and the small boards (screwed to the outer sockets) shall later hold the electrolytic capacitors for the EL84 screen grid supply and the LM317 used for biasing the EL84. Also a pair of silver tinned 2mm thick wires were soldered in the middle running from front to back. Note this is isolated at the rear from the copper side by cutting the copper off. This shall prevent accidental ground loops. Also a detail of the finished LM317 based constant current source (CCS).
Some grouding copper area fixed with double sided tape, the CCS and the Electrolytics are fixed now. First the wiring for the heaters and the EL84 plate connection to the OPTs is done. The rest takes patience and some soldering iron control ...

At last! Some auditioning can be done using a 'wild' power supply setup.
VERY DANGEROUS but I could not help myself, it is always exiting when it comes to the first functional test... When playing the Piano recording "Falling in Love Again" from Makoto Ozone, I left the room for a moment and from another room the illusion that there was a real piano being played in the house was very life like.

"Art Pepper and Eleven" (one of my favorites) leaves no doubt that this amp can play pleasantly loud even when reproducing the roaring sound of the band in several songs of this magnificent recording.

One shortcoming could be the bass extension but the OPTs are small and physics do play a role.
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inserted by FC2 system