Starting in 2013, Menno van der Veen did a lot of research to refine a special amplifier technique, which he named “Trans”. This technique is based on the philosophy that errors within an amplifier first should be cured and removed, instead of correcting them afterwards by means of global negative feedback. To reach this goal, Menno applies DC-coupling and voltage controlled current sources to the single ended power valve. These techniques remove the harmonic distortion generated by this valve. A very important next result is that the valve shows a very low plate resistance. This is the optimal condition for correctly driving the output transformer with smallest magnetic distortions. In summary: Trans prevents errors to occur; consequently any global feedback is not necessary anymore. The net result is: from input to output the micro details and dynamics and space information are correctly amplified, without loss of precious information.
Menno wrote two articles for audioXpress to document his findings and progress with Trans. Those two articles were published in audioXpress, April and May 2018 - "TubeSociety 2A3-300B-SE Amplifier Project," parts 1 and 2; and audioXpress December 2019 "Build an 18 W single-Ended Valve Amplifier with Trans Technology."
The type number SE10 indicates a 10 Watt power capability per channel, while SE simply means single-ended; one power tube per channel. Amazingly, this valve is a pentode with all the characteristics of an improved real triode. However, its efficiency is twice the standard triode efficiency. The stereo amp has an integrated pre-amp stage with a four inputs source selector and Alps volume control. The transformers are of course Vanderveen Toroidal designs, made by Trafco in Serbia.
The construction manual is different from standard construction manuals. It mainly contains photos which clearly show how to build the amplifier step by step. In Menno’s opinion: “photos tell more than many words”. The great advantage is that you can enlarge the photos as much as you like, to clearly see the smallest details. You can download this manual freely from Menno’s website.
www.mennovanderveen.nl | www.tentlabs.com
