For
Tube-amp builders who want a real Studio: design any tube regulator from spec, simulate, diagnose and export.
You will learn
- Compare every tube-only regulator topology on a shared bench
- Master cold-cathode VR physics, stacking and ballast sizing
- Design series + error-amp regulators with predictable Zout, ripple and stability
- Diagnose live faults (oscillation, sag, hum, no-strike) with the interactive assistant
- Export Markdown reports + SPICE netlists wired to Ampera's Koren tube models
Before you start
Power supply & rectification
Time & level
45 minAdvanced
Next step
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Lab 05 / 07
Ripple cascade audible
Hear the ripple at each stage. 800 mV is audible, 15 µV is not.
Click any "Hear" button to acknowledge — playback starts on the second click. Gain is calibrated so 800 mV pk-pk ripple corresponds to −10 dBFS at 120 Hz; lower stages get proportionally quieter. Hard ceiling at −3 dBFS regardless.
00. PSU rawAfter C2, before any regulator.
800.0 mV −0 dB
03. 1-tube CF triodeSelf-bias 6080. −14 dB.
150.0 mV −15 dB
03. 1-tube CF pentodeEL509 pentode. −24 dB.
50.0 mV −24 dB
04. + VR referenceSame CF + 0A2 reference. −36 dB.
12.0 mV −36 dB
05. + Error amp12AX7 error amp + AC bypass. −58 dB.
1.0 mV −58 dB
06. + Feed-forwardBench-best on the studio bench. −95 dB.
15 µV −95 dB
The cascade isn't a curve — it's discrete topology choices stacking on each other. Going from raw PSU (800 mV) to feed-forward (15 µV) is 5 decades of attenuation, achieved by adding tubes one at a time. The audible difference between adjacent stages compresses fast: by stage 4 you can't hear the residual on full-range monitors at safe levels — only the FFT shows it.
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