has anyone built a real mctube or similar preamp? looks real cool, i like the backwards transformer for the high voltage for the tube. it seems like a better option than the starved plate designs that are out there, anyone have any thoughts or experience?

can the voltage rating on a filter cap be too high?

so the caps are  kind of like a battery that delivers power between the pulses from the transformer rectifier?

let me make sure i have this straight,
   the caps are not just dumping out enough juice to even out the pulsing dc, they dump all of their charge and have to be completly recharged, so too much is wastefull and taxing on the transformer or would require a larger transformer with no improved filtering.   

i have a question about filtering caps in a power supply.   if more capacitance is better, is there a point at witch you gotoo far? can you have a cap thats too large?   

i just got the traynor together and it works pretty good, its not very loud though, i can see why so many people in here advise against 2030 amps. still fun though and now i got a new amp.   ive got a few transformers laying around that are similar to the one in the traynor, i  also have a few more 2030s left over.  im going to try and build a similar amp/amps from scratch, ill let you know how it goes.  i love this site and i  look forward to learning more  from this excelent resourse

im i right in thinking that playing a bass through this amp might have blown the 2030s, or should i check for something else?

thanks a lot!

ive got a traynor reverb mate 40 that a friend brought to me to repair it has two tda 2030 amps for its power section, one was destroyed ( it looked like it had exploded) and the other one didnt work when i put it in another 2030 10 watt amp.  he got the amp from his cousin  along with a bass guitar that he had been playing through the amp. 
i am replacing the 2030s and i also am socketing all of the opamps in the preamp/chourus/reverb sections for purposes of experementation.  i wonder if anyone has any experience with such an amp and could offer any input, or comments. i am still reletively new at this stuff, i am self taught and still learning. i have built several stompboxes and 386 type amps but i am just getting into amplifiers so any help is welcome.

hello r.g. im new to this forum. i have been foolin around with this stuff for a while tryin to make amps out of junk i find. and i have realized recently that the power supply is the starting point for building and amp. its the part ive been overlooking and recently ive beeen trying to figure out transformers and diodes and caps  and i think i have the basics down, i am currently experimenting with a lot of tda 2030 chips i got. i think my power supply is in order and im working on the main circuit now. if i can get this thing working the only part i have paid any money for is the tda2030, the rest is from dumpster finds.