[quote name='stingraybassman' timestamp='1424775286' post='2700224'] I feel like someone should stick up for the OP a little bit here...... I'm guessing the design and prototyping of the Amp will be accompanied with a report/dissertation, half of the experience is finding the issues. This isn't a highly polished concept with sleek marketing and a huge R&D budget, this is someone trying to think outside the box (no pun intended), and do a project with some substance for university. A bit of open mindedness would help from everyone, he isn't going to harm anyone! (insert back related joke) [/quote]
[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1424905786' post='2701896'] T'is to be regretted if I seem daunting because that's not my intention. As Beer said above it's better to be realistic and questioning than give someone a pat on the head and walk away thinking 'That'll never work but I'm not going to upset him'. I mean, I could've just posted 'Nah!' and left it at that but I found myself researching the weight per sq foot of plexiglass for a given thickness, the gross weight of comparable amps and cabs; sundry other stuff. I even popped over to see a guy today who builds and repairs valve amps and had a ten minute chat with him about the project. He's been doing this for about thirty years. His reaction was broadly the same as most here: Why plexiglass when it only adds weight? You'd need an array of toroidal transformers if the bigger amps are to be movable. And there's only one guy in the UK (to his knowledge) who's built a 500w valve amp and that's John Chambers who was only able to do it because he wound his own transformers rather than stack up a line of proprietary jobs with all the attendant difficulties. I didn't [i]have[/i] to drive over to Somerset to talk about the OP's ideas but I did anyway. Frankly, I think the loosely defined scope of the OP's project is far more daunting than I could [i]ever[/i] be. And while it's nice to be kindly-spoken and 'encouraging' it's no kindness to let someone wander off a cliff out of a desire to be polite. [/quote]
Thanks for the comments guys, this is a field that i am not familiar with, i am a spark and engineer to trade. however, this project concept is something different to whats available todays market and innovative (it wont be everyones taste. Engineered properly it will meet the stated weight and price). The setup is constructed or unbreakable polycarbonate in order to show the valve glow, show something different, allow for LED controllable lighting and perhaps be a talking point. Its worth noting that the point was to construct it to be small yet boast massive power.
The design pictures that were posted are very basic as CAD and finite element analysis is still being completed on this model but this forum was to see what interest there was for this type of concept and how to improve it to make it more appealing (mentioned above).
I realise i would have to wind 500w valve amp transformers myself, but thanks for asking your mate skankdelvar.
Cheers guys