Greg Erskine said:
Mine (55 N+) is just getting warmed up (maybe 10 hours tops) and it's pretty darn special. I suspect if Professor Smith wanted to part with his, it would go rather quickly at a fair price.
Of course, if he wanted to give it away...As I stated, I'm very happy with mine at this early stage. With its newness along with my DIY open baffles (ala MJK) that only have a few hours on them, I suspect I'm in for some changes. But I really like what I hear so far.
Ryan
edit: make that really really like what I hear
Professor smith said:
Hello
Before selling your Aksa just read this article, in that test the Aksa amp sound better than some of the best amps in the world;
http://www.avhub.com.au/NewsArticle.aspx?MagazineID=5&NewsArticleID=1273
I did somes tests to compare cd players, you can lost all details and soundstage quality with some cd player.
Using a Radford amp and my own amp, with Dynaudio speakers and with my best music cd. I did compared a Denon, a Sony, and a Toshiba cd players, and also a costly Toshiba dvd player. The sound was best on the Denon, and worse on the Sony. The difference between them was day and night, the Denon was alive with an excellent soundstage, and the Sony was a narrow soundstage and a dead sound quality.
So be sure that your sources are the best, wen you lost sound quality with a different cd player or music cd it is mean that your source need to be change.
Bye
Gaetan
Prof. Smith, perhaps you're expecting too much of an amplifier? They dont' give soundstage depth etc. That's the function of speakers. Change your speaker topology and the difference would be massive and measurable.
Any amps with low enough distortion, good FR etc. will be the least of your problem. Don't expect to sell the AKSA and get better sound by using McIntosh. On the other side, try to build a cheap gainclone too just to compare with the "worst" amplifier possible.
Any amps with low enough distortion, good FR etc. will be the least of your problem. Don't expect to sell the AKSA and get better sound by using McIntosh. On the other side, try to build a cheap gainclone too just to compare with the "worst" amplifier possible.
gainphile said:
Makes more sense
But kind of the same thing really
These things "tips over" so easily, from my experience
And when they do, it goes from fantastic to plain boring
Its lost, just like that
Kind of like getting lost in the wilderness
Happens all too easy, but its so hard to find the way back
Maybe consider a good tubeamp, but may be even more difficult
How did you know my hug is alike an Anaconda constrictor?
I was famous while in the army (1970) not to let folks breath during the figthing exercises... because so strong hug i use to give them...and i used that to neutralise folks that were faster than i was.
ahahahah!
Interesting you gave got that while kidding with me.... you may have some telephatic skills.
That hug is sent you was not the constrictor one.....was a ligther one.
regards,
Carlos
........................................................................................................
.... schhhhh!.. the anaconda one!
I was famous while in the army (1970) not to let folks breath during the figthing exercises... because so strong hug i use to give them...and i used that to neutralise folks that were faster than i was.
ahahahah!
Interesting you gave got that while kidding with me.... you may have some telephatic skills.
That hug is sent you was not the constrictor one.....was a ligther one.
regards,
Carlos
........................................................................................................
.... schhhhh!.. the anaconda one!
Attachments
lineup said:Thanks for some good postings, Carlos.
As you have some AKSA amplifiers you are intitled to give us some info.
And you know Hugh very well ... better than me
I did not say Professor Smith was imagine-ing things.
I only asked if he had considered the subjective 'illusive' factor, as well.
Kids,
we should not distrust any sound impressions we get, as being Extra ET Terrestrial encountering.
Many times our Ear are telling us reality.
As I said.
Maybe you missed my message first time read.
Now read 1 more time, Mr M.
To send one msg is no garantee the other receiver will get your msg.
He maybe makes up his own msg . on which you do not agree.
thanks for listening
/halojoy lineup-gromanswe .. one and the same no matter what you think
AKSA said:
Hugh,
I am not being dishonest. I do not disclaim what I wrote you on the 8th May. But it was true at the time and shortly after that email, the sound did change and I have not managed to get it back. Further, I only changed the source from one to another, so IOW only two changes were made. Both sources contained the preamps and the dac within them. I have changed the source back to what it originally was but this has not regained the original sound I heard.
Regarding the bedding down of the caps, yes some have claimed this but others have disclaimed it. So from my point of view I am getting mixed messages. I do not know who to believe.
Carlos who owns an AKSA stated earlier: ''maybe this explains why i cannot perceive those burns.... maybe i need some drugs to be normal...if "to be normal" is to listen/believe in such kind of capacitive miracle effects.''
ostripper stated:''subtle changes in the blackgates ESR before and after burn-in should only result in equally subtle changes to the sound of the amp.''
''After 30 hours according to blackgate.''
From your point of view it may look like I'm trying to tarnish the reputation of the amp but from my point of view if I cannot get it to sound the way it did, I will be very disappointed not only given the money I've spent but also the labour which has gone into drilling the case, and the only option would be to sell it. I dont believe there's anything spurious about that its a perfectly genuine reason to sell it.
But I will wait abit longer to see if the bedding down process does make any difference.
From where did you get your aksa 55+N modules?
Whats your power supply like
Transformer size etc
How about showing some pictures
I thought only assembled Lifeforce 55/supply was available
btw, you could take it too a service workshop, and have it measured, as to whether it accidentally should show occilation
Or whether some important component have failed
As asked above, are your transformers/supply within specced limits
Whats your power supply like
Transformer size etc
How about showing some pictures
I thought only assembled Lifeforce 55/supply was available
btw, you could take it too a service workshop, and have it measured, as to whether it accidentally should show occilation
Or whether some important component have failed
As asked above, are your transformers/supply within specced limits
tinitus said:
It was a refurbished fully tested unit from Hugh.
Power supply was also already built. I just added the toroidals to it.
www.sendspace.com/file/man8b3
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Bigun said:
I only needed 1 amplifier in my main system and in the end my preference was the AKSA 55N+. I ended up selling the LF55 and was a very hard decision as it's a remarkable amplifier but there has been something that always dragged me back to the AKSA. It has done so over the last 5 years even after building heaps of other power amps to try and dethrone it.
Mine is slightly modified and has a very, very slight hint of the LF55.
Prof
I have had one other occasion when I thought my AKSA was going off with the sound degrading. It ended up being a faulty Elma switch in my pre amp. The moral to the story is I wasted over A$1000 to get another temporary pre and built another power amp instead of being my usual methodical self and tracing the issue in a sensible manner. I was lucky that I sold the pre for the same price and liked and kept the other power amp.
Another thing I have found with the AKSA is it really needs a good pre amp. I've tried several commercial, passive and DIY over 5 years and they do vary the performance of the AKSA considerably. I have noticed that the pre does need a low Zout (<75R) to allow the AKSA to really shine in the bass and dynamics. I tried the B1 buffer with it and was not a good match and put that down to the highish 330R Zout. Doesn't seem to be an issue with other power amps I have but they are not connected to speakers that go down to 30Hz.
You can always go back to basics and try different sources and pre amps to see if they change matters. I still have a feeling that it's time that will sort this out and patience will be rewarded.
I have had one other occasion when I thought my AKSA was going off with the sound degrading. It ended up being a faulty Elma switch in my pre amp. The moral to the story is I wasted over A$1000 to get another temporary pre and built another power amp instead of being my usual methodical self and tracing the issue in a sensible manner. I was lucky that I sold the pre for the same price and liked and kept the other power amp.
Another thing I have found with the AKSA is it really needs a good pre amp. I've tried several commercial, passive and DIY over 5 years and they do vary the performance of the AKSA considerably. I have noticed that the pre does need a low Zout (<75R) to allow the AKSA to really shine in the bass and dynamics. I tried the B1 buffer with it and was not a good match and put that down to the highish 330R Zout. Doesn't seem to be an issue with other power amps I have but they are not connected to speakers that go down to 30Hz.
You can always go back to basics and try different sources and pre amps to see if they change matters. I still have a feeling that it's time that will sort this out and patience will be rewarded.
rabbitz said:
when you say faulty switch, what was the switch for?
and the real mystery is why I cant get it to sound the way it did previously. I have gone back to exactly the way it was.
and the other source I tried with the amp had a Zout of 10 to 20 ohms. But this actually sounds even worse in some ways compared with the first source.
Don't give up so soon. The fact that the sound changed rather abruptly means something abrupt happened.
Resistors - short of actually burning up , a metal film with "hold" it's value. Worst case ,after making one glow momentarily , higher
resistance could be obtained. This would be highly unlikely if you see no discolored components.
Caps - standard ones when new have a very short burn- in (tested this on a ESR meter) but cerifines have an almost marginal reading initially , then after break-in, (like a new car engine) they read like any standard component. As caps get old , this is where the quality "shines through" , I have 17 year old 105c nichicon's that read as well as new standard 85C generic chinese caps.
on a live amp , I replaced a cap with a used one of inferior quality (almost bad) and did not lose bass , but thequality of the mids and highs , as well as the soundstage was wrecked.
Semi's - here is where it get's interesting... modern discrete's are quite "sloppy" compared to IC's in thier manufacturing processes. I have had to go through lots of 20 to match differential pairs for my amps. on this subject , a semi can change states at any time with VERY noticable audible effects. A mismatched input pair (beta)will "nuke" your soundstage almost immediately as well as affect every other aspect of the amps sound. electrically , all will still work , but it will sound like ceearapp !!
On the 8k$ amp I'm repairing , it sounds perfect for hours , then ..suddenly , it sounds "flat" compared to the other channel (very noticable) , then cracking noise. One shot of freeze spray , all is good for several more hours. Even new components can be bad , not initally , but after days, hours ,or even weeks.All of these are possibilities . Objectively, I would troubleshoot from the most obvious (power supply , wiring... what could affect both amps so quickly?) to the subtle (recent component changes, surges, a faulty batch of components?), but I would not give up easily , instead , a mental exercise would be in order.
OS
ostripper said:
Don't give up so soon. The fact that the sound changed rather abruptly means something abrupt happened.
Resistors - short of actually burning up , a metal film with "hold" it's value. Worst case ,after making one glow momentarily , higher
resistance could be obtained. This would be highly unlikely if you see no discolored components.
Caps - standard ones when new have a very short burn- in (tested this on a ESR meter) but cerifines have an almost marginal reading initially , then after break-in, (like a new car engine) they read like any standard component. As caps get old , this is where the quality "shines through" , I have 17 year old 105c nichicon's that read as well as new standard 85C generic chinese caps.
quality of the mids and highs , as well as the soundstage was wrecked.
Semi's - here is where it get's interesting... modern discrete's are quite "sloppy" compared to IC's in thier manufacturing processes. I have had to go through lots of 20 to match differential pairs for my amps. on this subject , a semi can change states at any time with VERY noticable audible effects. A mismatched input pair (beta)will "nuke" your soundstage almost immediately as well as affect every other aspect of the amps sound. electrically , all will still work , but it will sound like ceearapp !!
All of these are possibilities . Objectively, I would troubleshoot from the most obvious (power supply , wiring... what could affect both amps so quickly?) to the subtle (recent component changes, surges, a faulty batch of components?), but I would not give up easily , instead , a mental exercise would be in order.
OS
But if there arent any visible signs or if I cant measure whats happening, how do I find whats wrong with it?
Spiritualistics said a soul can enter another body
Some kind of ressurrection man!
Maybe reencarnation if this name exists in your language.
I suggest not to start with that subject again...in the past a lot of problems we had..time to forget.....do not let me think you are so nice as this guy shown.... let the spirit acomplish his destination in earth
heheheh
regards,
Carlos
Some kind of ressurrection man!
Maybe reencarnation if this name exists in your language.
I suggest not to start with that subject again...in the past a lot of problems we had..time to forget.....do not let me think you are so nice as this guy shown.... let the spirit acomplish his destination in earth
heheheh
regards,
Carlos
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