Maybe so much is not needed. Surely 30,000uF is overkill, and in relative terms just as good as "infinite" capacitance.
All I know is I have several big buckets around doing nothing and one of them just found a new home.
Once again... I challenged the little 7297 against my tube amp.
I was at quite a party with friends and family. Much food and drink was enjoyed.
Upon return I decided that it was time for some "Under the Missouri Sky" (Haden & Metheny). This evening I was joined by my other daughter. She was very tired, but slightly interested. We listened to the 7297 first. There was nothing offensive about it. We agreed that the cymbal brushes sounded slightly "plastic".
I decided after several minutes that I was ready to hear my other amp. My daughter complained "Oh Dad, are you going to start messing around?"
"Just sit still for a bit, please", I said.
Within about 20 seconds I had all the right cables swapped. I joined her back at the sofa and resumed playback.
Many minutes went by. When I finally turned to ask her what she thought, she ssshhhed me. More minutes passed. And more...
Afterward, we discussed what happened. I told her that I felt like the digital amp sounded like an excellent experience of the past, but the tube amp felt like a direct experience of the present. She described her experience in quite different terms. " The blue light* amp sounded really good... I was really listening. But after you switched, I could feel it. I felt like I was going to cry."
There you have it, folks. She said it better than I could and she is someone who is just fine listening to modern pop on her phone speaker.
*7297 amp
I was at quite a party with friends and family. Much food and drink was enjoyed.
Upon return I decided that it was time for some "Under the Missouri Sky" (Haden & Metheny). This evening I was joined by my other daughter. She was very tired, but slightly interested. We listened to the 7297 first. There was nothing offensive about it. We agreed that the cymbal brushes sounded slightly "plastic".
I decided after several minutes that I was ready to hear my other amp. My daughter complained "Oh Dad, are you going to start messing around?"
"Just sit still for a bit, please", I said.
Within about 20 seconds I had all the right cables swapped. I joined her back at the sofa and resumed playback.
Many minutes went by. When I finally turned to ask her what she thought, she ssshhhed me. More minutes passed. And more...
Afterward, we discussed what happened. I told her that I felt like the digital amp sounded like an excellent experience of the past, but the tube amp felt like a direct experience of the present. She described her experience in quite different terms. " The blue light* amp sounded really good... I was really listening. But after you switched, I could feel it. I felt like I was going to cry."
There you have it, folks. She said it better than I could and she is someone who is just fine listening to modern pop on her phone speaker.
*7297 amp
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..sorry to be "that guy" but the 7297 is a Class AB chip, nothing digital about it.. and the term "digital" is often incorrectly applied to Class D amps, which are quite anologue in their implementation as well.
I'm still happily using my 7297 as my "summer amp" - it runs quite cool, been rotating it around my various systems as well as some of the other DIY "usual suspects".
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Cogitech, I have two very young daughters (one is 4, the other still in diapers). I'm hoping they will one day enjoy the simple pleasure of sitting and listening to music. Right now, they're not interested unless it's the "Frozen" soundtrack or "untz untz" music (electronic/dance/techno).
Just curious what the rest of your system is?
Also, have you tried any of the tpa311x amps? I wonder how it compares to the 7297.
Destroyer OS, IIRC you prefer the 7297 to the tpa311x amps, right? Weren't you also planning on a GB or outright selling of a nice 7297 PCB? Or am I confusing you with someone else? I just received my first $3 7297 yesterday, but haven't had a chance to play with it yet. I was just thinking, if I'm going to replace everything including the amp IC, might as well have a nice, purpose built PCB from the start. We need a "Weiner" 7297 board.
Just curious what the rest of your system is?
Also, have you tried any of the tpa311x amps? I wonder how it compares to the 7297.
Destroyer OS, IIRC you prefer the 7297 to the tpa311x amps, right? Weren't you also planning on a GB or outright selling of a nice 7297 PCB? Or am I confusing you with someone else? I just received my first $3 7297 yesterday, but haven't had a chance to play with it yet. I was just thinking, if I'm going to replace everything including the amp IC, might as well have a nice, purpose built PCB from the start. We need a "Weiner" 7297 board.
My daughters are 12 and 13. I've been doing my best to expose them to all kinds of music since they were very young. One thing that makes a difference is having rules about when the TV can be on. When I was a kid, the "background sound" was the TV. I didn't want the same for my girls, so I went so far as to omit the TV from our main living room for a long time. The only source of sound was a 2-channel system. The result is that I often hear them humming or singing music from various decades and genres. Through the process they have also come to appreciate good quality sound. They don't find phone/tablet speakers as intolerable as I do, but they'd always choose to hear "good sound" if given the choice.
My system is a mishmash of DIY and modified products that has evolved over time. Currently it is comprised of:
Turn table - Technics SL-10 linear-tracking - with Audio-Technica AT122EP cart.
Digital Source - Headless Asus EEEbox running "Daphile" (controlled by Android tablet) - streaming FLAC from my DIY NAS (running OpenMediaVault)
USB-to-SPDIF - CM6631A-based Asynchronous board, hardwired to SPDIF input of DAC
DAC - WM8740-based DAC board - with multiple opamp choices
Pre-amp - Heavily modified HLLY AMK-II pre-amp - replaced the CS3310 volume control chip with PGA2311 - replaced some questionable capacitors - converted AUX input to a permanent PHONO input by building and installing an RJM VSPS (Very Simple Phono Stage) inside the pre-amp.
- Speakers - I have several pairs and different setups, but recently (and last night) I have been listening to my Planet-10 "microTower" enclosures with dual CSS EL70 fullrange drivers in "Castle Howard" configuration (one driver front-firing, the other up-firing)
For quite some time I was using a miniDSP to send the low bass to a pair of 12" vintage woofers, but I recently fried a couple of transistors in the miniDSP so I am just running the fullrangers now.
Oh, and the tube amp I keep referring to is a modified Shuguang I-25 EL34 P-P (25wpc). I've replaced many of the questionable capacitors with genuine parts such as Sprague orange drops and some Russian military K40Y PIO. I added a separate, 3 amp transformer to provide the 6.3v, so I can run some 12BH7s in place of the 12AU7s if I want. I installed a huge CPU heat sink to the main power transformer. Running some very nice NOS 12AX7s and 12AU7s up front and the power tubes are EH EL34.
I purchased a "blue/black" and tried it out. It ran extremely hot and didn't sound very good at all. I attempted some mods and nothing seemed to help it much. I gave up - harvested all the parts off it. I suspect it was defective.
I recently got in on the gmarsh "Wiener" 3118 group-buy and very much look forward to hearing that one.
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I now understand why our experience of the 7297 differ after reading your thread on what speakers you connect to your 7297.
A pair of budget 4 inch speakers against a pair of 15 inch will always sound different no matter what amplifier you use.
If only the amp changes, then the sound differences are due to the amp. If the speakers perform well enough to hear differences in amplification, then it is irrelevant how the speakers compare to other speakers.
"Better" speakers would simply highlight the differences in amplification even more. If you heard my tube amp with your Tannoys, you would then understand what I am saying. You may still prefer your 7297, but I suspect not.
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When I listen to a Kettle Drum being struck or a Double Bass being bowed, I hear complex overtones, tiny speakers do not provide those overtones, they are too busy flapping back and forth trying to produce the fundamentals.
Modern chip amplifiers are amazing and so inexpensive, so leaving more money to purchase good speakers. Then there are those that have invested in expensive boat anchors and skimp on speakers.
Modern chip amplifiers are amazing and so inexpensive, so leaving more money to purchase good speakers. Then there are those that have invested in expensive boat anchors and skimp on speakers.
I have plenty of good speakers here. I have no doubt that I would choose the sound of my tube amp over this $3 7297, regardless of which speakers are connected.
For some reason you seem to have a need to defend the 7297, even though I have repeatedly stated that I think it is amazing. To condescend the way you are with respect to people's amplifiers being "expensive boat anchors" and belittling their speaker choices (without ever having heard them) is borderline trolling. You have chosen to spend your money on speakers, while others decide to build their own. These are just choices, and this is just a hobby.
By the way, I have considerably more invested in speaker drivers than in amplification. The fact that I am currently enjoying the little EL70 drivers once again says nothing about my other speakers.
It seems almost inevitable that someone's going to crap on small speakers (usually full range drivers), even when the thread isn't even about them. It really just comes off as sounding like, "my speakers are bigger than your speakers".
jeff