I'd like to clarify a few things.
When my suggestion of the GT-101 was posted, the kit price was $323, not $348. The $348 price included shipping.
The price for the kit is presently $299, plus $26 shipping, reflecting a decrease in the kit cost, plus recent increase in UPS rates.
Perhaps we're not comparing apples to apples. The cost of providing a complete kit, with a nice chassis, painted, screened, and ready to assemble, along with every electrical component, pcb, screw, nut, bolt, heatsink, and switch, is rather higher than you'd imagine if you haven't gone through the exercise as I have. Please note too that it includes a regulated power supply.
I think if you priced out what it would cost you to buy all these components, get them shipped to you, and assemble them in one place, you might be quite surprised.
All the best...
Dan
Akitika GT-101
When my suggestion of the GT-101 was posted, the kit price was $323, not $348. The $348 price included shipping.
The price for the kit is presently $299, plus $26 shipping, reflecting a decrease in the kit cost, plus recent increase in UPS rates.
Perhaps we're not comparing apples to apples. The cost of providing a complete kit, with a nice chassis, painted, screened, and ready to assemble, along with every electrical component, pcb, screw, nut, bolt, heatsink, and switch, is rather higher than you'd imagine if you haven't gone through the exercise as I have. Please note too that it includes a regulated power supply.
I think if you priced out what it would cost you to buy all these components, get them shipped to you, and assemble them in one place, you might be quite surprised.
All the best...
Dan
Akitika GT-101
Just let it go... there's no need to get emotional over a $300 amp. I personally use much more expensive tube amps that produce much less power.
I understand that some may feel a sense of injustice. Some people's children may starve because the father purchased a very expensive amplifier, but that's not the amp builder's fault, it is the father's own fault for purchasing such an amp. Most people who spend $10,000 on an amplifier, that money is just pocket change to them. It costs more than that just to park their yacht in the dock. Does it really upset anyone that they could have bought a more powerful amplifier for only $100?
I understand that some may feel a sense of injustice. Some people's children may starve because the father purchased a very expensive amplifier, but that's not the amp builder's fault, it is the father's own fault for purchasing such an amp. Most people who spend $10,000 on an amplifier, that money is just pocket change to them. It costs more than that just to park their yacht in the dock. Does it really upset anyone that they could have bought a more powerful amplifier for only $100?
I’d love to do a full electrical test review - which I think that this amp could become my golden standard for amps under $1000.
AkitikA GT-102 is an amazing kit for the price/performance ratio. According to this review " AkitikA GT-102 power amplifier | Stereophile.com " the amp will clip at 60w/8ohms or 61w/4ohms , so a solid 60W/channel amp.
I still think that is too high. During high power tests there were discontinuities attributed to the internal SPIKE limiter of the LM3886.
But I was impressed by the low level testing. The noise floor was way lower than many high dollar amplifiers. The details of the circuitry are not provided.
From the testing it must be close to a Modulus or My_Ref design. The LM3886 does not measure as well as the amplifier. The opamp front end is providing the improved performance.
After reading the Stereophile review I wanted to order a kit and build one. The noise floor was the clincher. When the baseline is down around -130 dB it gets my attention.
But I was impressed by the low level testing. The noise floor was way lower than many high dollar amplifiers. The details of the circuitry are not provided.
From the testing it must be close to a Modulus or My_Ref design. The LM3886 does not measure as well as the amplifier. The opamp front end is providing the improved performance.
After reading the Stereophile review I wanted to order a kit and build one. The noise floor was the clincher. When the baseline is down around -130 dB it gets my attention.
Looking at the circuits
If you'd like to look over the schematics, you can download the manual here:
https://www.akitika.com/documents/AssemblyManualGT102rev1p19.pdf
If you'd like to look over the schematics, you can download the manual here:
https://www.akitika.com/documents/AssemblyManualGT102rev1p19.pdf
Actually, the design is a very simple lm3886 (on a single supply). What gets you the very low noise is the attention to layout and grounding as well as a regulated supply, not an extra opamp.
Yes and no. No better than any properly built lm3886 and actually worse under some conditions. There's no cheating the spike protection system. The 72v supply means it will do great on 8r loads. But it's not optimal for 4r loads. See Tom's page on power output from the taming the lm3886 articles.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.