Hi Mitch.
I update the list on this thread
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=133234&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
Try the last page any day and usually there is an update. WE have no closed the buy but those who have ordered kits can still order extra pcbs for maybe a week or so.
Uriah
I update the list on this thread
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=133234&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
Try the last page any day and usually there is an update. WE have no closed the buy but those who have ordered kits can still order extra pcbs for maybe a week or so.
Uriah
"Yes I would recommend it for your system. HOWEVER if you want more bass you have to attenuate it or get a subwoofer. Meaning a preamp with controls or a powered sub. This chip is amplifying what is sent to it. So if you dont send it bass its not going to make any and if the bass on the CD isnt enough you have to have some preamp asking the amp for more bass."
Hi Uriah,
In anticipation of receiving the kit, I'll start looking for a local supplier of suitable toroids and pots. This is not so easy in France as the well known parts suppliers have prohibitive minimum order policies.
I am fairly new to the subject and have a lot to learn. I get the impression that most of the members confirming interest in this amp are going the dual mono route. Before I make my final choice:
1) can you point me to a good discussion on the relative merits of stereo vs. dual mono?
2) Is there any physical difference between the two kits?
After having read your comments on my setup (post 29 to this thread), my plan is to build and install this amp to replace the T-amp then, if necessary, look at further improvements in the following order:
a) preamp
b) woofer
c) change cd player (I yearn after a Shanling T100).
Cheers
Hi Uriah,
In anticipation of receiving the kit, I'll start looking for a local supplier of suitable toroids and pots. This is not so easy in France as the well known parts suppliers have prohibitive minimum order policies.
I am fairly new to the subject and have a lot to learn. I get the impression that most of the members confirming interest in this amp are going the dual mono route. Before I make my final choice:
1) can you point me to a good discussion on the relative merits of stereo vs. dual mono?
2) Is there any physical difference between the two kits?
After having read your comments on my setup (post 29 to this thread), my plan is to build and install this amp to replace the T-amp then, if necessary, look at further improvements in the following order:
a) preamp
b) woofer
c) change cd player (I yearn after a Shanling T100).
Cheers
Hi Tony,
Good questions to ask.
Is dual mono or stereo better? Probably that really depends on the way the music was recorded. If you google 'dual mono vs stereo' you will get thousands of answers and the first ten or so should give you a great idea as to what this really means. In the case of the group buy EVERYONE is getting dual mono. There really is no stereo. And in both scenarios for the GB dual mono vs stereo has not much to do with what we send you but more with how you package it once you get it and what you feed it as far as your source.
What I mean is that I am going to send you two boards. You can feed them each the same signal (dual mono) or you can feed them each a different signal (stereo). Your CDP is going to send stereo so you are going to have stereo.
When people talk about dual mono vs stereo on this thread really what they mean is are you going to stick two boards in one housing/chassis and power them with one single toroid, or, are you going to power them each individually and put them in separate housing/chassis. This separate housing/chassis would make them Monoblocks and thats kind of what the definition of mono is in this GB. Sorry, it gets a bit confusing since people are using it as slang.
Are there benefits to powering separately? My opinion is no but you will get other opinions. If you buy a big enough toroid it wont matter at all. But what if you buy two smaller toroids? What if you are driving the amp hard and it uses up your small toroids power supplying capabilities? What if you had a huge toroid supplying both boards and one board needed huge power while the other didnt?
So, if you can think through those questions you might come to the conclusion that they both have their merits but that in the end if you get one large transformer you will not leave either board lacking in power ever.
OH, some people will use monoblocks to remove chances of cross talk between the channels. This makes good sense and if you find a good deal on dual toroids it is a good reason to do so. However, if cost is a big deal to you, as it is for me, you might want to only have to buy one chassis and one toroid.
Some people like to build monoblock so that they can stick one amp right next to each speaker. This shortens the length of speaker wire. Therein lies another huge audiophile debate. Many people never consider that the amplified audio signal travels through hundreds of feet of speaker coil wire. Hmm.
Lots to think about. Frankly it comes down to audiophile philosophy and I would not let it worry you. Price and asthetics are my driving factors in making this choice.
NOW, There is only one kit but each kit is one channel. So for two speakers you need two kits. Two kits should be $65.
You may want to look at the specs of your subwoofer driver. What are the ohms and what is the db/spl rating. If it is 4-8ohms with a db/spl rating around 82 or more then driving it with this amp is a good idea. You could even use a lower efficiency driver but the decibels coming from it are going to be very low. 82db/spl is going to give you about a max of 100db from the driver and it wont sound good at that point. Remember for each 3db increase you double the watts needed. So on an 82db/spl driver you need 1 watt to get 82db at one meter but you need 64watts for 100db. I love efficient speakers. So, maybe you will prefer 3 kits. One to drive the sub.
If you have the ability to change tone on your preamp then you will be able to get more bass than the signal from your cd player is asking for. If you have a dedicated subwoofer output from your preamp or receiver then this will be nice for you. Otherwise you may need to build some sort of filter for the sub so that its not trying to reproduce high frequencies.
If you are adventurous and have no shame then you might want to try the very fist PS1 ever made. In the US it is model number sp1001 and it sounds wonderful as a cd player. No kidding. Seriously. It cost me 20 dollars and looks like junk but sounds like heaven.
We can go over more questions for you and sorry if I was way to long in my response.
Uriah
Good questions to ask.
Is dual mono or stereo better? Probably that really depends on the way the music was recorded. If you google 'dual mono vs stereo' you will get thousands of answers and the first ten or so should give you a great idea as to what this really means. In the case of the group buy EVERYONE is getting dual mono. There really is no stereo. And in both scenarios for the GB dual mono vs stereo has not much to do with what we send you but more with how you package it once you get it and what you feed it as far as your source.
What I mean is that I am going to send you two boards. You can feed them each the same signal (dual mono) or you can feed them each a different signal (stereo). Your CDP is going to send stereo so you are going to have stereo.
When people talk about dual mono vs stereo on this thread really what they mean is are you going to stick two boards in one housing/chassis and power them with one single toroid, or, are you going to power them each individually and put them in separate housing/chassis. This separate housing/chassis would make them Monoblocks and thats kind of what the definition of mono is in this GB. Sorry, it gets a bit confusing since people are using it as slang.
Are there benefits to powering separately? My opinion is no but you will get other opinions. If you buy a big enough toroid it wont matter at all. But what if you buy two smaller toroids? What if you are driving the amp hard and it uses up your small toroids power supplying capabilities? What if you had a huge toroid supplying both boards and one board needed huge power while the other didnt?
So, if you can think through those questions you might come to the conclusion that they both have their merits but that in the end if you get one large transformer you will not leave either board lacking in power ever.
OH, some people will use monoblocks to remove chances of cross talk between the channels. This makes good sense and if you find a good deal on dual toroids it is a good reason to do so. However, if cost is a big deal to you, as it is for me, you might want to only have to buy one chassis and one toroid.
Some people like to build monoblock so that they can stick one amp right next to each speaker. This shortens the length of speaker wire. Therein lies another huge audiophile debate. Many people never consider that the amplified audio signal travels through hundreds of feet of speaker coil wire. Hmm.
Lots to think about. Frankly it comes down to audiophile philosophy and I would not let it worry you. Price and asthetics are my driving factors in making this choice.
NOW, There is only one kit but each kit is one channel. So for two speakers you need two kits. Two kits should be $65.
You may want to look at the specs of your subwoofer driver. What are the ohms and what is the db/spl rating. If it is 4-8ohms with a db/spl rating around 82 or more then driving it with this amp is a good idea. You could even use a lower efficiency driver but the decibels coming from it are going to be very low. 82db/spl is going to give you about a max of 100db from the driver and it wont sound good at that point. Remember for each 3db increase you double the watts needed. So on an 82db/spl driver you need 1 watt to get 82db at one meter but you need 64watts for 100db. I love efficient speakers. So, maybe you will prefer 3 kits. One to drive the sub.
If you have the ability to change tone on your preamp then you will be able to get more bass than the signal from your cd player is asking for. If you have a dedicated subwoofer output from your preamp or receiver then this will be nice for you. Otherwise you may need to build some sort of filter for the sub so that its not trying to reproduce high frequencies.
If you are adventurous and have no shame then you might want to try the very fist PS1 ever made. In the US it is model number sp1001 and it sounds wonderful as a cd player. No kidding. Seriously. It cost me 20 dollars and looks like junk but sounds like heaven.
We can go over more questions for you and sorry if I was way to long in my response.
Uriah
Anyone who has not noticed the WIKI.. If you are still interested in the kits please go to the WIKI at
http://www.diyaudio.com/wiki/index.php?page=Mauro+Penasa's+MyRefC+LM3886+Amp+Kit+
and check it out. Populate it with your country and shoot me an email, using my email button. Include in your email to me your DIY ID/name/address/paypal email address/ at a minimum. You can include your phone number which would be helpful later if there are any shipping or other problems.
I have not yet heard from:
bacood2000
warp_foo
samsagaz
tube-arama
bandol83
Joshua Adams
vglaso
nvrgdenuf
Daveze
mikesnowdon
vonfilm
farl
kraljmatjaz
aquaman
adn6244
jims
jonclancy
Spotticus
VictoriaGuy
http://www.diyaudio.com/wiki/index.php?page=Mauro+Penasa's+MyRefC+LM3886+Amp+Kit+
and check it out. Populate it with your country and shoot me an email, using my email button. Include in your email to me your DIY ID/name/address/paypal email address/ at a minimum. You can include your phone number which would be helpful later if there are any shipping or other problems.
I have not yet heard from:
bacood2000
warp_foo
samsagaz
tube-arama
bandol83
Joshua Adams
vglaso
nvrgdenuf
Daveze
mikesnowdon
vonfilm
farl
kraljmatjaz
aquaman
adn6244
jims
jonclancy
Spotticus
VictoriaGuy
Do you need some MyRef Kits?
We have had several cancellations. If you are interested in a kit/kits/boards please contact me.
Those already in the GB and have been invoiced should not be concerned. It looks like we will probably get enough orders to put the order in.
By the way I just got the boards from FedEx a few minutes ago!! YAY
I will post some pics later.
Uriah
We have had several cancellations. If you are interested in a kit/kits/boards please contact me.
Those already in the GB and have been invoiced should not be concerned. It looks like we will probably get enough orders to put the order in.
By the way I just got the boards from FedEx a few minutes ago!! YAY
I will post some pics later.
Uriah
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/anJwf95khqvZYJ-ccf3NAA?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/qmkiOxH6ZlgpvuPctChD2w?feat=directlink
Theres some links to PCB pics.
Vonfilm, no worries man Just trying to break even on this after some cancellations.
Again if you are looking to get in on the group buy there have been several cancellations. I suppose the current economy isnt helping much and the fact that we got this done well after the holidays many people have less money than they expected.
SO, if you made out well on the stock markets this year why not treat yourself to an amazingly great sounding amp at an amazingly low price!?!
Uriah
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/qmkiOxH6ZlgpvuPctChD2w?feat=directlink
Theres some links to PCB pics.
Vonfilm, no worries man
Just trying to break even on this after some cancellations.Again if you are looking to get in on the group buy there have been several cancellations. I suppose the current economy isnt helping much and the fact that we got this done well after the holidays many people have less money than they expected.
SO, if you made out well on the stock markets this year why not treat yourself to an amazingly great sounding amp at an amazingly low price!?!
Uriah
Alright guys. Lets see if you want to do a transformer group buy.
Each toroid is surplus from Steve Dunlap. Steve is an amp designer and is recently a member of DIYaudio. He has a debilitating condition making it hard for him to type/box/ship a bunch of toroids. He has about 200 of them. Lets see if we can help him get rid of some and help you guys get a decent little toroid for each of your channels.
The toroids are 160VA and they have dual primaries with 24V each so this is near perfect for this project. So one per stereo kit will work but you will probably and most likely prefer two, plus that iwll allow you do go dual monoblocks which is always a cool bragging right.
I will do the group buy if we get 30 or more toroids.
The price at 30 of them is 22 dollars each plus shipping. Shipping will only be in the states and will be the price of a flat rate box.
Shoot me an email. If I get enough responses I will start a wiki. Who knows maybe we can start something here and get rid of all 200 for him.
By the way, anyone can get in on this group buy. I dont care if you ordered amps or not.
Uriah
Each toroid is surplus from Steve Dunlap. Steve is an amp designer and is recently a member of DIYaudio. He has a debilitating condition making it hard for him to type/box/ship a bunch of toroids. He has about 200 of them. Lets see if we can help him get rid of some and help you guys get a decent little toroid for each of your channels.
The toroids are 160VA and they have dual primaries with 24V each so this is near perfect for this project. So one per stereo kit will work but you will probably and most likely prefer two, plus that iwll allow you do go dual monoblocks which is always a cool bragging right.
I will do the group buy if we get 30 or more toroids.
The price at 30 of them is 22 dollars each plus shipping. Shipping will only be in the states and will be the price of a flat rate box.
Shoot me an email. If I get enough responses I will start a wiki. Who knows maybe we can start something here and get rid of all 200 for him.
By the way, anyone can get in on this group buy. I dont care if you ordered amps or not.
Uriah
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