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Maya200

Hi Raj,

Yes, eagle eyes!! I found that by using 3.3uF I could get just a little more bass from the bottom end even though it did not actually measure better, and I have quite a few of these MKT caps on hand, they are a little easier to fit and look very neat and tidy. I have also increased the rectifier diodes to give more latitude with high power. Some of the through hole transistors have been replaced with modern smds to save a little space, but aside from this minor change, Raj, no other changes; the schematic and other details are unchanged.

I am working through a new batch of Maya modules. Filipe is first off the rack with his large, active system.

I have built one Maya with a large, 625VA transformer in place of the two 300VA. It sounds just the same; but for genuine separate mono I like two 300VA transformers.

It gives me huge pleasure to hear you like the Aspen house sound; it is the combination of my and Steve's thoughts; we are both over 65, our ears are failing, but the processor between them is still acute!! That you enjoy the sound (with less years under the sun than us) is a great flattery!!

Ciao,

Hugh

I could not be happier with the way the layout and implementation has been done.
 
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Matching Amp

Hi Hug, My name Rajkumar friend of Suresh who have your Maya200, I'm crazy with hiend music since 30 years. myself and Suresh yesterday (May 07, 2017) hook up maya200 to my Jamo D590, I am very impressing with the sound of maya200, we had compared between Dared VP-10 Tube mono block and Maya200 first time I heard SS amp have tube sound! I have another HIEND speaker TANNOY GRF MEMORY (HE) but we have not try yet connect Maya200 to Tannoy. World wide many forum has discussed TANNOY matching perfectly with only Tube amps, I was tried many SS amp in my TANNOY but the sound cannot compare to tube, tube sound always warm and natural and tight bass! We will try to connect Maya200 on Tannoy and let you know very soon. I have question before connect Maya200 and Tannoy. Presently my TANNOY driven by 845 Push and pull mono block amp spec: Amp out put: 120 peak (60RMS) Frequency Response 10Hz -32kHz (+/- 3B) signal-to-noise ratio: -90dB Input Volt: 1V My speaker spec: Allowable input:125W continuous 520W peak Output pressure level 98dB/w/m Frequency characteristics: 29Hz-25KHz. Crossover Frequency: 1KHz please let me know which ASPEN amp will matching with my speaker? Thanks Rajkumar
 
Hugh should be able to advice on my friend rajkumar request . yes yesterday we did some test on maya in his house .
 

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Hi Rajkumar,

Thank you for your lovely post and interest in the Maya! My golly, you have some WONDERFUL gear, I love those PP 845s, are they completely silent? If so, you have a very good one because the filament is difficult to eliminate hum!

Yes, I agree, I have voiced the Maya to deliver tube sound, you are 100% right!
The Maya will tango with your Tannoy very easily...... 90dB/watt/metre is relatively sensitive and easy to drive.
I have to say that I love the 845 RCA tube in single ended, and also the 211. You may also know of the 833A, a tube now made by the Chinese and used in a cheaper copy of the Japanese WAVAC, which appeared in the 80s for $USD250k!! It was designed and manufactured by a Japanese road building tycoon, and was regarded as one of the best amp ever made. I have heard the Chinese version - a 75 year old friend of mine has one and I listen frequently to it. I take my cues from these amps when I design my amps; so you and I are on the same page!

I do have two amps, the SAKSA, an 85W SS amp, and the Maya 200. Both would suit your Tannoy, but considering your very nice amps I would consider the Maya is the better, my flagship product. You know it well know, so you need no introduction.

The SAKSA is relatively cheaper, less than half the cost of the Maya, around $AUD1800. With a high end lover of good equipment, it is always a difficult choice, cost or quality. But this is only your choice; certainly the SAKSA would be very good but not quite as good as the Maya!

Hugh
 
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Holy Guacamole !! Those Tannoy are some serious relics !
If my humble input serves of any good, i would vote that the Maya will deliver with
those speakers. Those 15" woofers will sing like a Pavaroti standing on mount Vesuvio :) ! But hey....only if you new someone that actually HAS a Maya....hmm... :) :)

I believe they are current hungry speakers but with a concentric driver, dispersion and phase coherence must be spot on. I never heard these, but have heard similar designs.

Raj, do you provide the public lighting in your street :) ? With that amount of bulbs, you ought to !!!

Cheers
Filipe
 
Hugh, Yes you're correct PP 845 run very silent, I love my amps as well as the sound. At the present I do not have any issue with my amps, only about the life of tube and availability. Last month there was problem with preamp tube 6SN7 very hard to find. This is the reason I will consider switch to Maya200. I have one question to Maya200, can we modified Maya200 balanced input instead of existing unbalanced? my preamp only available input & output all balanced. What is the current price of maya200? I love mono blocks, if possible bi-amp (4 mono block) better sound. Thanks Rajkumar
 
Hi Rajkumar,

Difficult questions!
I do not offer balanced input with the Maya 200 because I believe balanced is not suitable for very high quality domestic audio. Reason: These amps do not have long leads like proaudio amps, so noise entry is not an issue. Furthermore, the balanced configuration changes the harmonic profile of the amp, nulling even order and leaving only the odd orders, which are not very musical. You can set up a Maya with balanced, however; it needs two expensive balancing transformers which cost about $US400 the two for good quality. Best are the US Jensen and the Norwegian Lundahl, and this would be the suggestion for this. But I can tell you emphatically the sound will not be better. There are reasons why balanced is good with sound reinforcement, proaudio (studios) and broadcasting (long leads like proaudio).

These are the facts as I understand it. Many disagree, and there are religions around this method.

Furthermore, I build my Maya in one enclosure with dual mono construction. Reason: Reduction of cost...... But I use independent power supplies for each channel, like a monobloc arrangement. The monobloc approach is a marketing technique to increase profit, though again, there are religions about this.

I might be disappointing you.... I don't believe in biamping either; I feel the amp should be able to cope with the full frequency output of the music, and while I like two or three way speakers, I like one stereo amp for all. Remember, I try to design the best possible amp using economic techniques; many systems are multi-amp, but I have only rarely heard really good systems using active crossovers. Their best use is, again, in proaudio.

Interesting that you are very happy with your tube amps, but like many audiophiles, you are upset by the poor availability of good quality tubes. Sadly, they wear out and replacements are difficult and costly. I agree with this too; I love tubes, but not the big ones, they are like light bulbs, and wear out too quickly!

Cheers,

Hugh
I sell the Maya 200 fully built for $AUD4600 plus, of course, the shipping.
 
Another plug 'n play Maya is born in Melbourne this week, and to be despatched to Singapore tomorrow.

I auditioned it for 36 hours and am well pleased. A beautiful amplifier!

It will have a marvellous life in SE Asia, the jewel of Singapore. I'm quite proud I have it in SE Asia; and of course, there is one with Suresh in southern India. YAY!! :D:eguitar:

Hugh
 

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Excellent brochure. Getting tempted.

Hi Darren - long time no hear! :)

I am in the final stages of a change to my system which will see me having no further need of my AKSA GK-2R ... so I am interested to know whether you are still in the market for one.

Currently, my signal chain is as follows:
* sources (3 digital sources plus phono) --> GK-2R.
* GK-2R ... 4x analogue outputs --> my miniDSP 10x10HD.
* 8 analogue outs from the miniDSP --> 8 amp channels (sub / bass panel / mid panel / ribbon for L & R).

Which means that my 3x digital sources have gone through a D2A conversion (so as to be fed into the GK-2R) plus an A2D step (in the miniDSP unit).

The change will be as follows:
* use a high quality A2D unit to digitise my phono stage.
* use a digital input switcher to select 1 digital source from 4.
* feed the selected digital source into the digital input of my miniDSP.
* the 8 analogue outs from the miniDSP will go into an 8-channel, digitally-controlled, analogue volume control ('Relaixed').
* sub & bass channel outputs then go straight into their amps; mid & ribbon outputs go into 2 of Hugh's TLP buffers and then on to their amps ... to give the 'tube flavour' to these channels that the GK-2R does, now. :)

This arrangement:
* saves a D2A+A2D conversion for my 3 digital sources,
* provides a higher quality A2D conversion for my phono stage than that provided by the miniDSP unit, and
* makes the GK-2 redundant.

I won't have finished with this change until probably the end of Feb but please let me know if you're still interested in a GK-2R. Mine has:
* digitally-controlled, sealed relays for push button input selection - which won't degrade with use like a standard rotary selection switch does,
* fairly new, cryo-ed Tesla PCC88 valves - with a spare set of cryo-ed Telefunken PCC88s.
* a TKD stepped attenuator, as used by John Curl in his cost-no-object "BlowTorch" preamp (Hugh can attest as to the improvement this made!), and
* Clarity Cap / MultiCap output / interstage coupling capacitors.

Andy
 
I have just received a marvellous testimonial of the Maya 200 from Simon Sterritt, an Englishman living near Marseilles in France. He is a lovely guy, very much an artisan and music lover, and he writes of his new amplifier here:

I imagine that many people who build DIY amps have some background in electronics; I, however, have none so it was a with some trepidation that I ordered a Maya 200.

It turns out I need not have worried, as Hugh was always swift to help with any problems and with his assistance. I am now the proud owner of an exceptional power amplifier.

If you are thinking about taking the plunge, you could not be in better hands.
I am using my Maya in conjunction with a Modwright Oppo 205 source, followed by ARC Ref3 preamp & lastly my Troels Gravesen DTQWT III speakers. The Maya has given my system a wider and deeper sound stage, with a clarity and detail that I have not experienced before, all this whilst retaining the warmth associated with valve amps. The bass is very precise and natural sounding, whilst certain lyrics that have previously been a little unclear suddenly sound well articulated. This amp is definitely a keeper; I have very much enjoyed the build process of this and my speakers. Now I listen to my system with the sense of pride that comes from making efforts to build things yourself, and added to that, you get a lot of bang for your buck.

I would also like to thank Filipe, as he did some excellent design work to create a box for the Maya and kindly let anyone else use it .

I must add my thanks to Simon for his patience as I guided him during the assembly and implementation, and of course to Filipe, who was willing to give over his wonderful case design to the Aspen community.

Thanks Simon and Felipe! You've enriched the Aspen community more than you know.....

Hugh
 
A BEAUTIFUL MAYA 200 IS CREATED IN SWEDEN!

Time to put up some wonderful pictures of a recent build in Malmo, Sweden, from Tore. He has built a wonderful Maya 200 from a couple of my modules using a wonderful case made, I believe, in Italy. Thank you Tore for these wonderful pictures!

Tore had no problems putting it all together, and it's a text book example of a clean, elegant build, up there with Filipe in Portugal. Here's his Maya!!

Cheers,

Hugh
 

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