GC vs. amp6 w/ FE207E

sneakers563 · 18th February 2008, 07:29 AM

Hope this hasn't been covered ad-nauseum in threads I haven't been able to find. I'm a newbie and I'm going to be building my first amp. I'm trying to decide between the lm-3886 gainclone kit at chipamp.com and a 41hz amp6. I have a pair of Fostex FE207-E's mounted in Martin King's MLTL Project05 design. I listen mostly to rock and folk. Does anyone have an opinion on which of those two amps might be the better complement for the speakers and/or my music choices?

cabbagerat · 18th February 2008, 08:08 AM

I haven't ever heard an AMP6, but I have seen and heard other amps based on the same Tripath chip, and they perform very nicely (as long as they don't get anywhere near clipping --- their clipping behaviour is really ugly).

Having said that, I have my FE167Es powered with a chipamp.com LM3886 kit, and it's absolutely brilliant. The sound quality is really good, there is about 40W available before clipping, there is very little heat and the whole kit is very cost effective. Much like the tripath, though, the clipping behaviour is pretty bad, and the thermal protection behaviour worse. As long as you put the chips on a good heatsink, you are unlikely to run into any problems with those speakers.

The way I see it, the LM3886 kit offers more power, so more headroom before clipping. Everything else is more or less equal. I would choose the most cost-effective one.

sharpi31 · 18th February 2008, 01:15 PM

I have had a couple of amp6 amps and three gainclones (LM3875 Peter Daniel type) and have used these with FE207E in both a modded Voigt pipe enclosure (similar to the MLTL you have) and also an open baffle FE207E with Alpha 15.

Both amps are great, but I ended up sticking with gainclones in both my bedroom and living room. One of the amp6 amps is doing a great job in my girlfriends flat ;-)

You can't fault the little amp6 - the audio quality is fantastic considering cost, size and efficiency. It's just that the gainclone is a bit more measured to my ears.

gmilitano · 18th February 2008, 03:19 PM

I have used an AMP6 and a LM3886 gainclone with Fostex FX120 BR and FE127E Sealed Bipole. While the AMP6 is pretty good, I prefer the gainclone.

Ipanema · 19th February 2008, 12:02 AM

IMHO, fullrange sound best with current source amp. With voltage amp e.g. GC it sounds veil. If you already have a GC, you can mod it to become a current source amp by connecting fullrange speaker in parallel with the feedback resistor and connect a 0.2ohms(3Watt) resistor in parallel with resistor connected to -ve input and GND. Prepared to be surprise by the sound. More info is available in recent discussion on this forum. Enjoy!

DocLorren · 19th February 2008, 05:26 PM

GC for a FE207 (headroom), AMP6 for 4-5" Fostex drivers (detail).

18th February 2008, 07:29 AM	#1
sneakers563 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2008	GC vs. amp6 w/ FE207E Hope this hasn't been covered ad-nauseum in threads I haven't been able to find. I'm a newbie and I'm going to be building my first amp. I'm trying to decide between the lm-3886 gainclone kit at chipamp.com and a 41hz amp6. I have a pair of Fostex FE207-E's mounted in Martin King's MLTL Project05 design. I listen mostly to rock and folk. Does anyone have an opinion on which of those two amps might be the better complement for the speakers and/or my music choices?

18th February 2008, 03:19 PM	#4
gmilitano diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba	I have used an AMP6 and a LM3886 gainclone with Fostex FX120 BR and FE127E Sealed Bipole. While the AMP6 is pretty good, I prefer the gainclone. __________________ DIY Audio Projects [ 10" DIY Subwoofer \| FE127E Sealed Bipole \| [ LM3886 Chip Amp / Gainclone \| K-12M Tube Amp Kit ]

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18th February 2008, 08:08 AM	#2
cabbagerat diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cape Town	I haven't ever heard an AMP6, but I have seen and heard other amps based on the same Tripath chip, and they perform very nicely (as long as they don't get anywhere near clipping --- their clipping behaviour is really ugly). Having said that, I have my FE167Es powered with a chipamp.com LM3886 kit, and it's absolutely brilliant. The sound quality is really good, there is about 40W available before clipping, there is very little heat and the whole kit is very cost effective. Much like the tripath, though, the clipping behaviour is pretty bad, and the thermal protection behaviour worse. As long as you put the chips on a good heatsink, you are unlikely to run into any problems with those speakers. The way I see it, the LM3886 kit offers more power, so more headroom before clipping. Everything else is more or less equal. I would choose the most cost-effective one.

18th February 2008, 01:15 PM	#3
sharpi31 diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2005	I have had a couple of amp6 amps and three gainclones (LM3875 Peter Daniel type) and have used these with FE207E in both a modded Voigt pipe enclosure (similar to the MLTL you have) and also an open baffle FE207E with Alpha 15. Both amps are great, but I ended up sticking with gainclones in both my bedroom and living room. One of the amp6 amps is doing a great job in my girlfriends flat ;-) You can't fault the little amp6 - the audio quality is fantastic considering cost, size and efficiency. It's just that the gainclone is a bit more measured to my ears.

19th February 2008, 12:02 AM	#5
Ipanema diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: KL	IMHO, fullrange sound best with current source amp. With voltage amp e.g. GC it sounds veil. If you already have a GC, you can mod it to become a current source amp by connecting fullrange speaker in parallel with the feedback resistor and connect a 0.2ohms(3Watt) resistor in parallel with resistor connected to -ve input and GND. Prepared to be surprise by the sound. More info is available in recent discussion on this forum. Enjoy!

19th February 2008, 05:26 PM	#6
DocLorren diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Utrecht	GC for a FE207 (headroom), AMP6 for 4-5" Fostex drivers (detail).