Gainclone kit

[SoundQuest]

I am new to chip amp construction and am very interested in building the premium gainclone kit by Brian GT http://www.briangt.com/order/orders-us.html. Does anyone have any expereince building this kit? Does he still sell them? Do you have any advice for me before I start building? Any advice at all would be helpful. Thanks.

[ble0t]

They are very nice kits, especially the premium. They are a great way to get started with chip amps in my opinion.

Plus, part of the cost of the kits goes toward keeping this forum up and running (Brian keeps little to nothing for himself).

And yes, he is definitely still selling them...he's just waiting to get more parts and PCBs in before he starts shipping.

Check out the last couple pages of this thread for more info:

Group order of non-inverted LM3875 pc boards? Anyone interested?

[SoundQuest]

Thanks for the response, I would definitely be interested in ordering from Brian. Do you know when he will have all the parts in and ready to ship? What additional parts will I need to make this work?

[Sherman]

Originally posted by SoundQuest
Thanks for the response, I would definitely be interested in ordering from Brian. Do you know when he will have all the parts in and ready to ship? What additional parts will I need to make this work?

I believe Brian is shipping currently but he can say for sure!

As for what else you need to make it work-
1- A transformer for the power supply (a toroidal with 2x24 volt secondaries with 160VA or so would be great)

2- A volume control, anything from a stereo Alps pot from Radioshack for $3 or so to a stepped attenuator. A nice thing about DIY is that you can change the parts when you want (or can afford). Values for the pot? I've used 50K and 100K with success.

3- Input jacks- a couple of RCA jacks if you only want to have a single set of inputs or more if you want to be able to select between multiple sources

4- Related to 3 above if you want multiple sources you will need a selector switch (something like a 2 pole 4 position rotary, non-shorting)

5- Some binding posts for connecting the amp outputs to your speakers

6- An on/off switch. I prefer a DPST for this as it disconnects both AC wires.

7- A fuse, I'm using a 2A slo blow AGC with no problems so far

8- An AC power cord. You can wire it directly to the fuse and switch or use an IEC connector, whatever you like

9- Some hookup wire (18 AWG stranded will work fine) to connect the PS board to the amp board and the inputs and binding posts to the amp board. Get lots of colors! It makes it easier to keep track of things!

10- Some type of case would be nice. You can make one for almost anything but a metal one will shield the guts from RF/EMI originating from outside the amp. I have used cigar boxes lined with aluminum tape and some surplus A/B switch boxes.

Plus other general electronics stuff like a decent soldering iron, magnifying glass and a multimeter.

Cost can be anywhere from free (for scrounged stuff) to lots of money for premium gold plated stuff.

Have fun!

[troystg]

Hi-

Steve @ apexjr has all the parts needed to build a gain clone for VERY reasonable prices.

X-formers
RCA's
Binding posts
wire
switches(pwr and source select)


He is actually working on a kit that would have all the supplies combined.

http://www.apexjr.com/



Good Luck and happy building!

Troy