Hi Percy-
"Looks like BobEllis did not use BrianGT's PCBs so the missing piece of information is that the pcb was indeed a good design(or otherwise) and free of things that can make a GC sound bad."
Well aside from pwr, it is pretty hard to screw up the final sound when using BrianGT's amp kit. Great sound and I KNOW someone will prove me wrong but I dare say it: idiot proof.
"Looks like BobEllis did not use BrianGT's PCBs so the missing piece of information is that the pcb was indeed a good design(or otherwise) and free of things that can make a GC sound bad."
Well aside from pwr, it is pretty hard to screw up the final sound when using BrianGT's amp kit. Great sound and I KNOW someone will prove me wrong but I dare say it: idiot proof.
One can take an LM chip (any of these) and make bad sounding amp.
hi percy,
as an answer to your question, I have built more than a dozen different gainclones, esp's p3a and the leach amp among other ss amps.
they all have their own character and way of expressing music. of course, the gainclone is the most easiest amp to build.
i won't go into details on what their independent sound is, all i can advise to you is that they are all worth building, worth your time and money, and most of all, fun to build.
best regards,
JojoD
as an answer to your question, I have built more than a dozen different gainclones, esp's p3a and the leach amp among other ss amps.
they all have their own character and way of expressing music. of course, the gainclone is the most easiest amp to build.
i won't go into details on what their independent sound is, all i can advise to you is that they are all worth building, worth your time and money, and most of all, fun to build.
best regards,
JojoD
Just to share my experience as the listener, or DIYer.
I had opportunities joinging a couple of audio-lover parties. There were also peter's Premium kits ( with 10K pot), Carlos's alike 2rd version of snubberized PS with his LM3886 design), P3A, and P101. Here are what my friend & I remember:
1). For the tube-friendly speakesr, Peter's Premium kits is the best (except for heavy music like classical rock). High & mid is excellent with great details while bass is more defined & controlled than the Zen V4.
Note, the premium kits was using 22-0-22 center tabbed.
2) Carlos's design also great. Much less sensitive than Peter's premium kit.
3). In most speakers, P3A and Carlos design sound great, however, Bass of P3A seem to be better in heavy music e.g. classical rock, simphony, (IMO).
Sorry if this hurts many of you, however, the P101 (100W version, standard metal films, SCR/WIMA cap. No exotic components ) was directly driven by the same CD player via a POT is the BEST for all types of music and most of speakers there. The sound pretty like the Creek 4330 but much more details and powerful!
I had opportunities joinging a couple of audio-lover parties. There were also peter's Premium kits ( with 10K pot), Carlos's alike 2rd version of snubberized PS with his LM3886 design), P3A, and P101. Here are what my friend & I remember:
1). For the tube-friendly speakesr, Peter's Premium kits is the best (except for heavy music like classical rock). High & mid is excellent with great details while bass is more defined & controlled than the Zen V4.
Note, the premium kits was using 22-0-22 center tabbed.
2) Carlos's design also great. Much less sensitive than Peter's premium kit.
3). In most speakers, P3A and Carlos design sound great, however, Bass of P3A seem to be better in heavy music e.g. classical rock, simphony, (IMO).
Sorry if this hurts many of you, however, the P101 (100W version, standard metal films, SCR/WIMA cap. No exotic components ) was directly driven by the same CD player via a POT is the BEST for all types of music and most of speakers there. The sound pretty like the Creek 4330 but much more details and powerful!
I have built the BrianGT GC, a Parallel version, a Bridged Parallel version, and the P101. Also, I have 2 Adcom 545 IIs.
The best sound for me is the Bridge Clone (BB DRV 134 + 4 Chips). It just seems to have the best dynamics and lack of color. It does seem to be a bit harsh on some drivers. running it in standard parallel mode makes it a real sweet sounding tweeter amp. Below are the pages where you can see the diferent versions of Gain Clone and the DRV134 prototype.
http://guerrillaaudio.com/store/bunker/GainCloneAMP-LM3875Chip.html
http://guerrillaaudio.com/store/bunker/ParallelGainCloneAmplifier.html
http://guerrillaaudio.com/store/bunker/BurrBrownDRV134LineDriverBridgingModule.html
The P101 is the best mid mid-bass I have ever used. it is powerful and clean.
I am currently building a system that exploits the strength of these amps. An active system with the Parallel clone on the tweeters and the P101 on mids and the two bridged Adcoms on sub duty.
The best sound for me is the Bridge Clone (BB DRV 134 + 4 Chips). It just seems to have the best dynamics and lack of color. It does seem to be a bit harsh on some drivers. running it in standard parallel mode makes it a real sweet sounding tweeter amp. Below are the pages where you can see the diferent versions of Gain Clone and the DRV134 prototype.
http://guerrillaaudio.com/store/bunker/GainCloneAMP-LM3875Chip.html
http://guerrillaaudio.com/store/bunker/ParallelGainCloneAmplifier.html
http://guerrillaaudio.com/store/bunker/BurrBrownDRV134LineDriverBridgingModule.html
The P101 is the best mid mid-bass I have ever used. it is powerful and clean.
I am currently building a system that exploits the strength of these amps. An active system with the Parallel clone on the tweeters and the P101 on mids and the two bridged Adcoms on sub duty.
Slightly off topic but....
I built the standard ChipAmp 3875 kit and it is significantly better than my Arcam Alpha 7r (£300 amp).
If you are reading these forums and are trying to decide whether chip amps can truely deliver quality then I assure you that they can even using the simplest implementations.
I built the standard ChipAmp 3875 kit and it is significantly better than my Arcam Alpha 7r (£300 amp).
If you are reading these forums and are trying to decide whether chip amps can truely deliver quality then I assure you that they can even using the simplest implementations.
Hi Percy
p3a - Simple to build but sounded a muddy in the mids. Reasonable bass
MyRef 3886 - Also simple to build, much better resolution in tops but for me a slightly annoying nasal quality in upper octaves. Overall very good though.
Leach 4.5 - Lovely mids & tops - a bit lean on the bass for some.
Jens Rassmusen's Leach - Fluid clean mids & definatly more bottom end & more solid bottom end than the original Leach.
All of these IMHO outclass standard commercial hifi (Rotel, Nad) etc and each comes with it's own set of tradeoffs including the sound, price as well as the contruction difficulty.
p3a - Simple to build but sounded a muddy in the mids. Reasonable bass
MyRef 3886 - Also simple to build, much better resolution in tops but for me a slightly annoying nasal quality in upper octaves. Overall very good though.
Leach 4.5 - Lovely mids & tops - a bit lean on the bass for some.
Jens Rassmusen's Leach - Fluid clean mids & definatly more bottom end & more solid bottom end than the original Leach.
All of these IMHO outclass standard commercial hifi (Rotel, Nad) etc and each comes with it's own set of tradeoffs including the sound, price as well as the contruction difficulty.
Splurge on some decent parts if you want the best sound.
I was sceptical about the value of expensive potentiometers, caps and whatever else that where being used in some "deluxe" implementations. Some thread got me thinking abit though and I happened to find some really cheap bournes pots and figured I'd see what happened. The results amazed me. It really pushed my amp into another rhelm of quality. Next GC I build is going to be premium parts all round. Cant wait!
I was sceptical about the value of expensive potentiometers, caps and whatever else that where being used in some "deluxe" implementations. Some thread got me thinking abit though and I happened to find some really cheap bournes pots and figured I'd see what happened. The results amazed me. It really pushed my amp into another rhelm of quality. Next GC I build is going to be premium parts all round. Cant wait!
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