This is not just another gainclone

[joensd]

Ups. Forgot the schematic:

[jean-paul]

A bunch of people are getting excited about an IC amplifier when under normal circumstances, these things would not be given any respect whatsoever.Why? because Peter Daniel's does a really nice (and I mean REALLY NICE) job of packaging the things.

Mrehorst, you did not read the posts otherwise you would not say this nonsense. Peter Daniel & friends compared it with Aleph X and guess what amp was better. Please reread posts and not only the headlines before making comments.

Crap in a nice case would still be crap and comparing with tube or Pass DIY gear would be out of the question. Made by Peter Daniel or not, case made of solid gold or not. Even the "revealing" pics of the inside of a real 47 Labs Gaincard don't bother me as the endresult is what counts. Maybe National will come up this year with an audio IC that doesn't even need the resistors and other extra components.Imagine a 1 part amp with a 2 cap PSU that sounds better than some tubeamps and/or expensive semiconductor gear. BTW I think a lot of the latter possibly attract people with their looks and golden binding posts etc. Till recently I had a 300B push pull amp that was noticed immediately by everyone entering the room. Not that they listened, only the sight made them often say what a beautiful amp it was....

BTW there are more than just a bunch of people that like this amp.
It can be very refreshing to build one and at the same time see that some of your "audiobeliefs" can go overboard. Good audio is good audio whether it is realised with IC's, MOSFet's or those colouring devices that glow in the dark.

[tbla]

amen......!
and btw, check out the intire range from jeff rowland, it uses lm 3886 chips - and sounding extremely good.......not only because of the ampchips but because they did a splendid job all over.
as far as i'm concerned - that means the potential is there.....!!!!!

[planet10]

Originally posted by tbla
that means the potential is there.....!!!!!

I doesn't have to be the best. That they offer such potential with such simplicity* & with such a low financial investment is the beauty. Hopefully we will start to see more systems with many amplifiers and no passive XOs

* one of the beauties of the SE tube amp too...

dave

[pinkmouse]

Hopefully we will start to see more systems with many amplifiers and no passive XOs

I'm working on it!

MRehorst

If you look back over a few months you will see many of us have been extolling the virtues of gainclones, but I think it took Peter's superb presentation skills to bring it to the fore. I am now on my 4th or 5th version, and although I have never produced something as spectacular looking as his gainclone, my experiments have lead me to belive it is one of the best methods of driving speakers around, I was just loathe to praise it as highly because I suspected the reception that the idea would get. I was also reticent because I have not built DIY amps before, and so could only compare it to commercial offerings, not amps that many people on the board are familiar with.

If you doubt us, give it a go, it's cheap enough to experiment with, and if you hate it, come back and tell us, I for one will listen to well reasoned arguements, but build one first, and then comment from experience.

[grataku]

MRehorst hit the nail right on the head. The only thing the LM 'whatever' has going for is that is cheap, easy to build, sure short signal path but so do all ICs, if it's built with good components it's probably going to sound better than 99% of the stuff of what the target clientele is used to/can afford, and all of this in relation to the speakers it's going to be paired with.
I have read the thread carefully, l see nothing to support that the chip sounds better than anything else. Now, if people want to take an Hoccam razor through the whole thing and convince themselves that they have the ultimate amplifier on their rack they can be my guest.
As far as I am concerned I have been down the IC road and I know exactly where it ends.
The underlying principle of this IC is the classic class B amp with current sources and mirrors, well studied protection circuits, nice bias adjustment (with diodes which should sound better). Coming from a single chip everything is probably well matched up. Throw a few components at it, come home from work, get a cold one, flip the switch sit on the divan and music is going to come out. It will probably be performing as well as your AKSA or the class B amp from Rod Elliot or thereabouts which is to say very well. Sorry Hugh and Rod don't mean to **** you off.
As far as comparing it to a class A, award-winning design that is such a crock I can't even begin to describe. It's actually offensive.

[MRehorst]

I have read every post in this thread.

I have nothing against IC amps. In fact, I like them (and op-amps), for the same reason many DIYers do, whether they admit it or not- they are easy to work with, and success is almost guaranteed. I think though, that if someone had presented such an amp built into a pie tin, and claimed that it holds its own against expensive commercial gear, the person presenting it would have been laughed off the forum.

What does it say about the need for a high-end industry when $15 worth of parts can be turned into something competitive with multi kilobuck gear?

Of course, the listening test was done with specific sources and speakers and rooms and cable and yadda yadda yadda... There is no way a REAL high-end product could be beaten or matched by such a cheap assemblage of parts (especially not by an IC) under a broad range of test conditions, sources, speakers, cables, rooms, and etc., right?

Finally, Jean-Paul, where I come from, calling another person's statements "nonsense" is considered pretty rude. But hey, this is the internet, what should one expect?

MR

[tone]

hi all,
pls can someone guide me ..how to fit a servo circuit into a inverted gainclone? thanks

rgds,
tone

[analog_sa]

A servo is the last thing a gainclone needs. Unless you must screw the sound.

cheers

peter

[edm]

A servo is the last thing a gainclone needs. Unless you must screw the sound.

Analog_sa is this based on experience? Can you expand a little bit more on that, because like this i don't know how you did form this opinion and what to think of it.

Emiel