Recommend amp project for Vandersteens

[joshzero]

Hello,

I'm tossing around the idea of building a Pass-style amplifier to drive Vandersteen speakers. I currently have the Vandersteen 1c's, but I will upgrade to 2ce's next year and I would like the amplifier to be able to handle both.

This will be my first time building an audio amplifier, but I am not afraid to tackle something a bit difficult. Along with your recommendation please also provide an estimate of the cost for the parts-- doesn't have to be extremely precise, just an order of magnitude.

Thank you,
Josh

[carpenter]

Hello Josh,

Since you're a first time amp builder, I'd suggest you begin with a simple, single transistor amplifier to get-your-feet-wet--anything in Nelson's earlier Zen series. Once you've gotten the hang of handling components, you can advance your desire to a larger amplifier. It's like crawling before you walk, walking before you run.

All the best,

John

[jupiterjune]

Josh-
Are the Vandersteen's easy to drive? What is the minimum imdpedence and phase angle.

And how loud do you typically like to listen?

These will make a big difference in the recommendations you get.

JJ

[Don S]

Hey JJ, good to see you again. Very good questions on your part!

I have owned 2C's and still own 1B's. Both are pretty easy loads to drive. Your best simple calculation would probably be around 6 ohms for both. Tube amps will drive them both full range without a problem. The speaker efficiency is only a DB or 2 different. I have not heard them with little SE's though!

Josh you have opened the Pandora's Box as far as amp choice. Any good amp will make them sing very well. How much power are you driving them with now? Is it loud enough? What amp do you use now? What do you think the areas of weakness are with your present amp?

JJ, I am sure you follow me. What is a good transistor choice? What is the use, what are the circuit conditions? What do you want it to do?

Thanks, DonS

[Magura]

Originally posted by joshzero
please also provide an estimate of the cost for the parts-- doesn't have to be extremely precise, just an order of magnitude.

Thank you,
Josh

The cost of just about any of the Pass amps is starting out at 1000USD and there is practically no upper limit

The reason why most of them cost from 1000USD is that they are mostly in need of the same amount of power supply and heatsinking, and that's the expensive part. In other words, once you got athe box and a reasonable PSU, you can just replace a handfull of parts, and get pretty much any pass amp you'd like.

Magura

[hifimaker]

I'm currently using Vandersteen 2ce's and they are an AWESOME speaker.

They have a nominal load of about 6 ohms and 88spl efficiency. I drive them with a single stereo DIY Aleph30 and that's more power than what's needed. Cranking my BOSOZ to 2/3 volume, you can hear the system half way doen the block with the doors and windows closed.

The sound is crystal clear even at high volume.

Used factory built Aleph30's sell for about $800usd on www.audiogon.com.

The 2ce's and 2ce Signatures are a hugh improvement over the 1c's.

-David

[joshzero]

Thanks for the help so far. Right now I'm driving them with a Cambridge Audio A1 @ 30Wpc. They sit in a roughly 30'x12' room along the long wall. I listen mostly to pop, jazz, and classical. I usually listen at moderate volume, sometimes at high volume, but never ridiculously loud.

Like the poster said, I'm sure opened Pandora's box. I am just curious to hear about any possible synergistic matches with Vandersteens.

Projects of all difficulty welcome.

Thank you,
Josh

[MEGA-amp]

Whats your budget?

[joshzero]

Trying for $1k or less.

Thanks,
Josh

[MEGA-amp]

You could jump right into an Aleph build, I did. I started procuring parts to build an Aleph 2; 100 watts(300 watts dissipation). This meant large heat-sinks, large chassis, large capacitors, everything about it is big. I decided to change routes and go with the Aleph5, which puts out 60W into 8 ohms and dissipates about 150 watts/ch. This way I was able to put a stereo unit into one chassis versus going monoblock which would have been the case with the Aleph2, and of course saving a few bucks on the way. You have a relatively easy load there, and 60 watts should be more than adequate with room to spare. The only hurdle with these Pass projects is finding a suitable chassis. There aren't many ready made chassis out there that can dissipate this kind of heat, so you'd have to build that yourself. Find very large heatsinks, and build around that. But if your gonna go for the gusto right off the bat, you need to get up to speed.

Some light reading:

http://www.penguinlovers.net/audio/
http://www.users.on.net/~mefinnis/passlabs/index.htm
http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/esa...ovies/a40.html