B1 Surpassed
Hi Folks,
This maybe the wrong thread for this post, so apologies in advance, but further to my previous post, 23/06/13, about the B1... After many hours of critical listening, I have the concluded that the B1 just does not sound right with my A40 monoblocks. So I built the JLLH buffer with ripple eater PSU's and the sound is mind blowing. This thing just ROCKS!!
Hi Folks,
This maybe the wrong thread for this post, so apologies in advance, but further to my previous post, 23/06/13, about the B1... After many hours of critical listening, I have the concluded that the B1 just does not sound right with my A40 monoblocks. So I built the JLLH buffer with ripple eater PSU's and the sound is mind blowing. This thing just ROCKS!!
Attachments
Is that a small typo there?Hi Folks,,,
... So I built the JLLH buffer...
It's supposed to be JLH. Hence the reference to stutter & typo.
Refers to a John Linsley Hood.
not to push it further off topic ... but does the A40 have low input impedance or something ?
(I suppose the JLH buffer is with BJT and a drives hard load better
)
Check out this thread from last December.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/225255-jlh-buffer-homage-john-linsley-hood.html
Cheers
Paul
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/225255-jlh-buffer-homage-john-linsley-hood.html
Cheers
Paul
The original simple compound buffer by JLH is a well known circuit. Its a low power mixed genre Sziklai. Higher Ygfs JFETs, more bias through better BJTs and an offset balance trimmer take it further. Expect a different sound than a B1 that may compliment different systems and likings better or not.
NAD equipment used to suffer a similar degredation in sound. A "PURE" NAD system was supposed to sound very good, but if you only had a few pieces of NAD interspersed with other equipment, the results were often disappointing.
I use the B1 with an Aleph 4 and the results are simply outstanding.
My first foray into the DIY world of amplifiers was with my Dad who built one of the Hart JLH 80W Mos-Fet kits. It's still in the loft somewhere but I remember that the sound was somewhat muddied by the regulated PSU. He rebuilt it with an un-reg supply and it was much better. The Pass amps are so much more "Alive" and "Dynamic". Of course loud speakers have come along in leaps and bounds since then too. He was always a B&W man. I can't remember what we had then DM14's I think. I've got his 683's now.
I use the B1 with an Aleph 4 and the results are simply outstanding.
My first foray into the DIY world of amplifiers was with my Dad who built one of the Hart JLH 80W Mos-Fet kits. It's still in the loft somewhere but I remember that the sound was somewhat muddied by the regulated PSU. He rebuilt it with an un-reg supply and it was much better. The Pass amps are so much more "Alive" and "Dynamic". Of course loud speakers have come along in leaps and bounds since then too. He was always a B&W man. I can't remember what we had then DM14's I think. I've got his 683's now.
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JLH Buffer
The circuit that Katie and Dad shows is virtually exactly the one I have just built. The two 150ohm resistors are , instead, a 1k trim pot in the circuit I have. (The circuit I have is in the "Audio Design Amplifier" project in ETI Electronics Digest Winter 1985 / 86). All other components are as specified and were obtained from Cricklewood Electronics. The PSU is from the "low current" section of the ETI 80 Watt power amp PSU with resistor values recalculated to suit my input / output voltages. The ripple eater or "shunt regulator" part is also JLH and was published, again, in ETI April 1994; I just combined them both on a single PCB (well two to make the dual rail supply)! I sure didn't mean to dis the B1 because it sounded very good but, in the end, it just lacked drive and excitement but this JLH arrangement sounds magnificent in my system.
The circuit that Katie and Dad shows is virtually exactly the one I have just built. The two 150ohm resistors are , instead, a 1k trim pot in the circuit I have. (The circuit I have is in the "Audio Design Amplifier" project in ETI Electronics Digest Winter 1985 / 86). All other components are as specified and were obtained from Cricklewood Electronics. The PSU is from the "low current" section of the ETI 80 Watt power amp PSU with resistor values recalculated to suit my input / output voltages. The ripple eater or "shunt regulator" part is also JLH and was published, again, in ETI April 1994; I just combined them both on a single PCB (well two to make the dual rail supply)! I sure didn't mean to dis the B1 because it sounded very good but, in the end, it just lacked drive and excitement but this JLH arrangement sounds magnificent in my system.
Apologies for ending up so far off topic!
Some build details at:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/225255-jlh-buffer-homage-john-linsley-hood.html
Some build details at:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/225255-jlh-buffer-homage-john-linsley-hood.html
I just built a B1buffer stage within a box with remote volume pot & input switching. I cannot believe how good this sounds, I've used a TDA1543 to supply two digital inputs and have two additional analogue inputs, the DAC and B1 boards are fed by Teddy Pardo Teddyregs, the volume pot & switching relays from a simple LM317. Despite the messy wiring and budget-level components, it is dead quiet and very transparent. I'm alternating between Ncore and Fetzilla amp stages to see which has the better synergy within the system, both sound good.
I used 200K resistors instead of the 221K - anyone care to let me know if this will make a noticable difference?
It's an elegant design, I like it.
I used 200K resistors instead of the 221K - anyone care to let me know if this will make a noticable difference?
It's an elegant design, I like it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
