| LightwaveDude |
I'm looking at buying the buyout plate amp over at MCM (http://www.ascendantaudio.com/assassin12specs.html). Does anybody know if it's worth it.... for the price I don't really think I could complain, but I'm still wondering if any of you know anything more about it. I'll probably buy one and mate it with an Assassin 12 from Ascendant Audio.
What do you guys think about this amp; do you know anymore than what the site tells me? |
|
|
| ScottG |
| quote: | Originally posted by LightwaveDude
I'm looking at buying the buyout plate amp over at MCM (http://www.ascendantaudio.com/assassin12specs.html). Does anybody know if it's worth it.... for the price I don't really think I could complain, but I'm still wondering if any of you know anything more about it. I'll probably buy one and mate it with an Assassin 12 from Ascendant Audio.
What do you guys think about this amp; do you know anymore than what the site tells me? |
I don't think there is competition - even DIY'ed (when considering price and features alone).
It has variable freq. lowpass and variable volume control. Unfortunetly it does not have variable phase - which will make it more difficult for you to achieve a "flat" response for any given placement. The power supply is likely "current" starved. For $50 its a bargain. |
|
|
| LightwaveDude |
| Could I expect the 150 watts RMS and a peak of say.... 200 watts - maybe 250? |
|
|
| crippledchicken |
| i have one i purchased awhile back and it was a real bargain! i was surprised to find it had the SA1943/2SC5200 output transistors in it. i upgraded to heavier duty power cord, added 2 extra 10k caps in paralell with the existing 6800 uf caps, and took the silicon bridge rectifier out and built a heavy duty one using stealth diodes and have been quite happy with it. but, they are well worth the money stock would be hard to beat the value! ;) |
|
|
| J.k.Wilson |
| quote: | Originally posted by LightwaveDude
I'm looking at buying the buyout plate amp over at MCM (http://www.ascendantaudio.com/assassin12specs.html). Does anybody know if it's worth it.... for the price I don't really think I could complain, but I'm still wondering if any of you know anything more about it. I'll probably buy one and mate it with an Assassin 12 from Ascendant Audio.
What do you guys think about this amp; do you know anymore than what the site tells me? |
You might want to double check it, but i think there still sold out. |
|
|
| J.k.Wilson |
My bad, obviously my research was lacking. Thanks for the correction. |
|
|
| ScottG |
| quote: | Originally posted by LightwaveDude
Could I expect the 150 watts RMS and a peak of say.... 200 watts - maybe 250? |
..that really depends on the power supply of the unit. For short term transients into fairly low impeadances, maybe. Unfortunetly though, you'll likely have a driver with a high impeadance value at and near its mechanical resonance - and this will likely be within the operating passband. (T-Line and aperiodic enclosures can reduce this problem.) Again though, for this price.. |
|
|
| ScottG |
| quote: | Originally posted by J.k.Wilson
My bad, obviously my research was lacking. Thanks for the correction. |
No problem, the original is still "sold out".. the one I linked to is a different amp with almost the same spec.s at the same price. |
|
|
| UNDERSTANDIN |
| The original had bass boost. This one does not. |
|
|
| LightwaveDude |
| I understand that I won't be pulling 250 watts continuous from this, but I've had bad experience with some friends' amps that clip on transients becuase they can't push any further than RMS. But from what crippledchicken said, I don't think I can go wrong. If it can handle a good transient every once in a while, I'll be more than I need. Rarely do I play at loud volume; most of the time I listen below conversational levels so max output isn't too much of a concern.... I'm more concerned with having that little bit of peak power when it's needed. Thanks for the advice though. |
|
|
| ScottG |
| quote: | Originally posted by LightwaveDude
I understand that I won't be pulling 250 watts continuous from this, but I've had bad experience with some friends' amps that clip on transients becuase they can't push any further than RMS. But from what crippledchicken said, I don't think I can go wrong. If it can handle a good transient every once in a while, I'll be more than I need. Rarely do I play at loud volume; most of the time I listen below conversational levels so max output isn't too much of a concern.... I'm more concerned with having that little bit of peak power when it's needed. Thanks for the advice though. |
I wouldn't bother with crippledchicken's swap on the power supply of diodes vs. rectifier. However some large value caps could provide just the solution you are looking for (and the noise they might add shouldn' really be detectible in this situation). You'll need to know the minimum voltage. For low cost good caps I'd suggest Michael Percy as the supplier of Nichicon KG Gold. (..probably a pair of the 4700uf 80 volt ones if the 80 volt rating is OK.)
pg. 8
http://www.percyaudio.com/Catalog.pdf |
|
|
| davidlzimmer |
Hey guys, excuse the interuption but, I'm really curious about the sub-amp at http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp...5Fid=50%2D6266A
To make it short, my set up is such that a 30watt sub amp was fine for my listening. However the 14 year old amp just up and died on me. I was going to try to build a new sub amp but at this price, buying one will get me back into listening much sooner.
Would appreciate your opinion of this amp. Looking more for quality tight sound than power.
Thanks,
David |
|
|
| xplod1236 |
Link doesn't work.
Edit: I just found the item, but David beat me in posting a working link. |
|
|
| davidlzimmer |
| Going by crippledchickens post I went ahead and ordered one. Get this, they only chard $8 to ship it! |
|
|
| LightwaveDude |
Well, as a highschooler, I don't have unlimited funds, so I dove in and bought the plate amp and the Assassin 12. I figured if I don't buy them now for this price, I'll be paying a lot more later. I shouldn't complain about the price.... but 2 months worth of paychecks for what most people consider "super bargin" parts....
Unfortunatly I won't have money or time to build a proper encloser for a couple more months so I'm going to borrow a 1.25 cu ft car audio sealed box from a friend in the meantime.
I appreciated the help and comments, and while I know that it's not top of the line stuff, it should really add to my system as it stands right now: Pioneer VSX-515 ($179) amp and Pioneer S-G300B-K ($100 for the pair) speakers, so I'm not exaclty working with audiophile equipment as is. I'll post some pictures of everything when they arrive.
On a side note, it looks as though Ascendant Audio has very good shipping. $16 dollars shipping on the driver, and it was shipped within 2 hours of ordering (mid-day yesterday) and it should arrive early morning tomorrow. We'll see how well the package tomorrow.
Thanks for the help, guys. |
|
|
| crippledchicken |
| quote: | Originally posted by davidlzimmer
Going by crippledchickens post I went ahead and ordered one. Get this, they only chard $8 to ship it! |
i think you will be well satisfied with the amp. as far as the rectifier upgrade, i had lots of stealth diodes on hand and figured i might as well put them to use. glad i did, the bass is a little tighter now! the model i got had the bass boost 5db at 30hz but, i defeated that as it gives a bloated sound on music and that's my main use. mine came with 18 gauge lamp cord? that had to go right away i'm running #12 wire now. enjoy! crippledchicken
:) |
|
|
| davidlzimmer |
LightwaveDude,
I'm supposed to get mine delivered Thur. or Friday. I have a "mid" quality sub. I'll let you know as soon as I try it out. I too am limited on funds and am very excited about this deal. |
|
|
| davidlzimmer |
Thanks Crippledchicken.
I too would not want a bass boost. I very carefully set up a sub so that only extends the range of the speakers.
Not boost. I don't even like to be aware that I hear the sub.
I'll wait and see about souping up the PS. |
|
|
| westend |
| quote: | Originally posted by LightwaveDude
Well, as a highschooler, I don't have unlimited funds, so I dove in and bought the plate amp and the Assassin 12. I figured if I don't buy them now for this price, I'll be paying a lot more later. I shouldn't complain about the price.... but 2 months worth of paychecks for what most people consider "super bargin" parts....
Unfortunatly I won't have money or time to build a proper encloser for a couple more months so I'm going to borrow a 1.25 cu ft car audio sealed box from a friend in the meantime.
I appreciated the help and comments, and while I know that it's not top of the line stuff, it should really add to my system as it stands right now: Pioneer VSX-515 ($179) amp and Pioneer S-G300B-K ($100 for the pair) speakers, so I'm not exaclty working with audiophile equipment as is. I'll post some pictures of everything when they arrive.
On a side note, it looks as though Ascendant Audio has very good shipping. $16 dollars shipping on the driver, and it was shipped within 2 hours of ordering (mid-day yesterday) and it should arrive early morning tomorrow. We'll see how well the package tomorrow.
Thanks for the help, guys. |
Way to go. If you spread the cost of the sub and amp across ,say, ten(10) years what does the gear cost per year? $25 a year? Enjoy it now is my rule. The way to really optimise the sub is to build the correct box for it. A $15 sheet of MDF, some glue, and some help from a woodchuck buddy will get good results. I have a 250 w. model of the same amp and it probably puts out close to rated power. If boost is wanted, you can swap out come caps and add that in , on my model. I might try a few mods before I sell it. |
|
|
| davidlzimmer |
Got the Plate Amp this morning. Probably the best $50 I've ever spent!
You'll love it!!!!
Thanks all for this thread!!!! |
|
|
| LightwaveDude |
Well I've got the plate amp... Finally get to play around with it at 10 tonight... had a track meet tonight. Unlike the UPS guy who dropped off the amp, the FedEx guy won't just leave the driver in our garage so I don't have the driver yet.:bawling: My mom will be picking it up tomorrow at work though so by tomorrow night I should have a subwoofer and an amp...... but no enclosure :confused: :bawling:. Since I don't have the money to buy the MDF for the enclosure for a little while (or the time to build it) I think I'm going to be borrowing a sealed box from a friend. Man, I can't wait to play around with everything!! I hooked it up to one of my mains real quick just to try the phase switch, level, and crossover settings and man... that thing pumped some bass from my speakers which usually sound pretty anemic, so if they can make these speakers pump some bass out, I can't wait to hear what it sounds like when mated with a real subwoofer in a properly tuned enclosure!
I think Westend is correct when he said for the price and for how long I'll own it... it's going to be worth every penny.
Man... I've got the jitters... I can't wait for tomorrow!!:cool: |
|
|
| davidlzimmer |
LightwaveDude,
You won't be dissapointed!
Funny about how communities can be so different. At my house, both the Fedex and UPS guys leave the package in the kitchen and usually pour themselves a cup of coffee! |
|
|
| eag |
| I have joined this club. Bought it tonight, will put it with a tang band 8". |
|
|
| LightwaveDude |
| quote: | Originally posted by davidlzimmer
LightwaveDude,
You won't be dissapointed!
Funny about how communities can be so different. At my house, both the Fedex and UPS guys leave the package in the kitchen and usually pour themselves a cup of coffee! |
LOL :D .... Yeah, we actually know the UPS guy by name. He now stocks dog bones on his truck due to our german shepard who is now very smitten with him and his dog biscuts.
Unfortunatly, the FedEx guy needs the buyer (me) to sign for it.... however, being a highschooler, I will (technically) never be able to get the driver because in our neck of the woods (rural Iowa) the truck only comes once every couple of days a little after dinner. Luckily, my mom called him and explained it to him and she can sign for it at her workplace when he comes by there tomorrow, so I should have a driver (and pictures for all of you)!! |
|
|
| crippledchicken |
| quote: | Originally posted by davidlzimmer
Got the Plate Amp this morning. Probably the best $50 I've ever spent!
You'll love it!!!!
Thanks all for this thread!!!! |
Glad to hear you like it! Enjoy!
:) |
|
|
| Destroyer OS. |
I ordered two I plan to use with two nine inch (well it is hard to say the overall driver is like 10 inch, the cone is like 8ish, with surround like nine inch) that I have had for awhile. They are actually originally sold for car audio use... However they incorperate the same big coil, dust cap, etc, like other dynaudio products. They are rated for 180wRMS but 150wRMS will do fine for this, that and I will probably never use 150wRMS any how...
Why? Well they might sound small.... They will be stereo subwoofers. However I should mention they have a -3db at 20hz in the box design I have made, just a simple front firing port, about three feet tall box. |
|
|
| davidlzimmer |
| As soon as I got mine and tried it out, I wished I had bought two! |
|
|
| LightwaveDude |
Wow... I just got home and got the driver dropped into a crappy sealed box (or supposedly sealed.... a lot of screw holes from previous installs ;) ) Anyway, I've got it up and running (filled in screw holes with other screws) and all I have to say is wow.
I had to go through and reset just about all my setting on my computer for audio. Remove WMP EQ... remove bass enhancing plugin, turn of creative bass boost.... Man, did my mains clear up a lot. I can drive them a lot further before 1) the woofers start to sound crappy becuase of reaching x-max 2) the receiver has more power (set my crossover at 80 Hz and 3) the Assassin can just get so much lower than my Pioneers. Just by adding in the 10 Hz difference between my Pioneer's cutoff of 50 Hz down to the 40 Hz region for most music added a ton to my listening experience.
I've heard friends who have subs setup on their computer systems but they're running for the most bass possible with SPL car subs. The Assassin is just so clear and defined compared to all the SPL subs that I've heard that are all high excursion like the Assassin is.
Now the real test will be how much I appreciate the difference in a week or so once I've gotten everything dialed in and I get use to the extra extension. (and once my ears recover from the 40 Hz test with my head next to the box to find the leaks :dead: )
Even with my VERY limited experience with audio equipment, I'd highly recommend the Assassin subwoofer for anybody looking for a low cost subwoofer driver. It will pump it out while keeping clear and defined from what I've experienced in the short couple of hours.
Also, the amp is perfectly capable of keeping up. I'm only running around 40% gain right now and as I listen I'm thinking I'm going to need to dial that down even a little bit more to integrate it just a little bit better with my mains. I think everybody's advice has been perfect when they say that the amp will keep up perfectly well especially when one considers the price that one pays for it.
Oh, I'm just so excited now I thought I'd come and share my experience so far. |
|
|
| davidlzimmer |
I TOLD you ! :-) Allow a suggestion:
You can go to download.cnet.com and downlaod a program called Sigjenny. It's a signal generator that lets you adjust/chose a frequincy or sweep a range. You can also set it to any musical note.
Turn off your sub amp and put a signal into your mains only. Adjust down until you hear a definite drop out. Start at about 250 are 220 (low A) then go down.
Where ever your mains drop out. Set your sub to crossover just below that point. Then repeat with sub amp on. Set sub level to match mains level. Tweek to get smooth transient.
To be sceintific, should be done with mike and meters. But what the heck? It's your ears you want to please! |
|
|
| Bing Yang |
| Does anyone have the schematic of the plate amp? I want to modify it. |
|
|
| Bing Yang |
I bought one a few months ago. I think it works quite well. But the bass slam is not quite there. I should add two more 10K capacitors as you did.
The only reason I would like a copy of the circuit diagram is to check what I can do to improve or modify it. I have not decided what to do yet. |
|
|
| Bing Yang |
Hi, Cripplechicken,
I was listening to my plate amp yesterday and found a slight hum without any input cable plugged in. The hum can only be heard a few inches or closer from the subwoofer. I am sure my amp is the same as yours. Did you observe the same issue with your amp? Will your mod help to reduce the hum? |
|
|
| crippledchicken |
| hi Bing Yang, i never have checked my amp for a hum like that but i will, and let you know. i use the high level inputs from my 2 channel power amp and get no hum that way but haven't checked with no input yet. :) |
|
|
| Destroyer OS. |
How about upgrading the capacitors, main ones.... Then adding shorting capacitors to the diodes? Why not? This should cut down noise a lot. You can also short any capacitors on the power supply section with some Jantaz too....
My thoughts are eliminate noise and clean up the bass with some nicer capacitors. Also any resistors in the signal path could be replaced with 1% ones.... Hmm Yeah and just look for any capacitors in the signal path that could be upgraded too.
In fact the cheapest way to improve sound would be resistors and capacitors in the signal path. I have no idea how many there are, or are not... There is however a gain control right? Removing the gain control and replacing it with a resistor at what ever works best would probably be one of the biggest things you could do to improve sound. I would make this accesible from the back and just buy a set of 1% resistors I could swap in and out. |
|
|
| crippledchicken |
| i have to agree with the signal cap, and resistor upgrades also! i've done that to all my audio components with audible improvements. :) |
|
|
| sreeb |
Mine seems reluctant to turn on at low volumes.
Does anyone know how to adjust this?
Are schematics available?
Ed |
|
|
| Yousuredo |
well, dang...
I just found this thread today by chance...
I ordered a pair, earlier today as well...(figured for this price, what the hell)
I have a MA audio sub Automotive dual 6ohm Voice coils, 800w...(Iwas thinking about using)...
But I might build me a pair of front towers (MTM-with a side firing sub)
and use these...
I am in an appartment, so i will never crank it...( i think/hope they will do well)
Lets see some pic's...
of your new sub set ups, as well as Modificaton instructions an what i need to order...
I have some old PC power supplies, Might take the cord assemble out and mod it to it... |
|
|
| davidlzimmer |
| How come you can say Hell but I can't say ****? ':o' |
|
|
| Yousuredo |
is that a NO...NO....
if so sorry, will not happend again...
Hey you live in my area...
have you built anything, that you care to show-share...
chris |
|
|
| cytokine |
I'm pretty sure I've read this whole thread twice and I don't think I've seen anyone mention this issue so I need to here in case anyone runs into the problem I did with these amps.
I bought four of these amps to have watts to play with. I also purchased a pair of the PartsExpress DVC 8" subwoofers (295-480) and built small sealed enclosures because I've always been curious what stereo bass would be like. I'll comment on that in a bit, but the point I need to make is that these plate amps do not seal.
I built the first box and as a final test before firing it up, I pushed on the cone (old car audio habit to check for leaks). Not only was there some major play in the cone, the back of the box where the amp was actually whistled.
I finally tracked down the source of the air leak, and the whistling sound, and it was in the switch that you use to change the voltage on the back. My fix was to slather some elmers wood glue over the whole assembly on the inside as well as over the foam that holds the green circuit board on the upper part of the inside of the amp.
That did the trick.
If, as I have read earlier in this thread, your amp "lacks slam", you may simply have a major leak in your box.
This was not simply a faulty unit as both that I designated for this project had the same problem.
I hope that helps some of you. It gave me fits for a while.
Now as I promised, some comments on stereo bass and the Dayton DVC 8" subwoofer. First, I like stereo bass a lot and it's got me thinking about a bigger project to go with my reference MTMs. The 8s go with the Zaph designed Hi-Vi B3N mini-monitors. Second, as noted above, these amps fail to turn on when there is a low signal being passed to them. Oh well... However, and finally, these amps at $50 are a steal and are fun to design with. If you love bass like I do you should have a pile of them around to build with when you get the urge. |
|
|
| davidlzimmer |
This is a great example of why I just don't believe in the plate amp thing.
I just don't like putting an amp in a speaker enclosure. I don't think it's good for the amp or the enclosure. No big deal (to me) to just build a small enclosure for the amp.
Yousuredo,
Let me know how your project goes. Am in prosses of building MTM speakers now. Have seriuos thoughts of latter adding two subs and kind of making them the base for a pair of floor standers with the MTMs.
Would be interested in why you would preffer side fireing. |
|
|
| Yousuredo |
Only reason for side firing...
wanting to keep a slim front profile of the towers...
where else is there to mount a 10"/12"...?
thanx for the heads up on the leak...
If I do put it in the box, I will be sure to close it off from the rest... |
|
|
| cytokine |
You're welcome. It may just be that I got two made by the same person on the same day and that they were not as careful as they should have been. Others may not have this problem, but I suspect they will.
Sealing the plate amp off from the rest of the box just adds a bit of work and makes the box a bit bigger. It's a real pain if you've already finished the boxes though as I had.
Since you bring up the side-firing concept, I am seriously considering taking the Shivas out of my car and replacing them with something less ferocious (I don't need that much artillery in the car and they take up most of the back), and using said Shivas for stereo subs, side-firing.
Does having them fire to the side affect anything? If you have dual side-firing subs in stereo do you want them facing in the same direction or can they face each other? Intuitively I'm guessing that if they face each other you'll have cancellation issues but maybe not... |
|
|
| GhettoSQ |
| Mine doesn't leak (I don't think) but it does have an audible hum in the mains when using the low-level in/out. Also some distortion that almost sounds like RF noise in the drivers. Anyone else? |
|
|
| Yousuredo |
Any updates on Modding the amp...
Mine came in yesterday, and I would love to here what you all think can be done to improve them...
chris
ground loop isolaters or ???
~~~~~~~~edit~~~~~~~~~
what Sub would work well with Amp ?
I have two Amps, so either two subs, or a DVC sub with one amp on each vc... |
|
|
|
