First, thank you. I enjoy the warmth of this music society and all the knowledge. This may take some time to explain. Please be patient. I have so much questions and so few answers...
I am a music lover and play several instruments and compose. In my latest apartment I have been having trouble with sound leakage so instead of composing on active monitor speakers which often sound a bit restrained on very quiet volumes I bought a pair of well-built passive monitor speakers. I paired them with a Nad M3 (1600 dollar) dual-mono 180w amp. It sounded like ****...
Lesson learned. To tight of a grip of the bass movement and would sound restricted on lower volumes. It did not sound natural. I guess I was not pushing it enough. By the design Class A/B it needs to execute some draw to flow the electrons? And maybe to much of a overdamp on top of that.
The speakers sounded better with my bookshelf mini-stereo (60 USD) from the 90's with 2x18 watt.
Fast forwarding til present time I gone through the hassle of selling the NAD and been trying to sell the very well put together speakers and just going the easy route and taking a gamble on a pair of Active HEDD Audio 05. But as money is tight and I get no good resale value on the passive speakers I've been lusting to see what they can do with a new amp.
The speakers are Height: 36 cm. Width: 23 cm. Depth: 26 cm. Weight: 10 kg.
Bass / midrange: 6.5. Impedance: 8 ohms. Efficiency: 90 dB / W / m. They have a solid birch wood cabinet with a single rear-ported bass hole, I guess tuned somewhere around 40-45 hz. I really don't mind the sub-bass response in my room as it leaks out through the windows and openings. So execution and forceful replication of sub and lower-octave bass is not where I want to take this build. I wish for a very dynamic, mid and treble but with good warmth in the fundamental 100-300 range. The speakers have very steep filters, with a lot of copper inside!! Both elements are of ring radiator-design. They have high tolerance of watt so they are not very easily distorted or anything like that. I think the designer built these around a middle way design so I fear a really low wattage design would not make them sing? I listen on volumes which you could easily have a conversation on top off.
I will drive the amp with a pro audio interface (SPL Crimson) with linear psu.
Output impedance: 75ohms unbalanced, 150ohms balanced, Maximum output level: +22.5dBu. It has a Potentiometer so really I could do without volume control on the amp? But this would cause a power on/off pop sound as I have no way to turn down the output to the speakers, on power on / off? So a potentiometer is mandatory right? I guess I could have a high-quality one and just use it to protect the speakers on power cycles. My goals is to pair the wattage so I can have it on max all the time and ride the spl crimson potentiometer for volume adjustment. The SPL-potentiometer sounds best around 12 o clock according to the manual. I have a hard time calculating how much volume I will get but I will look into it. I want conversation volume on normal and loud conversation volume on pushing the amp. So I can use a smaller chassis (for cost). I really don't need high volumes at all.
This is my room. It's very ghetto-mod and has decent bass and mid absorbation. The speakers on the stands are my old active Alesis M1 mk2, which will be put in basement and replaced with some better sounding actives which will take the duty as the "linear, transperent, and neutral" (read: depressing) sounding speakers in studio. I plan on putting the passive speakers on outside of the actives. My idea is that they will serve as a more organic / inviting opposition to monitors on the inside.
My intuition draws me to this designs:
https://diyaudiostore.com/collections/power-amplifier
I read about these designs but did not found a good summary of which a beginner should build and what would work with my speakers.
I guess by just throwing this out you can point me in the right directions. You are free to advice me on what ever comes to your mind.
As I have only basic knowledge in electronics (I solder cables and know the basics) I was really tempted by the Amp Camp Kit (for the complete chassis and cheap cost) but doubt the switching psu design. Also it would be harder to exchange and try another variant if I'm not happy with the sound. Problem is the chassis cost. I don't want to buy an expensive one but how many KG's of chassis do I really need for my attempted build? It's hard to estimate.
Thanks
I am a music lover and play several instruments and compose. In my latest apartment I have been having trouble with sound leakage so instead of composing on active monitor speakers which often sound a bit restrained on very quiet volumes I bought a pair of well-built passive monitor speakers. I paired them with a Nad M3 (1600 dollar) dual-mono 180w amp. It sounded like ****...
Lesson learned. To tight of a grip of the bass movement and would sound restricted on lower volumes. It did not sound natural. I guess I was not pushing it enough. By the design Class A/B it needs to execute some draw to flow the electrons? And maybe to much of a overdamp on top of that. The speakers sounded better with my bookshelf mini-stereo (60 USD) from the 90's with 2x18 watt.
Fast forwarding til present time I gone through the hassle of selling the NAD and been trying to sell the very well put together speakers and just going the easy route and taking a gamble on a pair of Active HEDD Audio 05. But as money is tight and I get no good resale value on the passive speakers I've been lusting to see what they can do with a new amp.
The speakers are Height: 36 cm. Width: 23 cm. Depth: 26 cm. Weight: 10 kg.
Bass / midrange: 6.5. Impedance: 8 ohms. Efficiency: 90 dB / W / m. They have a solid birch wood cabinet with a single rear-ported bass hole, I guess tuned somewhere around 40-45 hz. I really don't mind the sub-bass response in my room as it leaks out through the windows and openings. So execution and forceful replication of sub and lower-octave bass is not where I want to take this build. I wish for a very dynamic, mid and treble but with good warmth in the fundamental 100-300 range. The speakers have very steep filters, with a lot of copper inside!! Both elements are of ring radiator-design. They have high tolerance of watt so they are not very easily distorted or anything like that. I think the designer built these around a middle way design so I fear a really low wattage design would not make them sing? I listen on volumes which you could easily have a conversation on top off.
I will drive the amp with a pro audio interface (SPL Crimson) with linear psu.
Output impedance: 75ohms unbalanced, 150ohms balanced, Maximum output level: +22.5dBu. It has a Potentiometer so really I could do without volume control on the amp? But this would cause a power on/off pop sound as I have no way to turn down the output to the speakers, on power on / off? So a potentiometer is mandatory right? I guess I could have a high-quality one and just use it to protect the speakers on power cycles. My goals is to pair the wattage so I can have it on max all the time and ride the spl crimson potentiometer for volume adjustment. The SPL-potentiometer sounds best around 12 o clock according to the manual. I have a hard time calculating how much volume I will get but I will look into it. I want conversation volume on normal and loud conversation volume on pushing the amp. So I can use a smaller chassis (for cost). I really don't need high volumes at all.
This is my room.
It's very ghetto-mod and has decent bass and mid absorbation. The speakers on the stands are my old active Alesis M1 mk2, which will be put in basement and replaced with some better sounding actives which will take the duty as the "linear, transperent, and neutral" (read: depressing) sounding speakers in studio. I plan on putting the passive speakers on outside of the actives. My idea is that they will serve as a more organic / inviting opposition to monitors on the inside. My intuition draws me to this designs:
https://diyaudiostore.com/collections/power-amplifier
I read about these designs but did not found a good summary of which a beginner should build and what would work with my speakers.
I guess by just throwing this out you can point me in the right directions. You are free to advice me on what ever comes to your mind.
As I have only basic knowledge in electronics (I solder cables and know the basics) I was really tempted by the Amp Camp Kit (for the complete chassis and cheap cost) but doubt the switching psu design. Also it would be harder to exchange and try another variant if I'm not happy with the sound. Problem is the chassis cost. I don't want to buy an expensive one but how many KG's of chassis do I really need for my attempted build? It's hard to estimate.
Thanks
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You are asking us to pick out wall-paper for you.
This is all personal taste and conceptions.
Me, I say: Fender AA-Champ (without 1st stage and tonestack). Ooops, wrong section.
> doubt the switching psu design
The designer of that knows more than you and me put together. SMPS-hate is a religious thing. There are bad linear supplies too. At a glance, the topology has excellent power supply rejection, so "it shouldn't matter".
It may work out like buying cars. Maybe the closest dealer is Subaru. Buy one, and after a few years you decide you are not a Subaru person. So try a Toyota, or Honda, or Ford. Or maybe Subaru is OK but not the small-cheap model (my folks got a big Sub and it is nice).
This is all personal taste and conceptions.
Me, I say: Fender AA-Champ (without 1st stage and tonestack). Ooops, wrong section.
> doubt the switching psu design
The designer of that knows more than you and me put together. SMPS-hate is a religious thing. There are bad linear supplies too. At a glance, the topology has excellent power supply rejection, so "it shouldn't matter".
It may work out like buying cars. Maybe the closest dealer is Subaru. Buy one, and after a few years you decide you are not a Subaru person. So try a Toyota, or Honda, or Ford. Or maybe Subaru is OK but not the small-cheap model (my folks got a big Sub and it is nice).
I did just ask for some guidance and wrote to summarize what I learnt so far.
Maybe I will have some more detailed questions later.
Oh I have no hate for SMPS. I'm no snob or purist. I was just looking for som input on the wattage/sound thing and how to do it cheap. Maybe building in wood?
Thanks I'm gravitating towards a Current-Driven amplifier. I think I like
the 2nd harmonic too. At least I use it alot when playing guitar
Be sure to burn in a new (or used) piece of equipment well before deciding about it.
A month (or more) isn't too much.
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Current drive or current feedback?
Those two ways you posted would not be most people's first choice to use with current drive i would think, although i have no experience with current drive. Typically, people use single drivers w/no crossover with current drive. Again, I am not an expert on current drive but I know that multi-way speakers with impedance swings and complicated crossovers are not typically used with current drive.
Those two ways you posted would not be most people's first choice to use with current drive i would think, although i have no experience with current drive. Typically, people use single drivers w/no crossover with current drive. Again, I am not an expert on current drive but I know that multi-way speakers with impedance swings and complicated crossovers are not typically used with current drive.
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