Hi All!,
After looking in, around, through,and over all of the amps here and around what I've found on the net, I'm asking for Your suggestions on choosing a few Amps to build. I will need a few diferent amps to use for around the house and would like all of Your input(Pun intended!) on My choice(s).
Please keep in mind that I'm not wanting to spend the GNP of a third world country on these! I'm looking for A-A/B class amps(I Think!) here. I also need Amps that I'm not having to find parts from 5-10 years ago! I can't count the number of good designs that are out on the net, that have parts made from unubtainium!(Not around anymore or BIG$$$)
I Need:
20-25w amp for powering Bass Shakers. Mono, I might use several(One each shaker?)
100-150w Amp for left, right, center, and one each for the rear left and right. (I'm looking at the (Super) leach amp, but it's only 120w max. and I am open to others.)
150'ish watt sub amp. I might just buy this, but I would like to build it if I can.
I know several of You are building class A amps and I know that They are the best for top sound, but I'm not looking to do total audiophile here. Just good sound. As I said I'll look at any and all suggestions.
Thanks! I'm learning so much here My brain hurts!(Not that at 40 with a wife and 2 kids, I have that much brain left!)
Tall Shadow
(Mark Ray)
After looking in, around, through,and over all of the amps here and around what I've found on the net, I'm asking for Your suggestions on choosing a few Amps to build. I will need a few diferent amps to use for around the house and would like all of Your input(Pun intended!) on My choice(s).
Please keep in mind that I'm not wanting to spend the GNP of a third world country on these! I'm looking for A-A/B class amps(I Think!) here. I also need Amps that I'm not having to find parts from 5-10 years ago! I can't count the number of good designs that are out on the net, that have parts made from unubtainium!(Not around anymore or BIG$$$)
I Need:
20-25w amp for powering Bass Shakers. Mono, I might use several(One each shaker?)
100-150w Amp for left, right, center, and one each for the rear left and right. (I'm looking at the (Super) leach amp, but it's only 120w max. and I am open to others.)
150'ish watt sub amp. I might just buy this, but I would like to build it if I can.
I know several of You are building class A amps and I know that They are the best for top sound, but I'm not looking to do total audiophile here. Just good sound. As I said I'll look at any and all suggestions.
Thanks! I'm learning so much here My brain hurts!(Not that at 40 with a wife and 2 kids, I have that much brain left!)
Tall Shadow
(Mark Ray)
It's the Trifecta
Rod’s P3A amp will deliver 100w/ch and can be built for $125 a channel.
You can bridge 2 channels easily for 200w/ch into an 8 ohm load.
$1000 buys you 600 watts up front and 200 watts for the rears.
It may not be the most cutting edge audiophile amp in town,
but if you tell your friends it is I bet they will believe you.
You might even believe it yourself.
Rod’s P3A amp will deliver 100w/ch and can be built for $125 a channel.You can bridge 2 channels easily for 200w/ch into an 8 ohm load.
$1000 buys you 600 watts up front and 200 watts for the rears.
It may not be the most cutting edge audiophile amp in town,
but if you tell your friends it is I bet they will believe you.
You might even believe it yourself.
Re: It's the Trifecta
I like to look of Rod's amps, I just havent talked to anyone using them. I also wonder about buying all the PCB's and components for a product from "Down Under". I've seen a few designs that have parts that are hard to come by. I havent checked this with Rod's amps, but I will look in to it now.
Thanks!
Tall Shadow
Equilibrium said:
You can bridge 2 channels easily for 200w/ch into an 8 ohm load.
$1000 buys you 600 watts up front and 200 watts for the rears.
It may not be the most cutting edge audiophile amp in town,
but if you tell your friends it is I bet they will believe you.
You might even believe it yourself.
I like to look of Rod's amps, I just havent talked to anyone using them. I also wonder about buying all the PCB's and components for a product from "Down Under". I've seen a few designs that have parts that are hard to come by. I havent checked this with Rod's amps, but I will look in to it now.
Thanks!
Tall Shadow
I'm putting together a very similar setup to yours. For my bass shakers I am making the P19. I'll run 2 shakers in series on each channel, which will give each shaker the right amount of power. For subwoofer and mains I am making a 3 channel Leach amp. For surrounds and center I am making a 4 channel P3A. The Leach is almost done and the P3A is just getting started. If this is one of your first projects, I recommend the P3A over the Leach. If you get circuit boards from professor Leach, there are way too many wires to deal with IMO. I think 21 wires from each board!
Don't worry about getting parts for Rod's amps. I am putting together a parts list for 4 P3A channels right now and have had no problem finding parts. Almost everything can be found at digikey, except the transistors. Newark carries all of them though. The shipping of the boards was also fast from down under! I recommend ebay for heatsinks when you start shopping for parts. They usually have a good selection.
Good Luck,
Austin
Don't worry about getting parts for Rod's amps. I am putting together a parts list for 4 P3A channels right now and have had no problem finding parts. Almost everything can be found at digikey, except the transistors. Newark carries all of them though. The shipping of the boards was also fast from down under! I recommend ebay for heatsinks when you start shopping for parts. They usually have a good selection.
Good Luck,
Austin
Thanks Austin!,
The electronics isn't a problem, I've been making a living working on electronics for over 22 years now. I liked the Leach amp because it is a "Tried & Tested" project. I have yet to hear any of the listed amps (Including the Leach) but I've worked with & repaired most of the classic PA power amps (Crown, Carver, Phase linear, Heil, Ect.). I just thought it would be nice to DIY My Home Theater system Amps. I know that it'd be less $$, but I'm after the IDIMS (I Did It My Self) factor.
Thanks Again!
Tall Shadow
The electronics isn't a problem, I've been making a living working on electronics for over 22 years now. I liked the Leach amp because it is a "Tried & Tested" project. I have yet to hear any of the listed amps (Including the Leach) but I've worked with & repaired most of the classic PA power amps (Crown, Carver, Phase linear, Heil, Ect.). I just thought it would be nice to DIY My Home Theater system Amps. I know that it'd be less $$, but I'm after the IDIMS (I Did It My Self) factor.
Thanks Again!
Tall Shadow
oh yeah!
Actually, I totally forgot, BrianGT has done a redesign of the Leach board to use TO3P devices. That eliminates at least 12 of the wires from each board. If you do the Leach, his board design makes things much easier! Brian, care to comment?
What kind of speakers do you have? and do you know how efficient they are? I'm not sure what kind of sub you have, but I'd recommend more than 150W just so you can have a little headroom.
Austin
Actually, I totally forgot, BrianGT has done a redesign of the Leach board to use TO3P devices. That eliminates at least 12 of the wires from each board. If you do the Leach, his board design makes things much easier! Brian, care to comment?
What kind of speakers do you have? and do you know how efficient they are? I'm not sure what kind of sub you have, but I'd recommend more than 150W just so you can have a little headroom.
Austin
Re: oh yeah!
That sounds good!, I wonder if You could use this idea/Mod to build the "Super" leach Amp? I'd like to see what Brian is doing with the leach.
I have a few choices as far as other speakers go. I still have a few of My "Old" PA type speakers, from small studio ones to a pair of RCA "Ubangi's" (8'x5'x4' ported horns with 2x15" drivers + 27" horn Midranges), but I'm thinking I'll DIY a set of speakers (Maybe electrostatics + Low drivers) for the home theater.
Thanks!,
Tall Shadow
Austin said:
That sounds good!, I wonder if You could use this idea/Mod to build the "Super" leach Amp? I'd like to see what Brian is doing with the leach.
I have a set that I Built about 16 years ago that are OK. They are pretty efficient, but aren't up to the quality I'd like to use in My home theater.
I have a few choices as far as other speakers go. I still have a few of My "Old" PA type speakers, from small studio ones to a pair of RCA "Ubangi's" (8'x5'x4' ported horns with 2x15" drivers + 27" horn Midranges), but I'm thinking I'll DIY a set of speakers (Maybe electrostatics + Low drivers) for the home theater.
Thanks!,
Tall Shadow
You can check out Brian's webpage at http://brian.darg.net
He has alot of his projects pictured there. He'll soon be putting a Leach SuperAmp together to power his monster sub. I would guess he'll use TO3P devices on that as well. I'll try to convince him to get some boards made. I think we can get them pretty cheap here at school.
If you are considering electrostatic speakers, the Leach would be a good way to go. It is probably more stable than any of the other designs mentioned and can handle about any load you can throw at it.
Another option you may or may not want to consider since you are possibly building your own speakers is to bi or triamp them. You could use separate amps to power each driver in the system. The power requirements wouldn't be as high on each amplifier and you'd probably end up with better sound out of lower powered amps.
Do you have a really big hometheater room? From the description of your speakers I got that impression. If so you might want to go with the Leach over the P3A for that little extra power.
Austin
He has alot of his projects pictured there. He'll soon be putting a Leach SuperAmp together to power his monster sub. I would guess he'll use TO3P devices on that as well. I'll try to convince him to get some boards made. I think we can get them pretty cheap here at school.
If you are considering electrostatic speakers, the Leach would be a good way to go. It is probably more stable than any of the other designs mentioned and can handle about any load you can throw at it.
Another option you may or may not want to consider since you are possibly building your own speakers is to bi or triamp them. You could use separate amps to power each driver in the system. The power requirements wouldn't be as high on each amplifier and you'd probably end up with better sound out of lower powered amps.
Do you have a really big hometheater room? From the description of your speakers I got that impression. If so you might want to go with the Leach over the P3A for that little extra power.
Austin
Austin... finish your leach amp! You have been working on it for over 6 months now! I finished mine in 3 weeks from the time I sat down to order the parts.
For the integrated leachpcb that I made, I will eventually get some pcbs made, but if you want to make your own, I can send out the gerber files to you.
As for the superamp, I haven't progressed much on it yet. I am distracted by my working on the Aleph-X. For the superamp, I am trying to decide if I want one large pcb, or a pair of pcbs, seperating the output stage. I am leaning towards the second option. As far as modifying the circuit, I have made no modifications from the original design, except for using a little better components.
--
Brian
For the integrated leachpcb that I made, I will eventually get some pcbs made, but if you want to make your own, I can send out the gerber files to you.
As for the superamp, I haven't progressed much on it yet. I am distracted by my working on the Aleph-X. For the superamp, I am trying to decide if I want one large pcb, or a pair of pcbs, seperating the output stage. I am leaning towards the second option. As far as modifying the circuit, I have made no modifications from the original design, except for using a little better components.
--
Brian
Tall Shadow said:
Why do you think you need more watts. 1 gainclone-watt isn't the same as 1 class a watt, or 1 class a/b watt or 1 valve watt.
A friend of mine used his gainclone on 83 db speakers (he has now bought big old Tannoys), and sounded very good. Admitted: he blew up one opamp one time, but only after playing very loud extensively, and he doesn't use a proper heatsink (just a 1 cm thick metal bar).
I myself have 98 db speakers and can play louder then I want to.
Hello Diy'ers,
I just want talking about Audio analogue, this amps are not bad, good sounding and easy to make. Despite of them low power, 60 Watts/8Ohm for the Puccini SE remote and Donizetti, they could ineterest you.
Look at: http://www.pi.infn.it/~federico/unofficial.htm
I just want talking about Audio analogue, this amps are not bad, good sounding and easy to make. Despite of them low power, 60 Watts/8Ohm for the Puccini SE remote and Donizetti, they could ineterest you.
Look at: http://www.pi.infn.it/~federico/unofficial.htm
Austin said:
That was My thinking too. I'm not sure about the Electrostatics yet, It just has a big "COOL!" factor. And looks like it's not to hard to get good sound with them and a low end "Fill" speaker.
Yes, Like I said, I've been doing this kind of thing(Audio) for many years. I've built, worked, installed, serviced, and used most of the Pro Recording/P.A./Studio equipment around here(Metro Detroit) and have Bi and Tri amped many systems. While this gives Me a good understanding of whats going on, It's not exactly the same as "Home" Hi-Fi.
I have a room that is 13'x27' that will become My Home Theater. The RCA's are too big to even come in the house. The other speakers that I have are smaller, but not really suited for HT use. I do have a Heil 200w/ch Power amp and a 120w/ch low-tim amp that i built from Mark V electronics years ago and never used. I would still like to make a "Matched Set" of amps for the HT. As You might see/understand I like music that litteraly(sp?) Moves Me! I understand that 1w on a valve amp isn't the same as 1w on a Solid State, but I also know that in a SS amp, good "Headroom" is needed for a good reproduction.
Tall Shadow
SDF said:Hello Diy'ers,
I just want talking about Audio analogue, this amps are not bad, good sounding and easy to make. Despite of them low power, 60 Watts/8Ohm for the Puccini SE remote and Donizetti, they could ineterest you.
Look at: http://www.pi.infn.it/~federico/unofficial.htm
Thanks for the information!
Tall Shadow
Nielsio said:
Hi Nielsio!,
I understand that I could use the gainclones and get pretty good sound, but I'm used to "Large" speakers/ amps with >89db. I have had systems with > 2500watts running at My house. Running a 15w speaker/amp system would be kind of anti-climatic(sp?) to me. I still might build a gainclone, but It would not be for My HT.
Take Care!
Tall Shadow
It's not 15 watt per channel: more like 40 or 50 watts.
Just for everyone's pleasure: guess which one is the replacer:
http://www.sakurasystems.com/show/chrissystem.html
Just for everyone's pleasure: guess which one is the replacer:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
http://www.sakurasystems.com/show/chrissystem.html
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