Amp Suggestions Wanted!

[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

[Tall Shadow]

Originally posted by 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?

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.

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

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

[Austin]

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

[BrianGT]

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

[Nielsio]

Originally posted by Tall Shadow


I like the gainclone idea, but I need more watts! (More Power!!) I wonder if You could combine gainclones with valves or SS?!?

Tall Shadow

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.

[SDF]

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

[Tall Shadow]

Originally posted by Austin
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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

[Tall Shadow]

Originally posted by SDF
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

[Tall Shadow]

Originally posted by Nielsio


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.

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

[Nielsio]

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