Hey All,
Steve Guttenberg posted this video yesterday reviewing the current version AmpCamp. His enthusiasm for this little workhorse of an amp is amazing.
COMPARISON TEST: Nelson Pass Amp Camp Amp (kit), Schiit Aegir, First Watt J2 and... - YouTube
Steve Guttenberg posted this video yesterday reviewing the current version AmpCamp. His enthusiasm for this little workhorse of an amp is amazing.
COMPARISON TEST: Nelson Pass Amp Camp Amp (kit), Schiit Aegir, First Watt J2 and... - YouTube
I never heard about that amp, nor did i ever build one.
Ordered two kits to run as monos. Will cost me shy of 900€ with import taxes and all that, but what else are you supposed to do with your money, right? 😀
Hope my main speakers, Focal Chorus 826V, are up to the task with 91.5dB and i think 2.5 ohms at 111 Hz. Probably not, but we will see. 😎
Ordered two kits to run as monos. Will cost me shy of 900€ with import taxes and all that, but what else are you supposed to do with your money, right? 😀
Hope my main speakers, Focal Chorus 826V, are up to the task with 91.5dB and i think 2.5 ohms at 111 Hz. Probably not, but we will see. 😎
As said in the video, they sound better as mono blocks, this is expected because of lower distortion.. The treads about this amp are looong, is there a FFT measurement in balanced (mono block) mode?
I recall the curves for balanced were published on the ACA thread recently.
It's mostly 3rd harmonic.
It's mostly 3rd harmonic.
I’m using my ACA pair as bridged monoblocks with an H2 as the preamp. I also use the monoblocks with an ACA+ preamp, that I built at last year’s Burning Amp.
It’s close but I seem to like the H2 slightly more.
I’m a week or two away from finishing an F4. I’m interested to see if it will work well with either preamp.
It’s close but I seem to like the H2 slightly more.
I’m a week or two away from finishing an F4. I’m interested to see if it will work well with either preamp.
in general - hardly
as Pa said , with bridged - dominant 3rd
J2 -- we all know - dominant 2nd
playing with absolute phase there can be some similarity, but general presentation is different enough
but , factor of playing them both on such low levels that ACA is having lowish THD, while J2 is having minuscule THD, then you can draw more similarities .......... some 3rd vs. irrelevant THD level
The amps "normal" people buy when they enter a HiFi shop and go home with a 2 x 100W amp that costs like 500 USD. How do distortion measurement look?......is it possible to see the "bad sound" on such measurements?
The only example I know (attached) is from an old tube amp book I have (written in Swedish language). It has distortion patterns from various tube amps (A-D). E is a well known transistor amp and F is a square wave. I think B is Luxman MB-300 mono block. Before I started to build Pass designs I have always wanted a pair of MB-300 in restored condition with original NOS 195X WE300B tubes. Maybe I would still like a pair if someone would like to give it to me as a present?
But back to example E.......here you can "see" the "bad sound"? ....uneven distortion pattern that change with volume and load but still has low THD?
Would such a distortion pattern be typical also for todays cheap class A/B amps?
I remember I was quite chocked first time I looked at the tube amp distortion patterns. How can that be "HiFi"?
The only example I know (attached) is from an old tube amp book I have (written in Swedish language). It has distortion patterns from various tube amps (A-D). E is a well known transistor amp and F is a square wave. I think B is Luxman MB-300 mono block. Before I started to build Pass designs I have always wanted a pair of MB-300 in restored condition with original NOS 195X WE300B tubes. Maybe I would still like a pair if someone would like to give it to me as a present?
But back to example E.......here you can "see" the "bad sound"? ....uneven distortion pattern that change with volume and load but still has low THD?
Would such a distortion pattern be typical also for todays cheap class A/B amps?
I remember I was quite chocked first time I looked at the tube amp distortion patterns. How can that be "HiFi"?
Attachments
Look at that crap power supply on E and some of the IMD caused by it.
This would pi33 me off no end.
This would pi33 me off no end.
Last edited:
broad subject ....... or short, if you agree to trust someone
for starters: http://www.firstwatt.com/pdf/art_cas_2015.pdf and there are more articles on subject from Pa in same place
after that, you can try to find "L'Audiophile" for free download, try to find articles from Jean Hiraga and other guys from that era of magazine
several points/facts needed for explanation , but there is one old and fun comparison - "SS Watt vs. Tube Watt" , and pointed discrepancy between them - supposedly tube amp is having softer clipping nature than Solid State
big generalization, I know, but how I understand it - context was broad too ....
in any case , better to build good ones than to think about bad ones 🙂
with time, if not knowledge, there will be lack of curiosity ........... my case exactly
for starters: http://www.firstwatt.com/pdf/art_cas_2015.pdf and there are more articles on subject from Pa in same place
after that, you can try to find "L'Audiophile" for free download, try to find articles from Jean Hiraga and other guys from that era of magazine
several points/facts needed for explanation , but there is one old and fun comparison - "SS Watt vs. Tube Watt" , and pointed discrepancy between them - supposedly tube amp is having softer clipping nature than Solid State
big generalization, I know, but how I understand it - context was broad too ....
in any case , better to build good ones than to think about bad ones 🙂
with time, if not knowledge, there will be lack of curiosity ........... my case exactly
FWIW, here's the prequel build vid:
Robert built the Nelson Pass designed $327 Class A Amp Camp Amp - YouTube
Robert built the Nelson Pass designed $327 Class A Amp Camp Amp - YouTube