I have used the forum in recent months to help with repairing a few amps for friends and so am listening to proper hifi again (the repairs were successful 🙂) rather than the Sonos I'm used to so this led me to think about buying an amp but while thinking about that I've decided to build one instead.
Although I'm used to working with electronics it has mainly been digital so it's great to see so many good designs on here as I really would not know where to start designing one. I would however say that the organisation is terrible 😀 so investigating different options has not been so easy.
I seem to have settled on the Apex A40, it looks like a great amp to build. I would like to ask some questions before I start and just wondered about how to do that. Many people seem to post on the 100w-ultimate-fidelity-amplifier about various different Apex designed amps which to me a little confusing.... or should I start my own thread?
Well I'll ask a couple of questions now anyway:
Is there some system to find the latest info on this design? I see that alex mm posted some great looking PCB's in January 2015 but do I need to read every post since then to find if there were errors or improvements?
Everything I see on here seems to be through hole construction, is there a reason for that? I would like to change at least some of the smaller components to surface mount if only to feel that I've had some input in the design process.
Thanks Simon
Although I'm used to working with electronics it has mainly been digital so it's great to see so many good designs on here as I really would not know where to start designing one. I would however say that the organisation is terrible 😀 so investigating different options has not been so easy.
I seem to have settled on the Apex A40, it looks like a great amp to build. I would like to ask some questions before I start and just wondered about how to do that. Many people seem to post on the 100w-ultimate-fidelity-amplifier about various different Apex designed amps which to me a little confusing.... or should I start my own thread?
Well I'll ask a couple of questions now anyway:
Is there some system to find the latest info on this design? I see that alex mm posted some great looking PCB's in January 2015 but do I need to read every post since then to find if there were errors or improvements?
Everything I see on here seems to be through hole construction, is there a reason for that? I would like to change at least some of the smaller components to surface mount if only to feel that I've had some input in the design process.
Thanks Simon
Have you checked this thread? I made it because the main one is too large and talks about all of Apex’s amps and their testing.
A Directory of Apex Audio Amplifiers
Most of the folks on that thread seem to like to build with TH. If you are good with layouts, SMD always makes an amp smaller.
A Directory of Apex Audio Amplifiers
Most of the folks on that thread seem to like to build with TH. If you are good with layouts, SMD always makes an amp smaller.
Thanks for the reply, yes I saw that, a great idea to put all the designs together. There are a lot!
I've also seen a few separate threads on the A40 and one does mention an SMD version but there was not much interest by the look of things.
Maybe I'll start with an existing board design for my first amp and take it from there.
I've also seen a few separate threads on the A40 and one does mention an SMD version but there was not much interest by the look of things.
Maybe I'll start with an existing board design for my first amp and take it from there.