Pfff that is a lot of marketing/sales talk. Even some plain errors.
The MJ15003/15004 pair is right. Still have a few pairs.
Nothing against retro when it is a “best of both worlds” story. Old fashioned sturdyness combined with todays knowledge and possibilities. Metal instead of plastic.
The MJ15003/15004 pair is right. Still have a few pairs.
Nothing against retro when it is a “best of both worlds” story. Old fashioned sturdyness combined with todays knowledge and possibilities. Metal instead of plastic.
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That's the whole problem.
When it's well thought out and thought through at the base, it can give great results, but when, even the base is bad, the new version cannot be a miracle of success.
Refer to the VW Beetle, which has kept its W but has forgotten its V.
The basis was a design driven by function and it ended up with a small, expensive and anything but practical modern elephant.
When it's well thought out and thought through at the base, it can give great results, but when, even the base is bad, the new version cannot be a miracle of success.
Refer to the VW Beetle, which has kept its W but has forgotten its V.
The basis was a design driven by function and it ended up with a small, expensive and anything but practical modern elephant.
I can only say that you can clearly smell the components cooking! The new one has been running in test mode for three days now. The heating plate looks (or rather looked) interesting, but it was never intended to reach more than 35 to 40°C - along with the blue lightsabers, actually the exclusion criterion!
The sound is good to exceptional, but there is often a lack of detail in it, or the audibility and neutrality are not necessarily given. Nevertheless, it is hi-fi.
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It is best to have a fan constantly blowing through the appliance 😉.
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It is best to have a fan constantly blowing through the appliance 😉.
On this side I'm not surprised, the original A1 was quite good, there was little chance that the new one would be bad (although, they could have added generic Chinese classD modules to it 🙂 and sold it like the new legend .
No, as much as I'm impatiently awaiting the listening comments on the new 33/303 (which really came out well), but the A1 in this form...
they could have grafted a modern heat pipe system, or even processor heatsinks with controlled and intelligent extraction like on a laptop PC, but it seems that the race of real engineers is on the verge of extinction.
No, as much as I'm impatiently awaiting the listening comments on the new 33/303 (which really came out well), but the A1 in this form...
they could have grafted a modern heat pipe system, or even processor heatsinks with controlled and intelligent extraction like on a laptop PC, but it seems that the race of real engineers is on the verge of extinction.
hbtaudio, if a fan is needed the device is not up to its task. Those 8 pieces 10.000 uF 35V by Jamicon will likely be the first to go. Before you want to mention the blue LEDs another time please send it to me and I exchange them for the color you like 😊
Problem when one gets older and more experienced is that glass clear marketing lies and/or gimmicks either work as intended (for emotion-buyers that want to relive youth) or as a straight deterrent (the critical tech oriented person). In this case they are so clear that I would not even consider it for half its price. It may sound good, which is only 1 parameter, but probably not very long. One buys a “new old one” with not enough improvements in the critical areas of the old one.
The comparison with VW Beetle and VW new Beetle is right.
Problem when one gets older and more experienced is that glass clear marketing lies and/or gimmicks either work as intended (for emotion-buyers that want to relive youth) or as a straight deterrent (the critical tech oriented person). In this case they are so clear that I would not even consider it for half its price. It may sound good, which is only 1 parameter, but probably not very long. One buys a “new old one” with not enough improvements in the critical areas of the old one.
The comparison with VW Beetle and VW new Beetle is right.
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exactly!
And the proud owner will have no choice but to retrofit it.
obviously not, but I would also like to know (without making a plan myself, without doing this endless work) what exactly is available today.
The sales talk just turns my stomach.
I agree with you!
Thank you, but I can do that myself 😊. I still have real German originals from the last century lying around here, dozens of them ...
jean-paul,
you know, there's another point that bothers me, namely that we in Germany are actually supplied with 240vac across the board and not 230vac -> doesn't the CEO or his English chief designer know that?
kind regards,
HBt.
Mains voltage in the EU is 230V+10%/−6% for decades already so stuff must be able to withstand 253V. The average switcher has no problem with that but good old transformers will of course give higher output voltage and designers usually are aware of that. Certainly in areas with many solar installations 250V is “normalized” because that is “green”.
Only some chinese factories like BingZi produce 220V transformers for the internal market and also sell these to 230V areas. Thankfully one can order 240V versions at brands like Talema.
The old A1 had too tight chosen caps with regards to both working voltage and maximum temperature. If the Jamicons are again 85 degrees rated and again are run at their maximum working voltage then MF just did not learn from its own mistakes.
BTW why would they? The products were often hampered with issues which the buyers apparently liked.
Only some chinese factories like BingZi produce 220V transformers for the internal market and also sell these to 230V areas. Thankfully one can order 240V versions at brands like Talema.
The old A1 had too tight chosen caps with regards to both working voltage and maximum temperature. If the Jamicons are again 85 degrees rated and again are run at their maximum working voltage then MF just did not learn from its own mistakes.
BTW why would they? The products were often hampered with issues which the buyers apparently liked.
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The detailed photos (inside) reveal quite a lot of internal details immediately. The installed capacitors (all) cannot withstand the thermal stress for 2 years, never ..!
So yes, the chief designer apparently didn't learn or simply wasn't allowed to really improve the product.
I'm curious to see if our fears will come true (they will!) and how CEO & MF will react to the returns in a year's time when service & customers will be raising hell.
Simple. Just like the old one it will fail after the warranty period of 2 years with normal use. Prejudice but often true: many that buy expensive Hi-Fi hardly use it….
The 5% that die within 2 years are covered for in the 1599 Euro sales price probably in a split deal with the retailers. ln that price also the free samples are accounted for that are given to reviewers that write raving reviews. The anglosaxon business model works perfectly.
The 5% that die within 2 years are covered for in the 1599 Euro sales price probably in a split deal with the retailers. ln that price also the free samples are accounted for that are given to reviewers that write raving reviews. The anglosaxon business model works perfectly.
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Nothing can be said against the actual (old) circuit, the amplifier itself - really an interesting idea & solution that can (and may) be improved in detail and made more reliable.
But (I won't mention the lightsabers now 😉 ) if the Nimbus Class A (according to Tim de Paravincini) is to be maintained, then it is no problem at all to solve the major thermal problem.
But this issue was certainly deliberately left out, perhaps CEO even insisted that the new edition of the classic be particularly hot. That could be intended, as a special gag. The new edition would go down better with me cold.
But (I won't mention the lightsabers now 😉 ) if the Nimbus Class A (according to Tim de Paravincini) is to be maintained, then it is no problem at all to solve the major thermal problem.
But this issue was certainly deliberately left out, perhaps CEO even insisted that the new edition of the classic be particularly hot. That could be intended, as a special gag. The new edition would go down better with me cold.
The old one had the heat and “class A” as marketing gimmicks. A new cold or lukewarm version would maybe be mistrusted.
Quality is not the best sales gimmick.
Quality is not the best sales gimmick.
Well, sad, but this stupidity will be found in the old (or the younger generation, who know everything better (?) ) men's high-end circles.
Have you noticed that there is no longer any space for the cooling lid above the standard charging cap's ("Ladekondensatoren") - they are literally grilled like sausages. And the KBU8 rectifier bridges will definitely also get very hot, many series heating resistors in the supply voltage lines can be identified ..!
MF (with new CEO) is not doing itself any favors technically spoken.
There are no ventilation holes in the PCB either. Not enough slots/holes/space/air flow around the bulk caps so heat buildup. Also no Schottky rectifiers. Caps mounted too close to the heatsink and power resistors. Basic design errors easily avoided even by good willing amateur/DIY designers. We spend too much time on words, it is better left to enthusiasts.
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There are (only) three small slots in front of and behind the aluminum T-heatsinkholder /lid. Take a look at the detailed pictures in full screen, then you can see quite a lot.
But all we can really do is shake our head,
I feel the urge to sit down with the chief designer and lead the rework lessons - a sad topic. But we assume that they don't know all this themselves.
See what happened to the wonderful company that was Boeing...
I work in a global company, I meet people who work in large companies, and we all have the same observation, today the two levels that prevail are marketing and finance.
The company I work for manufactured robots and palletizers deemed indestructible and we provided maintenance for 25 years, today we are being asked to push for the replacement of machines over 10 years old.
I work in a global company, I meet people who work in large companies, and we all have the same observation, today the two levels that prevail are marketing and finance.
The company I work for manufactured robots and palletizers deemed indestructible and we provided maintenance for 25 years, today we are being asked to push for the replacement of machines over 10 years old.
Side by side comparision of construction. Old one had somewhat more open space and bottom slots below transformer and heatsink looks like bigger in size.
The T bar is larger but the question is if the heatsink itself is larger/smaller with larger/smaller cooling fins. In the right lower corner there could have been an air inlet possibly with an ultrasilent fan.
Quite an achievement to produce a revision -2.0.
Quite an achievement to produce a revision -2.0.
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