I have the UMS heatsink and agree it is better than drilling and tapping your own, but have to say it is still painfull to completely pull a board out to rework vs pulling one out that has quick connect Molex minifits for the outputs and flying leads. I used this on my UMS heatsink and it lets me mount the transistor at the optimum spot (on one of the existing tapped holes) vs using the prescribed one that would be needed if soldered directly.
The M2 has a great auto-bias setting feature - adjustment free. The DC offset still needs to be hand manipulated after warmup and repeated a few times.
The M2 has a great auto-bias setting feature - adjustment free. The DC offset still needs to be hand manipulated after warmup and repeated a few times.
Thanks for this input. While I agree with many of your thoughts, I think you're really talking about "the best amp for a complete noob" -- I think consensus here is that's the Amp Camp Amp (which was my first amp project). Here, alanhuth launched this thread asking for a "guide for Aleph J suitable for relative noobs". So I think we're going with Aleph J as a given and working from there.
FWIW, you may well be right that an Aleph J might not be the best first project for someone who has never hefted a soldering iron or worked with mains AC before. It'll be my third project, so I guess I'll see whether it's even a good idea for someone like me!
Three Cheers for FLOHMANN!
This is a copy of a posting I put in the Noob Guide thread:
Join Date: Nov 2019
Default Three Cheers for FLOHMANN!
This “Aleph J Build Guide for Noobs” grew out of a “modest proposal” posting I made, asking for something exactly like what we now have with the Noob Guide. Here is that posting: A modest proposal for all the selfless volunteers helping us build Pass amps
If you recall, the response to that post was not encouraging. The general attitude was that a noob guide is not necessary, stop being a chicken, just dive in, we will help you. My repeated point was that sure, some people will emerge from the gauntlet in fine shape, but many others will a) never try, or b) get discouraged and choose to do something else.
Fred (FLOHMANN) replied differently. He agreed with the idea of a Noob guide to get people over the hump from ACA to a high-level Pass amp. And he put a challenge back to me: let’s make this noob guide together. i agreed. And here we are, six months later with a fantastic Noob Guide that many people have praised and thanked and claimed it was the key to their deciding to build an Aleph J, and it was integral to the success of their effort. I feel proud and vindicated for coming up with the suggestion. But here’s the thing:
I DID NOTHING to create the Noob Build Guide. I totally abandoned Fred, after committing to doing half the work with him. No excuses. I let him down. He did the whole effin thing all by himself. He deserves all the credit, and praise, not only for seeing the value in this pursuit, but in following through in an honorable manner and producing, what anybody can see is a first-class result.
Fred, the DIY community owes you a huge thanks, and I do in particular. I finally used the guide that you created and built my own Aleph in 2 days. Thank you! Of course, you were standing on the shoulders of giants like 6L6, but you did a ton of original work, and you did it without the help you were promised. I salute you!
This is a copy of a posting I put in the Noob Guide thread:
Join Date: Nov 2019
Default Three Cheers for FLOHMANN!
This “Aleph J Build Guide for Noobs” grew out of a “modest proposal” posting I made, asking for something exactly like what we now have with the Noob Guide. Here is that posting: A modest proposal for all the selfless volunteers helping us build Pass amps
If you recall, the response to that post was not encouraging. The general attitude was that a noob guide is not necessary, stop being a chicken, just dive in, we will help you. My repeated point was that sure, some people will emerge from the gauntlet in fine shape, but many others will a) never try, or b) get discouraged and choose to do something else.
Fred (FLOHMANN) replied differently. He agreed with the idea of a Noob guide to get people over the hump from ACA to a high-level Pass amp. And he put a challenge back to me: let’s make this noob guide together. i agreed. And here we are, six months later with a fantastic Noob Guide that many people have praised and thanked and claimed it was the key to their deciding to build an Aleph J, and it was integral to the success of their effort. I feel proud and vindicated for coming up with the suggestion. But here’s the thing:
I DID NOTHING to create the Noob Build Guide. I totally abandoned Fred, after committing to doing half the work with him. No excuses. I let him down. He did the whole effin thing all by himself. He deserves all the credit, and praise, not only for seeing the value in this pursuit, but in following through in an honorable manner and producing, what anybody can see is a first-class result.
Fred, the DIY community owes you a huge thanks, and I do in particular. I finally used the guide that you created and built my own Aleph in 2 days. Thank you! Of course, you were standing on the shoulders of giants like 6L6, but you did a ton of original work, and you did it without the help you were promised. I salute you!
I saw the thread title and my first thought was:
Kids have great energy capacity, are good resistors, are capable (sometimes) of handling negative feedback, are capable of wild swings in voltage, can generate much loudness, and are usually best when playing quietly in a room by themselves.
Yes, we should definitely use them to build amplifiers.
Bit rough on the food budget, though.
edit: if this went over your head, look up "A Modest Proposal"
Kids have great energy capacity, are good resistors, are capable (sometimes) of handling negative feedback, are capable of wild swings in voltage, can generate much loudness, and are usually best when playing quietly in a room by themselves.
Yes, we should definitely use them to build amplifiers.
Bit rough on the food budget, though.
edit: if this went over your head, look up "A Modest Proposal"
