Its a revelation to me that the heat sinks don't come pre-drilled and tapped. I'll have to enquire about it.
You can order them that way.
Are you using both sides of the PCB, I.E., all the transistor mounting holes top and bottom? You may have to get 4U to have enough height for the full mounting spec.
Are you using both sides of the PCB, I.E., all the transistor mounting holes top and bottom? You may have to get 4U to have enough height for the full mounting spec.
I didn't order it that way (drilled and tapped - I didn't even see it as an option when I placed the order), and they already shipped, so I possibly will be drilling and tapping a lot of 3mm holes...
Hey Jannas , I remember Rudi preferring smaller PSU caps in Class AB designs when transformers are over-provisioned . I believe he said it made the amp faster
I got my 3U Dissipante case not too long ago. I haven't even opened up the box yet. What I might need to do to fit the boards on the heat sinks may not pass muster for the universal mounting standard - sorry about that....
@wrenchone Any progress? I am curious as to the current state of the art. Am also considering a Wolverine or Honey Badger. They measure spectacularly but are probably overkill for my ears and appear to be a lot more involved and expensive to build.
TIA
TIA
I’ve built both and while the AB100 is a nice amp, the Wolverine is at the next level. You are right, Wolverine is likely twice or double the price and the AB100 is super easy to build and set up, where the Wolverine requires a little more skill IMO.
Only issue I had with the AB100 was finding outputs, seemed one was out of stock for a while. But you could likely find a scrap Onkyp, Denon AV receiver and get the outputs (possibly using lower rail voltages). Lots of flexibility with the build.
Only issue I had with the AB100 was finding outputs, seemed one was out of stock for a while. But you could likely find a scrap Onkyp, Denon AV receiver and get the outputs (possibly using lower rail voltages). Lots of flexibility with the build.
I haven't even opened the box for the Dissipante case yet, much less doing anything about laying out the boards. Maybe over the holidays...
@Bullitstang - Thanks. That was the conclusion to which I had come. The Wolverine does seem to be very well documented, so it takes some of the angst out of the process. I don't need massive power, so I think I can make do with a 3U 300mm deep case and three pairs which might help. I don't see much in the way of choices between the two.
PS there's something special about a nice green 68 fastback. Do you drive around with the soundtrack on a loop?
@wrenchone; It's traditional to do it on the 25th. Have fun. I look forward to hearing out it works out.
PS there's something special about a nice green 68 fastback. Do you drive around with the soundtrack on a loop?
@wrenchone; It's traditional to do it on the 25th. Have fun. I look forward to hearing out it works out.
I have a couple of other obligations to get out of the way before I can devote any attention to the AB100.
I would tell you that the HB is a fantastic sounding amp! Only second to my Pass Class A amp. When I need more power I break out the HB. It does very well with heavy load of Maggie’s. I have the AB100 also. A very different sounding amp from the two mentioned. HB little easier than the Wolverine
It’s always difficult to put sound into words. I would describe it as leaner sounding than the HB. tThe HB has a fuller bass and midrange. Now that may be to my build on the 100. I using only the PScaps that are on the board. That’s at a total of 32000uF per stereo channel.
@Freecrowder I found it curious to have say 40K uF on the power supply board and then 4x8200 uF on the amp board, isn't it usually one or the other?
Do you think just having the 32K uF on board is causing weak bass?
I was going to finally tackle the AB100 with dual mono, 4x10K uF per side on each PS board with another 4x6800 uF on each amp board. Transformers will be a pair of 250va @ 32v.
Do you think just having the 32K uF on board is causing weak bass?
I was going to finally tackle the AB100 with dual mono, 4x10K uF per side on each PS board with another 4x6800 uF on each amp board. Transformers will be a pair of 250va @ 32v.
No do not misunderstand what I'm getting at. I do not think that the AB100 has "weak" bass. I'm just saying that the sound profile compared to my HB is different. I do not know whether my PS design is the issue at all. But I would say that your PS design is much beefier than what I put together. I'm not running a capacitor bank before the PS caps on the boards. My bridge feeds right into the caps on board.
Hi Freecrowder,
I am curious about your experience of the AB100 when teamed up with your Maggies. Still ruminating on the choice of a high power AB amp. I sent a PM as I don't want to distract the thread.
I am curious about your experience of the AB100 when teamed up with your Maggies. Still ruminating on the choice of a high power AB amp. I sent a PM as I don't want to distract the thread.
I have a stereo AB100, stereo Honey Badger and mono block Wolverines. To me, they all sound the same. I can say the AB100 is not nearly as powerful as the Honey Badger or the mono block Wolverines. My AB100 does have power supply caps then four caps on each channels board.
Thanks Rick,
Not so worried about the ultimate sound level as I like to look after my hearing. However, I do subscribe to the notion of having lots of headroom so that an amp doesnt poop out on transients.
I prefer to use an SMPS and +/-48V seems convenient to me. Assuming a 4V lost and a 4 ohm load, then I would want a supply that could provide ~11A to support a 44Vswing towards the +ve rail. 0.7x11 gives ~7A rms current, so 7x7x4 about 200W rms. I think any of them would work with +/-48V rails.
Is there a current BOM and schematic that supports currently available parts?
Not so worried about the ultimate sound level as I like to look after my hearing. However, I do subscribe to the notion of having lots of headroom so that an amp doesnt poop out on transients.
I prefer to use an SMPS and +/-48V seems convenient to me. Assuming a 4V lost and a 4 ohm load, then I would want a supply that could provide ~11A to support a 44Vswing towards the +ve rail. 0.7x11 gives ~7A rms current, so 7x7x4 about 200W rms. I think any of them would work with +/-48V rails.
Is there a current BOM and schematic that supports currently available parts?
BeardyWan - I have not heard the AB100, HB, or WV, but (as is usual on the Internet) I will comment anyway.
The feature you want is EF3. The reason is that with EF3, the VAS won't notice the difference between 4 and 8 ohms, whereas with EF2 the VAS will be working hard with a 4 ohm Maggie.
The Wolverine is EF3. I think the best WV configuration for a Maggie is the lowest voltage rails, and of course, suitably high current.
Ed
The feature you want is EF3. The reason is that with EF3, the VAS won't notice the difference between 4 and 8 ohms, whereas with EF2 the VAS will be working hard with a 4 ohm Maggie.
The Wolverine is EF3. I think the best WV configuration for a Maggie is the lowest voltage rails, and of course, suitably high current.
Ed