Holy cow. I have my Android phone running Qobuz. That's feeding a fully warmed up ACA Mini. They in turn feed Sennheiser HD600. This brings me closer than any system before. I'm keeping the Stasis 3 and Thiels though. 🙂
I also own an Aegir and this upgrade sounds exciting! And I should say Aegir is probably the best new commercial amp Under $1000. However, I think I need something like 15W, not 8. Do you think it's coming one day, is there anything in this schematics that would prevent to be beefed up 2x one day?
This may work:
But honestly, if you want a good 15+ watts, I would shoot for the F5m:
I built it and was very impressed with the value proposition of that amp. It is voiced beautifully. Put one of those in a 3u chassis and now you are cookin' 🙂
But honestly, if you want a good 15+ watts, I would shoot for the F5m:
Presenting the documentation for the F5m appearing shortly in the store.
The Essentials kit consists of the Jfets and Mosfets plus two channels of pc board and 1 power supply pc board.
The Completion kit is everything else except chassis, power transformer, rear panel connectors/switch/ac inlet.
The kit is designed around several chassis available in the store, but is fairly agnostic.
Attached is the article I wrote for this project, and this is the support thread.
2/11/2024 After testing by member 6L6, I revised the power supply layout and made an additional
note about the...
The Essentials kit consists of the Jfets and Mosfets plus two channels of pc board and 1 power supply pc board.
The Completion kit is everything else except chassis, power transformer, rear panel connectors/switch/ac inlet.
The kit is designed around several chassis available in the store, but is fairly agnostic.
Attached is the article I wrote for this project, and this is the support thread.
2/11/2024 After testing by member 6L6, I revised the power supply layout and made an additional
note about the...
I built it and was very impressed with the value proposition of that amp. It is voiced beautifully. Put one of those in a 3u chassis and now you are cookin' 🙂
I reported previously that the DIY ACA Mini sounded better than my OG Schiit Aegir with my JBL Arena 170 loudspeakers and, in particular, that a piano sounded like a piano. This is still true. But....
I have since purchased some Wharfedale Diamond 225 loudspeakers, and these sound better with the Aegir. And a piano sounds like a piano.
So, I think synergy between speakers and amplifier is very important. From my simple experiments, it seems that there is no one amp that best suits all speakers.
That said, I encourange anyone who is interested to build the DIY ACA Mini amp. It's fun, it's inexpensive, and it's a really good amplifier.
Hi, @nicoch58:
For sure my speakers are budget level.
One thing I've been seeking for many years is a pair of speakers with very clear midrange, smooth treble, and decent bass. I decided to try the Wharfedale Diamond 225s because they got good reviews and are only $299/pair. They have the qualities I want, particularly the clear midrange.
My house has bouncy wooden floors, so speakers with lots of bass tend to be boomy, for example, the Wharfedale Linton Heritage speakers, which I also tried. The 225s on 29 inch wooden barstools have pretty good bass without being boomy.
FWIW.
For sure my speakers are budget level.
One thing I've been seeking for many years is a pair of speakers with very clear midrange, smooth treble, and decent bass. I decided to try the Wharfedale Diamond 225s because they got good reviews and are only $299/pair. They have the qualities I want, particularly the clear midrange.
My house has bouncy wooden floors, so speakers with lots of bass tend to be boomy, for example, the Wharfedale Linton Heritage speakers, which I also tried. The 225s on 29 inch wooden barstools have pretty good bass without being boomy.
FWIW.
Option 2. Suppose I will build a mini subwoofer, something similar to REL T/5x or Tzero but without compromise, will any of those amps above feed it loud enough? Or a specialized sub amp build is much better than a general purpose kit? I know I said some heresy here...
You must have a DAC. Whatever any phone or computer has on 3.5 mm jack is absolute garbage. Even the cheapest DAC will destroy it. In $200 range I strongly recommend Schiit Modius, I had it before upgrade. Or DIY.
I am currently building speakers matching my Aegir, my shenanigans here. But I will need a second amp for sub, eventually. Thought an amp kit for a sub would be a cool project.