Hello dear fellow audiophile DIY'ers.
Starting out a little humble to you SS guys, as I have long belonged to the SET tube camp. I do realize, though, that many SS designs has a lot to offer. I'm not afraid of the solder-iron, and believe that it is possible to "roll your own" and get a better sounding amp than any you can buy!
Since I am new to DIY SS, I wanted to ask you about which known design to go for when only the best sonics is what I want.
I know there are a lot of different tastes in "coloration from amps". What I am after is something with bass control, sweet highs and liquid midrange with detail, whithout becoming either analytical or syrupy romantic. I do not need a lot of power, but something like 40 to 50W is about minimum. I have owned several SS amps that I have been fond of. My old Marantz M510 had a "prescence of power" that I really enjoyed, coupled with rather good detailing. A Krell KSA 250 had the same "feeling of power and reserves" as the Marantz. A Hiraga 20W Le Classe A had a clarity and "warmth" that I liked a lot. If all this could be found in a known DIY design (preferably a kit), I would be very happy indeed. Strenghts to the design should also be 3D kind of imaging ... Are Pass Labs designs the right way to go or would something like this be medicine:Aksa Avondale?
Looking very much forward to your suggestions and comments.
Best Regards Aril
Starting out a little humble to you SS guys, as I have long belonged to the SET tube camp. I do realize, though, that many SS designs has a lot to offer. I'm not afraid of the solder-iron, and believe that it is possible to "roll your own" and get a better sounding amp than any you can buy!
Since I am new to DIY SS, I wanted to ask you about which known design to go for when only the best sonics is what I want.
I know there are a lot of different tastes in "coloration from amps". What I am after is something with bass control, sweet highs and liquid midrange with detail, whithout becoming either analytical or syrupy romantic. I do not need a lot of power, but something like 40 to 50W is about minimum. I have owned several SS amps that I have been fond of. My old Marantz M510 had a "prescence of power" that I really enjoyed, coupled with rather good detailing. A Krell KSA 250 had the same "feeling of power and reserves" as the Marantz. A Hiraga 20W Le Classe A had a clarity and "warmth" that I liked a lot. If all this could be found in a known DIY design (preferably a kit), I would be very happy indeed. Strenghts to the design should also be 3D kind of imaging ... Are Pass Labs designs the right way to go or would something like this be medicine:Aksa Avondale?
Looking very much forward to your suggestions and comments.
Best Regards Aril
welcome to the mad house!
as you say there are so many different flavors of amps around, it can be dificult to know where to start.
pass diy have a very good reputation and some very nice amps and popular on the forum, the aspen amps are quite good, but ive only seen the aksa 55 and 100, there are quite a few around and people to talk to about upgrading.
esp have some good designs and boards for sale.
http://sound.westhost.com/projects-1.htm
project 101 is one to look at, or one of the class A amps.
any of these may be worth a look for a first SS. it depends what experience you have and what you are willing to spend on a first try? nothing worse than blowing up that nice shiny new expensive amp because you made one little mistake! and trust me, even the best of us do it!
hope that helps start you off, im sure someone else will answer soon enough, steve.
as you say there are so many different flavors of amps around, it can be dificult to know where to start.
pass diy have a very good reputation and some very nice amps and popular on the forum, the aspen amps are quite good, but ive only seen the aksa 55 and 100, there are quite a few around and people to talk to about upgrading.
esp have some good designs and boards for sale.
http://sound.westhost.com/projects-1.htm
project 101 is one to look at, or one of the class A amps.
any of these may be worth a look for a first SS. it depends what experience you have and what you are willing to spend on a first try? nothing worse than blowing up that nice shiny new expensive amp because you made one little mistake! and trust me, even the best of us do it!
hope that helps start you off, im sure someone else will answer soon enough, steve.
Thank you very much Psychosteve!
I will try my very best at research on every suggestion you guys mention.
- I guess I should have suggested Leach (the Professors) amp as medicine also ...
I will try my very best at research on every suggestion you guys mention.
- I guess I should have suggested Leach (the Professors) amp as medicine also ...
Hi Aril,
The SKA amp gets very good reports from builders. I'm almost finished mine, so can't yet comment from experience.
There's a forum on the site below, and Greg Ball (the designer and kit vendor) is very helpful.
www.ska-audio.com
Cheers
Stuey
The SKA amp gets very good reports from builders. I'm almost finished mine, so can't yet comment from experience.
There's a forum on the site below, and Greg Ball (the designer and kit vendor) is very helpful.
www.ska-audio.com
Cheers
Stuey
I have built Pass Aleph and Aleph -X, gainclones, audiophile lm3886 (twisted pear), 300b set, 6c33 set.
If you want an ss amp with your power requirements but still warm sounding then my vote goes to Pass and lm3886.The twisted pear kit , if it still exists (I think there was a recent group buy) is great , low cost and simple to build in a normal enclosure.The Pass are great but they are going to be much more costly and the enclosure/heat sinks are very time consuming to build .
So for you I would say start with the audiophile lm3886.You will need very serious reasons to spend more money on expensive Class A designs but if you really want to perhaps the Pass F4 /F5 would be worthwhile.
What speakers will you use?
If you want an ss amp with your power requirements but still warm sounding then my vote goes to Pass and lm3886.The twisted pear kit , if it still exists (I think there was a recent group buy) is great , low cost and simple to build in a normal enclosure.The Pass are great but they are going to be much more costly and the enclosure/heat sinks are very time consuming to build .
So for you I would say start with the audiophile lm3886.You will need very serious reasons to spend more money on expensive Class A designs but if you really want to perhaps the Pass F4 /F5 would be worthwhile.
What speakers will you use?
Thank you, Stuey and Protos!
I am now searching for all info I can get on the ESP 101 mosfet, the SKA GB300D mosfet and the LM3886 chip amps. I guess the Avondale NCC200 is no match to these designs? Is the AKSA still in the game here?
Are the N.Pass F4/F5 "better" than the two mosfet designs mentioned above?
I will eventually, after your advice and my own research, make a choice of two to three designs and get more specific advice from a good friend who is very knowledgeable in electronics and amp design.
The loudspeakers I am using is a DIY design, made by myself and Stig Erik Tangen here in Norway. The Griffin G1 and 2 speakers (see fm-design link below) is designed in Norway by Stig Erik.
My speakers is a full d'Appolito design and use two Seas 8" Excel magnesium for bass/lower mids, crosses over to two B&G Neo 8 with custom waveguides and with a Mundorf AMT tweeter in the top. Sensitivity is 91dB/1W and impedance is quite flat at 4 ohms.
I think most amps will have a ball driving these speakers!
Regards Aril
I am now searching for all info I can get on the ESP 101 mosfet, the SKA GB300D mosfet and the LM3886 chip amps. I guess the Avondale NCC200 is no match to these designs? Is the AKSA still in the game here?
Are the N.Pass F4/F5 "better" than the two mosfet designs mentioned above?
I will eventually, after your advice and my own research, make a choice of two to three designs and get more specific advice from a good friend who is very knowledgeable in electronics and amp design.
The loudspeakers I am using is a DIY design, made by myself and Stig Erik Tangen here in Norway. The Griffin G1 and 2 speakers (see fm-design link below) is designed in Norway by Stig Erik.
My speakers is a full d'Appolito design and use two Seas 8" Excel magnesium for bass/lower mids, crosses over to two B&G Neo 8 with custom waveguides and with a Mundorf AMT tweeter in the top. Sensitivity is 91dB/1W and impedance is quite flat at 4 ohms.
I think most amps will have a ball driving these speakers!
Regards Aril
Well the Pass f4/f5 are ,let's say, the culmination of a design philosophy based on simple two stage class a mosfet amps.However the the f4 needs a preamp since it is essentially a power buffer.The f5 is a more conventional power amp.
The other amps that you mention I haven't heard but the avondale is based on the Naim philosophy.Having had Naim amps for many years I would tend to favour the Pass/lm3886 suggestion if you favour liquidity and midrange naturalness.
The other amps that you mention I haven't heard but the avondale is based on the Naim philosophy.Having had Naim amps for many years I would tend to favour the Pass/lm3886 suggestion if you favour liquidity and midrange naturalness.
i think i must have been stuck in the moment of updating an old mosfet amp,
but i forgot about chip amps, many ppl have designed and made boards, me included, but brian gt springs to mind on the forums for boards and kits, very good, although only around 50 - 65 watts, depending on what you pick for transformer and other bits, unless you go parallel or bridge, they are very nice sounding.
and then there is alot to play with as to buffers, regulators and so on.
steve.
but i forgot about chip amps, many ppl have designed and made boards, me included, but brian gt springs to mind on the forums for boards and kits, very good, although only around 50 - 65 watts, depending on what you pick for transformer and other bits, unless you go parallel or bridge, they are very nice sounding.
and then there is alot to play with as to buffers, regulators and so on.
steve.
Once you successfully build an amp, you will build more. With that
in mind, pick the simplest thing you can to start, knowing that
you'll be back with more elaborate and powerful pieces later.
😎
in mind, pick the simplest thing you can to start, knowing that
you'll be back with more elaborate and powerful pieces later.
😎
Nelson Pass said:
I wish I could have taken-in such advice many years ago. I started and stoped three of four designs before finally finishing off a monster power amp. Yes, it was a good amp but since I have had more joy and reward working on smaller (unique) pieces. I have etched some small JHL boards recently and they are ready for stuffing and last night I started working on THIS old jem that was orriginally created when I was but a young child.
Attachments
Thank you Mosfets and Nelson Pass 😀
- And thanks to Protos for the hint on the NCC200 ...
I am allready taking a bit closer look at the Nelson Pass F5. It is a relatively simple design and ok for me to be able to manage (I think). I am still contemplating the SKA GB300D kit though. It doesn't seem too difficult to build either.
Based on a short search, the F5 seems like a difficult act to better by any amp design! It seems to match my sonic preference described in my opening post very well ...
Thank you all for your very nice advice!
I will do some thinking and continued research now ...
My candidates in priority as of now:
Nelson Pass F5, SKA (which one?) - or a LM3886 chip amp ...
Will have to investigate into what is involved in taking any of these on.
Regards Aril
- And thanks to Protos for the hint on the NCC200 ...
I am allready taking a bit closer look at the Nelson Pass F5. It is a relatively simple design and ok for me to be able to manage (I think). I am still contemplating the SKA GB300D kit though. It doesn't seem too difficult to build either.
Based on a short search, the F5 seems like a difficult act to better by any amp design! It seems to match my sonic preference described in my opening post very well ...
Thank you all for your very nice advice!
I will do some thinking and continued research now ...
My candidates in priority as of now:
Nelson Pass F5, SKA (which one?) - or a LM3886 chip amp ...
Will have to investigate into what is involved in taking any of these on.
Regards Aril
Power amp
Hi Dear, what about your project? What power amp was your final choice? Any results, comments? János
Hi Dear, what about your project? What power amp was your final choice? Any results, comments? János
Interesting thread that, i am certain, interests thousands of people !
Any updates on this?
Anyone got any good links to cheap DIY modules you might have built & tested ?
Thanks !
Any updates on this?
Anyone got any good links to cheap DIY modules you might have built & tested ?
Thanks !
Hello
There is the Naksa amp modules, I have the 70 watt version and it sound superb.
::: Aspen Amplifiers :::
AKSA - diyAudio
Bye
Gaetan
There is the Naksa amp modules, I have the 70 watt version and it sound superb.
::: Aspen Amplifiers :::
AKSA - diyAudio
Bye
Gaetan
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Hello
Yes, but you would need to pay more than few thousand dollar to find a commercial amp who sound as good as a Naksa amps.
Bye
Gaetan
Yes, but you would need to pay more than few thousand dollar to find a commercial amp who sound as good as a Naksa amps.
Bye
Gaetan
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Yes, well quality vs price is one hell of an exponential curve...
But the point is there are DIY amps that cost 200USD and apparently sound great. In the same way, there are DIY speakers that cost 5-10 times less than equivalent quality commercial models.
Most DIYers are not looking to spend 870 AUD for an amp.
I was thinking more in the way of 100 USD per channel, me myself.
i have no problem spending 1500USD pr ch when i build. but that is total cost With chassis and finnish.
Suggest you look at the 'Leach Amp' as a start point.
A) http://users.ece.gatech.edu/mleach/lowtim/
B) http://users.ece.gatech.edu/mleach/superamp/
An 'oldish' design but also a VERY good one.
Well respected.. by any yardstick.
A) http://users.ece.gatech.edu/mleach/lowtim/
B) http://users.ece.gatech.edu/mleach/superamp/
An 'oldish' design but also a VERY good one.
Well respected.. by any yardstick.
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The GT-101 is a complete amp kit...it contains everything but the solder.
Akitika GT-101 Audio Power Amplifier Kit
Akitika GT-101 Audio Power Amplifier Kit
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