Holographic, ethereal, like a hymn sung in an old church, or maybe a dancehall. perhaps lacking in dynamics and bass control but with some streams and digital sources the bass weakness tends to fade away. Apparently these pair well with Wharfdales.
I put my p-channel back in system to decide whether to fiddle with input stages, and meh, the jury is out.
I'm fortunate to have one of the 2sj28 lottery amps so I won't be trying to snag one (as much as I'm curious about the combo of 2sj28/mu-follower/FE2022).
I hope those who missed out on the earlier offerings will be able to get one of these beauties.
Cheers,
Dennis
I hope those who missed out on the earlier offerings will be able to get one of these beauties.
Cheers,
Dennis
Playing with a couple nice subs helps with the bottom end. I recommend the Dayton RSS HF subs. the 10" and 12" really do a good job of disappearing.
Is there a link to the store for the remainders that will be available later today? I'm a regular customer but not a member.
^ Great question. Thanks for asking. If there happen to be any remaining units, we have already set the criteria (to be announced) for people that will have the next opportunity. They will also get an e-mail, and they will also have some time to prepare to make it fair for all involved exactly how we did it for the first group. We're not publishing the criteria they are b/c we don't want people to get their hopes up and/or try to game the system ahead of time.
Thanks I appreciate that, I certainly don't want to game the system, and although I've bought kits I don't think I was aware of a paid membership before. Anyway, if there's an opportunity for someone in my position I certainly would love to build one of these.
I admit that as a relative newcomer to audio electronics, I get a little confused about this. So, as a former engineer, I try to be very specific re: what I mean by "drive". Also, I may have it all wrong. 🙂
1) Is the input impedance of the amp / output impedance of the pre-amplifier a decent match? That's what I would generally use as the criteria of "drive". If the output impedance of the pre-amp is too high, and the input impedance of the amplifier too low... the pre-amplifier may not have enough "oomph". Best I can tell, with rare exceptions, unless you're dealing with an "older" or tube output stage on a pre-amp and/or a fairly unusual amplifier topology with a low input impedance, this is VERY rarely a concern. Almost all pre-amps will drive almost all amps successfully. Edited to add - Continuing to use the F4 as an example from below - You may see people building "crippled" F4s to save a little $$ on the input stage of the F4 if they know they're using a pre-amp with plenty of oomph. They don't need the input buffer, so ... they save the $$ and don't include it when they have a pre that they know will work well => "has enough drive". That's probably not viable for commercial amps b/c most manufacturers want to ensure versatility.
2) What a lot of people mean (That I don't love admittedly) - Does the pre-amplifier have enough voltage swing to allow the amplifier to reach it's fully rated power output into a given load? i.e. "Will it drive an F4?". I find this overall question fairly meaningless at best and possibly damaging at worst. Why? Most people never drive their amps past clipping and if they did... that's not a good thing. I'd actually prefer a pre-amp that outputs a 'perfectly clean' signal right up until it's maximum output that would be just below the voltage required to reach clipping for my power amplifier. Why? Two reasons. 1- If I get ham fisted (or visitors) crank the volume on the pre-amp... my amp and speakers survive. 2 - Reduces the amount of attenuation I need at the pre-amp (also based on the source I use).
So, for these amps....
The voltage gain is ~17dB => 7X
The amps reach voltage clipping at roughly 11Vp
So, to drive the amplifiers to clipping, you'd need a pre-amp capable of an output of ~1.6Vp => ~3.2Vpp => 1.1Vrms
Almost any pre-amplifier I know of would easily do this... and beyond.
So, don't crank it "to 11". 🙂
I welcome additional information / thoughts from anyone. As mentioned, I may have it all wrong. We all learn.
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IMPORTANT - Our apologies for any confusion. It was noted that our timers for the pages were one hour different than our posted sale time. Daylight savings time / international clocks.
The kits will be available for sale as posted at 1300 Pacific Time, which is currently Pacific Daylight Time. The link for noting the time in your area was/is correct. The only change is the countdown timer.
In the future, we'll be using GMT as our reference time to avoid this type of issue.
Thanks to all!
The kits will be available for sale as posted at 1300 Pacific Time, which is currently Pacific Daylight Time. The link for noting the time in your area was/is correct. The only change is the countdown timer.
In the future, we'll be using GMT as our reference time to avoid this type of issue.
Thanks to all!
Whichever one interests you the most. Better in what way?
I think the P-channel is pretty nifty if only because Nelson incorporated some "magic" (IMO) in order to keep the characteristics the same between both. When I took the time to understand it, it made perfect sense, but it rattled my cage for a day or two. You'd likely understand it in less than a second.
On the flip side - Some may disagree with me but, I'd say if any "newer" builders are considering this project, the N-channel may be the choice for them if only b/c the wiring may be more intuitive. They'd stand a higher likelihood of it working successfully on the first try. That's just my opinion.
I tried to discern between the two in some listening sessions. I can't say that no-one would notice a difference, but I sure couldn't tell the difference. When I played them for a few friends, no one could tell. When I asked them to swap amps on me (for a "blind" test) I definitely could not tell. They measure similarly.
I will say that playing with the FEs is pretty slick. I can tell a difference (or I think I can) between the previous FE and the FE 2022. Confirmation bias... I dunno?
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My own opinion lines up with Mark Johnson's. I don't like leaving anything "on the table", so I generally like boosted front end rails when possible (which can have some other benefits besides just the clipping thing) or some extra passive voltage gain with an autoformer.
^ I agree with those sentiments 100%. However, just for my own clarity (and possibly for others that may be similarly confused quite often by this)...
In the post you link to Mark's comments, he is referring specifically to the front-end vs. a pre-amplifier "in another box" and when that FE is used to drive a follower => OS with unity gain or gain < 1.
In that case, since you're matching the components "within" the chassis to make an "amplifier", I could not agree more.
In the situation where I have a pre-amplifier driving that FE (already chosen and matched to the OS within the "amplifier") ... I personally like to ensure that my pre-amp simply can't "blow up my amp / speakers" if someone accidentally turns it up "to 11".
I know that this is a completely personal choice, but I hope it makes a bit of sense. If not, then I hope to learn more.
Thanks as always!
Edited to add - As an example - If I put my VTL tube pre in front of the VFET amp we're chatting about, it would be (IMO) an AWFUL mismatch simply because with almost any source I own, I'd have about 2 degrees (exaggerated for effect) of usable "volume knob" before my poor little VFET amp (and my speakers) would cry for mercy. That's a function of the gain of the pre-amp and the voltage output capability, but if someone did happen to turn it up past about 9 o'clock, I'd likely damage loudspeakers (and possibly the amp).
In the post you link to Mark's comments, he is referring specifically to the front-end vs. a pre-amplifier "in another box" and when that FE is used to drive a follower => OS with unity gain or gain < 1.
In that case, since you're matching the components "within" the chassis to make an "amplifier", I could not agree more.
In the situation where I have a pre-amplifier driving that FE (already chosen and matched to the OS within the "amplifier") ... I personally like to ensure that my pre-amp simply can't "blow up my amp / speakers" if someone accidentally turns it up "to 11".
I know that this is a completely personal choice, but I hope it makes a bit of sense. If not, then I hope to learn more.
Thanks as always!
Edited to add - As an example - If I put my VTL tube pre in front of the VFET amp we're chatting about, it would be (IMO) an AWFUL mismatch simply because with almost any source I own, I'd have about 2 degrees (exaggerated for effect) of usable "volume knob" before my poor little VFET amp (and my speakers) would cry for mercy. That's a function of the gain of the pre-amp and the voltage output capability, but if someone did happen to turn it up past about 9 o'clock, I'd likely damage loudspeakers (and possibly the amp).
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Just went to look for the countdown timer and I can't see anything. I'm a chronic customer though not a member. Mostly a spectator today, I suspect.
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