Not a value judgement, but the cost of a DIY amplifier compared to a dinner in NYC for four starts to look pretty reasonable. And have you had body work done on your car lately, or taken an international flight?
AH! you were talking about cost!
I didn't understand and in this case, yes I agree with you.
I travel a lot for work, so I have a lot of price references so yes, I totally agree with you, moreover, I don't know if it's the same for you, but not only has it increased, but everything has shrunk (I'm mainly talking about food) ...
Yes, to be clear I don't care about any of that stuff. Audio has been my main interest since I was 12.
Food both at restaurants and from grocery stores has been shrinking and gone up in cost, there's no doubt.
Most of this inflation seems to be on the retail end of the chain.
Food both at restaurants and from grocery stores has been shrinking and gone up in cost, there's no doubt.
Most of this inflation seems to be on the retail end of the chain.
So this is going on right now.
So the 739 ICs where expensive on there own. And the site that sold had a minimum of 100$ purchase of international shipping. And as I live in Sweden. Where we “looooove” taxes and other **** in that category… I will receive tax of this product as it outside of EU. So it will probably land on 150$ for 2 ICs…. But a dude I know will fix for me. He has a lot more experience than I have. He will fix a good replacement of this IC for me in some weeks. But I have a curious question.
Wich HK is there better one? 16 or the 16A ?
I have read a lot of forums. But not really got a hold of which one is the better “sounding” one
So the 739 ICs where expensive on there own. And the site that sold had a minimum of 100$ purchase of international shipping. And as I live in Sweden. Where we “looooove” taxes and other **** in that category… I will receive tax of this product as it outside of EU. So it will probably land on 150$ for 2 ICs…. But a dude I know will fix for me. He has a lot more experience than I have. He will fix a good replacement of this IC for me in some weeks. But I have a curious question.
Wich HK is there better one? 16 or the 16A ?
I have read a lot of forums. But not really got a hold of which one is the better “sounding” one
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From what I can see the only difference is on the front end board yours use the 739 opamp and the (A) version uses a dual NPN transistor (sorry can't remember the P/N but apart from that they are the same.
If you're feeling adventurous, I believe you could fashion an adapter to use a TL072 SOIC opamp in place of the 739 opamp. The mod would be reversible.
You would install a 14 pin IC socket to accommodate the 739 DIP if necessary. But the IC socket would also accept an adapter with a TL072 on the pin 1, pin 14 end of the adapter, along with a few jumper wires connecting pins on the adapter:
pin 12 to pin 9 ; opamp inverting input
pin 11 to pin 8 ; opamp non-inverting input
pin 4 to pin 7 ; -10V supply
Remove C4
A link to an adapter:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1210#description
You would install a 14 pin IC socket to accommodate the 739 DIP if necessary. But the IC socket would also accept an adapter with a TL072 on the pin 1, pin 14 end of the adapter, along with a few jumper wires connecting pins on the adapter:
pin 12 to pin 9 ; opamp inverting input
pin 11 to pin 8 ; opamp non-inverting input
pin 4 to pin 7 ; -10V supply
Remove C4
A link to an adapter:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1210#description
Wich HK is there better one? 16 or the 16A ?
I have read a lot of forums. But not really got a hold of which one is the better “sounding” one
First - the front panel light was a very simple fix, it just needs a new neon panel lamp assembly, with the correct internal resistor for your local power line voltage, it had nothing to do with anything else going on inside the amp, it is just there to indicate that the transformer is getting AC power and the fuse isn't blown and the heat sink thermal protect - S1 - is not tripped.
The 16A is a different animal in a few ways. Instead of the IC's you are having issues with, it uses 10 other discrete transistors per channel to do the voltage amplification and feedback in the low level stage. The 16A also uses a darlington transistor on the PCB, and the heat sink, to monitor and self-adjust the bias when temps change. The BIG difference, is, they designed the 16A to run at a MUCH higher bias level, so it operates in Class A up to almost 3 Watts, which also raises it's idle temps on the heat sinks to 60 degrees C, but, is supposed to make it a much lower distortion amp at lower listening levels by eliminating the crossover distortion an amp with a lower bias level may have. There's nothing wrong with a 16 in general, but if I was choosing between the 2, i'd choose the 16A
I have read a lot of forums. But not really got a hold of which one is the better “sounding” one
First - the front panel light was a very simple fix, it just needs a new neon panel lamp assembly, with the correct internal resistor for your local power line voltage, it had nothing to do with anything else going on inside the amp, it is just there to indicate that the transformer is getting AC power and the fuse isn't blown and the heat sink thermal protect - S1 - is not tripped.
The 16A is a different animal in a few ways. Instead of the IC's you are having issues with, it uses 10 other discrete transistors per channel to do the voltage amplification and feedback in the low level stage. The 16A also uses a darlington transistor on the PCB, and the heat sink, to monitor and self-adjust the bias when temps change. The BIG difference, is, they designed the 16A to run at a MUCH higher bias level, so it operates in Class A up to almost 3 Watts, which also raises it's idle temps on the heat sinks to 60 degrees C, but, is supposed to make it a much lower distortion amp at lower listening levels by eliminating the crossover distortion an amp with a lower bias level may have. There's nothing wrong with a 16 in general, but if I was choosing between the 2, i'd choose the 16A
Silkscreen and schematic of both boards.
Replacing the 739 is not a strait forward job ( so I read )
Replacing the 739 is not a strait forward job ( so I read )
Attachments
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Another question on the Citation 16.
Is there anyone here who have practical knowledge on “mono” this amp? Have read that you can change the internal wiring and use as a monoamp . And get around 500W in 8 ohm. But if I understand it correctly you will half the damping factor. And stability issues…. But as I have notoriously power hungry speakers. I’m going in my thoughts to buy another Citation 16
Is there anyone here who have practical knowledge on “mono” this amp? Have read that you can change the internal wiring and use as a monoamp . And get around 500W in 8 ohm. But if I understand it correctly you will half the damping factor. And stability issues…. But as I have notoriously power hungry speakers. I’m going in my thoughts to buy another Citation 16
Another question on the Citation 16.
Is there anyone here who have practical knowledge on “mono” this amp? Have read that you can change the internal wiring and use as a monoamp . And get around 500W in 8 ohm. But if I understand it correctly you will half the damping factor. And stability issues…. But as I have notoriously power hungry speakers. I’m going in my thoughts to buy another Citation 16
The instructions for changing some internal wiring connections are in the service manuals ( both online in PDF format). They aren't too complicated. I am not sure about the change in damping factor or stability though. Another option you could consider, if you do get a second C16 and your speakers are capable, is to "Bi-Amp" them, use one amplifier's left ( or right) channel to power the low fequency - woofers, and the other to connect to the mid-high frequencies. This has been observed to increase the clarity of mid and high range reproduction by eliminating any back EMF currents that the woofers may introduce to the speakers signal by keeping them seperated.
Is there anyone here who have practical knowledge on “mono” this amp? Have read that you can change the internal wiring and use as a monoamp . And get around 500W in 8 ohm. But if I understand it correctly you will half the damping factor. And stability issues…. But as I have notoriously power hungry speakers. I’m going in my thoughts to buy another Citation 16
The instructions for changing some internal wiring connections are in the service manuals ( both online in PDF format). They aren't too complicated. I am not sure about the change in damping factor or stability though. Another option you could consider, if you do get a second C16 and your speakers are capable, is to "Bi-Amp" them, use one amplifier's left ( or right) channel to power the low fequency - woofers, and the other to connect to the mid-high frequencies. This has been observed to increase the clarity of mid and high range reproduction by eliminating any back EMF currents that the woofers may introduce to the speakers signal by keeping them seperated.