Electrolytics were bulk c/o eBay (MUCH cheaper than buying new from a vendor!)
The 2.2uF polycarbonate are readily available from vendors
The super-caps I substituted two 1F 8.1V AVX in series to essentially give me 0.5F 16.2V which is MUCH safer than running the original spec'd caps over their voltage rating.
My recent Le Monstre Build.
Dual Mono
160va 14-0-14 transformera
Dual bridge KBP rectifiers, low esr EPCOS 20 x 2200uf filter caps (44000uf per channel)
Soft start, emi and DC blocker, speaker protection modules all crammed into a small chassis.
Running it at 1A bias. Running warm and sweet.
Few bits to sort out, low level hum on speakers. Still need to sort grounding and perhaps shielding due to proximity of transformers.
Dual Mono
160va 14-0-14 transformera
Dual bridge KBP rectifiers, low esr EPCOS 20 x 2200uf filter caps (44000uf per channel)
Soft start, emi and DC blocker, speaker protection modules all crammed into a small chassis.
Running it at 1A bias. Running warm and sweet.
Few bits to sort out, low level hum on speakers. Still need to sort grounding and perhaps shielding due to proximity of transformers.
Attachments
Hi Grunf, Did you progress this 'super-reg' design at all? I've tried my Le Monstre with green LED biased LT1083 regs and a 10uF bypass cap. worked very well, but there is always more...
Hello guys, I'm an old member but this is my first post. I wanted to share some pictures and thoughts about my Le Monstre and try to know it better.
I bought this second hand in Brazil and know nothing about it except that it was (very nicely) executed in Germany. I loved how this amplifier sounded with my Dynaudio Focus 140, never heard a better combination of amplifier and speakers -- sweetness with extension and clarity, right amount of punch, could leave it on all day. Loudness is more than enough even for a small party. It didn't match well with some entry level Klipsch and B&W bookshelves though. Some day I want to buid my own implementation just for fun, with batteries and 4 channels, but that is a topic for another post. Do you guys recognize this as a kit? Are those caps good? And how about this transistor (2SC5200-0 1119 and A1943 1048)? Any comments will be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Marcelo
I bought this second hand in Brazil and know nothing about it except that it was (very nicely) executed in Germany. I loved how this amplifier sounded with my Dynaudio Focus 140, never heard a better combination of amplifier and speakers -- sweetness with extension and clarity, right amount of punch, could leave it on all day. Loudness is more than enough even for a small party. It didn't match well with some entry level Klipsch and B&W bookshelves though. Some day I want to buid my own implementation just for fun, with batteries and 4 channels, but that is a topic for another post. Do you guys recognize this as a kit? Are those caps good? And how about this transistor (2SC5200-0 1119 and A1943 1048)? Any comments will be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Marcelo
Attachments
Hi Marcelo,
I probably cannot give too satisfying answers.
Rifa seems to have been a Swedish electronics supplier which now belongs to Kemet. I cannot tell about the quality, but when quickly searching the net I found reports of some older pieces breaking after like 20 years. Obviously not clear if that was systematic.
The electrolytics seem to be from Roederstein which now belong to Vishay it seems (consolidation everywhere...) Probably rather old. Typical electrolytics advice might apply (replace if old).
2SC5200 and 2SA1943 from Toshiba are typical NPN-PNP complementary types for this kind of amplifier. Not sure if yours are some 3rd party.
If you are satisfied with the amp, probably the only reason to work on it would be to ensure that nothing breaks (electrolytics, loudspeakers as result of amp failure).
Enjoy listening!
Mo
I probably cannot give too satisfying answers.
Rifa seems to have been a Swedish electronics supplier which now belongs to Kemet. I cannot tell about the quality, but when quickly searching the net I found reports of some older pieces breaking after like 20 years. Obviously not clear if that was systematic.
The electrolytics seem to be from Roederstein which now belong to Vishay it seems (consolidation everywhere...) Probably rather old. Typical electrolytics advice might apply (replace if old).
2SC5200 and 2SA1943 from Toshiba are typical NPN-PNP complementary types for this kind of amplifier. Not sure if yours are some 3rd party.
If you are satisfied with the amp, probably the only reason to work on it would be to ensure that nothing breaks (electrolytics, loudspeakers as result of amp failure).
Enjoy listening!
Mo
OK, had missed to see in the pics that the 2SC5200 is from ISC, not Toshiba. No idea about the manufacturer of the A1943.
Nice build, hum is a challenge, always, no matter the configuration. But T (thee, anyone?) is the starter.
84 to till date... Great
Excellent Mono build...Fine Finish
Please let me know the "Original PCBs" meaning....
Old fashion point-to-point wiring. Modern style 3D-printing... without the printed circuit board.