You haven't said what sort of music you mostly listen to. The F6 has a wonderful sound for acoustic and vocal driven music, it might be similar to the SET amps you are used to. The F5 is a raw rocker kind of amp. The Aleph J is an excellent all arounder and better suited to a wider range of music than the F6 and more nuanced than the F5. How the M2x sounds depends on the daughter card you use for the input stage. Several of them sound very similar to the Aleph J but my favorite daughter cards take the M2x to a different level of excellence. If you don't want to fiddle with the daughter cards I would recommend the Aleph J. But having built 5 First Watt amps I can say half the fun is listening to the differences between them.
@ Nikkodemuzz
Next new design in the year 202* by Mr. Pass !
With gain and power of Tokin triodes ? 😉
If you like music with huge drum kicks and rock bass guitars then better use a push-pull amp for example F5 Turbo
.... or new F5 updated version ( will happen this year ? ) Patience
Next new design in the year 202* by Mr. Pass !
With gain and power of Tokin triodes ? 😉
If you like music with huge drum kicks and rock bass guitars then better use a push-pull amp for example F5 Turbo
.... or new F5 updated version ( will happen this year ? ) Patience
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That's a good point, I haven't mentioned my music tastes. I'm not a genre guy really, I just like good music. One day it's Mussorgsky, the next might be Art Blakey, Queen, Children of Bodom, Daft Punk or Deadmau5. I do spend more time in the lighter end of the spectrum in jazz, soul, classical rock and the like.
I was thinking about the question of gain and looked up some data for the TU8200 from Elekit's site:
Rated output: 6L6GC (UL connection) 8W+8W (All 8ohm loaded)
Rated input: 6L6GC (UL connection): 340mV
So a bit over 27dB of gain, which is somewhat more than the FW amps. However, since the OP also mentioned he
usually sets the volume of the TU8200 only at 12 o'clock position, I don't imagine there will be an issue with volume
from the lower gain. (And if that turns out to be the case, then it's an opportunity to build something
like the ACP+ 🙂 )
Rated output: 6L6GC (UL connection) 8W+8W (All 8ohm loaded)
Rated input: 6L6GC (UL connection): 340mV
So a bit over 27dB of gain, which is somewhat more than the FW amps. However, since the OP also mentioned he
usually sets the volume of the TU8200 only at 12 o'clock position, I don't imagine there will be an issue with volume
from the lower gain. (And if that turns out to be the case, then it's an opportunity to build something
like the ACP+ 🙂 )
I have a Dennis Had Universal SET that uses 6L6 tubes. Assuming your Elkit sounds similar, i.e. tonally pure and transparent, I would say the F6 sounds the most like that tube amp so you probably don't want to build that. I think the advice to wait for the Aleph J boards to be back in stock is good. Or if you are impatient build the F5, which will sound very different from the TU8200 and build either the Aleph J or M2x in that same chassis if you catch the amp building bug. The chassis and power supply are the expensive parts of these amps and can be reused for the next build.
You bring up an important point, the power supply. Is there an alternative for the Universal Power Supply board that is unavailable at the diyAudio store at the moment? I'm in no particular hurry with the project, so if the diyAudio PCB is expected back in stock at some point I can wait for it.
What is the main benefit of having an individual power supply for each channel?
I think I'm leaning towards the F6. I have had a tough time choosing between the Aleph J and F6. In this thread you can observe some contributors saying that if I want something different from the tube amp, F6 might hit the bill, others said the same thing about the Aleph. This trend can be seen in other discussions and reviews, both amps being characterized "tubey". My conclusion is that they are probably both excellent, but for me the fact that Mr. Pass himself brought up the F6 in this thread carries some weight for me.
I could also simulate a lower gain amp by switching the Elekit into triode mode, which halves the output to 4W per channel if I remember correctly. That might be a worthwhile experiment before any final decisions.
Mr. Pass brought them all, except ones still in production (or sort of)
whichever you are going to build now, you're doomed ....... that will be just first one
friendly advice - run now, run to the hills, don't look back..... you still have time to live normal life, without addiction .......
whichever you are going to build now, you're doomed ....... that will be just first one
friendly advice - run now, run to the hills, don't look back..... you still have time to live normal life, without addiction .......
Those who had seen it, tried to caution me. But the lure was too strong and I continued my descent into the darkness... 😆Mr. Pass brought them all, except ones still in production (or sort of)
whichever you are going to build now, you're doomed ....... that will be just first one
friendly advice - run now, run to the hills, don't look back..... you still have time to live normal life, without addiction .......
I’ve been running, except to the basement, because that’s where I keep my growing collection of amp building supplies.
Well, it just so happens that I received a TU-8200 with the DX upgrade in the mail a few days ago. I bought it with an issue and was able to get it working well.
I have spent a bit listening to the two. My F6 has a few small mods (IRFP150's and the picodumb bias mod which only effects bias)
The F6 is a lot cleaner and more neutral sounding distortion-wise to the tube amp. Very clean and the depth of soundstage is deeper. It is far more detailed. The bass holds it's composure a lot better. The TU-8200 is more exciting to listen to Jazz with. 'Stuck' by Sinne Eeg is a song I could get stuck on for a while when listening to the TU-8200. That was a song that I didn't pay much attention to before. However, songs with lots of spacial detail kind of fall apart on it compared to the F6. I have to choose my songs with the tube amp. However, the songs that it does well, it does really really well.
Cymbal hits are more detailed in realistic on the F6, more floaty and richer sounding on the TU-8200.
The gain on the two amps is very noticeable. I have to adjust the volume knob quite a bit to match the levels
I am using JJ 6l6GC tube with JJ 12au7 for drivers in ultra-linear mode.
I would say the F6 is probably the more universal sounding amp while the TU-8200 is good for people looking for something more specific, which are tubes. I plan to do some tube rolling. The limited amount of rolling that I have done showed me that the JJ 6l6's seem to be very clean and detailed. However, I have a laundry bin filled with NOS RCA and other tubes that I need to go through and see what would work with this little amp.
I guess to conclude, I am happy to add the TU-8200 to my amp ?rolling? inventory. It is definitely different!
I have spent a bit listening to the two. My F6 has a few small mods (IRFP150's and the picodumb bias mod which only effects bias)
The F6 is a lot cleaner and more neutral sounding distortion-wise to the tube amp. Very clean and the depth of soundstage is deeper. It is far more detailed. The bass holds it's composure a lot better. The TU-8200 is more exciting to listen to Jazz with. 'Stuck' by Sinne Eeg is a song I could get stuck on for a while when listening to the TU-8200. That was a song that I didn't pay much attention to before. However, songs with lots of spacial detail kind of fall apart on it compared to the F6. I have to choose my songs with the tube amp. However, the songs that it does well, it does really really well.
Cymbal hits are more detailed in realistic on the F6, more floaty and richer sounding on the TU-8200.
The gain on the two amps is very noticeable. I have to adjust the volume knob quite a bit to match the levels
I am using JJ 6l6GC tube with JJ 12au7 for drivers in ultra-linear mode.
I would say the F6 is probably the more universal sounding amp while the TU-8200 is good for people looking for something more specific, which are tubes. I plan to do some tube rolling. The limited amount of rolling that I have done showed me that the JJ 6l6's seem to be very clean and detailed. However, I have a laundry bin filled with NOS RCA and other tubes that I need to go through and see what would work with this little amp.
I guess to conclude, I am happy to add the TU-8200 to my amp ?rolling? inventory. It is definitely different!
The sound of the F6 seems to be significantly dependent on the type of output transistors used. The original product used the now unobtanium SemiSouth SIT transistors that were specified by N. Pass. The current boards from the store are typically built with IRFP240s. I built mine with the FQH44N10, which are much higher transconductance devices. It is even possible to use mixed devices, one type for the upper "pullup" and a different type for the lower "pulldown." I opted to add small value source resistors between the upper mosfets and their connection to the 1000 uF caps. These are all different ways of adding a small amount of flavor to a very clean-sounding amp.
Regarding the power supplies – I used a pair of SLB boards in mine. These combine synchronous rectification with a capacitance multiplier for each rail. Extra bulk capacitance is required after the capMx to provide energy storage. There are occasionally other PSU boards that show up in the Group Buy and Trade forums.
Regarding the power supplies – I used a pair of SLB boards in mine. These combine synchronous rectification with a capacitance multiplier for each rail. Extra bulk capacitance is required after the capMx to provide energy storage. There are occasionally other PSU boards that show up in the Group Buy and Trade forums.
I just ordered a 10 of the FQH44N10's a couple of days ago. The SLB boards are the Smooth Like Butta' boards?
Yes, SLB = Smooth Like Buttah. There is a thread in the Group Buys forum.
I went a bit overboard with the heatsinks on mine. Happened to have a set, and they looked cool. In most cases, bolting the larger transistor of the CFP (Szklai pair) to the base of the chassis will be fine.
I went a bit overboard with the heatsinks on mine. Happened to have a set, and they looked cool. In most cases, bolting the larger transistor of the CFP (Szklai pair) to the base of the chassis will be fine.
Rarely does the BAF-1, the SE BAF version, get mentioned and having built most all the FW clones it is one of my favorites. Mine is the short version with only a pair of output boards. Careful matching of the output mosfets will pay dividends. As good to me as my PP V-fet with my horns. I should mention I am using the BA-3 for the front end. The same as the one many are building for a linestage.
I agree on the oft forgotten BA-1. I enjoyed that one quite a while with the original front end and SemiSouth outputs.
Just to throw a spanner in the works, F4.
Use your Elekit TU-8200 as a preamp - load the output with 16 Ohm 5 watt resistors.
You can play with/build different front ends later.
Zarathustra Mod.
He is not the only one who pronounced grace upon the M2. My late business partner of many years,
Joe Sammut, the best ears on the planet was the first.
That said, we have lots of stuff ahead of us. At 70 I realize that I probably should speed things up a bit.
He is not the only one who pronounced grace upon the M2. My late business partner of many years,
Joe Sammut, the best ears on the planet was the first.
That said, we have lots of stuff ahead of us. At 70 I realize that I probably should speed things up a bit.