Congratulations Hugh with your new amps. A nice piece of work. But don't work too hard. Your health has to come in the first place so you can enjoy life. And I don't agree with you that you do not keep your clients as happy as you should. You have the best service I ever experienced.
Hugh, this is yet another great feat! 
Congratulations!
We shall be waiting avidly for listening reports 😉
Could you lift the veil a little bit wrt pricing?
Cheers,
Jens
Congratulations!
We shall be waiting avidly for listening reports 😉
Could you lift the veil a little bit wrt pricing?
Cheers,
Jens
Good news, Hugh.
Now the Magnepan fans can take a hard look at your amps.
Ping me offline - would love to assist on the website update (and I'll work cheaply!)
Now the Magnepan fans can take a hard look at your amps.
Ping me offline - would love to assist on the website update (and I'll work cheaply!)
Folks,
Many thanks for your encouragement. I am determined to keep moving!
I'm really pleased with these amps; they are highly refined and very robust.
Jens, the cost of the N125 will be $AUD1620, pretty much the same price as the Lifeforce 100 all those years back, although the AUD is far too high. The N200 is not yet costed, but will be a bit more expensive since the power supply details and output stage are much larger.
This completes three amps for the range 80W, 125W and 200W - all with very conservative power ratings. Any audiophile who has heard the N80 is astonished at how loud It will be; these amps are large enough to light up communities halls. I say again that without input from Steve Harrison, Paul Bysouth and Graeme Huon this could not have been possible. Thank you guys, we are all of us crazy, but very good friends.
Brad, I will email today, but actually I have found somehow in Sydney who will help with the website. Thank you very much for your suggestion, a few others have offered too, and I'm blown away by the kindness. You know I actually have a Masters degree in BIT; I've lost it all, and since my illness I have lost any capacity to learn new software, it's hilarious and now I just laugh about it and get on with designing amplifiers!!
I could ruefully say that I have three other R&D plans in my mind at present!! The problem is that once you'd done your 10,000 hours, you fall in love with the field and you can't stop.....
We live a long time, and we have to do something. Might as well design amps - but I would like to turbocharge a 4.8 LS one day..... we can dream!!
Hugh
Many thanks for your encouragement. I am determined to keep moving!
I'm really pleased with these amps; they are highly refined and very robust.
Jens, the cost of the N125 will be $AUD1620, pretty much the same price as the Lifeforce 100 all those years back, although the AUD is far too high. The N200 is not yet costed, but will be a bit more expensive since the power supply details and output stage are much larger.
This completes three amps for the range 80W, 125W and 200W - all with very conservative power ratings. Any audiophile who has heard the N80 is astonished at how loud It will be; these amps are large enough to light up communities halls. I say again that without input from Steve Harrison, Paul Bysouth and Graeme Huon this could not have been possible. Thank you guys, we are all of us crazy, but very good friends.
Brad, I will email today, but actually I have found somehow in Sydney who will help with the website. Thank you very much for your suggestion, a few others have offered too, and I'm blown away by the kindness. You know I actually have a Masters degree in BIT; I've lost it all, and since my illness I have lost any capacity to learn new software, it's hilarious and now I just laugh about it and get on with designing amplifiers!!
I could ruefully say that I have three other R&D plans in my mind at present!! The problem is that once you'd done your 10,000 hours, you fall in love with the field and you can't stop.....
We live a long time, and we have to do something. Might as well design amps - but I would like to turbocharge a 4.8 LS one day..... we can dream!!
Hugh
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Thank God, John,
I'm very pleased to hear about this!
Darren,
Thank you for your visit to our forum, nice to see you here!
Cheers,
Hugh
I'm very pleased to hear about this!
Darren,
Thank you for your visit to our forum, nice to see you here!
Cheers,
Hugh
Hi Hugh,
Thank you for letting on about pricing 🙂
With a NAKSA 125 being just slightly more expensive than the NAKSA 100 that it replaces, I would think that it looks good on that point 😉
Could you also tell us a little bit about size of heatsink and tranny requirements?
Can the NAKSA 125 still be accommodated on the same heatsink as the NAKSA 100? and use the same tranny/trannies, perhaps?
For the NAKSA 200, larger heatsinks would be necessary, but how large?
I would assume that a 500 VA tranny per channel for the NAKSA 200 would be fine.
Reading between the lines of your description of the new NAKSAs, they appear to be based on the same general topology as the NAKSA 80. That is not half bad! 😀
In my opinion the NAKSA 80 is a musical masterpiece, and getting more of the same stuff - just with higher power - should attract some people!
Again - looking forward to some listening impressions. Perhaps some of the great guys who helped bringing the new "babies" into world could comment? 🙂
Cheers,
Jens
Thank you for letting on about pricing 🙂
With a NAKSA 125 being just slightly more expensive than the NAKSA 100 that it replaces, I would think that it looks good on that point 😉
Could you also tell us a little bit about size of heatsink and tranny requirements?
Can the NAKSA 125 still be accommodated on the same heatsink as the NAKSA 100? and use the same tranny/trannies, perhaps?
For the NAKSA 200, larger heatsinks would be necessary, but how large?
I would assume that a 500 VA tranny per channel for the NAKSA 200 would be fine.
Reading between the lines of your description of the new NAKSAs, they appear to be based on the same general topology as the NAKSA 80. That is not half bad! 😀
In my opinion the NAKSA 80 is a musical masterpiece, and getting more of the same stuff - just with higher power - should attract some people!
Again - looking forward to some listening impressions. Perhaps some of the great guys who helped bringing the new "babies" into world could comment? 🙂
Cheers,
Jens
Hi Jens,
I'm sure Hugh will eventually get to you, but I think I can provide some initial input here.
The 3 new Naksa's are all similar in topology and design, expanding out from the Naksa 80. The 80 has everything on one board, while the larger ones have one board per channel.
The heatsinks for the larger amps need to be flatbacked and 250 or 300mm. If you could machine off the flange on the old Naksa 100 heatsink you could use that. But best to get nice new ones I think.
As for trannies, the 125 uses 35v secondaries for power rails. I use a pair of 160va trannies with no issues.
For the 200, 45v secondaries are needed. I'm using 250va transformers.
I think it's preferable to use one transformer for each channel.
I have a real high opinion of the 125 amp. It's more of everything that the 80 has.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Thank you for this input 🙂
So heatsinks are not overly large, even on the NAKSA 200. Very good, that will make it easier to fit it into readily available enclosures 😉
It would seem that the NAKSAs are rather efficient, not dissipating too much of the power into the heatsinks.
And 35V rails on the NAKSA 125, like on the NAKSA 100, which means you can use the same trannies. I entirely agree that it is best to use two separate trannies for each channel.
Someone once told me that the power rating of a transformer should ideally be around twice the nominal output of the amp into 8 ohms, and since I'm an electronics ignoramus I've usually gone by that, but I'm pleased to hear that the NAKSA 125 works well with 160VA, as smaller trannies definitely reduce build cost in these days of soaring copper prices!
I like the "more of everything" bit - nice comment 🙂
Cheers,
Jens
Thank you for this input 🙂
So heatsinks are not overly large, even on the NAKSA 200. Very good, that will make it easier to fit it into readily available enclosures 😉
It would seem that the NAKSAs are rather efficient, not dissipating too much of the power into the heatsinks.
And 35V rails on the NAKSA 125, like on the NAKSA 100, which means you can use the same trannies. I entirely agree that it is best to use two separate trannies for each channel.
Someone once told me that the power rating of a transformer should ideally be around twice the nominal output of the amp into 8 ohms, and since I'm an electronics ignoramus I've usually gone by that, but I'm pleased to hear that the NAKSA 125 works well with 160VA, as smaller trannies definitely reduce build cost in these days of soaring copper prices!
I like the "more of everything" bit - nice comment 🙂
Cheers,
Jens
I'm sure Hugh will eventually post some pictures of his N125 modules, hopefully mounted on heatsinks, so that you can get an idea of what everything looks like.
I might add that the N200 with the big mosfets seems to dissipate a bit more heat than the N125.
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Jens,
I need to correct my error here. The Naksa 100 uses a flatbacked heatsink of the proper size and could be used with the 125/200 module. I'm not sure about the holes for mounting the output devices however, as the spacing on the boards has changed slightly and may require one new hole to be drilled and tapped.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Ah, I hadn't really thought about this comment - I guess the old AKSA 100s and perhaps the Lifeforce 100s may have had heatsinks with a "ledge" and you may have been thinking about those? (I never had any of these myself, so I wouldn't know)
Grinding or sawing off a "ledge" is fairly big job, but drilling and tapping a new hole will be within reach for many DIYers, so thank you for correcting 🙂
Cheers,
Jens
not + 1, make it + 10! Also, a better website is not superfluous. It is badly needed and thanks to those who want to help. Lastly, the next project should be a preamp to replace the impractical GK-2 preamp.
Well done to you, Hugh and the rest of the development team as well. It stands testament to the modern day when a bloke in a shed in Melbourne can call on an international team of like minded nutters (that was assembled on the internet) to design and develop a world class piece of audio equipment.
Whilst I do support this sentiment in principle...take it from me that there is something to like about an N80 fitted with nothing more than an attenuator on the output. It has certainly taken away any ambition on my behalf for a pre-amp.
Whilst I do support this sentiment in principle...take it from me that there is something to like about an N80 fitted with nothing more than an attenuator on the output. It has certainly taken away any ambition on my behalf for a pre-amp.
Correct! The older and more experienced I get...I seem to get simplistic at the same rate.
In the end, with the plethora of quality switchgear available, how tricky is it to tool up a simple & effective source selector? I contend that it's not...😀
Thank you for your comment Sean. You've confirmed that I am right in imagining I am 65-going-on-35, as I certainly have no interest in 'simplisticising'. 😀 I currently have 3 sources and will undoubtedly add a fourth at some stage (music server).
Regards,
Andy
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