Greetings! Name's Jesse, from somewhere near Seattle.
I've been into DIY and audio for decades, now. Started with a little transistor radio kit when I was a kid, but kind of lost sight of the DIY side of things for a number of years. Picked it back up a few years ago when I decided to upgrade a pair of speakers. After that, it was time to try to build a pair of speakers. Still working on that one, but it was on hiatus for ahwile. Now that I'm picking it up again (and also working on a new 2-channel system), I'm looking at building the components. So, I'm researching preamps, amps, component selection, circuits, and watching a bunch of videos. Trying to decide what I want to do. Pretty sure I'm looking to make a class AB amp, and Wayne's BA 2018 preamp looks neat and apparently people think it sounds very good, but I also was looking at the AMB α10 and Akitika PR-102, and I'm having all kinds of trouble picking what I want to do.
Typical situation, too many choices. 😁
Cheers!
I've been into DIY and audio for decades, now. Started with a little transistor radio kit when I was a kid, but kind of lost sight of the DIY side of things for a number of years. Picked it back up a few years ago when I decided to upgrade a pair of speakers. After that, it was time to try to build a pair of speakers. Still working on that one, but it was on hiatus for ahwile. Now that I'm picking it up again (and also working on a new 2-channel system), I'm looking at building the components. So, I'm researching preamps, amps, component selection, circuits, and watching a bunch of videos. Trying to decide what I want to do. Pretty sure I'm looking to make a class AB amp, and Wayne's BA 2018 preamp looks neat and apparently people think it sounds very good, but I also was looking at the AMB α10 and Akitika PR-102, and I'm having all kinds of trouble picking what I want to do.
Typical situation, too many choices. 😁
Cheers!
Hi Jesse, welcome to the forum!
I'm a relative newby myself so I suspect others will be better sources of information. Your story, however, sounds much like my own. I'm also in the researching and learning phase. A while back, I did build one of the Pass designed ACAs. Enjoyed the process and absolutely love the amp. Now I'm thinking preamp, maybe another ACA so I can run them as monoblocks, an active crossover so I can biamp my speakers... Like you say, too many choices...LOL
Have fun!
I'm a relative newby myself so I suspect others will be better sources of information. Your story, however, sounds much like my own. I'm also in the researching and learning phase. A while back, I did build one of the Pass designed ACAs. Enjoyed the process and absolutely love the amp. Now I'm thinking preamp, maybe another ACA so I can run them as monoblocks, an active crossover so I can biamp my speakers... Like you say, too many choices...LOL
Have fun!
Thanks for the welcome! There's going to be reading for a long time, methinks. Lots to learn and figure out, since it's always better to be as informed as possible. Especially with voltages that hurt.
I've got an opportunity to try out an ACA for awhile, so I'll give that a listen and see what I think about that. I was looking over at the Honey Badger, the Wolverine, the AB100 that NP posted up awhile ago (which, if I really like the way the ACA sounds, is probably the way I'll try to look first....).
Then, over in my preamp brain (yeah, I can't do just one project at a time; waaay too ADHD to focus on one thing for more than a couple weeks at a time), I'm thinking about all the neat ideas that I might be able to come up with. I like fiddling around with things, so maybe split things into all their own boxes: power, switcher, and gain. Or like... little modules in a big box. I dunno. I'll definitely be looking around for inspiration. I only need a few inputs. DAC, phono, aux.
I've got an opportunity to try out an ACA for awhile, so I'll give that a listen and see what I think about that. I was looking over at the Honey Badger, the Wolverine, the AB100 that NP posted up awhile ago (which, if I really like the way the ACA sounds, is probably the way I'll try to look first....).
Then, over in my preamp brain (yeah, I can't do just one project at a time; waaay too ADHD to focus on one thing for more than a couple weeks at a time), I'm thinking about all the neat ideas that I might be able to come up with. I like fiddling around with things, so maybe split things into all their own boxes: power, switcher, and gain. Or like... little modules in a big box. I dunno. I'll definitely be looking around for inspiration. I only need a few inputs. DAC, phono, aux.
I will be interested to hear what you think of the ACA. My speakers are 98 dB efficient, so 8 wpc can drive them louder than I can stand. For me, that single ended class A sound is really hard to beat. I also have an old 28 wpc Fisher tube integrated that sounds great with my speakers, but I wouldn't say better...and the ACA is less of a hassle.
I might lose any audiophile cred I've earned for saying this, but one of my main criteria for my preamp selection is the availability of a remote for volume. Once I get that recliner kicked back into position, I don't want to have to get up to raise and lower the volume. That's how far I'm willing to go for perfection.
I might lose any audiophile cred I've earned for saying this, but one of my main criteria for my preamp selection is the availability of a remote for volume. Once I get that recliner kicked back into position, I don't want to have to get up to raise and lower the volume. That's how far I'm willing to go for perfection.
Mine claim to be 89.5 +2 dB, which feels probably efficient enough for my needs. I don't really listen much louder than 80 dB most of the time, so I think 8W/ch should be fine. If not, I'll know I need to try either a higher power amp or a preamp with some gain.
Actually, a remote is one of the things that I do sort of care about, but it's not a deal breaker. From what I've seen in other audiophile hangout spots, it seems pretty evenly split. Some people like a remote, some people don't care, some probably hear a reduction in audio quality. I think you're fine. Plus, if you ever get a preamp and you mod it to allow you to use a remote, surely that would be a pretty good bump to your cred, yeah?
Actually, a remote is one of the things that I do sort of care about, but it's not a deal breaker. From what I've seen in other audiophile hangout spots, it seems pretty evenly split. Some people like a remote, some people don't care, some probably hear a reduction in audio quality. I think you're fine. Plus, if you ever get a preamp and you mod it to allow you to use a remote, surely that would be a pretty good bump to your cred, yeah?
Hello Jesse,
Welcome to the club! I just finished the ACP+ recently and I think it’s a great build. I think the wolverine team is putting together another group buy for the pcb, and @fireanimal might still have some boards left. Neurochome also has a kit for their modulus 86 which includes all parts, and the creator has a forum here to answer any questions. Good luck!
Welcome to the club! I just finished the ACP+ recently and I think it’s a great build. I think the wolverine team is putting together another group buy for the pcb, and @fireanimal might still have some boards left. Neurochome also has a kit for their modulus 86 which includes all parts, and the creator has a forum here to answer any questions. Good luck!
Ahhh, I figured somebody in an audio forum would get that one! Cheers!
Build them all? I don't have enough solder for that, or places to store them, or cases to put them in, heatsinks to keep my cat warm.
I think, for now, I'll start with just one of each, an amp and a preamp. Then I'll spend months fiddling around with them, beacuse tinkering with things that can be tinkered is a weakness of mine. I do it to my computers, my audio, my food....
Oh, sweet! Another friend of mine in the area recently (well, like 8-9 months back) made an Aleph J. Thing sounds sweeeeeet. Much better than the Akitika he used to have. And it controls the speakers that I'm building really well (he's got the same ones). Which, um... hopefully they will actually be finished soon! The crossovers are finished, now it's boxes and assembly. Hopefully I can get that knocked out in a month or less.birdbox said:
How's the F5m sound compared to the Aleph J?
I'm looking forward to checking out this ACA (borrowed from the same buddy who built the Aleph J) to see how it feels with my current speakers (upgraded Sony SSCS5), though. The HT receiver they're hooked up to is a major limitation right now.
It would be very fun to collab with people on this stuff. I have a few friends in the area who might be interested, too. One of them wants to build a tube amp, which sounds like a fun project to learn with, but I'm not sure what I think about the consumables cost that tube amps bring with them. And I haven't actually heard a tube amp, only tube preamp, so I'm not sold on it, yet. Need to hear an amp and judge before I can decide.birdbox said:
Anyway, that's a ramble and a half. Feel free to DM me if you want and I'll reply once I make enough posts to have access.
Yeah, I've been keeping an eye open for that updated Wolverine group buy. I'm not in a big hurry to build, but boards are relatively inexpensive and it's nice to have options for future projects. And thank you very much for the Neurochrome rec! I hadn't seen them, yet, so onto the list they go!
Cheers!