I need a project to occupy my brain. Over the past two years my father battled cancer and the effects of chemo, then it was kidney stones and just over a week ago he had a very large stroke. The good news is he is doing surprisingly well in his recovery. The doctors have mentioned more then once the fact my mother caught the stroke as it started probably saved his life.
Needless to say I'm a bit stressed and when stressed I turn to projects and building. Thanks to 6L6 I was able to complete a F6 a few years ago and just recently finished modding a set of Klipsch Fortes with the ALK crossover.
I'm thinking about an Aleph J as my next project but I was curious as to what you guys thought. My current setup is ALK modded Fortes, F6, Adcom GFP 750 and a Phillips CD-60.
Needless to say I'm a bit stressed and when stressed I turn to projects and building. Thanks to 6L6 I was able to complete a F6 a few years ago and just recently finished modding a set of Klipsch Fortes with the ALK crossover.
I'm thinking about an Aleph J as my next project but I was curious as to what you guys thought. My current setup is ALK modded Fortes, F6, Adcom GFP 750 and a Phillips CD-60.
Sorry to hear the troubles and glad to hear the improvement.
Slightly off topic, but try kayaking. It's cheap and one of the best ways to relieve.
Slightly off topic, but try kayaking. It's cheap and one of the best ways to relieve.
If you're looking for something on the more simple and economical side, you can choose any one of the First Watt amps and simply swap out the boards for your F6 boards in your existing chassis. The Aleph J is definitely a favorite. You can also do an entirely new PSU and chassis if you'd like.
If you're looking for some adventure and a new experience, you can do a pre-amp. Wayne's 2018 Linestage, the Iron Pre Variants, and the B1 with Nutube are all very popular and should work well with your F6.
Happy to hear that your father is on the road to recovery.
If you're looking for some adventure and a new experience, you can do a pre-amp. Wayne's 2018 Linestage, the Iron Pre Variants, and the B1 with Nutube are all very popular and should work well with your F6.
Happy to hear that your father is on the road to recovery.
Honestly I'm down for anything, just something to keep my mind occupied. I was fortunate enough to get on the pre order for the Nutube pre kit but thats still a ways off from shipping.
I've tested a few of the Pass amplifiers and just love the Aleph J.
I found the Aleph P4 and the F5, although very good, they were very harsh compared to the Aleph J.
I found the Aleph P4 and the F5, although very good, they were very harsh compared to the Aleph J.
Last edited:
Awesome!
So, it sounds like you're looking for something in addition to the Nutube. To keep the mind occupied "Pre-build", particularly if the F6 was your first build, you could...
1) Set a budget
2) Set some goals. List out what you like and wish to improve about your current system. Will the new component be used with the current system?
3) Maybe list what you'd like to improve about your own skills. I don't know your level of experience. Personally, I'm a bit of a noob. So, I continually try to learn about the circuits and how to improve my build techniques. Maybe choose a project that's a bit "next level" if you want a stretch. BA-3 and variants? Do you want a challenge or something that would fall more in-line with past builds and have a higher % of success ... Would magic smoke ruin your week, or would you shrug it off? Do you need something with a "kit" or can you put together a BoM from a schematic yourself?
4) Wanna try metal working? Some folks create GORGEOUS chassis on their own.
5) How much mechanical and "other" work do you want to do? Learning how to do multi-input pre-amps, wiring and mounting pots etc. etc. was new to me. I completely biffed it on my first larger pre-amp, but I'm still very happy.
6) This is in the Pass area, but have you considered speakers? I'm still on the fence personally, but I can't wait to try building a pair at some point.
Part of keeping the mind active can be the process of selecting and planning the build with your own goals and abilities in mind.
The good news is that no matter what you choose... It'll be awesome. Looking forward to seeing what you've chosen and your progress.
For speakers, the Linkwitz Lxmini looks like fun. It's biamped so you get an
excuse to build more amps, and you can also build it to use Mr. Pass' analog
crossover. 🙂
excuse to build more amps, and you can also build it to use Mr. Pass' analog
crossover. 🙂
Suuuuuuuure, Dennis. Like I don't need yet another excuse to move those up my to do list. 😀 When I heard them at BAF, I was fascinated.
I'll likely have a chance to listen to a pair of the Slot Loaded Open Baffle this week. A kind person has offered that I may even bring them home to try out.
BTW - Bored182, if you haven't already checked them out - both of those seem to be appropriate for first time speaker builders like me, sooooooo....
I'll likely have a chance to listen to a pair of the Slot Loaded Open Baffle this week. A kind person has offered that I may even bring them home to try out.
BTW - Bored182, if you haven't already checked them out - both of those seem to be appropriate for first time speaker builders like me, sooooooo....
Awesome!
1) Set a budget
2) Set some goals. List out what you like and wish to improve about your current system. Will the new component be used with the current system?
3) Maybe list what you'd like to improve about your own skills. I don't know your level of experience. Personally, I'm a bit of a noob. So, I continually try to learn about the circuits and how to improve my build techniques. Maybe choose a project that's a bit "next level" if you want a stretch. BA-3 and variants? Do you want a challenge or something that would fall more in-line with past builds and have a higher % of success ... Would magic smoke ruin your week, or would you shrug it off? Do you need something with a "kit" or can you put together a BoM from a schematic yourself?
4) Wanna try metal working? Some folks create GORGEOUS chassis on their own.
5) How much mechanical and "other" work do you want to do? Learning how to do multi-input pre-amps, wiring and mounting pots etc. etc. was new to me. I completely biffed it on my first larger pre-amp, but I'm still very happy.
6) This is in the Pass area, but have you considered speakers? I'm still on the fence personally, but I can't wait to try building a pair at some point.
All great questions.
1. No more then $500 overall, maybe a little higher lower is always a plus.
2. Anything new will get swapped in and used in the main system.
3. I would consider myself a noob but I also have no problem jumping in where angels fear to tread. Releasing magic smoke doesn't bother me as long as replacement parts are still available and I learn from the experience. I can read a schematic but I could definitely use some improvement there. If I ever had to do something like a tube amp using point to point wiring I know I would easily screw it up. Problem solving is where I struggle. I can follow instructions and read a schematic BUT if something is not working tracking down the problem is a struggle.
4&5. Before the stroke my father was an accomplished machinist and we were starting to setup a machine shop out in the barn now that he is officially retired. I have a better mindset mechanically then I do electrically.
6. I have looked at speakers projects but space regulates me to only 1 pair at time. I have looked at the Linkwitz Lxmini speakers for sometime now but I don't think my wife would go for it in the living room.
Considering above...
You could do a BA-3 as the main project while trying a few fun things with the F6 as you go (depending on your current F6 configuration).
- "Upgrade" your current chassis / PSU to dual mono if you haven't already. This will depend on if there is room in the chassis. Let your own ears be your guide if it's an improvement and worth the $$. If not, then you have another PSU for another amp already built.
- You can also try Pico's cool LED mod on the F6 and see for yourself how much more quickly the amp finds its happy place.
- Try the BA-3 (if you're willing to swap out the F6 boards) in the existing F6 chassis after you've tried dual mono.
- Match your own MOSFETs.
- Maybe pick some exotic caps for the front end if that strikes your fancy.
After you're done you'll have:
- Learned if you can hear a difference with dual mono and if the extra $$ was worth it to you.
- Learned a bit about tempcos and how temperature affects the performance of the F6.
- Built a bit more of a complex amp with "variable H2". You can learn to play with that later if you like.
- A BA-3 front end that can (relatively) easily be configured into a pre-amp later if you want.
- Learned to match MOSFETs and have the kit to do it. Plus, you'll have more than enough to do future projects if you buy a tube of Ns and a tube of Ps.
- A future opportunity to try out (at least) one more output stage married to the BA-3 front end. You can do complimentary or single-ended.
- A future opportunity to go full nutso and build a set of fully balanced monoblocks.
With your skills, you can maybe buy new heatsinks and build a chassis from scratch, but that may blow the budget. Depending on what you need in terms of your bench kit to match the output devices, you could maybe do both.
To me, the neatest thing about this family of amps that Papa has allowed us to play with is their modularity. Just pop in a new set of boards with your existing PSU, and you're off to the races while keeping costs well under control.
You can do everything I've outlined above for (I think) well under $500. Plus, there's an "upgrade path".
That's just one of many suggestions that will come, I'm sure. I followed a relatively similar path. I learned a ton and had a lot of fun.
You could do a BA-3 as the main project while trying a few fun things with the F6 as you go (depending on your current F6 configuration).
- "Upgrade" your current chassis / PSU to dual mono if you haven't already. This will depend on if there is room in the chassis. Let your own ears be your guide if it's an improvement and worth the $$. If not, then you have another PSU for another amp already built.
- You can also try Pico's cool LED mod on the F6 and see for yourself how much more quickly the amp finds its happy place.
- Try the BA-3 (if you're willing to swap out the F6 boards) in the existing F6 chassis after you've tried dual mono.
- Match your own MOSFETs.
- Maybe pick some exotic caps for the front end if that strikes your fancy.
After you're done you'll have:
- Learned if you can hear a difference with dual mono and if the extra $$ was worth it to you.
- Learned a bit about tempcos and how temperature affects the performance of the F6.
- Built a bit more of a complex amp with "variable H2". You can learn to play with that later if you like.
- A BA-3 front end that can (relatively) easily be configured into a pre-amp later if you want.
- Learned to match MOSFETs and have the kit to do it. Plus, you'll have more than enough to do future projects if you buy a tube of Ns and a tube of Ps.
- A future opportunity to try out (at least) one more output stage married to the BA-3 front end. You can do complimentary or single-ended.
- A future opportunity to go full nutso and build a set of fully balanced monoblocks.
With your skills, you can maybe buy new heatsinks and build a chassis from scratch, but that may blow the budget. Depending on what you need in terms of your bench kit to match the output devices, you could maybe do both.
To me, the neatest thing about this family of amps that Papa has allowed us to play with is their modularity. Just pop in a new set of boards with your existing PSU, and you're off to the races while keeping costs well under control.
You can do everything I've outlined above for (I think) well under $500. Plus, there's an "upgrade path".
That's just one of many suggestions that will come, I'm sure. I followed a relatively similar path. I learned a ton and had a lot of fun.
If you haven't already done so, I would seriously consider upgrading the power supply to dual mono
Considering above...
- "Upgrade" your current chassis / PSU to dual mono if you haven't already. This will depend on if there is room in the chassis. Let your own ears be your guide if it's an improvement and worth the $$. If not, then you have another PSU for another amp already built.
Whats benefits should I expect when going to dual mono? I currently have a deluxe 4u chassis with a single 400VA transformer. Is their room for two of those in there?