Thanks again for organizing all this. It was fun and I look forward for next year. By then I should have a finished BLH, el84 tube amp and a whole day.
You're welcome, it's no bother. You guys are organizing a get together, what's more diy than that? Now that it's in the first post, are you able to edit it?
Yes we're busy as Moderators, but that's why we're paid like we are. 😉
Thanks about the website. It's outdated a bit and we are soon to bring us into this decade.
Cheers
Yes we're busy as Moderators, but that's why we're paid like we are. 😉
Thanks about the website. It's outdated a bit and we are soon to bring us into this decade.
Cheers
Does anyone has Owens LME FET power amp, would be interesting how it compares against Dave's Hypex. Owen wrote sometime ago that he is Not a big fan of D-class amps, listing many reasons why. I wonder if his position still stands.
For me the biggest advantage of class D is the heat reduction, something that makes my life during summer much more comfortable.
For me the biggest advantage of class D is the heat reduction, something that makes my life during summer much more comfortable.
I can tell you that I spent three days listening to both a switching amplifier and a very expensive Berning output transformerless tube amp.
Both I and a fellow designer tried our best to tell them apart.
I couldn't and he couldn't.
There are some pretty good switching amplifiers available now.
But few of the ones that really sound good are what would be considered a class D in the simple sense.
What they have in common is a rapid rate of switching. How that is accomplished is a very different animal.
Dave's amp was very pleasant to listen to. So was John's big momma.
Very different types of amps. Bipolar transistors versus mosfets. Class A/B versus the Hypex method of switching amplifier.
Both I and a fellow designer tried our best to tell them apart.
I couldn't and he couldn't.
There are some pretty good switching amplifiers available now.
But few of the ones that really sound good are what would be considered a class D in the simple sense.
What they have in common is a rapid rate of switching. How that is accomplished is a very different animal.
Dave's amp was very pleasant to listen to. So was John's big momma.
Very different types of amps. Bipolar transistors versus mosfets. Class A/B versus the Hypex method of switching amplifier.
Justin, if we had a ZX1000, Dragon or CR-7 (better heads and electronics), maybe Revox, Tandberg or some of the best ones of the breed or good Reel to Reel - Ampex@30ips maybe you would be for surprise. Generally tapes soften the dynamics, add distortion, phase effects, etc. I bet, if you had it for week or so, you would know all it's weak points. Still not bad for technology introduced by Philips in 60's on 3.81mm of tape (free license to stop war format a'la DVD-Audio vs SACD) but evolved a lot in 70's (High Com) and 80's (war against Sony EL-cassette, dBX, DolbyC, S). Somewhere in Poland there must be a book I left about magnetic recording and everything about decks 🙁
Thank 'god' we are not "golden ears" - then life would be really difficult.
Thank 'god' we are not "golden ears" - then life would be really difficult.
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Not golden "good ears".
What our get together showed me is that many people have a good grasp on what makes for good sound.
And we are a bit obsessed with getting there to!
What our get together showed me is that many people have a good grasp on what makes for good sound.
And we are a bit obsessed with getting there to!
So, Mark is on Peter Aczel side - most amps sound very much the same. I also think that the differences are very small, and you have to be a member of Stereophile team to hear GOD's design....
Nope. We have all heard some really bad sounding amps.
I'm saying the best of what is available is pretty much indistinguishable.
And that is as it should be.
An amp should have no sound of it's own.
If it does, then what are you paying for?
An expensive tone control?
P.S. The Hungarian knows his stuff. But I'm pretty sure he is smart enough to choose good quality examples of what he considers good to.
I have one of Owen's lateral fet amps. Unfortunately it is under repair. I won't get to it for a while, too many other things to do.
Don't know. After a couple of years of everyday use the trim pot on the left channel failed. I could smell burning wires so I knew something was wrong.replaced the pot and all was fine. 8 or so months later i would hear occasional buzzing again on the left channel, I thought bad connection or cold solder joint. Took it apart and found one of the power supply caps was leaking. I replaced all6 power supply caps and resold red all connections and components on the left channel. Tested on the work bench for a week or so and all was fine. Brought it upstairs and after a couple of days the left channel started buzzing again. I hooked up my scope in the living room and I saw that the left channel was occasionally oscilatting . I bought a couple of more boards from Owen and I will replace the left channel completely.
If I were a guessing I would say driver chip.
There's not a whole lot of other things on board that could make that kind of a signal.
There's not a whole lot of other things on board that could make that kind of a signal.
egad, what timing
So I'm 1/4 of the way through a speaker build and am at the point where it's now execution without much planning. Having a blast. Next up is a DIY amp, and the list of unknowns out-weights the list knowns.
Just saw the notice for the gathering today. Talk about a perfect opportunity... missed! ARGHHH.😱
So I'm 1/4 of the way through a speaker build and am at the point where it's now execution without much planning. Having a blast. Next up is a DIY amp, and the list of unknowns out-weights the list knowns.
Just saw the notice for the gathering today. Talk about a perfect opportunity... missed! ARGHHH.😱
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