Ive been looking online and unlike with many car clubs/forums, there is loads of how to guides, posts and threads showing people how to do different mods and repairs or upgrades in parts.
There seems to be very little or next to nothing online, Ive been searching for stuff on some specific amps, but also just some stuff on basic theory and guides to modding amps.
Unless there is some specific trick to getting accurate search result on here, i dont see very much if anything on here.
Which is a surprise for a website called DIY Audio?
Has anyone found some usefull stuff/sites online already?
Is there a way to get better search results on here? or are there already guides/ how to's on here?
There seems to be very little or next to nothing online, Ive been searching for stuff on some specific amps, but also just some stuff on basic theory and guides to modding amps.
Unless there is some specific trick to getting accurate search result on here, i dont see very much if anything on here.
Which is a surprise for a website called DIY Audio?
Has anyone found some usefull stuff/sites online already?
Is there a way to get better search results on here? or are there already guides/ how to's on here?
I just use google. You're more likely to find a link to this site when searching for a specific amp or topology. Using the search function here, you may have to wade thru a lot of pages and never find what you want in the end.
There is a LOT of interesting info on this site, but it's assumed you already have some basic theory behind you.
jeff
There is a LOT of interesting info on this site, but it's assumed you already have some basic theory behind you.
jeff
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If you want to know about amplifier design, the usual way to start is to read the works of Doug Self and Bob Cordell. Maybe also read a few other important books.
If you want to learn how to repair, the first part is often troubleshooting. For you need at least a DVM and an oscilloscope, and some amount of electronics theory (maybe up through Kirchhoff's laws, a little transistor physics, reading schematics, etc.) Where would you say you are now?
Its kind of like do you really want to learn how to diy audio, or maybe just find some simple hacks to try? In the latter case the problem is that modding a well designed amp may make it different, but very likely not better.
The above having been said, if you have specific technical questions, we can see if we can help.
If you want to learn how to repair, the first part is often troubleshooting. For you need at least a DVM and an oscilloscope, and some amount of electronics theory (maybe up through Kirchhoff's laws, a little transistor physics, reading schematics, etc.) Where would you say you are now?
Its kind of like do you really want to learn how to diy audio, or maybe just find some simple hacks to try? In the latter case the problem is that modding a well designed amp may make it different, but very likely not better.
The above having been said, if you have specific technical questions, we can see if we can help.
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Your example is kind of funny. No, this is nothing like a car forum. There are simply too many audio products produced over decades to break into a few "mod" stickies for every make or model of device. However, all the info is here, and in more depth than a car forum.
you see the thing is I dont want to learn about circuit design or theory, I am just suggesting that for most people, they would just prefer to follow a guide be it model specific, that says swap this, check this, measure that, do this etc etc.
Yes I have a nice fluke DVM, and yes Ive quite a few qualifications in electrical and electronic servicing City and guilds 224 parts 1-4 and also an ONC in electronic engineering.
Thing is Im rusty at this havent done much work like this for ages.
Next I was never the best engineer, dealt a lot with electro mechanical stuff, or pc/network stuff and also a lot of the equipment i worked on was repaired to a modular level.
Next point is Im lazy😆
I just want some info on my equipment of any mods or improvements people have previously made on the same equipment already.
I dont want to re invent the wheel or redesign the amps circuits. All i want to know is what parts have people swapped/uprated etc. What if any weak points or common faults exist. In the case of recapping what cap value and make did you change to .
That sort of thing.
Bare in mind a lot of people starting out in hifi, dont want to get a degree in order to service their equipment or swap out basic components. of course if they get a guide/help to get started, they may then want to go on and learn more and to a more in depth level
Yes I have a nice fluke DVM, and yes Ive quite a few qualifications in electrical and electronic servicing City and guilds 224 parts 1-4 and also an ONC in electronic engineering.
Thing is Im rusty at this havent done much work like this for ages.
Next I was never the best engineer, dealt a lot with electro mechanical stuff, or pc/network stuff and also a lot of the equipment i worked on was repaired to a modular level.
Next point is Im lazy😆
I just want some info on my equipment of any mods or improvements people have previously made on the same equipment already.
I dont want to re invent the wheel or redesign the amps circuits. All i want to know is what parts have people swapped/uprated etc. What if any weak points or common faults exist. In the case of recapping what cap value and make did you change to .
That sort of thing.
Bare in mind a lot of people starting out in hifi, dont want to get a degree in order to service their equipment or swap out basic components. of course if they get a guide/help to get started, they may then want to go on and learn more and to a more in depth level
You've actually hit upon another thing that does not translate from the car world, the idea that there's an equivalent to just blindly bolting on "speed parts" to get a better audio device. There are no "cold air" capacitors, "low profile V-rated" cables. All that stuff is audiophoolery. Great, you put in larger caps. What did the difference in capacitance and impedance actually do in entirety to the circuit? If you're blindly swapping in stuff you're just mucking up the design work a real engineer did in the 1st place.
There are some how to guides here. There is a lot on how to do things with REW, with LT Spice, maybe for building an F5 amplifier, etc.
Attached are some how to guides on amplifiers. They contain a lot of good information on what sorts of things to look for.
Attached are some how to guides on amplifiers. They contain a lot of good information on what sorts of things to look for.
If you can wrap your head around "Twice the caps, half the ripple," then modding is as easy as piling on more caps.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/ps-hack-for-adcom-gfa-5400.361693/#post-6378414
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/ps-hack-for-adcom-gfa-5400.361693/#post-6378414
Most amps. even fairly low budget separates, have been fairly competently designed and 'production engineered' by experienced, qualified people, who've studied the history and done a reasonable job of creating an OK product.
There are no magic, bolt-on improvements which apply to a lots of amps which can be carried out without understanding the amp you're starting with.
In the 70s, anyone with a soldering iron could follow a 'recipe' from a magazine and build an amp that sounded better than the consumer junk of the time.
These days, a cheap consumer amp is likely not bad, better than what was easily built by amateurs back then. DIY is mainly only relevant for either repairs, academic interest, or esoteric stuff out of the mainstream.
You can buy a £10 class D amp from ebay which would have been impressive when DIY electronics was at its peak.
The more you look into it, the more you should realise the work that has gone into 'off the shelf ' products, it's hard work and expensive to do better, unless you're looking for a niche system not catered for by the mass market.
These days, the more accessible area for DIY wwith no great theoretical overhead is perhaps something like Raspberry Pi servers and streamers?
There are no magic, bolt-on improvements which apply to a lots of amps which can be carried out without understanding the amp you're starting with.
In the 70s, anyone with a soldering iron could follow a 'recipe' from a magazine and build an amp that sounded better than the consumer junk of the time.
These days, a cheap consumer amp is likely not bad, better than what was easily built by amateurs back then. DIY is mainly only relevant for either repairs, academic interest, or esoteric stuff out of the mainstream.
You can buy a £10 class D amp from ebay which would have been impressive when DIY electronics was at its peak.
The more you look into it, the more you should realise the work that has gone into 'off the shelf ' products, it's hard work and expensive to do better, unless you're looking for a niche system not catered for by the mass market.
These days, the more accessible area for DIY wwith no great theoretical overhead is perhaps something like Raspberry Pi servers and streamers?
That link is a great example of what the OP seems to be looking for - a mod for a specific model that works. Of course, 'piling on more caps' can cause problems in some modern gear with SMPS, so it isn't a general rule that always applies.
@masterbateson
This page has some neat how-to building guides and such…
https://guides.diyaudio.com/c/Amplifiers
And yes, as previously mentioned, use google to search. Add diyAudio.com in the search bar
This page has some neat how-to building guides and such…
https://guides.diyaudio.com/c/Amplifiers
And yes, as previously mentioned, use google to search. Add diyAudio.com in the search bar
You can find interesting projects with clear writing on Rod Elliot's page : https://sound-au.com/index.html
Build Things .. Learn Things.
Build Things .. Learn Things.
You sure?
DIYAudio is chock full of Audio hardware improvement stuff.
Besides comments and build posts, fierce battles rage on how to improve things and effect of different options, from capacitors to cables (those alone would fill their own separate Sites), speakers, crossovers, modifying and even building digital sound sources from scratch, detailed speaker building including DIY field coil types, the works.
I'd almost say that there is "nothing but" such stuff, in any case taking a huge part of this site.
Not even need to "search" proper, plain post stream shows a lot.
Here is one of the photos from a Forum thread "How I added a snubber to my Akitika GT-101 audio power amplifier" .
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I’ve found that the biggest improvement to the sound is to improve the power supply not the amplifier itself. Good quality transformers, caps, bypass caps, resistors and diodes can make an audible improvement. Amps like good clean power. You can even try bypassing your existing PS with a good SMPS. If you don’t like it change it back.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/redesigning-quad-405-dc-bias-loops.339643/ OK, it's about redesigning, but it also has some examples.