I'm presuming you're a Pom, Prof (given the Union Jack under your name)? Which is a pity ... if you lived in sunny Melbourne, you could come round and hear my AKSA LF modules driving my 3-way active (but 20-year old) Maggies. And in reference to your other thread - with, say, CD source selected (but not playing) and the GK-1 volume control turned round to max, you'd be able to put your ears right up against the drivers and hear ... nothing!
No hash, no hum. Now, in terms of how far can an AKSA go ... yes, the LF modules deliver (to my ears) much better sound than the AKSA modules I had previously. They have more clarity/definition - and a better low end. So I will not be parting with them - until Hugh comes out with a replacement!
(Irrespective of whether I replace my Maggies or my vinyl front end - a pimped LP12. )So IMO your AKSA 55 is not as good as Hugh's LF ... but it's way better than a Naim 250, which is what I compared it to about 8 years ago, when I auditioned Hugh's amp. Out went my 3 Naim amps and in came an AKSA 100, 55 & 25 (a 55 with a lowered DC rail voltage) ... and then the 'N' and 'N+' variants came along - each delivering better sound than the prior version.
Regards,
Andy
The AKSA and LF are both great amps and I've had both. They have different presentations so it comes down to tastes. By what I have read, most prefer the LF and are very happy campers.
The AKSA can deliver bass better than the LF but depends on the build and the power supply. My AKSA (V2.1) did have better bass performance than my LF (V3.1) and that was no slouch (Hugh has heard it and gave it a thumbs up). However, the AKSA, even with mods cannot compete with the LF for detail retrieval. Hugh has rightly moved on from the AKSA to produce better power amps for his customers.
The AKSA can deliver bass better than the LF but depends on the build and the power supply. My AKSA (V2.1) did have better bass performance than my LF (V3.1) and that was no slouch (Hugh has heard it and gave it a thumbs up). However, the AKSA, even with mods cannot compete with the LF for detail retrieval. Hugh has rightly moved on from the AKSA to produce better power amps for his customers.
I just recently bought a Lifeforce 100 Mark II, never heard it before.
I does not color the sound. It adds nothing. You will hear much more refined details, really beautiful roundings in the mids, better then in any other conventional amp design. It's a more like natural sound, like a live experience.
Aspen amps are really stunning. You won't regret it.
I does not color the sound. It adds nothing. You will hear much more refined details, really beautiful roundings in the mids, better then in any other conventional amp design. It's a more like natural sound, like a live experience.
Aspen amps are really stunning. You won't regret it.
Rabbitz, AndyR, LPM, Brubeck, Sandy,
Thank you for your nice comments, much appreciated.
I must ruefully admit that I'm a complete lunatic, a tragic compulsive-obsessive. Amps have become my life, I care about little else. It is an affliction, fuelled by a great deal of strong coffee......
Hugh
Thank you for your nice comments, much appreciated.
I must ruefully admit that I'm a complete lunatic, a tragic compulsive-obsessive. Amps have become my life, I care about little else. It is an affliction, fuelled by a great deal of strong coffee......
Hugh
There's very little about Hugh, his company and most of his customers that is in any way sane.
The fact they've gone the extra mile in an industry that is not recognised for clear and lucid thinking in the wider world......is a testament to just how little sanity the AKSA group have managed to retain.
But other AKSA persons are all fortunate.......as I know that I am the very Pillar Of Sanity within this particular wilderness upon which you may all lean just a little when a lucid moment is required.
The fact they've gone the extra mile in an industry that is not recognised for clear and lucid thinking in the wider world......is a testament to just how little sanity the AKSA group have managed to retain.
But other AKSA persons are all fortunate.......as I know that I am the very Pillar Of Sanity within this particular wilderness upon which you may all lean just a little when a lucid moment is required.
Kenji,
You would need six 12V SLA 6AH batteries; quite an investment. I have never tried it, as I always viewed this as impractical, too much invested in the batteries and the charger. You would still need large storage caps for earth return from the speaker voice coils, so all of the cost advantage is clearly lost.
But I've no reason to believe it would sound bad, and it may even sound better since PSRR becomes an irrelevance, whatever that means, of course!
Hugh
You would need six 12V SLA 6AH batteries; quite an investment. I have never tried it, as I always viewed this as impractical, too much invested in the batteries and the charger. You would still need large storage caps for earth return from the speaker voice coils, so all of the cost advantage is clearly lost.
But I've no reason to believe it would sound bad, and it may even sound better since PSRR becomes an irrelevance, whatever that means, of course!
Hugh
Hello Kenji
You should have said that you ask this batteries question because you ask me why the sound of your Aksa amp keeps changing, you say that one day it sounds very nice, next day or 2 days afterwards it not sound very good. And I've told you that maby it can be a noisy main problem.
Maby it's an electric motor or others noisy electrical apliances who run few day a weeks near your home.
You could try the felix main filter, here is the link:
Felix project
Bye
Gaetan
You should have said that you ask this batteries question because you ask me why the sound of your Aksa amp keeps changing, you say that one day it sounds very nice, next day or 2 days afterwards it not sound very good. And I've told you that maby it can be a noisy main problem.
Maby it's an electric motor or others noisy electrical apliances who run few day a weeks near your home.
You could try the felix main filter, here is the link:
Felix project
Bye
Gaetan
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hi Professor Hugh Dean,
can you tell me how effective mains filtering would be here? Or is it the shape of the mains supply which matters?
Professor Gaetan,
I've looked at the link. Could you tell me what the CMC is and does? What would be the best way to make this? Obviously because it's mains voltage I want to be very cautious about the construction.
can you tell me how effective mains filtering would be here? Or is it the shape of the mains supply which matters?
Professor Gaetan,
I've looked at the link. Could you tell me what the CMC is and does? What would be the best way to make this? Obviously because it's mains voltage I want to be very cautious about the construction.
Hello
CMC = common mode choke. It's an inductor or a choke with two windings in opposite directions to cancel electro-magnetic noise. You can find those in electronics parts stores.
The felix filter are a CLC filter. The capacitors are shorting the high frequency noises and the coil are have high impedance to the high frequency noises.
You should read that felix thread.
Bye
Gaetan
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Prof. Hugh Dean,
I have always been curious why you use the cd player that you do? It's an old model and newer dacs have come out which are reported to offer a much higher performance at low cost. Did you 'tune' the aksa to suit the sound of old cd players? I am finding that I keep coming back to these cd players and do not like the sound when using newer DACs.
I have always been curious why you use the cd player that you do? It's an old model and newer dacs have come out which are reported to offer a much higher performance at low cost. Did you 'tune' the aksa to suit the sound of old cd players? I am finding that I keep coming back to these cd players and do not like the sound when using newer DACs.
Lack of funds, I guess......
I find the CD player has much less effect on the sound than the amp and speakers.....
Perhaps we need to think about 'higher performance'? Are you talking measured, or perceived? If the latter, it's a matter of taste, I suspect. Most middle priced CD players are pretty good, anthing from the mid-nineties on, that is.
Hugh
I find the CD player has much less effect on the sound than the amp and speakers.....
Perhaps we need to think about 'higher performance'? Are you talking measured, or perceived? If the latter, it's a matter of taste, I suspect. Most middle priced CD players are pretty good, anthing from the mid-nineties on, that is.
Hugh
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