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Commercial Gainclone kit- building instructions

Peter Daniel said:
I'm not good with recommending preamps, as I don't have much experience with them. If you don't need extra gain, just install quality attenuator directly at amp's input, other than that I can only recommend S&B TX102 as that's what I'm using myself in two different systems.

Oh thanks man!! So, S&B TX102 it is. I was after documenting/experiencing the testing scenerio, and the preamp can be quite important to the experience.
Say, is there any way to homebrew something quite similar to S&B TX102? Thanks again!
 
And would that be this?: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48181&perpage=50&pagenumber=1

;) Wow. What an interesting trip for reading! A passive buffer?
I made something similar, a while back. It didn't do much, but what it did was "in the right direction," and at no cost to clarity.

In comparison, my active preamp is different than this. The active does much more soundstange expansion with somewhat less clarity/authenticity.

Thanks for the fascinating reading and for helping me understand the preamplifier choices.
 
Thanks Peter for answering my other questions earlier.

And one more here: Was wondering, if there is a need to block DC, which one configuration would you recommend, placing a 10 uF(or 4.7uF) BG N as a coupling cap or using a Ci (10uF) as in the typical application diagram on NS's document? And reasons? Many thanks!
 
CFT said:
if there is a need to block DC, which one configuration would you recommend, placing a 10 uF(or 4.7uF) BG N as a coupling cap or using a Ci (10uF) as in the typical application diagram on NS's document? And reasons? Many thanks!

If you want to block DC a coupling cap is the only option and I like BG N 4.7 or 10uF here.

Ci will not block DC, it will only prevent voltage gain at DC, in other words if you have 100mV DC at the amp input, you will be getting the same 100mV at the output; without Ci you'll be getting close to 3V or so at amp's output (input DC multiplied by amp's gain)
 
Hi Peter,

I finished building my first chip amp last night, using your 3875 premium kit , running on 300VA 25V-25V power supply. Thanks to your invaluable instructions here, everything went smoothly and i got it working the first time i turned it on. No humming, no noises. pure silense when no input source connected.


Sound clearly exceeded expectations and i was flabbergasted to hear sheer musical sound produced by this little wonder. Bass is phenomenal and vocals do not loose emotions in reproduction. Overall the sound is very smooth and musical, could listen to it forever without any fatigue.

However, to my ears, i feel it lacks a bit in trebel. I was wondering if theres any possibility to tweak some components to accentuate the trebel a bit more? would appreciate your inputs on this.

Cheers
Mubeen
 
Thanks for quick response Peter. I understand that i would need to replace or bypass caps on rectifier board only, no changes to amp circuit? Let me know if i am wrong. Sorry, electronics is a bit unfamiliar territory for me. Is there any diagram or instruction on here for this task?

cheers
Mubeen
 
Thanks mate :up: that worked like a charm. Though the effect is subtle, or may be its not but i would not be able to know as i cant do A-B comparison at the moment. So i am content with 0.1uF caps for now.

I just cant stop music once i start playing through this amp :) its so much 'alive'. I became a believer in simplicity and minimalist approach when i first heard a NOS DAC and this is the second time i have been amazed and it has only firmed my belief further, rather it has become my guiding philosophy in hi-fi now :)

Mubeen
 
Re: LM3875 rocks!

lanchile07 said:
Well done Mubeen!.and yes,these fellas when they are build properly they sound really good. They produce very clean and fast sound.They can beat easily some of the good "commercial"ones out there. Enjoy your LM3875 amp!
:D :D

Thanks mate! Its already beaten my 450 quid worth of 'commercial' amp :( :D
'commercial amp' definitely has clearer trebel and thats where it excels, buts thats where its excellence ends. It lacks everything else. It clearly does not have the flow and dynamics of chip amp. It seems rather 'choked/clogged' compared to chippy. I am simply amazed!

This despite the fact that i used ordinary wires and volume pots for assembly, with bit longer signal path due to large case.

:cheers:
 
Lm3875!

'commercial amp' definitely has clearer treble and thats where it excels...

Well,I have noticed and compared that these amps are NOT fatiguing as some commercials ones.You can listen to them all day long. I believe is because it's "delicate" trebles.
Some people like a lot treble,but if you are going to listen to it for a long period of time the sound becomes fatiguing.
I had so many amps like:
Marantz,Luxman,Adcom,Arcam,portal panache etc. but I still like the LM3875 GC better.;)
 
Source selector

Hi Peter,

finally I can start to build my first amp with the kit you sent me.

But I am a real beginner so please, can you address me where I can find instruction on the net about how to connect the input selector you sent me together with the kit? Even Decibel Dungeon on his beautiful pages dedicated to gainclone beginners shows a rotary input selector but seems that he did not explain how to do it.

The switch has 4 position and 12x3 pins but how to connect them?


Thank you

Renato