GC vs Sony TA 1055 - Apologies

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My apologies to all who read and answered my previous posts.

I thought I would give the GC another chance and this morning started a listening session that ended about 7.00ish this evening.

By lunchtime I began to realise that the amp was performing better than my dear old Sony.

Highlights of the day have been, Sidney Bechet’s ‘Blue Horizon’ I could feel his huge chest cavity in the sound of that Clarinet. Julian Breams wonderfully expressive playing of ‘Recuerdos de la Alhambra’ I have never heard this so clearly and this tape is my ‘test’ piece. Janet Baker’s singing in Mahler 2, rapturous! Bart van Oort playing Chopin Nocturnes on an 1842 Pleyel pianoforte, this has always sounded on the edge of distortion, not so now, wonderful! Oooh and Martha Argerich with the Chopin Polonaise No6 I could feel her playing it, a piano tour de force that only a great amp and speakers can cope with.

By late afternoon the sound was sublime and after Mahler5, Simon Rattle, CBSO, what a perfect joy, I decided to give my all time No1 favourite a chance, Jacqueline Du Pre, the Elgar Cello Concerto, Barbarolli and the LSO, this usually brings tears to my eyes, they rolled down my cheeks as this truly wonderful performance unfolded before me, I have listened to this hundreds of times over the past 25 yrs or so, but never like this, revelatory!

Finally Murray Perahia playing the Bach Goldberg Variations, well 10 of them, I’ve only listened to these a few times and until now was unable to grasp their musicality, I heard the theme from the first in all of the others, and No6 which had been rather indistinct was clear and focused.

The amp is now, as far as I am concerned the best thing since sliced bread, it is sharp and clear with a dynamic range that easily surpasses my Sony, and that was good, honestly! Orchestral music through the small drive units I use has always sounded a bit confused, not so now. My Wife said that she thought Julian Bream was playing before her, she’s never said that before.

I will make another power supply with a lower voltage transformer, the thick alloy plate I used as heatsinks for the chips got very hot!

So well there we are, such is life, etc.

Again my apologies.

Jim Read
 
Koinichiwa,

Jim Read said:
My apologies to all who read and answered my previous posts.

I sincerely hope you are not just saying this to appease the detractors. I'd rather have an honest opponent than a fake ally.... (reminds me of WW2 - I'd rather have the italians as enemy - that way they are at least an asset)

I would still feel it essential that you get the PSU back to spec, in the interest of long term reliability and staying away fromoperating limits.

PLUS you might benefit from recent revisons to the circuit (discussed here), plus some more apropriate components in certain places (especially output resistor).

Feel free to e-mail me for details as I can suggest specific parts distributed in the UK that I am familiar with and that are just "good industrial grade and price" as well as being sligtly familiar with the revisions.

I personally still feel that these chep Chip Amp's are no match for a good, well implemented SE DHT Amp, but with around 800 Bucks for the kit that forms the platform of my Amp's, around 500+ bucks for passive parts and around 2,000 bucks for valves (WE 437A X2, WE 274A X 2, WE, AVVT or TJ 300B X 2) the costs have a way of looking like a Labour party economic reform.

Sounds great though.

Sayonara
 
Re: Re: GC vs Sony TA 1055 - Apologies

[/B]

PLUS you might benefit from recent revisons to the circuit (discussed here), plus some more apropriate components in certain places (especially output resistor).

[/B]

You might not need the output resistors at all, so better check before installing them for good.

BTW, I have serious doubts if my big class A amps are better than Gainclones.;)
 
Re: Re: Re: GC vs Sony TA 1055 - Apologies

Koinichiwa,

Peter Daniel said:


You might not need the output resistors at all, so better check before installing them for good.

Again, I completly agree. Yet having them stabilises the circuit. I personally recommedn no resistor, as "I dont want to be a Guru" I ask people to pt them in as unfavourable phasemargins and resonances in the load are at least partially damped, the amp is happier in such cases and such cases only.

Peter Daniel said:

BTW, I have serious doubts if my big class A amps are better than Gainclones.;)

But you do not have any 300B single ended Amplifiers with good output transformers and TJ or WE 300B's. The best Amp (in my sonic view) Nelson designed is the Zen, plus bride. The rest is more HiFi but less musical.

BTFDIK.

I find myself prefering Jeff Rowland (another gain - not clone with bridged, parallel LM3886) amplifiers to the current Pass Labs stuff and the Pass Labs stuff to Hovlands Valve Amps. Of course, either Boulder or the Lumley 833 SE Valve amp play on another level (I'd love to hear what the Lumley 833 could do with my Tannoys, but the amp's are almost as large as my speakers and my living room is small), but they cost in tune.

Sayonara
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: GC vs Sony TA 1055 - Apologies

Kuei Yang Wang said:




But you do not have any 300B single ended Amplifiers with good output transformers and TJ or WE 300B's. The best Amp (in my sonic view) Nelson designed is the Zen, plus bride. The rest is more HiFi but less musical.



I was using Zen amp since 1993 in my basement workshop. After I completed my first gainclone, based on LM3875 chip, Zen is for sale.

I guess it would be appropriate here, to thank you for coming out with the infamous inverted amp's schematic, since this is what I based my amps on.:)

Whoever listens to properly implemented gainclones, loves them.

I was always thinking about building SE 300B amp, but somehow didn't have courage or will to carry it out. After all SS is so convenient, cheaper and probably easier to built. I have some friends who tried those 300B amps (I don't know how well implemented) but they say that in some ways the gainclone is better.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: GC vs Sony TA 1055 - Apologies

Koinichiwa Peter San,

Peter Daniel said:


I guess it's appropriate to thank you here for coming out with the famous inverted amp's schematic, since this is what I based my amps on.:)

No sweat. It is something I learned a long time ago. Back then I designed better sounding discrete transistor amplifiers, but they seem at least complex.

Peter Daniel said:

Whoever listens to properly implemented gainclones, loves them.

I recently listened to one build to the letter like I suggested, playing on open baffle 8" Monacor Fullrangers (another suggestion of mine) and while I could point to any number of technical shortcomings compared to my own rig, the result was immensly satisfying, so much so that I could live happily ever after with that setup, when listening non-critical. It got the music right, ***** the bass's and the treble's and the soundstaging, they is all artificial anyway.

Peter Daniel said:

I was always thinking about building SE 300B amp, but somehow didn't have courage or will to carry it out. After all SS is so convenient, cheaper and probably easier to built.

I agree. I know I can get the kind of sound my current setup does from Hybrid/SS circuits, but I like SE Valve amps for the ease of getting "good sound" (you never have to "fight" the amp to get "good sound", the technically terrible Decware Zen sound slovely if opaque). I am in principle lazy.

I just upgraded the input transformer on my SE Amp's. And guess, apart from better level matching on the balanced inputs I hear no difference. That pleases me no end.

>I have some friends who tried those 300B amps (I don't know
>how well implemented) but they say that in some ways the
>gainclone is better.

I am tempted to semi agree. I put in a lot of time with the early chip amp's in the 1980's and the results where more than quite good. The modern chip[s are much better. I have heard a lot of 300B Amplifiers that I'd call excessively manipulative. They do have the "midrange magic" but pay for it with "wiered all else".

Really good SE Valve amp's are at least as rare as really good Transistor/Chip Amp's. And in shipping volume SS ousells SE DHT by at least 100.

My suggestion, with sufficiently good (there is a link between SPL and Quality in terms of distortion and compression) Speakers would be SE Valve. But it has to carry some "Consumer warnings"

Sayonara
 
Follow up to yesterday's apology

I was not saying anything to appease anyone, I'd deleted all the links to this and the other forums, had to track them down again to post the above.

After dinner I carried on listening, to the Chopin played on the 1842 Playel, this recording may be a bad one or it may be because of the 'wild' almost 'honky tonk' sound of that particular piano, I have no way of finding out, I do know that piano's are difficult to record having tried it.

I have a friend with a pair of B & W 801's and a couple of Bryston amps, we met through the forums, his set up plays the Chopin as though it was a great recording and so does mine now. There is no need for me to say anymore, any setup that will play that recording well will play anything else easily.

As for further mods, no thanks, as I said once or twice before I'll go back to listening to the music. My main pastime is making prints using the Cyanotype and Sepia Paper image making processes, I do have a site if anyones interested; http://www.jrbham.btinternet.co.uk/index.html

Kind regards to you all.

Jim Read
 
Jim,

"I will make another power supply with a lower voltage transformer, the thick alloy plate I used as heatsinks for the chips got very hot!"

I think from your pic you are using TO220 sized insulating pads under the ICs. Since your case is wooden, you could benefit from mounting them directly to the heatsink, which IIRC would then be at the -ve rail potential. Use just a little thermal grease as well.

See ya,
Tim.
 
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