Been discussed at length over the past couple of years - including threads on the vendors forum.
Chipamp.com
Chipamp.com
Chipamp.com appears to have gone out of business. You can find a few threads about it in the Chipamp.com forum (https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/chipamp/).
Tom
Tom
Many of these electronic companies go out of business.
Just too much cheap competition these days.
Did a quick search on ebay and 14,000 amplifier modules for sale !
I had a go at selling amps on ebay and unless I gave them away no one was interested. Even had a struggle selling the valve stuff.
In the end sold the lot for less than what the components cost !
The only "problem" with quality offerings in the DIY market, is that the average guy doesn't understand (or care) about the number of zeroes after the decimal point, and is pretty likely to simply take manufacturer specs as truth. So many of the cheap and terrible parts they buy are simply "good" enough that the finer offering are glossed over as being too expensive, or unnecessarily complicated. The few discerning folks that want the good stuff are drowned out by the unwashed masses that don't even care to think the parts may not even be genuine or quality, let alone that the circuit may be laid out poorly.
There's a sizeable sub-segment of the market that does care. There're some pretty savvy folks out there.
That's the part that blows my mind. I've never understood why someone would spend their money and time and risk the rest of their equipment on fake parts.
Thank you.
Tom
There should be as many zeros there as possible...it gets you closer to perfection.
Mike
It depends, if you ask in the Pass Labs forum you would probably get a different answer.
It depends, if you ask in the Pass Labs forum you would probably get a different answer.
Yeah, I know...But I'd rather have the lowest possible distortion than the "nice" distortion some seem to prefer...just my inconsequential opinion.
Mike
There's a sizeable sub-segment of the market that does care. There're some pretty savvy folks out there.
That's the part that blows my mind. I've never understood why someone would spend their money and time and risk the rest of their equipment on fake parts.
Thank you.
Tom
I bought a IRFP240 transistor off ebay. I built up the amp and powered it up. It even played music ok. I then unplugged my soldering iron and the amp blew up. The ebay transistor had blown off a spike on the mains from the unplugging of the soldering iron. So I replaced it with a part from RS. I then set about blowing it up by unplugging soldering iron and other equipment. I couldnt blow the amp up. I can only guess the ebay part had a much lower breakdown voltage and popped from the spike from the soldering being unplugged.
I had also bought in some IRFP4227's for a class d amp. It had the same problem with spikes on the mains.
So now I wont buy any semiconductors from ebay or China. I try to stick to Farnell and RS Components.
As for the tipping point at which “past how decimal points can I not hear a difference?” , after a decade or more of playing with tube amps, including SETs with power levels and distortion levels/spectra similar to or “worse” than, say the ACA, I was more than a bit skeptical of that myself. Then, starting a couple of years ago I was lucky enough to compare several of Tom’s 3886 models, the DR, Modulus 86, and the new Mod686 to my Tubelab EL84 PP and at least 6 different SS amps (Dayton APA150, NAD2155, Onkyo HT receiver, Marantz CR611, Hypex UCD180, and pair of ACA monoblocks) in three systems /rooms with which I’m intimately familiar. The specs for the basic 3886DR already surpass what I would have though were “adequate”, but there certainly seemed be something going on beyond just the Modulus composite amps’ error correction, etc “special sauce” reduction of distortion / noise to vanishing low levels.
Not wanting to sound like a shill for the brand, but they definitely do something I like - for now? But that could change if my hearing doesn’t deteriorate sooner than I get restless to try something different - gee, that’s never happened
Not wanting to sound like a shill for the brand, but they definitely do something I like - for now? But that could change if my hearing doesn’t deteriorate sooner than I get restless to try something different - gee, that’s never happened
Stereophile has resurrected one of their old OLD cover stories this month.
Comparing a tube amp having lots of (conventionally measured) distortion, versus a solid state amp with very small numbers on the same measurements. Maybe you can find the cover on Stereophile's website (?)
Stereophile's panel of experts, all of them very experienced listeners, liked both amplifiers a lot. By that I mean: THEY LIKED BOTH A WHOLE LOT.
What is the proper conclusion? What does it MEAN?
I think it means: different individuals are going to like what they damn well like. And who are YOU / who am I / to tell them they are wrong, they don't like that? Worse yet, they shouldn't like that?
_
If one of these two amplifiers is right, the other must be WRONG !!!
Comparing a tube amp having lots of (conventionally measured) distortion, versus a solid state amp with very small numbers on the same measurements. Maybe you can find the cover on Stereophile's website (?)
Stereophile's panel of experts, all of them very experienced listeners, liked both amplifiers a lot. By that I mean: THEY LIKED BOTH A WHOLE LOT.
What is the proper conclusion? What does it MEAN?
I think it means: different individuals are going to like what they damn well like. And who are YOU / who am I / to tell them they are wrong, they don't like that? Worse yet, they shouldn't like that?
_
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It must be in the air, CNET posted a favorable review recently of a 20W+20W T- Amp ($33) like the one I have and enjoy in my lab. I must upgrade to the 5A wall wart.
When I get back to my M2 I'll make the comparison.
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