This is not just another gainclone

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protos said:
Ah you french! You like your excesses don't you?;)

Don't get me started on battery power for the Aleph X because I have been thinking about it.
In some ways simple since you could make it work from two 12v batteries but you would need some huge mothers for that.I guess a minimum of 25Ah in order to give 3hrs worth of operation.Plus another set for the other monoblock.
But that is for another thread.


In which way do frenchs excesses?


And use car batteries, they can deliver huge amounts of current, and are more than 25Ah ;)
 
mikelm said:
Protos

Well, I was listening to a battery powered balanced wkg gain clone but I have now prefer a mains powered ( but choke regulated ) balanced working JLH simple class A.

So for you the aleph X is at the top of the pile

and for me my balanced JLH is at the top of the pile

This is the comparison that I am most interested to hear about

Is there anyone out there who has heard both

mike

Well if you are extremely keen to know you could always hop on one of those Ryan air early 0 euro flights to Dublin with your JLH in your luggage and we could listen to both here and you would be back home by dinnertime while also having time for some of the dark brew they are famous for here.



;)
Otherwise you might get lucky and meet up with some of the Aleph X'ers in your area.
 
I built a little 5w son of zen that was battery powered, sounded
lovely till the batterys ran down.......

Instead of a battery supply what about a choke input filter followered by big cap with good bypass cap followed with
a 5mh air core inductor with 3 or 4 200 uf black gate caps
with a good bypass cap. Hay! even batterys have some
shot? noise.

Regards,

Woody
 
protos said:
Peter Daniel has compared them quite some time ago.
I had the chance as well recently.This is my opinion
1.AlephX
2.Battery powered gainclone w preamp or buffer driven in pseudo balanced mode
3.As above 2 but AC ps
4.Aleph5

I think gainclones tend to be sensitive to speaker matching and don't sound their best when driven hard.For me the advantages in adding a good buffer or preamp are obvious particularly if you can drive them in balanced mode.Battery power is a very significant step up in terms of harmonic purity , smoothness and depth.
I recently transformed my Aleph 5's to Aleph X and can say it is a huge improvement as you can see above.However the batt pwered gainclone is not that far behind at all and might sound better in some respects to people that want a very neutral sound.In some ways the Aleph X may seem to veer towards a more punchy but liquid sound than absolute neutrality while the gainclone would tend to sound more correctly proportioned or flat depending on subjective viewpoint and accompanying equipment .
I still have my GC sitting on top of Aleph X and I actually prefer GC. Aleph X sounds, by comparison, not that neutral. The sound is liquid and smooth but not as direct as I got used with GC. I'm using those amps for mids/highs only, so bass performance and power is not an issue here.

As well a proper buffering stage improves GC performance, and so far S&B TVC stage works best for me. It ads that organic "feel" that passively drive GC don't really show that well.

As to the battery operation, I guess it all depends on your mains. While battery gives you more natural sound and actually better bass, properly implemented AC power is not that far behind and the difference sometimes may be negligable (untill you start comparing directly;)).

It seems like that JLH may be an interesting amp to try. I have lots of heatsinks, so this wouldn't be a problem. Where can I find the latest (and recommended) schematic?
 
Selfmade said:
Peter:
I´m using the NI GC with a tantalium 680 ohm restistor.
I can´t understand the word umbilical cord! Do you meen the cord betweeen PS und GC? This is a 6 x 0,75 mm² copper cord from LAPP.

I wouldn't recommend tantalums. Rikens (for 680 ohm) are much better. I'm not familiar with that cord, but it's effect on amp's sound is quite substantial as well.
 
There is a big difference between those resistors and proper tonal balance is only achieved when following parts are used: feedback resistor: Caddock, -IN to ground: Riken, +In to ground: Caddock. All those resistors were chosen for proper sonic balance and any substitutions will change that. I tried tantalums, Vishays, Holcos, carbon and few other and this is the best combination.

For instance input shunt Caddock affects soundstage in big way and not installing that resistors makes the amp sound less spacious. I especially didn't like tantalums at all here, as they were making amps sound thick without enough air.

For umbilical cord, I'm using Cardas 19.5 hookup wire. We tried few other types, but this one was definitely the best sounding, very 3-dimentional. I'm still searching for cheaper alternatives and will be trying this week DH Labs wire.

>>Do you really thing that there is an audible difference between Riken and Tantalium restister in GC?<<

Yes, there is difference. It can either make the amp to sound average or, special;) Unfortunately, Caddocks didn't work well in this position.
 
Peter:

When you discuss the resistor mix for your NIGC you recommend

"feedback resistor: Caddock, -IN to ground: Riken, +In to ground: Caddock"

How general are these recommendations:

1. Would they hold for a IGC with similar values?

2. Would they hold for Joe Rasmussen's Tube Buffered IGC with much higher values?

Also, how general is your recomendation for the use of Cardas 19.5 hookup wire as a Gainclone umbilical cord
 
When you discuss the resistor mix for your NIGC you recommend

"feedback resistor: Caddock, -IN to ground: Riken, +In to ground: Caddock"

How general are these recommendations:

1. Would they hold for a IGC with similar values?

2. Would they hold for Joe Rasmussen's Tube Buffered IGC with much higher values?

Also, how general is your recomendation for the use of Cardas 19.5 hookup wire as a Gainclone umbilical cord

Try and put all these things into context!

What are you listening to? A resistor? A piece of wire? No, you are listening to a system consisting of a source component, media, an amplifier, some speakers, your listening room and your ears.

What am I saying? There is no 'bible' for building any piece of hi-fi. Sure people like Peter who build a lot of amps and try many components can report what works well for them. But please don't hang on every word like some demented soul who thinks that enlightenment can be given to them by a wise guru.

These things are learned by experience, in your system with your ears. ;)
 
Component sound.

These things are learned by experience, in your system with your ears.

It might also be important to know that the difference that some components seem to have in some systems may not be the same way in your system which includes where in the circuit you use it and your perception and hearing ability.
If you can't hear any differences ... so be it . If you do , use what you think is best to your liking. Different makes 'can' sound different but not in all systems and applications. You need to check it out in your system.
Cheers.
 
Nuuk said:


Try and put all these things into context!

What are you listening to? A resistor? A piece of wire? No, you are listening to a system consisting of a source component, media, an amplifier, some speakers, your listening room and your ears.

What am I saying? There is no 'bible' for building any piece of hi-fi. Sure people like Peter who build a lot of amps and try many components can report what works well for them. But please don't hang on every word like some demented soul who thinks that enlightenment can be given to them by a wise guru.

These things are learned by experience, in your system with your ears. ;)

I was wondering, what are you using for rectifiers?
 
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