Amp Camp Amp Kit 1.6/1.8

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In an attempt to keep things on topic and not clutter up the general ACA thread with order questions or specific about the 1.6 and 1.8 kits, this is a thread dedicated to specific questions about the Amp Camp Amp V1.6 kit from the diyAudio store.

For general questions about the Amp Camp Amp, not specific to this particular version of the kit, please post here:


V1.8 builders - please note below the slight but important wiring changes between V1.6 and V1.8 and use the V1.8 wiring diagram.

Build Guides


For questions specifically about the 1.5 kit, please post here:

 
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Interested in the new ACA 1.6 kit, seeing that this is a stereo power amp only it requires a preamp.

Having a Compactron 8810 tube preamp which has low gain and I have no idea as to its output, it works fine to drive my 2 stage triode wired KT88 class (A) integrated SE amp
which has a 100k Alps blue pot using the amp as is or use it with the preamp.

Would this Preamp be ok to use.

Is the Kit available after the preorder?
 

6L6

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The most recent kit, currently for preorder, is the v1.6

Having a Compactron 8810 tube preamp which has low gain and I have no idea as to its output, it works fine to drive my 2 stage triode wired KT88 class

Would this Preamp be ok to use.

Yes

Once you wire the XLR plugs in can you still use an ACA as a stereo amp or do you need to swap wires around?

You can still use the RCA inputs and run the amp as stereo. The XLR is mono as it uses both channels to run one speaker. The XLR does not interfere with the RCA inputs, use one or the others. Don't need to rewire anything to change it.
 
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I think he might have been referring to the speaker wire connections on the back panel, which IIRC, as with any bridged stereo amp will need to be swapped

p.s. - since your excellent construction page for this kit shows the necessary wiring of XLR to attain the bridged mode with balanced input signal, how about maybe a mock photo of the speaker connections when run in that mode. You know, something like “when XLR is wired as per the color code in previous photos, the speaker polarity would be ....”
 
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I'm interested in a pre-release order of the ACA 1.6 but had some questions:

1. Will the suggested 24V power brick generate any hum ? I currently use a miniDSP HD 2x4 with an Emotiva XPA-5 and that appears to inject noise (DC ?) such that it is audible on my DIY OB's.

2. Given the need to bi-amp, is it possible to get a custom kit that could fit in one chassis to drive 4 channels and be powered from one power supply ?
 
Wanted to order a kit but the shipping to Europe for two boards and and an handful components will cost several hundred USD. Ridicolous, it will all fit into a small jiffy as a letter.
Is there anyway to get the boards only from Europe or do anyone offer boards manufactured in Europe?
 
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Wanted to order a kit but the shipping to Europe for two boards and and an handful components will cost several hundred USD. Ridicolous, it will all fit into a small jiffy as a letter.
Is there anyway to get the boards only from Europe or do anyone offer boards manufactured in Europe?

Hi. We're aware that in particular recently, international shipping prices from our shipper have gone up. What I can tell you is that we don't make any money from shipping - we just charge what we are charged. What's included in the price you see is the carrier base rate, mailing materials, international processing administration fees, and for the cheaper services, we actually have to pay an extra fee for using a "non expensive" carrier. That's the price we pay for shipping, and the exact same price we charge customers. On top of that and not included in the price you pay (we pay the following), theree is storage, monthly dues, and of course a per item picking/pack/handling fee.

As I said, we're aware that non-domestic-US shipping is higher than we'd like and we're actively searching for a way to give better international shipping from our US warehouse, because we really do care about our international customers and we want your business. If shipping is high, people don't want to buy stuff, no fun gets had, and everyone loses!

That said, I just added the basic kit (not including PSU) to a shopping cart and entered a random address in Berlin (10785). The cheapest shipping method (USPS First class, which if it's > $100 in value, which this is, is tracked and insured) came to $30.03. USPS Priority (which is tracked and insured) was $54.66.

If you add the PSU, it goes up a lot ($61 for USPS First Class (again tracked, insured), $63 for USPS Priority tracked, insured), because the PSU is huge and weighs over one pound just by itself (and two pounds including its protective packaging and the power cable). As mentioned, we are searching very hard for more economical shipping for international customers. It won't be a reality for many months though.

I'm not sure what happened with your quote of several hundred dollars for shipping one kit, but perhaps you're living in a very expensive or remote location? We will search tirelessly for a new, affordable (and reliable) shipping partner for you as time goes on. I hope you check back in the future to see what we've found for you, and all our many DIYers from every corner of the globe (myself included).

EDIT: Corrected some information - all USPS First Class (the cheap one) is tracked and insured if it is > $100 in value, which the ACA kit is.
 
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With the taxes and clearance on top of the shipping costs the amp gets pretty expansive. If only we could get the original pcb. All the other parts can be bought elswhere.

The PCB has been continuously available since it was first released several years ago, only going out of stock in the last few months, so most people who wanted to make an ACA from the bare PCB have done that over the years.

The kit has been the problem child, so we're focused on solving that issue at the moment. When the kit starts shipping, we'll make the PCB available for immediate sale, and so the PCB will start shipping then too. No concerns about the new PCB selling out, and that's why we're not doing a pre-sale of it - it's just much simpler to make it available for sale when it's available to ship and avoid all the headaches that go with pre-sales. If you sign up to the "notify me when available" notification for the PCB, you'll get an email as soon as it comes back in stock:

 
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The PCB has been continuously available since it was first released several years ago, only going out of stock in the last few months, so most people who wanted to make an ACA from the bare PCB have done that over the years.

The kit has been the problem child, so we're focused on solving that issue at the moment. When the kit starts shipping, we'll make the PCB available for immediate sale, and so the PCB will start shipping then too. No concerns about the new PCB selling out, and that's why we're not doing a pre-sale of it - it's just much simpler to make it available for sale when it's available to ship and avoid all the headaches that go with pre-sales. If you sign up to the "notify me when available" notification for the PCB, you'll get an email as soon as it comes back in stock:


The product is just to good :D. Luckely we have the schematic so with some skills it's a great, real diy project.
 
Incoming AC IEC lead for Meanwell PSU.

Can I ask a simple question here, for the upgraded Meanwell PSU, is the store supplying the correct incoming AC lead with each country's AC plug, or is that up to the purchaser to supply their own IEC lead with a plug to suit their AC supply wall outlet? I can see no mention with regards to this in the diyAudio store.

Regards

Gary..
 
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Can I ask a simple question here, for the upgraded Meanwell PSU, is the store supplying the correct incoming AC lead with each country's AC plug, or is that up to the purchaser to supply their own IEC lead with a plug to suit their AC supply wall outlet? I can see no mention with regards to this in the diyAudio store.

Regards

Gary..

Great question. The power supply operates from 86-264VAC and 47-63HZ, and has a generic 3 prong IEC 60320/C13 power cord inlet suitable for a "kettle cord". We ship it with a Linvox 3271V86 6 foot cord that has a US 3 prong plug. If that plug doesn't work for you, you can use a plug adapter, or "borrow" an IEC cord from your least favorite piece of equipment.
 
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Power Switch.

One other question, if one orders the chassis with the front panel power switch cut-out, does that mean the rear panel will not have the hole for the power switch as shown in the build guide and photo's?

Also will the kit contain the correct power switch to suit the front panel cut-out and not the one as shown in the photo's to mount on the rear panel?

Cheers,

Gary..
 
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Thanks Jason, looking at the Linvox link I see that they offer this cord in all the usual different country's plug designs, so perhaps you could add that as an option in the store for this PSU - just a suggestion.

It's a good suggestion, just not that compatible with how our outsourced warehousing model works, which is not on demand assembly. We'll see what we can do in the future.

One other question, if one orders the chassis with the front panel power switch cut-out, does that mean the rear panel will not have the hole for the power switch as shown in the build guide and photo's?

Also will the kit contain the correct power switch to suit the front panel cut-out and not the one as shown in the photo's to mount on the rear panel?

All kits have the same parts and include both front round rocker and rear toggle. All chassis share the same rear panel, just you can choose not to have the front hole (and I guess, you could drill it later or take it to a machine shop, should you get the itch to put the round rocker power switch on the front).
 
Amp Camp Amp

I'm thinking of getting the new Amp Camp Amp which will ship July 31. I have a turntable which has its own preamp. I notice the A-C-A amp. does not have volume control and I see no way to adjust the volume without using an integrated amp with volume control. Therefore, it seems the A-C-A will not be what I'm looking for.

If it is suitable and I order two kets, how would I connect them to double the power or will instructions be included.

Edbog
 
I'm thinking of buying the ACA, v.1.6 to go on sale July of this year. My turntable has a built in preamp. I don't see any volume knob on v. 1.6. How can I change the volume or I cannot unless I also have a pre-amp with volume control. Or, is there a way to have the turntable connected to v. 1.6 and have this adjust the volume. If so, how could that be done.
If I buy to ACAs, how do I connect them to get twice the power?


I you look back in this thread it is shown how to bridge the amp using either XLR or RCA connectors.


The ACA is a power amp only so you need a kind of pre-amp. The ACA has a fixed gain.