JLP is a very good designer and very trustworthy competitor . His amp has a very good quality/price .
Our amp has one goal . Sound quality .
The volt +D was good. The Tramp(still not sure about the name) is on a whole new level .
Waiting for more details, although you are going to have many competing products coming out at the same time. JLE is working on a 'mono' configuration, and from other forums(ASR) Topping may be going this route[TPA3255]. SMSL has both the DA9 and SA400 based on Infineon chips(x2) on the market, although heat may be a problem with the SA400.
There is a limit on what we can achieve on TPA3255..unless you have a matching PSU thats in uV of noise.
Gain structure of TPA is low and we cannot rely on it too much to remove noise and distortion . The only way to reach Purifi (and frankly now I am gunning for Benchmark amp) is to make incredibly low noise and distortion...everything . Class D has no PSSR when signal is applied .
I was very fortunate to work a lot on TPA3118 and in the process we learned that not only THD but also (for example) noise thats out of band , impacts ( some speakers more than others) sound quality .
Therefor I used every trick I learned (and all are measurable but not necessarily on THD) to make this new amp.
JLP makes very good amps with great quality/price. Topping willl have a good THD+N (but I am rather sure to beat them). In the end everyone has to make their own choice .
I will open preorders for the AMPs (with waiting time) in about 1 month (1.5 months maybe) and some discount for 100 units only .
Gain structure of TPA is low and we cannot rely on it too much to remove noise and distortion . The only way to reach Purifi (and frankly now I am gunning for Benchmark amp) is to make incredibly low noise and distortion...everything . Class D has no PSSR when signal is applied .
I was very fortunate to work a lot on TPA3118 and in the process we learned that not only THD but also (for example) noise thats out of band , impacts ( some speakers more than others) sound quality .
Therefor I used every trick I learned (and all are measurable but not necessarily on THD) to make this new amp.
JLP makes very good amps with great quality/price. Topping willl have a good THD+N (but I am rather sure to beat them). In the end everyone has to make their own choice .
I will open preorders for the AMPs (with waiting time) in about 1 month (1.5 months maybe) and some discount for 100 units only .
Since you are gunning for Benchmark amp performance, and I have one here, maybe I should tell you about a surprising experience with it. First, at the suggestion of an professional high end audio designer friend I modified an Aragon 8008 MK II power amp to my friend's specifications. We then did listening tests comparing the Benchmark and the Aragon. Speakers were large panel (645 frame size) Sound Lab electrostats.
Majestic Series – Sound Lab Speakers
Sound Lab Majestic 645 electrostatic panel loudspeakers Review - Dagogo
The speakers are very revealing IME.
The Aragon amp sounded a little more distorted the the Benchmark, no surprise. However, I was surprised when the Aragon reproduced certain small details of sound that the Benchmark seemed to have somehow lost, or came very close to losing. The details were hardly there, but I knew from listening to real instruments (some of which I have here for direct comparison) that the lost or very attenuated details were almost certainly real and audible originally.
Then I remembered something I have heard multiple people claim, but I didn't believe, which was that global feedback causes loss of details. Seems impossible. After thinking about it for awhile, I have an idea of what might be going on (no attempt to prove it as of yet). I suspect the Benchmark has a noise modulation problem (aka 'noise floor modulation' so-named because of how it tends to appear on an typical audio fft).
The Benchmark's sound symptom reminds me of the sound of the dac in my laptop, not in terms of distortion of course, rather in terms of missing details with no hint that anything is missing. The small details just aren't there. In both cases, laptop dac and Benchmark amp, it sounds like small details are fading away into some very smooth and innocuous sounding noise. Yet, if Benchmark amplifier noise is measured by fft, it looks great. The thing is, a problem would occur if noise were modulated by the audio signal. In that case the noise can be dynamically changing in a way that tends not to show up on an fft, or else it tends to be ignored by the person evaluating the fft. Why the modulated noise doesn't show well up on a typical fft yet is audible is another subject which I could talk more about (it doesn't look like HD or IMD for one thing), but enough said for now.
Bottom like for me: My main amp for the Sound Labs now is the Aragon. The Benchmark sits unused in a corner.
Majestic Series – Sound Lab Speakers
Sound Lab Majestic 645 electrostatic panel loudspeakers Review - Dagogo
The speakers are very revealing IME.
The Aragon amp sounded a little more distorted the the Benchmark, no surprise. However, I was surprised when the Aragon reproduced certain small details of sound that the Benchmark seemed to have somehow lost, or came very close to losing. The details were hardly there, but I knew from listening to real instruments (some of which I have here for direct comparison) that the lost or very attenuated details were almost certainly real and audible originally.
Then I remembered something I have heard multiple people claim, but I didn't believe, which was that global feedback causes loss of details. Seems impossible. After thinking about it for awhile, I have an idea of what might be going on (no attempt to prove it as of yet). I suspect the Benchmark has a noise modulation problem (aka 'noise floor modulation' so-named because of how it tends to appear on an typical audio fft).
The Benchmark's sound symptom reminds me of the sound of the dac in my laptop, not in terms of distortion of course, rather in terms of missing details with no hint that anything is missing. The small details just aren't there. In both cases, laptop dac and Benchmark amp, it sounds like small details are fading away into some very smooth and innocuous sounding noise. Yet, if Benchmark amplifier noise is measured by fft, it looks great. The thing is, a problem would occur if noise were modulated by the audio signal. In that case the noise can be dynamically changing in a way that tends not to show up on an fft, or else it tends to be ignored by the person evaluating the fft. Why the modulated noise doesn't show well up on a typical fft yet is audible is another subject which I could talk more about (it doesn't look like HD or IMD for one thing), but enough said for now.
Bottom like for me: My main amp for the Sound Labs now is the Aragon. The Benchmark sits unused in a corner.
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That is good news. You did an excellent job with the Volt +D, that I'm sure the new amp will be competitive with alternatives that are coming. You can count on me for a preorder.
The custom hypex units from several small manufacturers have variable build quality so one needs to be careful about exactly what is on offer, especially with the NC122 & NC252 modules.
On ASR and here, some will tell you that your brain plays tricks on you, cause if it can't be mesured it does not exist (i know...annoying to the bone).
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Ah, but I didn't say it was unmeasurable. Its usually it is measurable, but I am not aware of any published studies correlating it with human audibility. However, there are reports of private research showing humans are exquisitely sensitive to very low levels of noise modulation. For example, ESS reports having done some private research in that area; in fact they trained their corporate executive team to hear it, and only one of them couldn't learn to recognize the effect (Martin Mallinson).
Regarding ASR, maybe they think it must be a non-issue or they would have already have read about it in some textbook.
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Sounds great! My NC121MP amp may be getting nervous.
I am curious, is the new amp going to have a (passive) SW out? The Hypex amps don't, but the slew of new amps with the Infineon MA12070 chipset are being compared favorably against the Hypex on sound quality, and they are selling for half the price and include SW out. A small convenience, but figured I'd ask anyway.
Benchmark amp do not use global feedback...or rather they use a different kind of feedback called 'feed forward' (in addition to traditional feedback.
Our new amp does not reply on feedback ( global or foward) to get great numbers . Instead , as I have said many , many times , we looked at every component and minimized distortions at source .
How does it impact the SQ ...thats the question .
Our new amp does not reply on feedback ( global or foward) to get great numbers . Instead , as I have said many , many times , we looked at every component and minimized distortions at source .
How does it impact the SQ ...thats the question .
could you give us an idea about the final price (2 amps)?
or at least... it will be closer to witch one the these: 0, 500, 1000, 1500?
Will you open pre-orders on ALLO's website ?
Looking forward to pre ordering the new amp and add it to the boss 2 dac setup
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could you give us an idea about the final price (2 amps)?
or at least... it will be closer to witch one the these: 0, 500, 1000, 1500?
It will way less than 1000 .Closer to 500 First amp will be dual mono with one 300W PSU. 140W per channel (limited by PSU)
Grreaat news. What i particularly like about my STA326 FDA, is its free "direct" sound, probably because there is no feeback.Open loop supporter.
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IMHO : Near 1000 or near 500 makes big sales difference.
(I am not poor. Near 500, i will not hesitate. But near 1000...)
I think that people will prefer to put the +500 in speakers rather than in the amp.
That there will be more and more Merus...
That years to come belongs to active speakers.
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ABH2 uses FF EC in OP stage to linearize it. There is indeed a lot of global FB
It's very difficult to get those numbers without it.
You will never achieve distortion numbers like the Benchmark without some form of feedback. Getting the front end linear is not that hard, it's the OP
stage non linearity and xover region that is the real challenge, especially when driving 2 or 4 ohms at significant power and higher frequencies.
TCD
Ok Terry , I am stopping the development of the amp based on your feedback.
Seriously though , I might not be able to reach Benchmark THD+N but it will be in a superior class as far as value .
Meanwhile I am back testing and tweaking ... we placed the order for the sample box.