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Best value $150-200 max DIY SS amp?

post #1 of 4
2/9/11 at 10:55am
Thread Starter 

So lately I've been looking into getting a solid-state complement to my SSMH, which has its share of quirks, especially with low-impedance headphones (Grados, portables, etc). I've been searching around this forum and I've found a few options, although there doesn't seem to be any consensus on what's best.

 

I don't particularly believe I can hear amplifier differences, so I don't want to stretch the budget too much. I'd like it to stay under $150 all-inclusive, but I know that's difficult to do, so $200 is my absolute max. I'm okay with hammond cases wink.gif I'd like to stick to something that has a PCB; working with P2P on my SSMH was a big pain and I don't want to have to spend that kind of time again.

 

I've never worked with power supplies/transformers before, so I'd like something that isn't too difficult to power up. I think I'd want something with more current output, as I plan to be using this with low-impedance headphones.

 

So far my search for possible candidates has given me:

CKKIII

PPAv2

Pimeta

Dynalo

Lovely Cube (semi-DIY)

and... that's about it.

 

I'd love to swing an M^3 (I've been interested in them ever since I got into Head-Fi) but I can't swing that kind of budget for what's supposed to be a secondary amplifier anyway. Maybe down the road I'll get around to building one...

 

So basically that's about it. Any ideas or relevant comparisons between two amplifiers? Thanks in advance!

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post #2 of 4
2/9/11 at 11:16am

Well, all of those listed are nice amps and I've built all except the Cube.

 

M^3 and PPAv2 are similarly priced, single-rail power supply required.

 

Parts availability for the Dynalo is going to be a little hard, dual-rail psu required.

 

The CKK-II is quite an easy build and sounds good.  PSU on PCB, just wire a transformer.

 

Pimeta, now the PimetaV2 is a nice amp that can be either portable or stationary.  Likely the cheapest to build.  For stationary, single-rail PSU required.

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post #3 of 4
2/9/11 at 1:04pm

I don't mean to hijack, but I'm looking to build something similar, and I was wondering if the AD8610 was a good opamp for grado's & other easier to drive headphones in the Pimeta? I am assuming one would need a single op-amp for the ground line and a dual op-amp for the l/r channels. Is it wrong to assume (by the specs) that an input voltage of 9v would be quite sufficient? Again I don't want to thread-jack but I figured I might as well toss this question in here since it could apply to both myself and the OP

 

 

 

Cost, single: $8.00 (AD8610) Vmin, 0.5V into 33 Ω: 5.7V
  Cost, dual: $13.33 (AD8620)   Vmin, 2.0V into 330 Ω: 7.6V
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post #4 of 4
2/9/11 at 1:16pm

Pimeta has a buffer, doesn't matter for "easy to drive" headphones.  As for voltage, a 9V battery (8.4V actually) should be fine with most efficient headphones.

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