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Cheap Solid-State amp?

post #1 of 8
7/21/11 at 9:35pm
Thread Starter 

After building my portable CMoy amp i realized that it is better then my current desktop amp.  I have a nice enclosure that was used in the late 70s(I think) for a guitar distortion amp, I pulled out all the previous circuitry and found it pretty interesting, looks like it was built by a audio DIY'er some years ago it has a nice 6v 2A transformer, would it still be usable how does age affect transformers? 

I'm also looking for a solid state amplifier schematic something like an upgraded cmoy as there isn't a lot of space although it has a vertical slot for a second board. Is there any good small solid states under $100 or should i just make another cmoy. Is 6v enough? I only have 40ohm XB500s and 55ohm K240 studios.

Sorry for the rambling and run on sentences.

 

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post #2 of 8
7/21/11 at 9:52pm

maybe you could make a fully balanced cmoy with botique components. 

 

also, you could build a pimeta v2 for about 120-130$ if you want to go over your price range a bit for a big upgrade over the cmoy. the pimeta is very small and sounds great from what ive read (havent actually built one).

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post #3 of 8
7/21/11 at 9:59pm
Thread Starter 

Hmm looks like it would fit perfectly.  I have quite a few extra components so it might make it in my price range.  Thanks for that.  

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post #4 of 8
7/21/11 at 10:02pm

no problem post pics once you finish! im interested in this vintage case of yours smily_headphones1.gif

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post #5 of 8
7/21/11 at 10:32pm
Thread Starter 

Will do. 

I'm sanding the paint off though it was extremely dirty, I wanted to keep that look but couldn't it was just too dirty. 

I might end up painting it that same color though.

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post #6 of 8
7/23/11 at 2:16pm
Thread Starter 

Alright so after much thought i've decided to go with the cmoy as i figured that a cmoy using top of the line parts would outperform an pimeta v2 using cheap components.  Any suggestions on making the cmoy sound better other than large high quality capacitor's and resistor's?  What Op-Amp should i use? 

And what do you mean by fully balanced and botique components? Tried googling but result were useless. Any links?

Thanks, still pretty new to this world

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post #7 of 8
7/23/11 at 2:23pm

by botique components i mean higher quality components. like nichicon muse or black gate capacitors for example.

 

making it balanced is a little harder to explain. i dont quite fully understand it, but im sure someone who does will post.

basically if an amp is balanced, instead of just pushing signal to the amp and having a standard ground, it will be pushing and pulling the signal instead. in essence you have your standard signal going into the phones, and the polar opposite coming back. this eliminates noise and interference in the cables. 

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post #8 of 8
7/23/11 at 3:43pm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by John In Cali View Post

Alright so after much thought i've decided to go with the cmoy as i figured that a cmoy using top of the line parts would outperform an pimeta v2 using cheap components.  

 


I disagree. Better designs with average quality but functional parts are better than bad designs with "good" parts. Yes, Im calling the Cmoy BAD - Its strong points are being inexpensive and having a short BOM. Due to the PCB, a Pimeta may be easier than perf-boarding a Cmoy. SMT soldering is kind of tricky, but Id take it over perf-board any day.   

 

Spending money on a VW like its a porsche does not make it a porsche. 

 

Dont worry about balanced operation in circuits with more than about 40db of global feedback. 

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