[L0rdGwyn]

Thnaks for sharing! No knocking the DIY Aegis, but man I love the look (especially the tranny covers) of the commercial version. Very nice! Do you know what it's going to sell for?

I think Zach said what he thinks the price will be somewhere on Head-Fi, but I don't want to quote in case it changes!

 

[Toonartist]

Thanks for sharing! That is quite an extravagant commercial Aegis. Looking forward to seeing the final version and what the differences are to the DIY.

Also love the looks of the Atrium and Caldera Closed he showed. Very cool.

Yeah, curious as to what transformers are being used. The darker tone looks good and I’m sucker for VU meters!

 

[Wes S]

Here's Zach's preview vid.

Damn!!!!! Incredible and very exciting stuff!

 

[L0rdGwyn]

It's funny looking back, think the first DIY thing I did was make some headphones using after-market Grado drivers, that was seven years ago. Pretty surreal to have something coming out on the market!

 

[Kdot]

It's funny looking back, think the first DIY thing I did was make some headphones using after-market Grado drivers, that was seven years ago. Pretty surreal to have something coming out on the market!

Congrats! I hope you celebrate and let it settle in a bit! What you have done is amazing and I’m excited to see what you do in the future!

 

[Wes S]

Congrats! I hope you celebrate and let it settle in a bit! What you have done is amazing and I’m excited to see what you do in the future!

Ditto!

 

[goldwerger]

It's funny looking back, think the first DIY thing I did was make some headphones using after-market Grado drivers, that was seven years ago. Pretty surreal to have something coming out on the market!

I hope this is a first step and that it will encourage you to take the second..

 

[bcowen]

It's funny looking back, think the first DIY thing I did was make some headphones using after-market Grado drivers, that was seven years ago. Pretty surreal to have something coming out on the market!

I'll echo @Kdot with the congrats! You put a gigantic amount of work into that (as well as your intellectual property) and then gave it freely to the DIY community. Any rewards that may follow are certainly well deserved.

 

[mchuckp]

I'll echo @Kdot with the congrats! You put a gigantic amount of work into that (not to mention your intellectual property) and then gave it freely to the DIY community. Any rewards that may follow are certainly very well deserved.

@L0rdGwyn :

I've been curious your background if you don't mind me asking. Does all of your knowledge on building come from a hobby or do you share this with your day job occupation? Pretty damn impressive what you've done and where you are going.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

@L0rdGwyn :

I've been curious your background if you don't mind me asking. Does all of your knowledge on building come from a hobby or do you share this with your day job occupation? Pretty damn impressive what you've done and where you are going.

No, I don't mind. My undergraduate degree is in chemistry, so I have a foundation in science/math/physics. So some is self-taught, but I've learned much from others in the DIY audio community (especially trained electrical engineers). But I work in healthcare as a critical care provider.

 

[David A Silva]

I hope this is a first step and that it will encourage you to take the second..

I also hope for this!

 

[khaine1711]

I do have what I think is an interesting pentode output OTL circuit that uses 9-pin noval dual triode input stage (designed for E88CC/6922, but can also use 12AU7 and others in the family) and a pentode cathode follower OTL output stage loaded by a choke, roughly 1W output. The output stage of this circuit, in theory, would be able to use any output tube that can be used in Aegis, however using them at a lower voltage, higher current bias point as this achieves a lower output impedance for an OTL. With the 9-pin tube input, there would be a significant amount of tube rolling options. In my design, there is also a feedback switch such that the use can choose two different feedback settings, or no feedback at all. With no feedback, the output impedance is ~60ohms. With the highest feedback setting, the output impedance is ~32ohms.

I've prototyped a version of this circuit and really liked the sound. I used a 100K potentiometer in the feedback loop so I could dial in the amount of feedback. I found the best sound was at around 4-5dB of feedback, not much but enough to smooth out some distortion and lower the output impedance a bit. More feedback could be added to achieve ~20ohm output impedance, but I think the sound at 4-5dB was better. The switch then would allow the user to change the amount of feedback depending on their preference or what headphone is being used. I need to build it again with some adjustments I've made; the one I prototyped used EL84, but I did not try it with higher power pentodes like EL34.

This is just one OTL circuit I have in the catalog, but it's one that is potentially viable as a commercial design. We'll see what happens with the ZMF Aegis first.

It's funny looking back, think the first DIY thing I did was make some headphones using after-market Grado drivers, that was seven years ago. Pretty surreal to have something coming out on the market!

To complete our armaments, we need a sword to compliment the Aegis! I also hope for another L0rdGwyn's DIY Excalibur/Durandal/Muramasa ...

An OTL would be nice, like the discontinued Airmid .

 

[DenverW]

Here's Zach's preview vid.

EEEE-gis?!?! Say it aint so!

What is the extra enclosure!!! Inquiring minds must know. Is there additional iron?

 

[L0rdGwyn]

EEEE-gis?!?! Say it aint so!

What is the extra enclosure!!! Inquiring minds must know. Is there additional iron?

That's where the anode chokes are!
As opposed to being inside the chassis.

 

[mattiastomas]

A big congrats @L0rdGwyn! Thoroughly deserved! Hope it paves the way for more awesomeness!