My latest realization... Emotiva XDA-1 DAC with XLR balanced terminated HD650s.  For $250 shipped you get a great differential DAC with multiple ins (toslink/coax/usb/AES) and RCA and XLR outs.  I've built a couple buffalos, a three and four channel beta22, along with a few other things and this...

Let me clarify. If I was going on sound quality with respect to cost alone, I would get the gamma2. IMO, there's too much subjectivity once you get beyond a certain quality threshold to say which one is better or worse. But once you take the price into account, I would say that the gamma wins...

I've built both the gamma 1, gamma 2, and the Buffalo 32S. To my ears, all are quite good. The gamma 2 is probably my pick for best bang for the buck with easy casework if you use the face plates AMB supplies. However, the Buffalo 32S is more customizable if you want different inputs/outputs...

Quote: Originally Posted by TheShaman Would you guys say that a 3-channel (active ground) B22 would be better than a dual mono 2-channel version (= featuring two Sigma22s and separate transformers)? I'm thinking that some of the benefits attributed to active ground (channel...

Check out htguide.com as well. LOTS of great DIY designs and a very active community. zaphaudio.com has some very well documented designs too. I've built his SR71 and ZDT 3.5 designs in the last few months and have the speaker building bug at the moment.

I just tried mine... same problem.

Nice... almost as classy as my first Beta build:

Posted some new pics over at Amb's forum site. I'll probably be using that thread for updates ongoing: Here's the link.

Made some progress today after not touching this for weeks. Front panel: Boards mounted on heat sinks:

Looks awesome! Can't wait to see the finished product. Gotta get mine started up again.

I've used 16 and 18 gauge on my builds. Stranded is easier to work with. My umbilical for my balanced beta uses 14 gauge. That seems a bit over-overkill but it came as part of my speakon assembly.

I actually don't like the locking ones. If you trip over the wire, everything comes tumbling down... would rather the plug just come out. Plus, it takes two hands to remove the plug. Also, they're harder to mount and wire. I like these. Work great, simple, easy to use, and cheap!

second the mini3. also, they're standard hammond extruded aluminum enclosures. get the face plates from Amb as well for a super clean look.

Here you go.

If you plan on having the balanced amp run unbalanced, you'll need the ground to go back to the sigma PSU. So you'd need the 8 pole ecomate if they have one to accommodate this. I used an 8 pole speakon from Neutrik which is awesome. I got a matching preterminated cable from ebay for super cheap...