Any good DIY poweramp projects?

[bg4533]

I am getting new speakers and am looking for an amp or receiver to power them. My budget is $200-$300, but is a little flexible. Are there any good DIY poweramp projects around? I am open to tubes and SS and enjoy a tubey sound. I will probably just buy something, but I enjoy DIY so if there is something that compares well I will check into it.

Even if there is nothing in my price range or worth making can someone point me to a few plans? I am interested in seeing the design differences between a poweramp and a headphone amp. I have looked around at diyaudio, but it seems a bit unorganized and I don't know where to start.

Thanks.

 

[ilikemonkeys]

hey big daddy,

I just built the little tube amp form Circuit specialists inc. and it's awsome. I'm really surprised. You can build them in monoblock per a link in the "Wow" thread. Check it out. I"m really happy with it.

Plus, there a re a ton of reallyl bright posters around here that will help you if you have any trouble with the build.

I love Head-fi.

BILL

 

[00940]

What are your speakers ? How much power do you need, size of the room ?

Two safe bets for conventionnal power amps with some power (80W roughly). You have the ESP p3A amp, the advantage being you can get pcb and a lot of support. check http://sound.westhost.com/project3a.htm and http://www.anidian.com/audio/construct/p3a_1.shtml Lots of infos on diyaudio about it and esp will provide detailled instructions.

The other usual amp in this price range is the Leach amp. http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~mleach/lowtim/ there for the info and a pcb group buy is slowly organizing itself here : http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...=&pagenumber=1

With 300$, you should be ok with those two projects. Be you'll probably have to hunt the transformer and big caps on ebay to save some cash. Those are solid value, classic designs. If you can push your budget above that, you could perhaps afford the AKSA55. It got nice reviews on diyaudio. Check : http://www.printedelectronics.com/bu...ing_price.html

If 30 watts are enough, you have the famous gainclone. Far easier since they use so few parts. You can get kits and pcb here : http://www.chipamp.com/ A lot of documentation on diyaudio.

And then, you have the tube amps. For 300$ though, you'll only have very low powered ones, so see what you need.

But if you don't need much power, then you can try also a pure class A amp. Most of the cash will go to the heatsinks and xformer, ebay is your friend again. Check http://www.passdiy.com/amps.htm for the zen.

Lots of choices, no ?

PS : the difference between a headphone amp and a speaker amp is perhaps mainly to be found in the casework. It's easy to fit a small amp in a hammond box. To deal with a Zen and its huge heatsinks ain't as easy. If you don't feel confident wrt the casework, the gainclones are probably made for you.

 

[rickcr42]

the chip amp suggestion a good one.you can buitld it simple and cheap or to actual high end audio standrds.no pcb is required -hard wired is not only an option but the best assembly method and the basic chip is inexpensive.
Best of all there is extensive net dociumentation and examples of builds to give you some idea where you want to take it.

if later you want to move on to something else you will still have a fine amp for a second system

go for it man


http://ampchipdiy.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=2[/UR]

 

[bg4533]

Thanks for the replys. The speakers will be either Mission M72s or more likely M73s. I have no idea how much power they really need. This system will be in my bedroom which is about 10'x14'. I am moving in about 9 months and should have a bit bigger room then. I am trying to design this system with the future in mind. I rarely turn things up very loud, so I would prefer quality at lower volumes than a system that will play louder.

I am starting finals here so I don't have much time to read through all the links right now. The gainclone looks interesting so far. My case skills are a bit lacking, but I am looking to learn as a Dynahi is in my future. In relation to the headphone amp world what would the gainclone roughly be equivalent to (i.e CMOY, Pimeta, etc.)? How do these DIY amps compare to things like the Panasonic and JVC digital receivers?

Thanks.

 

[amb]

If you don't want to build your own, you can always find a good used classic poweramp on ebay. I like the Hafler DH220 (115W/ch), very rugged, MOSFET outputs and good sounding. One in good condition could be had for around $150. It can also serve as a good basis for some tasty mods. Far superior than some mid-fi receiver imho.

 

[jnewman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amb If you don't want to build your own, you can always find a good used classic poweramp on ebay. I like the Hafler DH220 (115W/ch), very rugged, MOSFET outputs and good sounding. One in good condition could be had for around $150. It can also serve as a good basis for some tasty mods. Far superior than some mid-fi receiver imho.

I have a Halfer DH500 (bigger brother) - they're great amps, and actually a lot of 'em were built as kits a long time ago. Mine was built by one of my friends in the 70's.

 

[ooheadsoo]

I don't consider the receivers mentioned here mid-fi.

I've also heard less than stellar things about the mids and highs of proaudio amps, though they're supposed to be great for subwoofers.

The AKSA has a great reputation, one that I would like to try some day, but it is a bit picky with the capacitance of the speaker cables etc.

 

[amb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ooheadsoo I've also heard less than stellar things about the mids and highs of proaudio amps, though they're supposed to be great for subwoofers.

The Hafler Company (when David Hafler was still at its helm) was a home audio brand, and only became favored in the pro field because of their stellar reliability. The company continued the legacy of its forebear, Dynaco, in offering high-end at a modest price in assembled or kit forms. The DH200, DH220 and DH500 power amps, designed by Erno Borbely, were highly regarded in their day. Even today they need not take a backseat to modern designs. Only after Rockford Corporation tookover the company did Hafler became focused in the pro audio business.

 

[evo_lution]

Quote:

If 30 watts are enough, you have the famous gainclone. Far easier since they use so few parts. You can get kits and pcb here : http://www.chipamp.com/ A lot of documentation on diyaudio

I would go with the GC, having built one of BrianGT kits- its simple straightforward and will surprise you with its sound quality.
It will easily drive your Missions.

 

[rickcr42]

not only is the gainclone tyoe amp more than enough to drive most speakers in the average room size but can be made so easily and for such little cash outlay and assembly time that it is a win win thing.

This may be simple but there are sooo many ways to modify the intial design that will bring it to new heights audibly that to not build it unless the option far superior or way cheaper would be a bad decision man.

Suggestion : build it straight,nothing fancy,generic parts,simple chassis,then listen to it in your system for a time.
Once you are familiar with the amp and still want more then you can just upgrade the areas you need to or improve the prts quality until in the end you have a fully "tricked" out amp that will not shame you when others hear it.Trust me man,the basic little amp done point-to-point sounds sweet and you would have to spend a lot more to better it.

Even the LM1875 sounds good and it presently is my computer system power amp : inverting mode,lead acid battery power supply,jfet input buffer,upgraded parts......and all on a simple slab of stained pine board "open frame" style

 

[ooheadsoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amb The Hafler Company (when David Hafler was still at its helm) was a home audio brand, and only became favored in the pro field because of their stellar reliability. The company continued the legacy of its forebear, Dynaco, in offering high-end at a modest price in assembled or kit forms. The DH200, DH220 and DH500 power amps, designed by Erno Borbely, were highly regarded in their day. Even today they need not take a backseat to modern designs. Only after Rockford Corporation tookover the company did Hafler became focused in the pro audio business.

Yeah, I've heard that a bunch of the old haflers are pretty good, but also that the new digital amps are better - from a guy who uses both.

 

[00940]

I forgot the UCD classD amp. They're getting rave reviews. But you'll have to be extremely carefull with the PS, it must be top notch. More like a 400$ project though.
http://www.hypex.nl/main.htm

 

[chillysalsa]

If you're feeling ambitious, you can check out Pass Lab clones at http://www.passdiy.com/. [seems the site is down at the moment though?!?] There's plenty of help in the Passlabs board on diyaudio.com.

 

[00940]

For the clones of the aleph, you must in fact get the schematics here, in the service manuals : http://www.passlabs.com/downloads.htm

But good luck to fit one in a 300$ budget.