DIY stereo (headphone as well) amp suggestions?

[stevodotorg]

I am mainly looking for something to build that I can use with headphones of course, but would be able to use with speakers in the future (or maybe even right away for that matter).

I have intermediate solder skills and personally I have never used a schematic before, but I pick up on that kind of stuff pretty quickly in my opinion.

I've always thought that it would be wonderful to own a stereo tube amp without spending the ridiculous amount of money, but the AMB B22 looks like it might be just up to par with most tube stereo amps?

Anyway, if anyone happens to have any suggestions to offer me in terms of amps I might be interested in building to suit my stereo and headphone needs, please feel free to let me know, thanks so much for taking the time to read this as well

 

[Uncle Erik]

How about a kit?

OTL DIY Vacuum Tube Amplifiers Stereo Preamplifiers High End Audio Kits

Bottlehead.com

The Transcendent SE OTL would probably be OK with headphones. It puts out 1.5W which should drive just about any headphone. One caveat is that this amp would also require a preamp.

The Bottlehead S.E.X. is designed to drive both headphones and speakers.

Of course, you'd have to go with a pair of efficient speakers. I like fullrange drivers a lot. Something like a Voigt Pipe with Fostex drivers or a pair with Jordan JX92S drivers would be nice.

The Beta22 is a fine amp, but solid state is different from tubes. Not worse, just different.

Also, how much are you looking to spend?

 

[stevodotorg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif How about a kit? OTL DIY Vacuum Tube Amplifiers Stereo Preamplifiers High End Audio Kits Bottlehead.com The Transcendent SE OTL would probably be OK with headphones. It puts out 1.5W which should drive just about any headphone. One caveat is that this amp would also require a preamp. The Bottlehead S.E.X. is designed to drive both headphones and speakers. Of course, you'd have to go with a pair of efficient speakers. I like fullrange drivers a lot. Something like a Voigt Pipe with Fostex drivers or a pair with Jordan JX92S drivers would be nice. The Beta22 is a fine amp, but solid state is different from tubes. Not worse, just different. Also, how much are you looking to spend?

Seems like even with the DIY stuff, one must spend around a grand, and even that's a deal, absolutely amazing stuff @ transcendentsound.com

I think personally I should wait it out, I'm a college student and still living with my family, but at least I am getting an idea of what is out there to build. Then on the other hand I have a wonderful Stanton record player with digital output waiting to someday be used, and it would be pretty nice to have something, I can always upgrade. I'm really just looking to power a couple shelf speakers really. Any suggestions in that sense?

In a couple years or so, you know, there are always upgrades

I guess this is why headphones work oh so well for college students like me

 

[amb]

stevodotorg, your sig says you have an M³ amp, which is capable of driving speakers if it's matched with a suitable power supply. It's low-powered as a speaker amp, but if your speakers are efficient and the room not too large, and you're not looking for extraordinary SPLs, you'd be surprised at what it could do. See the M³ website for details.

 

[stevodotorg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amb /img/forum/go_quote.gif stevodotorg, your sig says you have an M³ amp, which is capable of driving speakers if it's matched with a suitable power supply. It's low-powered as a speaker amp, but if your speakers are efficient and the room not too large, and you're not looking for extraordinary SPLs, you'd be surprised at what it could do. See the M³ website for details.

oh my, didn't expect to see you on the forums, so nice to get a reply from you, very cool!

anyway, thank you for informing me about my sig, I actually own a Mini^3 not the m3 unfortunately

But! do you happen to have any suggestions anyway regarding my situation? amb has some great diy stuff for the price, and looking at an M^3 desktop unit might fit my need and would be a fun project to work on.

 

[amb]

Oh well, I thought that I would have saved you some money...

If you're interested in building an M³ as a mixed headphone/speaker amp, be sure to pay special attention to the "Other options" and "Power supply" portions of the M³ website.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Have you thought about going with a vintage receiver? There's a lot of them out there and you should be able to find one locally. Try Craigslist, thrift stores, junk shops, garage sales, or any second hand place. You can find more about them here:

Tuner Information Center - Vintage Stereo Tuners

I like the old Marantz decks - you can usually find a decent one under $100. If you like to DIY, you can rebuild the power supply with new electrolytics and beefy resistors. You could do the amp section, too. I'd stay away from the FM section since those are fussy about parts and layout. You can replace stuff and not blow it up or anything, but FM is touchy and you'll probably have to realign it afterwards. That requires a 'scope and some practice. Though you could replace everything to save on parts and labor then have a FM guy do the alignment.

If you want to build a tube amp on the cheap, you can with some effort. You're not too far away, so you could probably get up here for the W6TRW swapmeet held the last Saturday of every month. Info here:

THE W6TRW ARC SWAPMEET

You can find tubes, transformers, components, darn near everything there. It's a lot of fun and plan to get there early.

Another great source is here:

Torrance Electronics
1545 West Carson Street
Torrance, CA 90501
310-328-2501

Pretty close to the 110 and they're fantastic. They still carry tubes and have tons of surplus parts scattered in boxes all over. You can find a ton of great stuff there. If you go, take cash. When they ring you up, tell them that you don't need a receipt and are paying cash. They'll give you a discount, usually 10%-20% off. And they're really cool.

Another place is here:

locations

I go to their place on Hawthorne. You never know what they're going to have and I've gotten some real steals in there. They have a lot of old electronic and test equipment for $10-$30. You can gut the cases and put your own stuff inside. Nice cases, too, stuff that would cost $100 or more if you bought new.

Also, go back to the Transcendent website and check out the "Audio Reality" book. It has plans for 5 amps inside and I think it's worth buying.

Anyhow, you can scrounge together an amp on the cheap if you want to. The biggest expenses are the transformers and the case. The good news is that used/surplus ones turn up cheap and you can reuse them. If you put some effort into it, you can put together a preamp under $100 and a power amp for $100-$200.