DT531 - Need Amp

[aeriyn]

Building a pimeta is really easy if you don't try to get cute with it. Stick to Tangent's directions, house it in a plastic case and/or use the default hammond extruded aluminum jobs with isolated DC jacks or batteries, and you're good to go. There are crazy people on the forums like myself and others who went totally insane-crazy building a pimeta... such as mine, for example.

 

[MrJoshua]

I'd like to build a Pimeta...

Do they ship the PCB's to the UK, and how easy are all the components to come by? (ie are there any wierd parts that Rapid wouldn't keep in stock?)

How much does a pretty standard Pimeta cost to build?

(I'm running my cMoy with 12v and it is driving my DT531's way loud enough, but if you say I could get better SQ with a Pimeta, I'd be interested!

 

[aeriyn]

Tangent ships the PCB to Europe, I'm almost positive. The price would run you, for a standard pimeta, following Tangent's part list, probably around $150-160 US. If you use the premium parts (like the ALPS RK27 volume pot, stack the buffers, use more expensive opamps like AD8620/8610 and OPA627/637, use premium audio caps like Elna Cerafine/SILMIC II or BGs, Cardas RCA jacks, etc.) it can get expensive really fast.

My first PIMETA was a standard one, following exactly what Tangent's part list told me except I used the largest Panasonic FC rail caps that would fit on the board and not be too tall (1000uF) and I sourced RCA 1% metal-film resistors locally instead of buying the vishays. It cost me around 150.

My current one was closer to 220 however.

 

[DonCorleone]

Sounds nice. What Opamp do you recommend and should I have dual or single ?

 

[aeriyn]

Using dual opamps is easier and cheaper as you don't have to buy a browndog adapter to adapt 2 single-channel opamps to a dual opamp pinout. Using two single-channel opamps is also more expensive but you get better performance. On the pimeta I think using two AD8610s is probably overkill; I can't tell the difference between two and a dual myself.

Opamp choice is purely subjective. ^^ Definitely socket all your opamp positions so you can "roll" opamps later if you don't like the sound of one compared to another. But for the PIMETA, opamps that I personally like are the AD86x0 opamps, the AD843AN opamp and the LM6171... although the LM6171 is a bipolar-input opamp and is much more difficult to work with than the other FET input opamps, I do not recommend it to anyone who has never worked with electronics before. Even to me it was a serious PITA to get to work properly. I especially love the AD8620 and AD8610 opamps, but they might not pair well with Grados due to their brightness. OPA637 and 627 are also good choices, but expensive and require more power than the Analog Devices chips.

 

[ReDVsion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DonCorleone It would be really nice but I'll probably never get that kind of money to buy a tube or Perreaux. One alternative that I thaught about is building a PIMETA. Is it hard to build one ? As I mentioned before I don't think myself could do it but my dad is more experienced. Oh, this IS a tough decision .

Believe it or not there ARE some inexpensive tube amps out there - right now I'm using a Bada PH-1 that I got for $130 with my DT531s. From memory it sounds better than my old Gilmore V1 did with them, but it's been a while since I had another amp, so I don't *really* know how the synergy is. And most used Perreauxs I've seen go for under $200. But that's still probably more than you want to spend. In that case, most of the recommendations you've been getting about Pimetas (or one of Norms discontinued Vibe amps - snag one if you can) are spot-on. As aeriyn said, you can opamp roll to better match the amp to your cans, which is a nice little feature.

 

[DonCorleone]

What is opamp roll ? maybe a stupid question but I'm a lit tle stupid so don't worry.

 

[silmaauki]

Cmoy would be a huge improvement over driving them directly from Ipd or most of the receivers. I have DT531's and I have tried them with receivers and Cmoy. The Cmoy is where you get a lot value for the money. However as stated earlier here, the improvement does not stop in here. I do have Corda HA-1 as well and I'm already evaluating about improvements. Well I did already change the opamps.

I would suggest you (or or your father) to build the Cmoy. That way you should get improment for just a few dollars. If you still want more improvement you can most certainly get your money back by selling it and then you can evaluate better options.

Just an opinion from the other side of the pond...