inside pictures of a singlepower mpx-3

[cpw]

I agree that a wider angle would give better perspective. Close ups can be scary. Have you ever looked at your own pores under magnification!
That said, the pix certainly give me pause re: build quality. Specifically, some of the voltages and current present in a tube design (especially one w/ huge capacitors) can be really dangerous. I'm not saying this amp is dangerous. It just seems like with those levels, one would want to have a confidence inspiring build. To be fair to the builder, it would be interesting to know if this is current production or an early example. Someone told me that SinglePower had made a production change of some sort. Can anyone confirm? Now I wish I had opened up my PPX3 before I sold it. I was afraid of doing something stupid and electrocuting myself!
CPW

 

[braillediver]

There’s a maximum level of sound quality available based on the optimum assembly and placement of those components. Any variation in the optimum design can only change or degrade the sound. This is supposed to be a professionally built amp and the price reflects that. When buying the amp there is an expectation of certain standards.

A well-implemented PCB design can sound better than a poorly implemented Point-to-Point layout.


Mitch

 

[smokey]

Has anyone asked the builder to comment on these pictures? Perhaps even supply his own pictures of a variety of his other amplifiers? There may even be some philosophy behind the way these are built.

I certainly have a bias towards a clean layout myself. But I am not an EE and have no reasoning behind why that may or may not affect the sound quality or longevity of the amplifier.

 

[vanillawafer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smokey Has anyone asked the builder to comment on these pictures? Perhaps even supply his own pictures of a variety of his other amplifiers? There may even be some philosophy behind the way these are built. I certainly have a bias towards a clean layout myself. But I am not an EE and have no reasoning behind why that may or may not affect the sound quality or longevity of the amplifier.

I was going to ask the exact same thing. Someone should ask Mikhail to comment. After all we give him a lot of business, and I think it would be nice for him to at least comment on reasoning behind the way he builds his amps.

 

[KR...]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlowWorm Just my 2 cents, but what does it matter what it LOOKS like inside? Isn't it what it SOUNDS like all that counts?

well,...

Quote:

the story is the person who took the pictures had an issue with the sound

It all looks like a mess to me, but I don't build amps so I let the experts here comment on it and it appears they have.

 

[gsferrari]

I think the philosphy is classic P2P :-

* Shortest possible distance between points
* Straight Wires without kinks (fields are produced at sharp junctions/kinks/frayed ends)
* literally Point to point.

It works, it sounds good and he has a SOLID warranty. Check his website for warranty details.

End of story for me. I am OUTTA HERE

 

[braillediver]

Caps and wires are considered microphonic. Vibration can cause issues.

Think of the insanity involved with interconnect cables and power cords. Then consider that some of these internal connections are no more than physical extensions of the interconnects and power cord. Does your $$$ power cord really get connected inside the amp with wire nuts?

Parallel wire runs increase capacitance.

Yes I’d like to see a full view of the amp and pictures of the rest- the tube sockets and volume pot areas.


Mitch

 

[GlowWorm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KR... well,... It all looks like a mess to me, but I don't build amps so I let the experts here comment on it and it appears they have.

Thanks KR for pointing that out to me, I'll have to be more observant next time, but looking at that mess of wires got me a little disorientated.

 

[oneeyedhobbit]

Second, with pictures up perhaps Mikhail can explaim his design choices. Hell, perhaps through input of the community (especially people like Dr. Gilmore and others who understand electronics) this can be cleaned up and salvaged.

At any rate, get the pics back up!

Edit: I can't help but wonder where all the people who happily trashed a friend of mine on this site for questioning Singlepower's internals are now?

 

[fiddler]

Quote:

Second, with pictures up perhaps Mikhail can explaim his design choices. Hell, perhaps through input of the community (especially people like Dr. Gilmore and others who understand electronics) this can be cleaned up and salvaged.

It would be interesting indeed to hear what Dr. Gilmore has to say about the Singlepower amps in terms of build quality.

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiddler It would be interesting indeed to hear what Dr. Gilmore has to say about the Singlepower amps in terms of build quality.

Really? This comment was posted in another thread here....If you like check the same thread for more info, there are other pics also, of one of his personal works...

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by genetic LOL... and what kind of bridges were you building at the beginning of your thread? Vanillawafer has every reasons to be shocked by the look of his amp. But since I have a RA-1 I can say that internal looks is not the main ingredient in sound quality... Now the security factor is another matter more important in my eyes. Amicalement

I agree Genetic. The sound is most important. You can find a point to point wiring job from the cold war era, and unless it's a Fisher 500, odds are the amp sucks. But Grado put out this RA-1 and I'm really loving it, I don't care if inside it's a juiced up cmoy. Singlepower could make wires out of yarn for all I care - as long as it doesn't go up in flames, and it sounds beautiful, who cares if it is Head-fi P r 0 n or not, right?

 

[braillediver]

If the manufacturer wants to comment on his design philosophy or his construction technique please enlighten us.

These pictures were not taken from Bhd812’s post. If the manufacturer contacts me I will post any correspondence we have openly since I have nothing to hide. I am posting the pictures to stimulate debate.

Mitch

 

[Jahn]

Can we back those babies up? Maybe zoom out so we can see the amp too? Heck, my wife's face looks ugly if i zoom it to just show her pores (don't tell her i said that tho please) - a pic of the casing with internals should suffice, eh?

 

[NightWoundsTime]

I love my singlepower and it's gonna take a lot to convince me that the insides are in any way harmful.