antness
Member of the Trade: HeadAmp
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2002
- Posts
- 491
- Likes
- 10
Hello,
I'm very excited to show my latest amp, which is a clone of Kevin Gilmore's dynamic amp. First, some info about what is inside the amp
- Handmatched Vishay-Dale resistors, matched to 0.05%
- Transistors/LEDs matched to 0.05%
- OPA227 opamp for servo loop
- Alps Blue potentiometer
- Neutrik locking jack, black w/ gold contact
- Cardas RCA jacks
- XLR connection between PS and amp (future builds will use DIN)
- Ultra-bright blue LEDs
What is in the power supply:
- Talema toroidal transformer
- Panasonic caps
- Wima box caps
- Vishay-Dale resistors matched to 0.05%
- Adjustable voltage output w/ pot, 5V to 24V 800mA
How this began?
This project started with dissatisfaction of my META42 amp. I had built a META42 amp for home use before using Tangent's board, and I know it sounded much better. Since I don't need portability, I decided to build the amp to end all amps - still being solid state, of course. I ended up choosing the Gilmore amp after reading all of its praise on the forum. A couple weeks of careful part selecting, and I was on my way. BTW - the power supply PCB is home made, and the amp PCBs are miniboards from ExpressPCB. Future amps will use production boards. I built the amp, and surprisingly, it works great.
The amp is housed in a Hammond aluminum enclosure, and the power supply is housed in an identical enclosure. This works very well. If I wish to use this killer power supply with another amp, i just hook it right up.
A Review:
I listened to this amp with HD600s, my best cans. First impression compared to META42: wow. could not believe my ears. Even a MP3, the Gilmore amp reproduced so much better than the META42. It's like when you're on a plane, and you pop your ears - and your hearing is suddenly much more detailed. Going from a META42 to this amp is just like that. Everything is more open and detailed. The bass is incredible, you can just feel it all around you. The mids and highs are also superior to the META42 amp, in that they are more detailed and open. The Gilmore amp powers my HD600s to more than enough volume. Also, I listened on some Sony MDR-V600 cans and they came out of their shell a bit, and sounded great compared to how they are with a weaker amp. I know i'm not too good in reviews, so i'll summarize it this way: the META42, and any of my opamp based amps, sound far away and muddy in comparison to this amp.
Without further ado...the pictures:
A shot of my baby and headphones together
The front..look at those LEDs glow
The back, where all the action begins..
The inside! Yes, the amp itself is tiny - those are miniboards.
Thanks for checking my amp out. Ever finish a project and you just can't stop smiling and looking at it? This is that project for me!
-antness
I'm very excited to show my latest amp, which is a clone of Kevin Gilmore's dynamic amp. First, some info about what is inside the amp
- Handmatched Vishay-Dale resistors, matched to 0.05%
- Transistors/LEDs matched to 0.05%
- OPA227 opamp for servo loop
- Alps Blue potentiometer
- Neutrik locking jack, black w/ gold contact
- Cardas RCA jacks
- XLR connection between PS and amp (future builds will use DIN)
- Ultra-bright blue LEDs
What is in the power supply:
- Talema toroidal transformer
- Panasonic caps
- Wima box caps
- Vishay-Dale resistors matched to 0.05%
- Adjustable voltage output w/ pot, 5V to 24V 800mA
How this began?
This project started with dissatisfaction of my META42 amp. I had built a META42 amp for home use before using Tangent's board, and I know it sounded much better. Since I don't need portability, I decided to build the amp to end all amps - still being solid state, of course. I ended up choosing the Gilmore amp after reading all of its praise on the forum. A couple weeks of careful part selecting, and I was on my way. BTW - the power supply PCB is home made, and the amp PCBs are miniboards from ExpressPCB. Future amps will use production boards. I built the amp, and surprisingly, it works great.
The amp is housed in a Hammond aluminum enclosure, and the power supply is housed in an identical enclosure. This works very well. If I wish to use this killer power supply with another amp, i just hook it right up.
A Review:
I listened to this amp with HD600s, my best cans. First impression compared to META42: wow. could not believe my ears. Even a MP3, the Gilmore amp reproduced so much better than the META42. It's like when you're on a plane, and you pop your ears - and your hearing is suddenly much more detailed. Going from a META42 to this amp is just like that. Everything is more open and detailed. The bass is incredible, you can just feel it all around you. The mids and highs are also superior to the META42 amp, in that they are more detailed and open. The Gilmore amp powers my HD600s to more than enough volume. Also, I listened on some Sony MDR-V600 cans and they came out of their shell a bit, and sounded great compared to how they are with a weaker amp. I know i'm not too good in reviews, so i'll summarize it this way: the META42, and any of my opamp based amps, sound far away and muddy in comparison to this amp.
Without further ado...the pictures:
A shot of my baby and headphones together
The front..look at those LEDs glow
The back, where all the action begins..
The inside! Yes, the amp itself is tiny - those are miniboards.
Thanks for checking my amp out. Ever finish a project and you just can't stop smiling and looking at it? This is that project for me!
-antness
