[poorimpulsectrl]

From what I've read, I see that Tangent and some others responsible for the acclaimed meta42 design will build one for those like me who don't have the time nor electronic inclination to make one themselves.

Who else makes them? Tangents site is down at the moment and I understand that there's a bit of a wait once you have put an order through.

How is payment handled?

 

[DanG]

I would assume that you'll find each builder will handle payment in a different way.

The non-professional members that build amps that I'm aware of include eric343 and JMT. You may contact them by using the PM feature of Head-Fi or through e-mail. You can e-mail them by viewing their profiles and sending an e-mail through the form provided.

Good luck!

 

[kerelybonto]

eric343 apparently is on hiatus from amp building at the moment, so your only options for a META42 are JMT (who will also build CHA47 and CMoy amps) and tangent. tangent also sells the boards if you're interested in building your own.

Other non-commerical amp makers on Head-Fi include antness, who's about to start production on his version of Kevin Gilmore's dynamic amp, and Fixup, who is building two similar, very small, portable amps.

kerelybonto

 

[poorimpulsectrl]

Thank you , both of you.

I understand that all these guys are fairly busy because of the demand for their high quality work.

I've got the itch to buy an amp and new cans right this moment, after reading this forum non stop for the past week

That being said what kind of waiting time is there between placing an order for an amp and getting it? I suppose I should now find out everything I can about what components to use in the amp itself, now that I've pretty much decided on my next set of headphones and amp.

 

[andrzejpw]

from what I've been able to gather, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on how busy they are. Though tangent, when his site was up a few weeks ago, wasn't taking orders because of the demand. . .

Not sure if he's open now or not.

 

[Sol_Zhen]

I've dealt with JMT and he was great! I assume the others mentioned are just as good at communicating and quality.

Just remember the builders do it as a hobby.

In the feedback forum, check the message I posted in JMT's feedback. I posted links to pics of the CHA47 he built for me.

 

[DanG]

Antness and fixup are both small-scale commercial vendors. Just a small correction.

 

[KurtW]

There are many variations of the META42 design, so you should do some research to find out what you want. Besides the basics of battery vs AC operation, there are many different op amps and buffers to choose from, as well as the inclusion of current sources and extra power supply caps, difference case designs and volume controls, features like crossfeed and AC adaptors, etc. If you want a full blown unit that represents what this design can really do, expect to pay a fair amount...although it will probably still be far less than commercial designs of similar sound quality. Unfortunately many of the reviews of "META42" amps don't specify the build details that will have a big impact on the sound quality.

Tangent's excellent website and availabiltiy of parts for this design as been a big part of this design's well deserved success. I can easily understand that he could be overloaded at any given time. JMT has a very long history of successfully building amps for people, so you can't go wrong there. I have built two META42 amps for myself and I can say with the right components they are great amps. I would consider doing projects for people on a limited basis as well.

 

[poorimpulsectrl]

Thanks for the response Kurt.

I'm not sure if I just missed it but whenever I searched for meta42 I couldn't find any post discussing in particular all the ways in which things could vary. I've seen references to "maxed out metas" and what not but what I guess I'm looking for is a component list with their particular attributes and applications.

I gave google's cache a shot to read the stored version of tangent's page and see if I could find more info and will definitely check it out when DNS refreshes and the site is available again.

Is there a primer or FAQ on the meta42 and the choices/options one has in making it? I admit I'm somewhat overwhelmed by the wealth of considerations that can go into it and am almost inclined right now to buy a prebuilt amp i.e. Creek OBH11 or a meta42 with components chosen by the experts making them given my purposes.

 

[KurtW]

There is a excellent primer but its on Tangent's website. It still may have way more variables than you want to deal with, so your other idea of going to the builders of these, telling them what you're looking for and asking what they can do for you may be the best way. The basic variables are size, looks, price, battery or AC operation, and types of input and output jacks.