[DrJon]

(Warning: I'm new to this whole headphone and amp thing.)

In my reading here about amps, I came across the Mapletree Ear+ HD kit. It’s something I might be interested in making. A kit could be fun to try and allow for customization of the case/cabinet with some pretty wood or something (I have some basic woodworking skills). I’m looking for a versatile amp (tube or solid state) that will handle most headphones with ease. Just want to make one and not feel the need to upgradde later. Although with the influx of super cheap Chinese amps, it might not be worth the effort of building an amp. Just wondering about other nice kits that might be out there. Thanks.

 

[Xakepa]

I had the chance to hear Voodoochile's M.A.D. Ear+ at Boston's meet last week. This was my most impressive expirience (well...after ES-1/Orpheus to be honest). Tube sound that is fast, tight and extended, and doesn't cost a fortune. His DAC was also top-notch, but as the sound (DAC->MAD Ear->HD650) was great, so the amp should be great as well.

If you can afford, get one!

 

[randytsuch]

I don't want to discourage you, but tube amps carry lethal voltages. You need to be very carefull with them.

Depending on your knowledge of electronics, may not be the best way to start with headphone amps.

BTW, there is a mapletree forum here
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?board=29.0

Good luck with your choice

Randy

 

[soloz2]

I started with a PIMETA

 

[Uncle Erik]

Have you considered one of these?

You can find more about them here:

http://www.bottlehead.com/et/adobespc/S.E.X./SEX.htm

It's a pretty fair deal at $369 and you can also use it to power high-efficiency speakers.

 

[Voodoochile]

I suggest either the BottleHead kit that Uncle Erik posted, or the Mapletree Ear+HD. You can start with the BottleHead kit for less money, but if you buy the upgrades for it, it ends up being about the same, or maybe a little more than the Ear+HD.

I have not heard the BottleHead amp myself, but several folks here have built it, and it gets good reviews. The Ear has a small following here as well. Seems that some people really like it, others are not interested. I love my Ear+HD, but still will probably build the BottleHead amp sometime.

-tube sound sidebar-
I was very leary of a tube amp for fear of it sounding "tubey"... which many people associate with warm, smooth, etc, and was concerned about it sounding slow or bloated. My main amp was a PPA with everything but the kitchen sink in it.

Well, I could not have been more wrong. The Ear is very fast, and has very clean and clear detail. Excellent bass extention, but it's still tight and fast. Oh yeah, I already said fast. Works well with HF-1 and RS-1 too, but is a bit sensitive. Sounds wonderful with Senn 650s.

 

[DrJon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by randytsuch I don't want to discourage you, but tube amps carry lethal voltages. You need to be very carefull with them.

I appreciate the concern. So, umm, what should I do- or not- to stay alive when doing this? My experience with electronics is not great. I’ve soldered together some speaker crossovers and that’s about it. But learning all this is part of the appeal of trying a kit amp. Thanks.





Quote:

Originally Posted by Xakepa I had the chance to hear Voodoochile's M.A.D. Ear+ at Boston's meet last week. This was my most impressive expirience (well...after ES-1/Orpheus to be honest). Tube sound that is fast, tight and extended, and doesn't cost a fortune. His DAC was also top-notch, but as the sound (DAC->MAD Ear->HD650) was great, so the amp should be great as well. If you can afford, get one!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voodoochile The Ear is very fast, and has very clean and clear detail. Excellent bass extention, but it's still tight and fast. Oh yeah, I already said fast. Works well with HF-1 and RS-1 too, but is a bit sensitive. Sounds wonderful with Senn 650s.

Hmmm… I’m starting to sense a consensus.

Of all my reading so far, the Ear seems to be one of the most highly regarded amps around here. There being a kit makes it even more appealing. It’s pretty to look at (for an amp).

Even more appealing is that it looks to be customizable. I saw a ‘for sale’ ad on one where there were some extra inputs, bypasses, etc. worked into an Ear. So maybe I could get those. Something I’d like to add to the amp: The amp will take the headphone out jack from my computer (Mac G5 tower). I’ve got speakers hooked up to the computer now (Klipsch ProMedia or something). I’d like to have both the speakers and headphones connected. And then just flip a switch for which one to use. No idea how to get that in the amp, though.

 

[Pendergast]

I started with the portable ones: cmoy, MINT, PINT, then went bigger scale with the SEXperimenter from bottlehead.

It was a good school; I knew how to use a soldering iron, but the PINT and the SEX forced me to use a voltmeter and check my circuit. I am very satisfied with both the PINT and SEX, so much so I offered a PINT and a SEX to good acquaintances of mine.

The SEX is modifiable (hence, the SEXperimenter), but you may need some knowledge of electronics to do so. For instance, you need to unplug the speakers if you want only the 'phones. That can be annoying. However, the bottlehead forum has a nice group of people with imagination, and you can have recommendations from the conceptors of the SEX, whom are real straightforward to work with.

I haven't heard the EAR, but I heard it is a nice piece as well.

Myself I have a Powerbook 12" 1GHz, and the amp is plugged through a Audiophile USB, so the sound is not colored by the amp of the sound out of the Apple. You might consider this for better sound reproduction.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[DrJon]

Pendergast-
Thanks for the thoughts. Do you think you could have jumped from no experience straight to the SEX? The only experience I'll have with electronics is building speaker crossovers.


-=-=-=-

Do you guys think the Ear+ HD would be a good all around amp? I don't want to get an amp that's good for low or high impedance headphones. And then need another amp later if I switch to different headphones. If I build this thing, it will be a fair amount of time invested (and money). So I want to do it just once. Thanks.

 

[Pendergast]

DrJon,

I think that in matters of proficiency in building a kit, it comes down to time and personality.

Taking time to do things one step after the other, and never rush into things...

If I take the SEX kit, my first experience resulted in a power transformer blown up because I reversed a diode. I was certain I followed the step very carefully. But I did that apparently stupid mistake. The Doc (at bottlehead) gave support, troubleshooting advice and gave me free diodes, free power transfo, and a few free caps to repair my mistake.

That is great customer service for a mistake done by the customer. However, had I not have some experience in building a few amps before, I could easily have been discouraged, and enclined to throw the whole thing thru the window. Well, that's me.

I think anyone can build this kit (the bottlehead) by folllowing the very thorough manual (it is really excellent!), as long as they stay patient and advance step by step, carefully. If you are able to make nice solder, the type that shines like a mirror and does not look like a blurt, but a nice and smooth shape, you can make this kit. It is also safe to build because the ground bus is extensive. However, you need to follow the safety measures any time you work with high voltages; your life may depend on it.

Other than that, your mileage may vary.

Hope this helps,

 

[randytsuch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrJon I appreciate the concern. So, umm, what should I do- or not- to stay alive when doing this? My experience with electronics is not great. I’ve soldered together some speaker crossovers and that’s about it. But learning all this is part of the appeal of trying a kit amp. Thanks.

Sorry for the delay, did not have time to respond before.

My first boss, back in the early 80's, grew up with tubes, and he taught me to work with one hand behind you back when probing high voltage circuits. This way, you can't get the voltage across you body. If you touch something with a finger, might hurt and scare you, but it should not kill you. If you have one hand on ground, and the other hand on 300 volts, so the voltage goes through you body, you might be in trouble.

The other thing I do, is always put a bleeder resistor on the high voltage caps. I build the power supply section first, and make sure it works before installing any tubes. But, if you do this, then there is nothing to discharge the caps, and they will still be at a high voltage, even AFTER you turn the amp off. I normally put a high value resistor (maybe 500K) across the cap, to slowly discharge the cap. A lower value resistor will discharge the cap faster, but then you need to make sure you use a resistor with a high enough power rating.

If you are doing this on a 300 volt line,
P (power) = V squared/R
P = 90,000/R
If R = 500K
then P=.18 watts, and you can use a 1/4 watt resistor.

When working on tube stuff, I always put a volt meter across the one of the high voltage caps, and make sure the voltage has discharged to less then around 10 volts before I start working on the amp.

Good luck
Randy

 

[DrJon]

Pendergast-

Thanks for the perspective. I’m in the middle of my first speaker building project now. And I’m taking much longer than everyone else usually does. I was careful with my cabinet design (overengineered, really) and I’m being meticulous with the woodworking. So I’ve got the patience. But sometimes that’s not enough.

Randy-

Thanks for the perspective, as well. When you say you put a resitor across a cap, how do you do that? Just clip them together on the end you’re not using? And the caps don’t have any charge if it’s never been plugged in, right?

 

[randytsuch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrJon Randy- Thanks for the perspective, as well. When you say you put a resitor across a cap, how do you do that? Just clip them together on the end you’re not using? And the caps don’t have any charge if it’s never been plugged in, right?

The caps I am talking about will be large electrolytic caps, which will have a positive and negative terminal. For this, it does not really matter which is which, you just connect the resistor from the negative terminal to the positive terminal. This allows the stored energy to discharge from the cap.
But, just as a note, when you install these caps, you must make sure the postive and negative terminals are in the right place.

If the amp was never plugged in, the caps will not have any charge on them. But, I would not build this without at least a decent meter, and you can use the meter to make sure the caps have no voltage, measuring between the positive and negative terminals.

Randy

 

[MaraUCSD]

Hey, how much is the mapletree kit? My google search yielded the homepage, but no price info.

Thanks.

 

[mrarroyo]

See: http://hollowstate.netfirms.com/prices.htm

You buy the Ear + ($450) and the HD kit ($50) for $500 total.