[a1rocketpilot]

I just had a good deal on a couple of Dynahi boards so I snatched them up. However, everyone always comments about the difficulty of the build. I know this will be a rather expensive amp and apparently a difficult one to build. What makes this amp so difficult to build, and what kind of skills do I need before I head into this project? Is it the transistor matching (never done that before), or making the heatsink (could possibly have that made) or something else? I will have built at least two amps before I proceed to this, so the soldering won't be any problem, so I don't really see what the real difficulty is with this amp I guess.

 

[Teerawit]

All of that you mentioned, and it's a technically complex amp and will be harder to troubleshoot.

 

[kilkil]

I didn't find it that difficult, though I read everything from the build threads. The most difficult part is sourcing components (at least 3 places), matching transistors, and attaching the heat sink. What is left is standard soldering, making sure you put the pieces in the correct place, adjusting dc offset, casing the amp while paying attention to the location of the power supply.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I don't know, either. I picked up enough boards for a Dynamite and have been accumulating parts for it. I'll fire up the soldering iron as soon as I finish getting everything.

The only thing that's going to be tricky is finding large heatsinks and probably making a custom case. As far as I know, there's no stock project case that holds it particularly well, so I've been sketching some things out and looking around to find a welder who can make it happen.

But electronically, it looks pretty straightforward. Can't wait to listen to it, etiher.

 

[DigiPete]

You'll love it!!

All the fab work for the heatsinks is the hardest part, and the trannie matching.

 

[Garbz]

Compare it to the other amps. Firstly there's significantly more parts that are directional and could potentially be put in incorrectly. More solder joints to screw up (cold joints have been trouble some for a few dynalo builders). The amp itself runs at a much higher voltage. While it's safe to pick up a CMoy while it's on, I'd take great care handling the Dynahi. The PSU is a big high-current beast which requires 240v experience to assemble safely. The heatsinks needs to be considered as the amp would not function without. Also alignment of the parts can be a problem as people often have experienced hum and other noises from alignments.

Then there's trouble shooting as has already been said.

 

[a1rocketpilot]

But despite all of this difficulty, it is worth it to build this amp is it not? Are there really any amps (at least SS amps) that are much superior to the Dynahi?

 

[PinkFloyd]

It's not so much "difficult" it's just unnecessarily HUGE and cumbersome to construct, far from "compact" but well worth the effort if you're looking for good sound apparantly.

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a1rocketpilot But despite all of this difficulty, it is worth it to build this amp is it not? Are there really any amps (at least SS amps) that are much superior to the Dynahi?

I really do think you should get some DIY amp experience before tackling the Dynahi

 

[Clutz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a1rocketpilot But despite all of this difficulty, it is worth it to build this amp is it not? Are there really any amps (at least SS amps) that are much superior to the Dynahi?

Asking "is it worth to build this amp is it not?" is the wrong question to ask. I haven't seen too many (if any) people that have complained about their dynahi's after they've completed them- but what fraction of people successfully complete a dynahi? - that is probably a better question to start with. Another question might be - "Do I have sufficient experience in DIY that I have a high probability of success?".

On one hand, if you know you want to complete a dynahi, it may seem like a waste of money to build simpler amps - cause you're just spending money on completing those projects when you already know that you want the dynahi. That said, completing those projects may reduce your overall cost of building a dynahi if it helps you get it built correctly on the first try. The opamps in the dynahi power supply are $10 each. They could get expensive to replace pretty quickly if you made a mistake.

Anyway, one amp that might be considered much better than the dynahi is the dynamite

Cheers,
Clutz.

 

[a1rocketpilot]

No question about it, I am certainly going to build a few amps before moving on to the Dynahi, not to mention I have to start saving up to construct it anyways. I may construct a Dynalo (maybe even a Dynamid) beforehand just to get the experience with dealing with discrete circuits, since so far I have just dealt with opamps. If I do complete a Dynalo too, that will be a total of 3 amps I have built before the Dynahi, so hopefully by that point, I will have gained everything I need to tackle it.

 

[DigiPete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a1rocketpilot No question about it, I am certainly going to build a few amps before moving on to the Dynahi, not to mention I have to start saving up to construct it anyways. I may construct a Dynalo (maybe even a Dynamid) beforehand just to get the experience with dealing with discrete circuits, since so far I have just dealt with opamps. If I do complete a Dynalo too, that will be a total of 3 amps I have built before the Dynahi, so hopefully by that point, I will have gained everything I need to tackle it.

Build the Dynalo first, that's what I did. Alot of the know-how directly applies to the Dynahi/Dynamite!

 

[kilkil]

If you are going to build the dynahi anyway, I would build it without building the intermediates just as a money saving adventure. Of course pay very close attention to make sure all the parts are the correct orientation, there should be plenty of completed pictures available to check the correct orientation of the transistors.

 

[a1rocketpilot]

Actually, the thing I am most worried about is the transistor matching. Since I don't have any hardware to fabricate the metal parts, I will be outsourcing that anyways.

 

[Teerawit]

For transistor matching, you could always borrow an hFE meter or something from an EE at GA Tech