AudioRoundTable.com: Silicon Valley » Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress

Home » Audio » Silicon Valley » Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress

Show: Today's Messages :: Navigator :: Polls
E-mail to friend

Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress [message #10430]

Thu, 13 April 2006 17:34

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

I like the looks of that amp. It uses simple basic parts; has a very thorough write-up and it includes a BOM from Mouser. I think a person could slap that together in a couple of spare nights.
I re-did my GC, took the AC input and ran small caps to ground from each leg. Used some new insulated signal wire and better speaker jacks. I still like that sound; just a little better now.

Report message to a moderator

Re: Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress [message #10431 is a reply to message #10430]

Thu, 13 April 2006 21:43

Wayne Parham
Messages: 18789
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I'm kinda fond of some basic SS amps like that too. With all the rush to tubes, some forget that solid state was developed as an improvement. Maybe some SS topologies aren't that great, but some are. Definitely worth a listen.

Report message to a moderator

Re: Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress [message #10432 is a reply to message #10431]

Fri, 14 April 2006 00:03

zek
Messages: 1
Registered: May 2009

Esquire

Where I can find schematics for this Class A SS amp?
If someone has it, please email me.
Thanks in advance.

Report message to a moderator

Re: Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress [message #10433 is a reply to message #10432]

Fri, 14 April 2006 06:57

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

The schematic is written up in the magazine AudioeXpress. You can find it on their web-site or by purchasing a copy of their current issue on newstands or somewhere like Borders Books or Barnes and Noble. The only copy I have is in the magazine.

Report message to a moderator

Re: Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress [message #10434 is a reply to message #10431]

Fri, 14 April 2006 07:03

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

I have always maintained the Threshold Stasis Class A amps of the early eighties compete with tubes; I like them.

Do you really think there was a rush to tubes? They still comprise a very small fraction of the overall high end.

Let me ask you; what was the reason as you see it for people to return to using tubes as amplification devices? I mean they are pretty expensive and problematic to implement. Why do people set themselves up for all that hassle?
All of the reasons people tossed them in the seventies are still valid; big/expensive/hard to place in a room/lots of heat/dangerous/lot of maintainence.

Report message to a moderator

Re: Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress [message #10435 is a reply to message #10434]

Fri, 14 April 2006 10:31

Wayne Parham
Messages: 18789
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Many of the highest cost amps have been made using tubes and there is also a DIY focus on them. I think a lot of it is nostalgia and I think also the distortion grouping makes them have a different sound. So for whatever reason, they're back and I think they're kind of cool. Sound good too. But I definitely don't rule out SS designs.

Report message to a moderator

Re: Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress [message #10436 is a reply to message #10435]

Fri, 14 April 2006 14:38

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

Well; hard to say.
One thing you can say for SS designs; they are a lot cheaper and easier to build.

Report message to a moderator

Re: Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress [message #10437 is a reply to message #10436]

Thu, 20 April 2006 21:40

lon
Messages: 760
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (2nd Degree)

I've been watching ebay for someone to put up an overstock
sale after the Christmas rush. The Sonic Impacts just came back
into the market last November after being sold out.

People are into modding them too: upgrade this and that, add
a 12 volt battery. The SI's are geared to the single driver
market mainly.

Sonic Impact mod page

Report message to a moderator

Re: Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress [message #10438 is a reply to message #10437]

Fri, 21 April 2006 09:17

Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (13th Degree)

I have one; I use it occasionally on outdoor speakers. I am not so big a fan of modding SS equipment anymore. The few experiments I tried were really so-so results. Sometimes the sound gets worse. I am a fan of Brian GT's GC kits. The sound they provide for the money is the best I have heard within reason for SS equipment. And you can use whatever parts you like.
Using two kits to bi-amp a nice horn-loaded two way is my next dream.
Whats up with you?

Report message to a moderator

Re: Class A SS amp in Audio eXpress [message #10439 is a reply to message #10438]

Fri, 21 April 2006 12:22

lon
Messages: 760
Registered: May 2009

Illuminati (2nd Degree)

I've been watching the BIB (Bigger is Better) project developments
at the full range driver sites. Terry Cain put up a design at
Full Range Driver Forum from some Japanese manuals quite a while
back. Now there is renewed interest in this folded pipe that
rear fires out the top instead of the bottom. Corner loading
is all-important in this build.

Other thing is an unique PVC application that I posted in
single driver forum here on building a Nautilus style t-line.

See subject line: "I wish I would have thought of this."

Report message to a moderator