Nice discussion! Kits have added a lot to my hi-fi enjoyment and understanding
Your journey with lower-watt tube amps -- Can a kit be good enough?
Looking for stories about your low-watt amp journeys.
Here's the situation: I have new speakers, 97 db. Trying them with lower watt tube amps (45/211, 300b, etc) seems generally wise. I am attempting to borrow some from audiophiles in the area.
The horizon beyond trying these things involves actually buying some. I'm looking at a budget limit of about $5k.
Curious as to folks' experience with lower-watt amp kits vs. those of good makers (e.g. Dennis Had, etc.).
If you have any thoughts about the following, I'd be interested:
Did you start out with a kit and then get dissatisfied? Why?
Did you compare kits vs. pre-made and find big differences?
Did you find you could get the equivalent level of quality in a kit for much less than the same pre-made version? How about kit vs. used?
Also: did you find there was a difference between "point to point wiring" vs. "PCB" in these various permutations?
I realize that there are good kits and bad ones, good pre-made amps and bad ones. I'm hoping you'll be comparing units which seem at comparable levels of quality and price-points.
Thanks.
Showing 6 responses by bruce19
One thing missing from this long and delightful discussion is a mention of another kit building option that offers tube like sound with solid state gear. I’m talking about the DIY audio store where many designs by Nelson Pass and others are available along with an associated forum of DIY minded people. I began my kit building journey with Nelson Passes Amp Camp Amp at this store and have gone on to build a Firstwatt F6. and a Waynes 2018 preamp. I can’t say enough good things about the people on the forums, the build guides, and the end products which I find compare very nicely with my tube amps for sound and listening pleasure. All kit builders or would-be kit builders should be aware of this resource. |
@atmasphere Ralph, I'd like to test that with the implementation of my SETS (I've got the low power part covered with high efficiency speakers and modest listening levels). So I figure I need to split the audio signal before it gets to the SET and create one for the SET and one for my powered subwoofers. The first being treated with a high pass filter and the latter a low pass filter. It so happens I own a MiniDSP 2x4HD which I think can do the job. The only limitation is that I need to then use the internal Dac of the of the MiniDSP and it is not my preferred Dac. Are there alternative approaches that won't cost too much? My music server is a Mac mini running Roon. Roon can do DSP but as far as I know I can only treat one signal stream at a time and there is no way to split the original signal in two and get two outputs from the computer. Any ideas would be appreciated. Is there possibly a way to split the output from a Dac and then apply the high and low bandpass filters using some combinations of resistors and capacitors as done in a speaker crossover? |
Thanks again! You mention using them as coupling caps. I'm curious might they also work well as coupling caps in my Elekit TU-8900 kit or other sets with 0.1 uF coupling caps with say the 0.1 uF and 1kvdc rating? I built it with the stock coupling caps figuring I might try the expensive type later, but at $4 apiece these are a much cheaper experiment than Audio Note copper or silver caps. |