DCAudioDIY.com

Hi,

my name is Mike, I'm from Gaithersburg, MD. Coming back to my long-neglected interest in electronics. I'm in the process of switching from buying equipment to building it. Already built a fully balanced tube preamp, a fully balanced solid state preamp with capacitive touch control (no knobs) with remote control capability. The most recent addition is the push-pull class A fully balanced monoblocks with 300b tubes. I have also plans for a phono stage and possibly a DAC. All I've built so far is more or less work in progress. They may not look very pretty but engineered to be modular and easy to repair. I wish I could take part in the amp shootout this year but I guess I have to wait for the next one. And one more thing, I don't build speakers (I have to draw the line somewhere ).

Mike:

Welcome. There are at least three of the group right in your area. Included are some who make their own electronics and speakers. Maybe we can not only help you with the electronics but convert you to speaker construction in one of your weaker moments. In the next few months I will be working on high resolution digital files with DSP and several DACS.

Tom

Welcome Michkhol !

I am new to this forum as well. Would love to hear more about your amps and some pictures if possible. Amjust starting to learn about the components involved in DIY amps

Jeff

Thanks guys! Here are some pictures:

Glad to hear that. I'm afraid that woodworking is not my cup of tea. I do metalworking out of necessity, I already have too much in electronics (analog design, digital design, embedded programming, PCB design, high-speed design, EMI considerations, general engineering). I wonder if there is a place where I can order an aluminum case, anodized, with silk screen completely by my specs.

I'm curious, why would you need a DSP? Room correction?

Thanks, Jeff!
My amps are not exotic at all, pretty much traditional schematic you can get from the Internet. The only reason they are fully balanced is that all my sources have balanced outputs. Had to accommodate
If you are starting to learn, here is the resource useful for any level: https://www.edx.org/course/mitx/mitx-6- ... 8cziVZurnc. I did it myself and highly recommend it.

<Mike:

I'm using DSP for crossover in a tri amped systesm, notch filtering for a cavity resonance in my RD75 planar magnetic drivers, time alignment of the three sections and overall base EQ. There is not much room correction as that is a very difficult thing to do. If you make one spot better you make another worse. I'm doing two seminars at the Capital Audiofest on Friday the 25th which partially addresses this.

As far as prototype cases, I am planning to use this company later this year for the DSP project I'm doing for the magazine.

http://www.protocasedesigner.com/

Tom

It sounds very interesting, I will try to attend. Personally I think a digital crossover is the way to go with speakers. This is the area I have not touched yet.


Thanks for the link, looks very promising.

https://www.edx.org/course/mitx/mitx-6- ... 8hFPrEuIep

Appreciate the link. It would be nice to get a basic bones understanding of the different types of amplifiers, their purposes, etc.

You see all the different terms and subjective opinions light bright, cheery etc, but what I want to learn is where a chip amp sings, why tube amps are considered great even though they seem to put out very low wattages. Class D is commonly used for subs in cars, but people seem to be using them for a variety of applications. Also interesting is I found for example a M7 amp board on ebay, allegedly capable of 100 wpc. If this is possible, then why do Krell Amps cost so much? It seems a bit absurd there would be 5000% markup on equipment. I know the audio field in general is notorious for absurd markup but that would be bringing absurd to a new lebel. Also interesting that guys like Nelson Pass, publish plans to build your own, yet design amps that cost more than my truck.

Back to research. Ordered a couple of intro to home audio style books, so hopefully I will have some good reading when they come in.

Think about that link as a fishing rod, not the fish. That (free) course gives you an understanding of the basics any electronic equipment is built on. It's the kind of knowledge that allows you to see the differences yourself instead of waiting for someone to explain them to you.