[Stephen Scharf]

Danny very kindly gave me the okay to post a notice for Burning Amp in his Circle.

Burning Amp 2021 will be held this year, Saturday, Oct. 16, and Sunday, Oct. 17, as a virtual event via Zoom.

Times are Noon - 3 PM PDT (GMT-7) each day.

Confirmed speakers and their preliminary topics:

Saturday:
Steven Dear:       Audio Perception
Demian Martin: New Tools and Techniques for Audio Measurement
Andrew Jones:  Issues in Loudspeaker Design

Sunday:
Michael Rothacher: Weird Amps
Nelson Pass:            Current Topics (including a new Build Camp amplifier design).

Tickets for the virtual event are at Evenbrite, and cost a whopping 10 bucks.
Link here: Burning Amp Festival '21 Tickets, Sat, Oct 16, 2021 at 11:30 AM | Eventbrite

Burning Amp is an annual audio festival in San Francisco put on by the guys in the Pass Labs forum at DIYAudio. Burning Amp is all about DIY, and has held live events for some years now. The last couple years, a key part of Burning Amp was "Amp Camp" where folks, with Papa's (Nelson Pass) supervision, can build their own Nelson Pass Class-A "Amp Camp amplifier" (aka "ACA") for a song. Kits for the are available from the DIYAudio Store.

Last year I built up a pair of Nelson's sweet little AmpCamp amps and run them as a pair of bridged Class A monoblocks. I built these specifically for use with my GR-Research X-LS Encores. Total cost for the pair of amps? $654. 

Shown here (on the maple board on the floor) are my pair of Nelson-Pass all class-A ACA monoblocks driving my GR-Research X-LS Encores. Cabinets built, veneered and stained for me by Killian Smith.

You should hear these bad boys driven by the ACAs...

[Tyson]

That's a killer system for not a lot of $$.  Nice work.  And Nelson's designs are no joke, all the DIY stuff from him is exceptional.

[Stephen Scharf]

That's a killer system for not a lot of $$.  Nice work. 

Thank you. Yes, it's amazing for the money. Speakers and amp both for ~$1550, all in.

Very transparent with excellent clarity and focus, and a very natural, organic presentation. Listen to the X-LS Encores with the ACAs in the near-field so as to minimize room interaction effects, and it's a revelation.

And Nelson's designs are no joke, all the DIY stuff from him is exceptional.

Yes, he's unquestionably a genius. He's really big on DIY and giving back to the DIY community.

[Tyson]

Yes, he's unquestionably a genius. He's really big on DIY and giving back to the DIY community.

Do you know 6L6 (Jim) over on diyaudio that did all the build guides with pictures for the First Watt designs?  He's actually a friend of mine and helped me put together my Burning Amp 3 (BA3) a few years ago.  In fact I'm listening to it on my upstairs system right now.  Phenomenal amp.  I agree with you, Nelson really is a genius.

[Stephen Scharf]

Do you know 6L6 (Jim) over on diyaudio that did all the build guides with pictures for the First Watt designs?  He's actually a friend of mine and helped me put together my Burning Amp 3 (BA3) a few years ago.  In fact I'm listening to it on my upstairs system right now.  Phenomenal amp.  I agree with you, Nelson really is a genius.

I don't know him personally, but I've corresponded with him at the Pass forum at DIYAudio. He's a great guy and very helpful. He wanted to use my pics of my build of the ACA for the build guide. I should send those to him. I'll post some here...

[Stephen Scharf]

Just some pics of my Amp Camp amp build as an incentive for folks to attend Burning Amp, 2021.

The two circuit boards with parts except the power transistors.


Board mounted on heatsink along with power transistors


Assembled amp, top view


Single amp in the audio rack. Amps can operated as a stereo amp, parallel mono block, or bridged monoblock with the flip of a switch on the back panel.


Set up on a rock maple board to provide mechanical grounding.


Cost a single amp? $327 including all parts, chassis, front panel and heat sinks. 

Build up a pair of these and GR-Research X-LS Encores...and you'll have a truly first-class system. 

[RPM123]

Hmm...that's some serious PLC you have there! 

[Stephen Scharf]

Hmm...that's some serious PLC you have there! 

By PLC, do you mean Power Line Conditioning? 

[jlucas]

Are kits offered at a discount in conjunction with Burning Amp?

Is there a new amp this year or evolution of the current one?

[Tomy2Tone]

So is Sunday the 17th when Nelson announces the diy kit that will be offered? Hoping it’s a SIT 3

[Stephen Scharf]

Are kits offered at a discount in conjunction with Burning Amp?

Not so far as I know. The current ACA v1.8 kit is only $327. That's one of the greatest bargains in audio for the quality of the amp you get. It's available at the DIYAudio Store.

Is there a new amp this year or evolution of the current one?

I think there will be a new amp design, but I don't know if it will be available as a kit, or not.

[Stephen Scharf]

So is Sunday the 17th when Nelson announces the diy kit that will be offered? Hoping it’s a SIT 3

I don't whether a new DIY kit will be offered or not. The most current ACA kit is version 1.8.

It won't be a SIT-3 because the SIT devices are no longer available.

[NeilBlanchard]

WOW - that is a cleeeeeeeean build! Holy wire management, Batman!

Just some pics of my Amp Camp amp build as an incentive for folks to attend Burning Amp, 2021.

The two circuit boards with parts except the power transistors.


Board mounted on heatsink along with power transistors


Assembled amp, top view


Single amp in the audio rack. Amps can operated as a stereo amp, parallel mono block, or bridged monoblock with the flip of a switch on the back panel.


Set up on a rock maple board to provide mechanical grounding.


Cost a single amp? $327 including all parts, chassis, front panel and heat sinks. 

Build up a pair of these and GR-Research X-LS Encores...and you'll have a truly first-class system. 

[Stephen Scharf]

WOW - that is a cleeeeeeeean build! Holy wire management, Batman!

Thank you.

I'm fairly meticulous about that kinda stuff. It's both a blessing and a curse. 😜

[Stephen Scharf]

PING: Just a reminder that Burning Amp is this coming Saturday and Sunday and is a virtual event. Folks can attend via Zoom for a measly ten bucks.

Link here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/burning...s-177589012517

Please  be mindful that the link to the Zoom event is in your Burning Amp Order Confirmation email from Eventbrite; the link to the Zoom call is at the very bottom of your confirmation email, under the Additional Information page. If you don't scroll all the way down to the bottom of the confirmation email in your mail app, you may not see this third "page" (I didn't, first time I read the email), and thus, you may not see the link.

The bottom of the order confirmation email from Eventbrite looks like this (link to Zoom meeting not shown)


Attendees need to click the link in that email to complete their advance registration via Zoom's web page to obtain the actual link to the Zoom call, once they've registered.