[KT]

Hi Tom,

I'd be most interested in reading your comparison between the F4 and F5 once you've had a chance to listen to both in depth.

I have the boards for the F4 but am also really interested in the F5. I can only spend my resources on one amp, so I'm always looking for comparisons for guidance.

Thanks!
KT

[TomS]

Well if you don't already have a preamp with the voltage swing for an F4 I would not hesitate to say F5.  It has about 15db gain so is a bit more flexible for most situations.  Overall, it is incredibly pure and pristine and has just the right amount of "richness".  Absolutely love it.

[poseidonsvoice]

Agreed. I'm in the same boat, I think I'm going to build my F5 first. Full dual mono as you have done Tom except put everything in one case. Its almost the perfect amplifier to build if you are complete newbie. "Look Pop, there are no coupling capacitors in this design!"

Anand.

[TomS]

Agreed. I'm in the same boat, I think I'm going to build my F5 first. Full dual mono as you have done Tom except put everything in one case. Its almost the perfect amplifier to build if you are complete newbie. "Look Pop, there are no coupling capacitors in this design!"

Anand.

Absolutely agree Anand.  Having no caps also makes it very low on tweakiness and keeps costs very low for such a high performing design.  Just build a solid power supply and the rest sort of takes care of itself.  Thanks again NP!

[dweekie]

It's crazy to think that the chassis is the most expensive and difficult part to handle about the whole project, but it appears to be true in this case.  There's a group buy for heatsinks and chassis on diyaudio if anybody wants to join in.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=138031&perpage=25&pagenumber=1