[Bassmann]

Hi people

I was wondering if anyone has experience of building their own amplifier systems on this forum? I haven't been active on the forum for some time, but those of you that are regulars here will know that i'am a Bryston / PMC owner or should i say was until a year or so ago. Unfortunately money got tight and i needed to sell my setup to raise some funds, and now im back to thinking how good it would be to have a stonking amplifier once again. However I like the idea of achievement in building my own these days.

So the kind of discussion I'm interested in is; if its possible to DIY an amplifier of similar quality and parts selection to a Bryston? I was blessed with owning the BP26(DA) pre amp and a 4BSST power, and it would be interesting to know peoples opinions and experiences on all aspects of such a project.

Just wondered if anyone has any interesting takes on this?

Thanks

[Laundrew]

The beauty of the Internet is that it offers so many avenues for a DIY to explore - in my instance, I would be very tempted to construct a vacuum tube amplifier if I was to follow a DIY route. I have a weakness for the aesthetics of tube amplifiers and I blame this on my antique radio collection.

Here is a link for tube amplifiers....

http://www.worldtubeaudio.com/directory/categories/kategorie_8.htm

Be well...

[Bassmann]

Does it cost more to diy your own equipment? the intention for me would be to save money but have a higher quality end result than an off the shelf product. Another part of me says it will cost more...

I've discovered a company called Hammond who make nice aluminium enclosures which create a really professional looking end product, Canadian made as well if im not mistaken.

Ive no experience with valve amps, but it could be an interesting route to take.

[PRELUDE]

how about this one


http://www.vellemanusa.com/products/view/?id=350535
How much would you like to spend?
Do you have all the tools to start and finish?
Everything has been changed over the years and looks like even DIY is not any cheaper then anything if you really want to make something good.

[Bassmann]

How much would you like to spend?
Do you have all the tools to start and finish?
Everything has been changed over the years and looks like even DIY is not any cheaper then anything if you really want to make something good.

Hi, rather than having a budget to work to im trying to get an idea of the costs involved... I know thats like saying how long is a piece of string... I guess i need to do lots of homework and understand amplifier design to a level where I have knowledge to select parts myself.

I've just ordered a JBC DIT-B2 soldering station which is way more than i need but i love quality things, and I have most other tools i think i'd need such as precision cutters (Lindstrom), CK tweezers, magnifying helping third hand, multimeter etc etc but best solder to use is still undecided (what does bryston use out of curiosity?)

[Bassmann]

Heck, if james wants to send me all the parts I'll certainly try my best to put it all together to the best of my ability 

I remember when i first got into audio equipment how exiting it all was, I was about 14 years old and mum bought me my first seperates system consisting of an Arcam Alpha 5 plus amp (40wpc), a sony tape deck, Kef Q15 speakers and Atacama speaker stands filled with sand. She bought me that on the condition that i attended school (lol) but naturally where do you think i chose to spend my time? thats right at home listening to my new stereo.....

I distinctly remember how the sound improved noticeably after about 60 minutes of warm up with that amp and speakers. It almost took on another lease of life, the sound became fuller, warmer and more detailed. Im after that kind of thing again and im sure it doesn't have to cost the earth to achieve.

If anybody has any advice, books to read, good places to buy kits from (im in UK) i'd be all ears

I still would like to know what type of solder is used on Bryston components?

[lanchile]

Hi people

I was wondering if anyone has experience of building their own amplifier systems on this forum? I haven't been active on the forum for some time, but those of you that are regulars here will know that i'am a Bryston / PMC owner or should i say was until a year or so ago. Unfortunately money got tight and i needed to sell my setup to raise some funds, and now im back to thinking how good it would be to have a stonking amplifier once again. However I like the idea of achievement in building my own these days.

So the kind of discussion I'm interested in is; if its possible to DIY an amplifier of similar quality and parts selection to a Bryston? I was blessed with owning the BP26(DA) pre amp and a 4BSST power, and it would be interesting to know peoples opinions and experiences on all aspects of such a project.

Just wondered if anyone has any interesting takes on this?

Thanks

I am a member of diyaudio.com. go there and you will find many amps that you can build. even from Nelson pass (He is a member there too). I used to own a Bryston B60 and after building my own amp, I sold the Bryston.
PS: my avatar is my diy integrated amp.

[Bassmann]

I am a member of diyaudio.com. go there and you will find many amps that you can build. even from Nelson pass (He is a member there too). I used to own a Bryston B60 and after building my own amp, I sold the Bryston.
PS: my avatar is my diy integrated amp

I'll have a look on there... cheers

Have you any more pics of your amp? it looks nice, is it dual mono?

[lanchile]

I'll have a look on there... cheers

Have you any more pics of your amp? it looks nice, is it dual mono?

This is some specifications of the boards that I am using in my integrated amp.
http://www.hdamp.com/M400.html

The potentiometer I am using is a 24 stepped ladder using 1% tolerance resistors. since I tested the Nobles, Alps, and TDK potentiometers and the difference in % from one channel to the other was big. now both channels are the same. I using Mundorf audio grade 125c caps for power supply around 40.000uf.

[Letitroll98]

There's an excellent thread on the subject right here:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=76400.0

[lanchile]

I also build some from Aussie amplifiers the NXV200.  http://www.aussieamplifiers.com/nxv200.htm

[lanchile]

There's an excellent thread on the subject right here:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=76400.0

I did build some of those class D amps too, they sound just ok. it is like the gainclone sound. some people like them some do not. I build some from Peter Daniel LM3875 (Audiosector) long time ago, they come with small capacitance "joke" power supply caps. I used 20.000uf per rail and black gate caps next to the chips and it improved the sound big time. Now I only build discrete amps class A/B (no more ic's in my amps).

[Rclark]

In that case, discrete amp, look at the ncore thread in all solid state forum.

[Æ]

I was wondering if anyone has experience of building their own amplifier systems

I built a tube amp from a partial kit, a K-12M from S5Electronics. And I built a solid state dual mono bridged amp from two K4005 Velleman kits. Both perform admirably and were relatively inexpensive.

[Bassmann]

Thanks for your responses folks, some interesting suggestions there....

Can anyone recommend any Pre & Power (dual mono) kits available that are designed to accompany each other ie same cases dimensions etc? I'd also be looking for an amp with a lot of power on tap.

Basically a similar setup to my avatar, high end features - separate power supplies, one piece pcb's, possibility of a built in DAC, military spec parts, heavy duty cases etc etc.

[lanchile]

Thanks for your responses folks, some interesting suggestions there....

Can anyone recommend any Pre & Power (dual mono) kits available that are designed to accompany each other ie same cases dimensions etc? I'd also be looking for an amp with a lot of power on tap.

Basically a similar setup to my avatar, high end features - separate power supplies, one piece pcb's, possibility of a built in DAC, military spec parts, heavy duty cases etc etc.

Do you want to get all the parts from one place? Because I build mine using many providers:


a) capacitors power supply
b) rectifiers
c) amp boards
d) potentiometer
e) Chassis
f) heat sinks

other way you can get them from one provider and the one I can recommend is Aussie amplifiers in Australia (Anthony). their kits are very good. just read the reviews: 
http://www.aussieamplifiers.com/testimonial.htm

[Bassmann]

http://www.aussieamplifiers.com/testimonial.htm

They have some interesting products that are more along the lines of what I was thinking, especially the smartDAC-one and nxV1200. But are they designed for 120v? Im in UK so that could be a problem as well as import duties., though there may be a way around that with a parcel forwarding service....

I use my custom built computer as source and did a fair bit of research on the topic of bit-perfect output, software's, sound cards, asio etc and i got great results using the built in dac of the Bryston bp26 with an Asio output from an RME soundcard (it basically cuts out windows kernal mixer, which resamples everything to 48khz). Was the ideal pre amp for using with my computer.

I've been out of touch with all things hifi for a while, but I like the direction that bryston is going with products like the BDP-1. I don't know how much it costs but you can certainly build up an enviable do-it-all system using Bryston only components these days, very good

If anyone else is interested in computer audio, I found my way to a software by J.river called media center that i've found really good, it allows you to use loads of different external plugins which allow for different file formats and you can have all your movies, music, photos + more in one place. You can download lots of different skins and it also allows you use Asio4all for bit perfect output with aiff/wav etc. It really is very good and well polished software. Before that i had to do lots of messing around with itunes and a multi plugin to enable Asio support (only because i liked itunes UI, compared to others foobar etc)

Personally I think that if you can achieve a bit perfect digital output from your computer and pipe it into a Dac built right into the amplifier then you can't get any better performance? and im not sure the computers power supply, fans, electrical noise could affect the digital signal?

[lanchile]

They have some interesting products that are more along the lines of what I was thinking, especially the smartDAC-one and nxV1200. But are they designed for 120v? Im in UK so that could be a problem as well as import duties., though there may be a way around that with a parcel forwarding service....

I use my custom built computer as source and did a fair bit of research on the topic of bit-perfect output, software's, sound cards, asio etc and i got great results using the built in dac of the Bryston bp26 with an Asio output from an RME soundcard (it basically cuts out windows kernal mixer, which resamples everything to 48khz). Was the ideal pre amp for using with my computer.

I've been out of touch with all things hifi for a while, but I like the direction that bryston is going with products like the BDP-1. I don't know how much it costs but you can certainly build up an enviable do-it-all system using Bryston only components these days, very good

If anyone else is interested in computer audio, I found my way to a software by J.river called media center that i've found really good, it allows you to use loads of different external plugins which allow for different file formats and you can have all your movies, music, photos + more in one place. You can download lots of different skins and it also allows you use Asio4all for bit perfect output with aiff/wav etc. It really is very good and well polished software. Before that i had to do lots of messing around with itunes and a multi plugin to enable Asio support (only because i liked itunes UI, compared to others foobar etc)

Personally I think that if you can achieve a bit perfect digital output from your computer and pipe it into a Dac built right into the amplifier then you can't get any better performance? and im not sure the computers power supply, fans, electrical noise could affect the digital signal?

You only have to get a transformer that is 220V primaries!. I am in New York and when I ordered the NXV200 from Him, it took a week from Australia. The boards are very small, but very powerful. the ones you want are way to much power for me. I always look for 100watts RMS per channel. I agree that Bryston uses good quality parts...But in the diy you can choose better parts than Bryston, like in my integrated amp I am using 24 stepped ladder potentiometer using 1% tolerance resistors. that gives me a perfect balance impedance in both channels. I measured Nobles and Alps potentiometer and there is a big difference between channels. for example I started to measured an Apls 10k and between channels one channel measured 140 ohms and the other 147 ohms, sometimes is more and sometimes is less. check some pictures of a diy amp. this is very nice amp and it is a design of Nelson Pass it is the F4. http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/166784-pictures-your-diy-pass-amplifier-109.html

[Bassmann]

That does look very nice indeed, I especially like the chassis on that (apart from the big F4 on the front, and it'd look better brushed otherwise fingerprint gallore...)

I think i'll have to make myself a member of that forum and join in. Howw much did that potentiometer cost you? and what type/brand of solder do you use?

Thanks for your input

[lanchile]

Here are some nice pictures of diy amps. The schematics are from very knowledgeable people like  Anthony (aussie amplifiers), Nelson Pass and some from Krell amps that I do not remember their names right now. and many more gurus in this staff.