[U4EA]

I have been reading the rumors and specualtion regarding Hugh's possible 6 channel.  I am not a home theatre guru.  In fact I know little about it.  I assume he is talking about an amp.  If so what would one drive it with.  I assume something would be needed to do the Dolby or DTS decoding.  Right?  A preamp/pre-processor type of thing.

I also assume that Hugh will not be building a 6 channel DTS/Dolby decoder.  So that being said, does one not diminish the AKSA amp sound by driving it with a non TLP or GK1?  I feel that one must drive an amp in a way that the "artist" intended.  At least this seems to be the AKSA magic.  


Finally, what would it be called.  You would definitely need to play on the sextuplet thing.  SexAksa, AkSex,  If it was a pre based on the TLP it could be SexTlp.  Either way it's sexy.  Hmm six Aksonics?  Just order the Sexsonics SixPack.  Why oh why do I give Hugh these ingenius marketing slogans.  I could charge him millions for this information

[Oz_Audio]

I just read the review of the DACT 6 channel passive attenuator for 5.1 channel audio.

This is exactly like what I would like to do for HT but use the DACT 4 channel and 2 GK1's.

Mark

http://www.dact.com/html/6-gang_ct2.htm

[bubba966]

I also assume that Hugh will not be building a 6 channel DTS/Dolby decoder.  So that being said, does one not diminish the AKSA amp sound by driving it with a non TLP or GK1?  I feel that one must drive an amp in a way that the "artist" intended.  At least this seems to be the AKSA magic.  

Diminish the sound by not using a TLP or GK-1 to drive the AKSA?

I doubt it.

I had someone (Al Garay) bring over a pair 100w Nirava monoblocks and we hooked them up to the pre-outs on my Pioneer Elite Receiver. It sounded awesome. Much, much better than the amplification in my receiver (not to mention 3 dB additional output).

I don't think it made the amps sound worse because they were running off my Pioneer and not an Aspen product. But as Hugh doesn't have a 7.1 ch decoder I won't be able to compare them on equal footing.

But if Hugh does eventually market a 6 (or better yet 7) channel AKSA that'd definitely be something I'd be looking at picking up. I'd love to upgrade my amplification at some point in the next year or two. But finding a 7 ch solution isn't easy.

[EchiDna]

I also assume that Hugh will not be building a 6 channel DTS/Dolby decoder.  So that being said, does one not diminish the AKSA amp sound by driving it with a non TLP or GK1?  I feel that one must drive an amp in a way that the "artist" intended.  At least this seems to be the AKSA magic.  

Diminish the sound by not using a TLP or GK-1 to drive the AKSA?

I doubt it.

I had someone (Al Garay) bring over a pair 100w Nirava monoblocks and we hooked them up to the pre-outs on my Pioneer Elite Receiver. It sounded awesome. Much, much better than the amplification in my receiver (not to mention 3 dB additional output).

I don't think it made the amps sound worse because they were running off my Pioneer and not an Aspen product. But as Hugh doesn't have a 7.1 ch decoder I won't be able to compare them on equal footing.

But if Hugh does eventually market a 6 (or better yet 7) channel AKSA that'd definitely be something I'd be looking at picking up. I'd love to upgrade my amplification at some point in the next year or two. But finding a 7 ch solution isn't easy.

Ahh but Bubba, you are assuming that the sound from your Pioneer's pre-outs is as good as it gets... you might have to consider the option  that it CAN be better than what you were hearing with better preamplification

Personally I'd be happy with a 5 channel amp (center, sides, rears) and go with seperate 2 channel for the mains, and seperate sub/s...  

[Seano]

Basically a six, seven or even eight channel home theatre amp is just that.

At its most simple it is eight seperate channels each with its own RCA input and L and R speaker outputs. A slightly more complex input is the old SPDIF input which is essentially a single RCA input jack that carries all channels at once (don't ask me how) which some fancy electronics then split up into however many channels. Probably not something beyond Hugh's design capabilities.

Pretty much any AV product that has an inbuilt decoder can use a home theatre amp. Preference is for a decoder source that has it's own volume control such as a home theatre reciever/DVD lifetyle system. This way you can still use all the tonal balance controls within the decoder to manipulate the sounds and let the HT amp make it louder with quality. Although, presumably, you could whack an attenuator in the audio line between a DVD player with inbuilt decoder and the HT amp and player with levels somewhat there. But I suspect that it wouldn't be ideal somehow.

A good example of such a product (in pre assembled form) are the HT amps built in Australia by www.me-au.com or Melbourne(?) built Electra HT amp (which is getting heaps of local praise in Oz).

As for AKSA driven by AKSA, I'm sure it's ideal but I've got AKSA driven by Yamaha at the moment and you won't hear me whinging!!!!

[AKSA]

Guys,

The four and six channel AKSA is coming!

But I can't say when, of course......

Cheers,

Hugh

[bubba966]

Ahh but Bubba, you are assuming that the sound from your Pioneer's pre-outs is as good as it gets... you might have to consider the option  that it CAN be better than what you were hearing with better preamplification

Personally I'd be happy with a 5 channel amp (center, sides, rears) and go with seperate 2 channel for the mains, and seperate sub/s...  

True, there's always something better. But I wouldn't say that the Pioneer was degrading the sound of the AKSA's. There wasn't any bad interaction between the two. It's not like AKSA's can only be mated to Aspen gear to sound like they should.

And if it matters much we tried out my Pioneer Elite in Al's system later. It sounded a bit better than his TLP did when driving the 100w Nirvana's. He Nirvana'd the TLP at a later time, but I never got a chance to hear that.

[JoshK]

How about the 6 deck DACT at the input followed by three TLPs (for the front three and forget the rest).  That would be up my line of thinking.  Anybody know how much the street price is for the 6 deck DACT?  Do they make any comparable 6 deck cermet pots?

[randog]

Rather than a 6-channel amp, I'd like to see a kit along the lines of this:

http://www.redesignsaudio.com/SCPA1.html

which could be teamed up with a GK-1 for an awesome 2 channel system with multi-channel capabilities without the need for multi-channel processing (that could come from a properly equipped dvd player).

*That* would be bitchin.

Randog

[U4EA]

Guys I did not mean to trash your choice of equipment.  Hugh in my opinion is an artist whose medium is electronics.  I like his art and therefore would most likely want to hear sound as he intends.  This is not to say that using a GK1 with another amp or another brand of Pre with an AKSA 100 is bad.  I most likely would just not do it.  Frank Lloyd Wright insisted on designing furniture along with his homes.  Would the home be a piece of trash if you moved all the furniture out? Most likely not.

I think what the responses are saying is that I would need some kind of preprocessor (Dact) in front of 3 GK1's to do 6 channel.

I do not understand the comment about a properly equipped dvd player.  Are there dvd players that contain 6 channel decoders?

Hugh, what would you use to do the decoding?  Are you going to build a decoder?  You really did not say in your answer.

[randog]

Yes. Some DVD players have their own surround processing so I would think a 5.1 or 6 channel preamp that doesn't require surround processing yet has all the best of the GK-1 wrt 2-channel listening would be a real hot ticket for audiophiles who also want to exercise HT options or even multi-channel music. I would be very interested just how big of a project that would be from a design perspective.

I'd also like to think that this could someday go from an oddball solution to a very viable one. It makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways... I mean why complicate your preamp with all that processing... especially when formats change on a yearly basis *and* it all basically comes from one source component (dvd)? Burden that component and keep your preamp committed to the rest of your 2-channel sources. Upgrading becomes much simpler as a result as well and the preamp and amps of your system remain intact and undisturbed.

Randog

[Raj]

Hi,

It would appear a product explosion is taking place in Hugh's parlour.  I hope the dac is given priority / comes out first!!!  

Thanks
Raj

[nmessick]

I actualy own a 6-channel AKSA.  I do have a few suggestions for anyone considering tackeling this.

#1 - DO NOT put all 6-channels in a single chasis. I did, its really difficult to fit everything in a deep 4U case. My torroids are inducing some hum and the wiring is far from clean. The weight of all the components is also an issue.

#2 - DO NOT stack the heat sinks one on top of the other. It looks neat, its cleaner, and it keeps the heat sinks on the back of the unit, however it makes the bottom amp boards really hard to get to.

#3 - DO NOT bother building all 6 channels if you do not have the speakers to justify it. I have really great Vifa/Speak L/R/C but crap for rear channels. Those expensive AKSA channels are relaly going to waste.

That being said, this is a great project and Hugh was a wonderful asset.

[AKSA]

Hi Neil,

Why, thank you Neil, never thought of myself as an asset......  But am I appreciating, and what is the maintenance requirement, those are the big questions???????

I suspect a four channel in a 3U is fine;  but a 6 is indeed pushing it.  I suspect the best way would be to use a 6" tall (151.5mm) heatsink with two ledges, one sink each side, and stagger the mounting of the modules, one on the bottom ledge in the center, the other two on the upper ledge, one left and one right.  This way all are accessible and thermal considerations are optimized.

Nevertheless, this is an important issue because multiamp HT formats are becoming very popular, and I should look into this closely.

Thanks for the post.

Cheers,

Hugh

[Seano]

I suspect that a six channel is unneccessary as most of us already own one of Hugh's amps anyway.  Therefore the easier way to go in terms of packaging may be to offer a three channel amp to run centre and rears which leaves the owner's existing two channel for the fronts.  The seperate sub amp handles the sixth channel (sense?).

ME Sound does something similar and I suspect it is for purely practical reasons rather than anything else. Peter suggests that this product is designed to augment his two channel amps rather than replace them.......which makes sound economic sense to me. Also sounds a heck of a lot easier than jamming six channels into one box then trying to stop them going nuclear.

A three channel AV AKSA could have a 100W centre channel and two 55W rears with adjustable gain so you can 'customise' the sound and it would all package up into a 3U case with two heatsinks.......and if you don't already have an AKSA for the fronts the you are just being silly.

[mamsterla]

Seano:

Funny you should mention that setup, but it is exactly what I have/am building.  I already own an AKSA Nirvana 100 wpc for L/R front and stereo.  I am currently using my B&K AVR202 receiver for C and rear duty.

I have a 3U case and all the parts for a stereo AKSA Nirvana 55 wpc amp and a mono AKSA Nirvana 100 wpc amp.  If I could make the time (when bicycle racing season ends I am afraid) I will finish building this and then upgrade the B&K receiver to a new B&K ref 50 if my wife allows.  I think the remote consolidation may help.

Then one day I will build an AKSA GK-3....