A new best amp ever....

bummrush · « **Reply #40 on:** 29 Jun 2009, 06:41 pm »

yes the idea is to get off the grid,for some reason i responded to anothers idea of a plug in unit,with great question,not really paying attention

S Clark · « **Reply #41 on:** 29 Jun 2009, 07:56 pm »

While I haven't heard the battery version of this, I have a bit of experience with "off the grid" stuff. After hearing the Dodd battery pre, I bought it. Gary just added a battery power for my Buffalo Dac. It makes a big difference.

gld · « **Reply #42 on:** 29 Jun 2009, 08:01 pm »

Hey Scott, same circuit, different componets and trannies. They do play quite loud, kinda like some good 50's on my Alpha's! aa
gary

HT cOz · « **Reply #43 on:** 29 Jun 2009, 08:44 pm »

Quote from: S Clark on 29 Jun 2009, 07:56 pm

Gary just added a battery power for my Buffalo Dac. It makes a big difference.

Thats just sick~~~

HT cOz · « **Reply #44 on:** 29 Jun 2009, 08:50 pm »

Quote from: gld on 29 Jun 2009, 08:01 pm

Hey Scott, same circuit, different componets and trannies. They do play quite loud, kinda like some good 50's on my Alpha's! aa
gary

You guys are making me think these could work with my 91db AV3/Neos in a 10ft X 16ft room. Cruel and unusual punishment given that I am happy with my current amp. An integrated 50W 6550 push pull. I thought the only missing link was to find a nice ESS dac like the Buffalo and then just listen for a decade. lol

S Clark · « **Reply #45 on:** 29 Jun 2009, 11:20 pm »

[quote author=HT cOz link=topic=69328.msg644373#msg644373 date=1246308613

You guys are making me think these could work with my 91db AV3/Neos in a 10ft X 16ft room. Cruel and unusual punishment given that I am happy with my current amp. An integrated 50W 6550 push pull. I thought the only missing link was to find a nice ESS dac like the Buffalo and then just listen for a decade. lol
[/quote]

If you are driving the AV3/N, I guarantee that my version of this amp will drive it with more far more headroom than you need. My room is 25X24 with a sloping ceiling to 12', opening to the side to another 14 X 17 X8 room. I can't listen above the 9 oclock position-- 10 oclock is just too loud for any type of music. Now having said this mine are a pair of old Eico mono integrated amps that Gary completely gutted and put his circuits in- so it will share much same with the new battery amp, but not exactly the same. But if Gary says that have the same effective power, you'll not want more for those speakers.

Shogun · « **Reply #46 on:** 4 Jul 2009, 11:38 am »

I'm want to upgrade from my DIY Paradise Charlize to a EL84 PP, so it's a perfect timing. But, I have a dout about the claim of 15w in class A and can be feed by battery. I need some explanation on this. And why not a integrated and when it will be available?

gld · « **Reply #47 on:** 4 Jul 2009, 07:51 pm »

The published spec for a 6BQ5/EL-84 states that with 300 volts on the plate and 300 volts on the screen with a transformer impedance of 8Kohms, the tubes in a push-pull configuration can produce 17 watts at maximum plate dissipation of 12 watts. Thats running the tubes at their maximum specs and they do run very very hot! I am doing thing a bit differently. I am using push-pull topology and I am only biasing the tubes to about 9 watts of continuous plate dissipation. This cools the tube down and extends it's useful life dramatically.
The amplifier is actually running 13 watts of pure class A power and it's continuos power was measured at 15 watts into either 8 or 4 ohm loads. The amps sounds as if it has way more power than 15 watts, thats because with the frontend I used on the amp it will drive the grids of the tubes slightly positive with allows the tube to really produce some high short term power on the order of 30+ watts for a short time. This leads to a very unusually high amount of headroom for this amplifier.
Yes it absolutely runs on batteries and batteries alone!

This is due to the type of power supply being used.
It is easily made into an integrtared amplifier for a higher cost. In fact I will eventually be offering integrated versions as well as monoblock versions. The amplifier is coming very very soon aa. I am currently taking pre-orders and when I have 10 orders then I will build the first run of them.
Happy 4th to all! Be safe and enjoy!
gary

Danny Richie · « **Reply #48 on:** 7 Jul 2009, 02:47 pm »

Gary did a little tube rolling on this amp and says it has gone to another level. He is making the trip up to my place this morning so I can hear it on the high sensitivity open baffle speakers. I'll let you guys know what I think later today.

Danny Richie · « **Reply #49 on:** 7 Jul 2009, 09:23 pm »

Well Gary just left out of here with the battery tube amp, and I must say that I am even more impressed than before.

This is the best sounding amp that I have ever heard.

Yes we compared it to my big Blue monsters. Keep in mind that my big Blue Doddzilla amps were a cost no object design. No expense was spared and the best of the best parts were used throughout. Gary says that if they were sold through a dealer network then they would have to be $50,000. 280 watt mono-blocks. 275 pounds each, and all of that stuff...

We are also playing the 97db sensitivity open baffle speakers (that still need a name). And yes still in ugly prototype cabinets. Eric where are my new cabinets?

The little battery powered tube amp (also needing a name) sounded just like my Doddzilla's. I mean it sounded just like them to a T. However, the noise floor was notably lower. There was clearly the Blackest of Black backgrounds. This gave us the impression of better resolution. It was really just unbelievable. This tiny little amp was the clear winner in this comparison.

We did some tube rolling and the Amperex tubes in the front end clearly gave the best resolution. We tried some new old stock tubes of some kind in the output that sounded pretty good, but made the vocal region a little heavy. So we went back to the JJ's in the output.

We went through a ton of different types of music and everything was handled really well. We never ran it out of juice either. We even played Blue Man Group, Chinese percussion, and a track from Flim and the B B's Tricycle album, and it breezed through every one of them without compressing a bit. And we played these speakers hard. Output levels were as high as I have ever listened to LS-9's with the 280 watt amps on them. This little amp made my speakers pound. It played a drum solo to a level that might have even been louder than if a real set of drums were right there in the room. It sounded like a much bigger amp.

This is easily one of those must hear amps. And for less than $1,000, I still can't believe it.

Oh yea, my transport and DAC were running not only through the Dodd Audio balanced power supply but also through the new UberBuss. So the whole system was really dead quiet. And as you can see, I was using a Dodd Audio battery powered tube pre-amp. I can't say enough for the effects of killing the AC noise to the front end and getting all of the rest of the system off the grid. Wow, wow, wow!

Vienna Teng, Patty Larkin, and Lyle Lovette tracks were goose bump city. This is the cleanest I have heard piano playback.

On the way back home Gary was going to stop off at Art's and drop this little amp off with him for a while. I hope Art gets home soon (he wasn't in when I called). I don't think he is going to want to miss out on this little jewel.

rajacat · « **Reply #50 on:** 7 Jul 2009, 09:48 pm »

Danny,

Did you play any large symphonic works such as Mahler, Bruckner, et al?

-Roy

rydenfan · « **Reply #51 on:** 7 Jul 2009, 10:08 pm »

Isn't more realistic to say the amp is under $2K once you factor in the price of some decent batteries? It still sounds like an incredible deal just trying to get a more accurate sense.

Danny Richie · « **Reply #52 on:** 7 Jul 2009, 10:11 pm »

That Flim and the BB's number leaned to that direction.

I also played La Donna E Mobile, by Guiseppe Verdi. It is full Orchestra. It was awesome.

Also Bizzio, Levin, Stevens-Duende (track 4) from the New York Audio Rave CD. This is a pretty busy track and it laid everything out in its own space with more separation between each instrument than I have heard before.

rajacat · « **Reply #53 on:** 7 Jul 2009, 10:13 pm »

Just use a sealed deep cycle marine battery in a pretty box. I imagine a decent battery could be had for under $75.

-Roy

Danny Richie · « **Reply #54 on:** 7 Jul 2009, 10:14 pm »

I spent $320 plus shipping on a pair of the Lithium Ion batteries and charger. For that price you could buy four deep cycle marine batteries and a charger. That would get you about a day or two of play between charges.

Danny Richie · « **Reply #55 on:** 7 Jul 2009, 10:15 pm »

Roy just beat me to it. Batteries are not that much of a cost factor.

S Clark · « **Reply #56 on:** 7 Jul 2009, 11:18 pm »

Quote from: Danny on 7 Jul 2009, 09:23 pm

The little battery powered tube amp (also needing a name) sounded just like my Doddzilla's. I mean it sounded just like them to a T. However, the noise floor was notably lower. There was clearly the Blackest of Black backgrounds. This gave us the impression of better resolution. It was really just unbelievable. This tiny little amp was the clear winner in this comparison.
...Wow, wow, wow!

On the way back home Gary was going to stop off at Art's and drop this little amp off with him for a while. I hope Art gets home soon (he wasn't in when I called). I don't think he is going to want to miss out on this little jewel.

The clear winner??!!! That is quite a statement. No, that is an incredible statement, especially given the quality of the Big Blues.... I knew this was going to be really something since I have the Frankenstien Dodd/Eico variation of this amp and I knew what mine sounded like. This little guy just doesn't play like a small amp. Add the battery blackness to it and it is just something special. I'll be watching for Art's take on it.

Danny Richie · « **Reply #57 on:** 8 Jul 2009, 12:04 am »

Okay, after getting lost for about an hour, Gary should be arriving at Art's in a minute. So Art will have this thing in a little while. He hopes to listen to it later tonight. So more feedback coming soon if we're lucky.

zybar · « **Reply #58 on:** 8 Jul 2009, 12:17 am »

Quote from: Danny on 8 Jul 2009, 12:04 am

Okay, after getting lost for about an hour, Gary should be arriving at Art's in a minute. So Art will have this thing in a little while. He hopes to listen to it later tonight. So more feedback coming soon if we're lucky.

Looking forward to Art's thoughts.

It should be interesting to hear how it works in a system that isn't 97db sensitive or have powered woofers.

George

rydenfan · « **Reply #59 on:** 8 Jul 2009, 12:44 am »

agreed George