Simple SE: Truth and Corruption

satfrat · « **Reply #20 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 01:07 am »

You have truely outdone yourself on your 2nd Set Jason, she's a thing of beauty for sure.

Thanks for the pictures.

Cheers,
Robin

PeteG · « **Reply #21 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 01:43 am »

Great job on both amps, they truly look good beside each other

DaveC113 · « **Reply #22 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 02:54 am »

Great looking amps, and as a Simple SE builder myself, I'm wondering what's the best preamp to build for the Simple SE?

zygadr · « **Reply #23 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 03:21 am »

Well done...........VERY nice amp!

Now, .................try it WITHOUT a circuit board, any access to a wooden chassis/carpenter, no tools to cut aluminium/holes and ''NOT SIMPLE '' is re-defined in another dimension (in my case

)!!

Pez · « **Reply #24 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 03:25 am »

Wow, thanks everyone! I cannot emphasize enough how great the Simple SE design is. I haven't heard a better amp in my system ever. I also cannot emphasize how great it is to have someone like Wayne who I can call and ask pretty much any question or just to call when I'm pulling my hair out from frustration.

mgalusha · « **Reply #25 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 03:37 am »

Looks fabulous Jason. I'm sure they are making sweet music together.

Niteshade · « **Reply #26 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 12:25 pm »

Oh- That's sweet! Love the wood work and overall quality. Simply stunning!

JoshK · « **Reply #27 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 01:31 pm »

Spalted wood gives me wood.

Looks awesome, I'm jealous. There is a lot to say for a working project.

ohenry · « **Reply #28 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 01:44 pm »

Jason,
Are those black Edcors different from the blue ones in the first iteration?

Beautiful work. Your friend has a great eye for proportion and the maple is a great pick too.

sts9fan · « **Reply #29 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 01:48 pm »

Quote

I haven't heard a better amp in my system ever.

DIY like buying $$$ power cords always makes your gear sound fantastic. Thats why I love it! Stuff you put togetther always sounds better then stuff you don't.

Did you make the same kit twice? If so you are way more focused then me. I can't even do two similar projects.

Pez · « **Reply #30 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 04:30 pm »

Quote from: ohenry on 25 Feb 2010, 01:44 pm

Jason,
Are those black Edcors different from the blue ones in the first iteration?

The Edcors are the same exact one's from the 1st project. I simply took off the labels, unscrewed the bells and spray painted them black. I didn't want to have the blue because I wanted to focus to be on the box.

Sts9fan, the kit is identical, I was tempted to build the DHT kit, but decided that I would rather have the same amp due to the fact I loved the sound and I had already invested in buying a sextet of Shuguang Treasures and I was a little leery of the signal tubes George from Tubelabs used in that design, it's somewhat rare and only a few manufacturers ever made it. I learned my lesson from owning another amp that used rare tubes. If you don't like the sound of the tube you're screwed.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #31 on:** 25 Feb 2010, 05:20 pm »

I am sure the build is a great one - my comments are primarily on the cosmetics - that looks really really nice - I have tried to build stuff in the past, and know how time consuming getting everything to line up just right etc can take.

Job well done!

Tyson · « **Reply #32 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 01:22 am »

I just got back from an afternoon at Jason's place. The pictures do not do justice to how beautiful these amps look in the flesh. Stunning work, I mean on the level of amps I've seen in the $5k-$10k range commercially.

Brought over my calibrated mic, preamp mic, laptop, and HOLM Impulse measurement software. Did lots of measurements of the speakers, and discovered a few problems in the frequency response, which we easily corrected with the all-powerful DCX that Jason uses. Because Jason uses felt around the tweeters, it absorbs part of the tweeter response, and acts as a mini-horn for other parts (same as it would with any tweeter). The result was a tilted up response from 7khz to 20khz. We just dialed that down with a 6db/octave EQ setting. There was also a loss of energy in the 500hz range, a room mode at 40hz, and a bit of a dip between 3khz and 5khz. Oh yes, and the tweeters were out of phase, causing a deep null between 6 and 7khz.

All of this was pretty easily fixed, once we knew exactly where to apply the power of the DCX. It took a little while to get everything dialed in, because we remeasured after every individual change, and we took measurements in 2 places, first in the center of the room with the mic at 1 meter for fewest sidewall reflections, and next with the speakers in their normal position, and the mic at the listening position for best view of bass modes and room interactions.

Once we got all of that done and did some more listening, I have to say that Jason's system sounds spectacular. When you are in the sweet spot they are incredibly focused, detailed, relaxed, dynamic, tight, percussive, and image like demons. His midrange amp is not yet fully broken in, so the sound can only get better and better over the next several days.

Downsides? Well, the 40's don't sound as good off axis, so if you are not in the sweet spot they sound a bit thin and shouty. Luckily, Jason's room is geared entirely toward the sweet spot, so it's not something he has to worry about. Overall it was a great time and I think the results were definitely worth the time/effort we put in to it.

Pez · « **Reply #33 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 01:57 am »

Yep, because I knew Tyson was coming over today with his calibrated mic I didn't bother leveling anything other than attempting to do it by ear. I could have used FFT for iPhone but that program is a joke compared to what we had planned. I knew it was way too boomy in the bass and I couldn't quite get the treble right. Now it's a totally different story thanks to Tyson and his calibrated mic. Now things are much better proportioned and the bass is not only less boomy it reaches way lower and has more authority and control. The imaging is much much better and more on par with what I know these amps to be capable of. All of these things could not be fixed by simply adjusting the crossover point or gain level.

Hopefully after the amp is fully broken in I can get more richness to the sound!

Tyson · « **Reply #34 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 02:02 am »

How long did it take your first Simple SE to break in? And how much time do you have on the new simple SE?

Pez · « **Reply #35 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 02:12 am »

About a month or so. It's difficult to say for sure when the moment was, but certainly the amp never sounded bad during break in like so many do, it was actually very tolerable if not superior even unbroken.

jrebman · « **Reply #36 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 04:03 am »

Jason,

Sounds like a real beauty (or two). If you ever feel like hauling one of those up to Boulder, just let me know.

-- Jim

SET Man · « **Reply #37 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 05:56 am »

Hey!

Nice!

Looking good there.

Well, as for the sound. There's something about SE/SET sound isn't it?

Take care,
Buddy

JakeJ · « **Reply #38 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 09:47 am »

Nice work, Pez! So one Simple SE on the tweeters, one Simple SE on the midrange, and wimpy SS amp on the bass drivers. Hmm...sounds like the next project might be a new bass amp using a ClassD Audio kit?

Just a thought.

Pez · « **Reply #39 on:** 26 Feb 2010, 07:47 pm »

Funny you mention that, yes the digital amp IS my next project! I haven't purchased anything yet and don't plan to any time soon, but certainly within the next 6 months or so. I will say that the amp I have is far from wimpy! It's 300 watts per channel which goes a long way when woofers are the only thing it's driving. Though having a digital amp at 500 or 1000 watts would be wonderful!