Question for AKSA 100 owners

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #20 on:** 24 Jan 2004, 03:09 pm »

Carl, My amps are fine. But not having an ASKA 100 to listen to, I may be missing something. And I believe others would be interested too.

Carlman · « **Reply #21 on:** 24 Jan 2004, 03:18 pm »

Fly me to NYC! It might be cheaper than shipping from down under...

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #22 on:** 24 Jan 2004, 03:33 pm »

Quote from: Carlman

Fly me to NYC! It might be cheaper than shipping from down under...

Then I'd have to ship you and the amp around the U.S. for others to take a listen too

!

audiojerry · « **Reply #23 on:** 31 Jan 2004, 07:12 pm »

Lonewolf and Hugh, if there is any way to make this work, count me in on participating in the audition. I'd be willing to contribute to the cost of to/from Australia shipping if we can get a reasonable handle on what it might cost to do this. It's a generous offer, Lonewolf, but I think it would be fairer to assemble a list of committed auditioners, and then divide the cost amongst us. It might even be possible to halve the shipping cost if someone in the US actually ended up buying and keeping the AKSA. I'd like it to be the Nirvana, though. Might it even be less costly if it were sent to the US as a kit and get someone to assemble it here?

fred · « **Reply #24 on:** 1 Feb 2004, 04:19 am »

Hmmm. What if there were an AKSA floating around the U.S. on a permanent roadtrip - available for audition by prospective customers, for the price of shipping? This would provide a virtual showroom.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #25 on:** 1 Feb 2004, 07:24 am »

Quote from: AKSA

Lonewolf,

I will think hard on this. It's a good idea. If you pay shipping, I'll send one to you, and when you've finished you can pass it on to Paul Kaplan, my NYC good friend, who might then be the home base for the US.

Paul, you there, would you be willing to be coord?

Cheers,

Hugh

Hello Hugh....And now there are three...My deal still stands for shipping. I'm sure others would be interested in hearing your amp too. Have you come to a decision about this undertaking ? I await your reply, thanks !!

AKSA · « **Reply #26 on:** 1 Feb 2004, 09:08 am »

Hi LoneWolf,

Yes, I'll do it, but I'm pressed for time and can't say precisely when.

I will start on it this week, on and off, and certainly let you know how it's coming along, but to be honest the last thing I should be doing is another amp right at this time!

The 100W is tricky on the metal work; I'll keep you well informed, and thank you very much for your kind offer. It's very generous.

Cheers,

Hugh

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #27 on:** 1 Feb 2004, 09:13 am »

Hugh,......THANK YOU !!

AKSA · « **Reply #28 on:** 2 Feb 2004, 11:13 am »

LoneWolf,

My pleasure. We both have something to gain from this; it would be churlish of me to decline.

This evening I obtained a beautiful enclosure for the AKSA from AndyR, strong enough to support a small car! This should be adequate for the beating it will get on road tour around the States, I guess!

Thank you Andy!

Paul, I will email you with a special request very shortly.

Cheers,

Hugh

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #29 on:** 3 Feb 2004, 08:11 am »

Quote from: AKSA

LoneWolf,

My pleasure. We both have something to gain from this; it would be churlish of me to decline.

This evening I obtained a beautiful enclosure for the AKSA from AndyR, strong enough to support a small car! This should be adequate for the beating it will get on road tour around the States, I guess!

Thank you Andy!

Paul, I will email you with a special request very shortly.

Cheers,

Hugh

Hello Hugh , Sounds good ! When equipement is on tour, a "STRONG" shipping enclosure is very important also. I've been involved with a number of home auditions , and the equipement that was shipped around in an excellent container had no problem. I think the best so far, for me at least, was the wood box GR Research (Danny) used for their Criterion speakers. An excellent shipping container !! Thanks again !!

vpolineni · « **Reply #30 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 04:54 am »

Hugh, have you started work on the aksa 100 for the audition tour? will this amp have the nirvana upgrade? I hope so.. I'd love to hear it. Add me to the audition list.. I'd be willing to help cover shipping costs.

AKSA · « **Reply #31 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 08:38 am »

Hi Vasu, Wolf, and all others interested in the Audition 100W AKSA,

Yes, I've started!

I've acquired the box, which is presently at my sheet metal man for duplicating as I want to make some more. Thank you AndyR, who sold back the very last box I had left to facilitate this exercise!

The box is sufficiently strong that it will support one wheel of a small Japanese car. It won't break....

The pcbs are now half-completed. Half-stuffed, as you fetchingly say in the States (like fanny, stuffed has a very different meaning Downunder which always causes sniggers!) They are indeed Nirvana-ed!

With JohnR's help, I hope to set up a permanent thread at the top of the forum splash page entitled 'USA AKSA 100W Nirvana AUDITION' which will have details of all bookings, comments - and past, present and future location. The thread should run itself. That way everyone will know base address in NYC with Paul Kaplan, and location on tour. Those wanting to audition will be responsible for all shipping costs from and back to NYC, UNLESS they can persuade a fellow audiophile to pay onshipping costs to his home. If the amp doesn't turn up for any reason (insurance on shipping is mandatory, of course), then 357 bald, pot-bellied guys on flathead hogs will turn up at your door demanding audience with your wife and 14 year old daughter....

I believe this will be great for sales, and it should work very well for all wishing to audition in their home, within their system, under real world conditions. It should help to restore US sales, which since the demise of the USD have fallen. Certainly I consider this as effective as advertising, and in conjunction with some Google advertising I will be doing soon, should inject real verve into US sales, which I'm anxious to build on. It will handily replace the expensive bricks and mortar salons of high end at a tiny fraction of the cost, whilst affording anyone with an interest in the AKSA the opportunity to really hear the product sing in their own home.

Nothing, but nothing, replaces a good audition - the real thing.....

I'll keep everyone posted on progress, particularly Paul, whose offer to sponsor the AKSA from his base in NYC is hugely appreciated.

Cheers,

Hugh

zybar · « **Reply #32 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 12:17 pm »

Ok, because of Al, add me to the list as well.

GW

Dmason · « **Reply #33 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 12:57 pm »

This sounds like a good thing. Please add me to the list.

Woodsea · « **Reply #34 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 02:15 pm »

I will be wanting to listen as well.

vpolineni · « **Reply #35 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 03:22 pm »

Hey all.. I asked hugh the following question but I thought it'd be beneficial to post here so that I can get other input from experts like johnr:
would it be possible to create an aksa 100 nirvana similar to the jeff rowland 302/4 amplifier? basically, i'm looking for a 2-channel input, fourchannel output orientation. This configuration will allow for an active stereo biamplification system to be set up with each pair of loudspeaker binding posts connected to it’s own separate channel of amplification to actively and independently power both the high and low frequency drivers.
is this possible???

PSP · « **Reply #36 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 06:36 pm »

Hi vpolineni,
The answer is "yes".... each AKSA amplifier module is a seperate mono amp, you buy two for stereo, or howver many you want (I know that six channels have been put into one chassis, and I did four 55w AKSA channels). Just be sure to use the supplied heatsinks in the recommended way.

The power supplies too, are modular... two channels per power supply board, but you can always cut it in half to make two single-channel power supplies.

I've taken my four-channel amp apart, rebuilt it as a Nirvana + tweaked stereo amp... and the two remaining channels will soon be re-built as mono-blocks, to be tucked right behind the mains.

If you are sure that you are going to baimp, Hugh may suggest some modifications to the tweeter amps that you might like...

Peter

AKSA · « **Reply #37 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 10:35 pm »

Hi Vasu,

Yes, it can be done. Thank you, Peter, for explaining it so well.

My only concern is signal processing. If, to make four channels from two, there is DSP or analog signal processing involved, forget it. Difficult. If it's merely splitting a signal two ways to drive two amps, no problem at all.

I don't know the Rowland amp of which you speak. Almost none find their way to these shores, but I hear on the grapevine that they are pretty good.

If the processing involves active filtering, then this brings a whole new level of complexity, which moreover MAY damage the music. Filters, high pass, low pass and bandpass, all introduce phase shifts which mess with imaging. This can be serious, damaging things considerably. Sometimes the filters are very good, and damage is minimal, such as Siegfried Linkwitz's Orion/Phoenix, which maintain good imaging and excellent detail but are very complex. Building a good active filter is more difficult than building an amplifier, so if you go this route, take care you don't finish up merely treading water....

Cheers,

Hugh

vpolineni · « **Reply #38 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 11:28 pm »

so if you wanted to do this in one chassis, would you buy 4 seperate power supplies, or a big one?

AKSA · « **Reply #39 on:** 17 Feb 2004, 12:25 am »

Vasu,

You can relatively easily put four channels of 100W Nirvana into one box. It will be at least 6" (150mm) high, and the heatsinks will be custom, but it can be done without too much trouble.

The four toroids are fitted in two pairs, one toroid stacked atop the other in each pair. You would need two power supply pcbs, giving you a total of 16 power caps. These pcbs are supplied with the kits, as are the diodes and the power caps.

It's all realistic. Cost is double the stock 100W AKSA Nirvana, viz 2 x $AUD860 plus about $AUD108 of shipping. Insurance is 2% plus $AUD12. This is around $US1485, quite a lot on today's exchange rate. I will not discount the double quantity because there will be very considerable backup from me to build this mutha, which would take about 30 hours all up on average.

Hope this helps; a big project!

Cheers,

Hugh