whats the name of that mexican lizard? eats all the goats.

Esreuter

For those of you who got to watch red versus blu you will see where i am going with that.

Chips amps?

I recently came across this concept in my searches and wants to post and talk about it with you seasoned veterans.

I am concerned, a DIY amp of 120 watts for 100 bucks? There has to be something given to gain that much.

sooo, anybody here built one? used one?

whats their strengths? and their weakness? are they better suited for HT and video games instead of intense 2 channel high audio listening?

depending on what i can find these might be a great diy project and great way to enter externals, or i might be wrong, feel free to set me straight.

thank you all for your time and sharing your experience,

ESR:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Joe08867

What the heck does a Chupacabra Have to do with audio.

Post the site you were talking about in your thread.

sda2mike

chupacabra is a rat...world's biggest

heiney9

The chip-amp I owned was a Peter Daniel based LM3875 that was already built with premium parts.

http://www.audiosector.com/lm3875.shtml

Black Gate caps were used throughout, Caddock resistors, etc. Probably one of the better builds as far as quality and parts you can find.

I found the sonic signature to be very sterile and uninvolving. There seemed to be a disconnect as the amp transistioned from the lows to mids to highs. Certain notes seemed to be exaggerated and overall it wasn't a very musical or cohesive amp.

Sterile and clinical is the best way to describe it. I used it for about 6 months and re-sold it because even with tubes in the mix, it was just too disjointed when listening to it.

H9

Face

heiney9 wrote: »

The chip-amp I owned was a Peter Daniel based LM3875 that was already built with premium parts.

http://www.audiosector.com/lm3875.shtml

Black Gate caps were used throughout, Caddock resistors, etc. Probably one of the better builds as far as quality and parts you can find.

I found the sonic signature to be very sterile and uninvolving. There seemed to be a disconnect as the amp transistioned from the lows to mids to highs. Certain notes seemed to be exaggerated and overall it wasn't a very musical or cohesive amp.

Sterile and clinical is the best way to describe it. I used it for about 6 months and re-sold it because even with tubes in the mix, it was just too disjointed when listening to it.

H9

I don't hear the "disconnect" you're referring to, but otherwise agree. It doesn't color or change the sound at all, which you refer to as sterile, but with some tubes in the mix and a warm source, it's very listenable. Paired with the wrong gear it could sound pretty awful though. :biggrin:

Face

To add to the discussion, they have a clean, transparent sound(some more than others), but aren't the last word in dynamics or dampening. So if you're using a pair of large towers or a speaker with a difficult impedance curve, look elsewhere. But for your average loudspeaker, you'll be fine.

FYI, I have a 5 channel unit in the classified(not the one Brock is referring to).

heiney9

Perhaps my post was too strong on the negative. It is a very listenable amp. I just didn't prefer such a clinical presentation. And I did feel with much of the music I listened too that it just didn't "blend" everything together into a whole. It was less cohesive than most amps I've heard. The flow of the music seemed a little disconnected as if the instruments were all playing seperately and never formed a cohesive unit.

The bass was pretty thumpy as well

Get what I'm trying to say?

Face

Were we listening to the same amp? :biggrin:

What speakers did you use the amp on? FYI, that little guy, although it was hot rodded, is only rated for 8ohm operation.

heiney9

First I used in the office rig on a pair of 5B's with the Dared pre-amp. Then I did put it in the main rig for about a week with the 1C's and I ran it with the Nak pre and Dared pre.

Can't remember if I had the Aleph at the time or the Adcom 545 as a base reference.

H9

heiney9

If you search the archives you can see my intital impression is very positive, but it slowly lost my favor after extended listening and use.

Again, not a bad amp beyond my impression of it's faults based on my listening preferences, etc.

To the OP, mine is just one opinion.

H9

Face

I'm not disputing your opinion, just trying to understand where you're coming from...and now I do. If there was proper synergy, that amp would have been fine for your 5B's, but shouldn't be used anywhere near your 1C's. :biggrin: Besides not being sure if it's common ground, it doesn't have the current capability to control all those woofers. It works fine on my smaller Tannoys, but I tried it on my custom speakers with 10" woofers and it also sounded "thumpy" too.

heiney9

Mike I didn't think you were disputing my opinion, just wanted it to be more clear and let the OP know it's just my opinion. If he can he should try it for himself, that's all. I'm sure in all kinds of different situations there are different outcomes. For me that amp just didn't flaot my boat enough to hang on to it.

I did check and make sure it was common ground before sticking it on the 1C's. I had also just gotten the Dared and didn't have all the great tubes I have now and the Dared's gain and that amp together were "hot" to say the least. :biggrin:

H9

George Grand

sda2mike wrote: »

chupacabra is a rat...world's biggest

Try capybara.

sda2mike

George Grand wrote: »

Try capybara.

you are correct, George! chupacabra was featured on the x-files

polkfarmboy

I hate waiting

Esreuter

here is where the chippa thingiy originates from.

you will have to watch it to the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yq_0KuXu64

these gainclones seem like a interesting little project. Ill have to try on out in the future to have the experience of both building and listening to them.

can always make a decent xmas gift to a person with a stereo and not really into sound quality.

ESR:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: