The Menace

[n_maher]

i'd like to hear the sucker, some day. i'll let you know if i'm ever in you're neck of the woods. but only after it's adequately burnt in, of course.

You heard the Dragon, right? They should be comparable if not rather similar based on my understand of that amp. At this point I'd really like to hear a Zana to compare it to.

[Salt Peanuts]

I'm sick of moving that 50lb beast around.

Now you know how I felt when I used to own DV-50.

At this point I'd really like to hear a Zana to compare it to.

Buy eet!

[n_maher]

Buy eet!

Ha! Can't afford it, by a large margin. And given the tube collection that I'm amassing for the Menace I can never go back.

[n_maher]

Well, as loath as I am to post impression of something I built I've finally gotten to put in some quality listening tonight so I might as well put something down.

Setup:

Arcam CD73 (transport only) -> Hertsens DAC -> Menace -> HD650s w/ Oehbach cable

Tubes:

GZ34s, CBS 5692 driver, Tung Sol 421A outputs

Material:

a bunch of stuff - Draconian, Goldfrapp, The Decemberists, A Fine Frenzy, Opeth, Patty Griffin

Random Thoughts:

I think my favorite part of this amp so far is the midrange, it just has amazing amounts of texture and depth. Covering all the way from male vocals, female vocals, and guitar (ohhh the guitar) it just sucks you in so deep. If I had to guess I'd say that the frequency response is pretty uniform with no obvious humps or bumps, nothing strikes me as particularly exaggerated. And despite what some would refer to as undersized output coupling capacitors (200uF per channel) I have no issues with the bass response. With the current tube compliment I think the caclulated -3db point is right around 5Hz w/ the Senns and around 33 with the HF-1s. Works for me. Then again, I'm not the pickiest guy about stuff like that - I just want whatever it is I'm listening to to put big grin on my fact, and in that regard this amp is a complete success.

The other thing that I really happy is the background noise, or distinct lack thereof. After dialing in some of the wiring just prior to CanJam I didn't even have enough time to properly evaluate the amp before shipping it off and it'd be safe to say that there was enough ambient noise at the meet to cover just about any normal level of back ground noise. Last night at Ian's I thought I was hearing just a bit but give the amp a little while to warm up and it goes dead silent (to my pretty picky ears anyway) in the range of the pot that I would use (and a fair bit beyond). Wide open there is certainly some noise but if you listened to this thing wide open you'd be deaf in a matter of minutes. Right now I'm listening a bit louder than normal which corresponds to around 70db which translates to ~9 o'clock on the pot, lots of room left. And before someone makes the usual church mouse comment you need to understand where I live and the fact that there's literally no ambient noise in my house. Anyway, at some point I hope to run RMAA tests on the amp and see how it measures but for now I'm just happy it passes the listening tests.

So I think that's enough out of me about my own gear. I really wish that there was a way to send this thing around for folks to listen to but after CanJam it'll be a year or more until I pack this sucker up again. I might have to make a portable power supply for it or something... I may update this tomorrow night if I get Neotech Senn cable repaired, it has a flakey left channel. Remind me to yell at the builder. But I only expect things to get better based on what I've heard of that cable with other rigs.

[n_maher]

having never heard the thing, i'm pretty willing to declare it a super winner.

you should write professional reviews.

[thrice]

you should write professional reviews.

I think he just did... I think he just did.

[deepak]

I really wish that there was a way to send this thing around for folks to listen to

Say no more, I have a pair of HD580 collecting dust, I can put it through the paces with the Menace

[n_maher]

Say no more, I have a pair of HD580 collecting dust, I can put it through the paces with the Menace

Not even if you paid shipping, deepak. Packing up on Sunday at the meet took the better part of 3hrs. Not going to do that for a good long time, not to mention the $300 or so that you'd be on the hook for. Packed weight is near 70lbs...

[grawk]

that's why pelican invented god.

errr. God invented pelican. 2 $180 pelican cases and you'd be done

[postjack]

the menace made grados as gradoey as i've ever heard them. i agree that it is a midrange beast, but i'll add that its a bass beast as well. it gave both the iHF-1 and RS-1 so much body. just really super lovely.

[fordgtlover]

They come free of charge with the caps ........

(bad joke)

anyways, those *are* the caps..

Ahhhh,.... thanks, I hadn't noticed that before. What brand are they, and any idea where can I get some?

[n_maher]

2 $180 pelican cases and you'd be done

Heh, I'd need two 0350s which run about $250 each and shipping is still $100+ with insurance, each way.

[tyrion]

I wish I spent more time with The Menace and some other amps. The time I did spend with it was certainly enjoyable. I would say that The Menace, WA6 SE, Balancing Act prototype and TTVJ 307A (in no particular order) were my favorites of the meet.

[postjack]

I wish I spent more time with The Menace and some other amps. The time I did spend with it was certainly enjoyable. I would say that The Menace, WA6 SE, Balancing Act prototype and TTVJ 307A (in no particular order) were my favorites of the meet.

BHSE hater!! burn him!!!

[spritzer]

BHSE hater!! burn him!!!

The Mafia is on it...

[boomana]

I would love to have compared the Menace with the TTVJ 307A with the same killer source. My fav amps were the KGBH SE (obviously), the Balancing Act (jp said the production models might be getting the Moth styling treatment) of the commercial amps. It's interesting that my next favs were all DIY: The Menace, Al's Beta, asr's drop-dead gorgeous Beta (though I didn't listen to it ), and grawk's balanced M^3 grew on me, though I didn't really get it for awhile.

[n_maher]

Finally had some time tonight to shoot a few updated pictures of the wiring and heat sink configuration. Pete is reviewing the final schematic along with the last few questions that I had. I've also managed to dial out the last bit of noise on the inputs. I've got a temporary fix in place and will be adding a permanent solution at some point that will involve a ground lift switch on the inputs. Bottom line, with it in place I'm more likely to hear the fridge running two rooms away through a closed door than I am to hear noise in the background of the amp.

the amp guts (not too much changed from last time)

amp top panel

ps guts (again, not substantially different)

ps top (just to complete the set)

I expect to have the schematic in the next couple of days and I'll post it up as soon as I do.

Listening again tonight, but with different tubes. 5U4GB's/RCA 6SN7/Cetron 5998s - sounds damn good to me.

[fierce_freak]

Looks really awesome, Nate! Also glad to hear you worked those last bits of noise out of the amp...that has to be really satisfying!

[Dominatrice]

god you do good work...this amp looks great in person =) Wasnt it blue before? Like retro smurf amp.

[guzziguy]

god you do good work...this amp looks great in person =) Wasnt it blue before? Like retro smurf amp.

It did have some blue painter's tape on it for protection. We all kind of liked the look.

[Smeggy]

That really does look neat and tidy in there. It's nice to see the insides at last, very impressive indeed.

[guzziguy]

Nate's work is really nice. He's the "Felix Unger" of DIY!

[thrice]

Nate's work is really nice. He's the "Felix Unger" of DIY!

Which one though, Art Carney, Jack Lemmon or Tony Randall?

Looks great Nate. I hope I get a chance to hear it someday.

[aardvark baguette]

Looks great. I bet it sings.

[n_maher]

Thanks for the kind words guys, it was very much a labor of love. The only bummer to come out of it is that my shelf space is simply not tall enough to allow me to put the wood accent pieces on that I originally wanted to. As it is there's only about 1/4" of clearance for the power supply (at the large choke) so I'm going to have to forgo that dream. I still might try to do something with the amp section since it isn't nearly as tall but right now I don't know how I feel about the two looking dissimilar.