Smeggy Posted September 19, 2008 Report Posted September 19, 2008 I thought it was about time my cheap ass got a cheap headphone amp (I wouldn't be so cheap if I wasn't so broke ) and due to the overabundance of orthodynamics in my collection I need something with a good bit of powah, so far the only ones I've found that are both cheap and powerful seem to be the Darkvoice amps @1w. I'm thinking the little Figaro or 336. I've heard and liked the 336 but heard not the Figaro and that one is cheaper and looks less vulnerable to my clumsy ways. Anyone here heard one and have an opinion of it as a smallish and cheap workaday amp or others similarly priced ($200 inc shipping) with enough juice to run orthos?
jinp6301 Posted September 20, 2008 Report Posted September 20, 2008 The Audio Alchemy headphone amp puts out 1W iirc. It worked not badly with k1000s
morphsci Posted September 20, 2008 Report Posted September 20, 2008 Thanks to Hydrocity I was able to hear my AA amp, and unfortunately it is not well. I pulled it apart and the board looks fine, i.e. no obvious frying. If you have any DIY skills I can send it to you and you can see if you can get it working. You will need your own power supply with the specifications listed HERE. Let me via PM or email.
boomana Posted September 20, 2008 Report Posted September 20, 2008 I had and liked the 336 with my K340s and a few new tubes, so it has the powah, as you say. I've never heard an ortho in my life, so I have no idea how they might match up. Never heard the figaro. After being all bitchy in a Little Dot thread on head-fi today, I have learned that they sure have devotees and I know they are cheap. Don't know about their power thing. They've powered more than a few idiots, that's for sure, but might still be worth checking into.
guzziguy Posted September 20, 2008 Report Posted September 20, 2008 "Fanboys, it's what's for dinner". And I thought you were Vegan, Vicki.
Smeggy Posted September 20, 2008 Author Report Posted September 20, 2008 Heh, I don't know why people get so fixated on a particular brand. It's a pretty retarded way of looking at things. I prefer to have one or two of all makes I don't know how powerful the LD amps are but I know the DVs are fairly strong. I do plan on buying an amp because I'm just not that savvy with electronics otherwise I'd have already built an amp myself. I'll investigate further on this. I guess I'm thinking the DV Figaro will be as good as anything else in that price range. Thanks for the offer Morph, I have no test gear and little knowlege so it would be wasted on me. I can't even figure out how to make my Gainclone boards work.
hYdrociTy Posted September 20, 2008 Report Posted September 20, 2008 Thanks to Hydrocity I was able to hear my AA amp, and unfortunately it is not well. I pulled it apart and the board looks fine, i.e. no obvious frying. If you have any DIY skills I can send it to you and you can see if you can get it working. You will need your own power supply with the specifications listed HERE. Let me via PM or email. I'm sorry to hear that What exactly is not well about it?
Grand Enigma Posted September 20, 2008 Report Posted September 20, 2008 holly crap team gilmore raptor dot V ftw!
Smeggy Posted September 20, 2008 Author Report Posted September 20, 2008 Introducing the GILTORDOV Mk1 A whole new amplifier featuring a fully integrated discreet all solid state tube design. Expensively cheap, designed and built in the United States of China to milspec standards. Available in black or silver with red nail polish accents.
spritzer Posted September 20, 2008 Report Posted September 20, 2008 Just build a B22 and get it over with.
n_maher Posted September 20, 2008 Report Posted September 20, 2008 I think a high powered m3 would be a great choice. Otherwise, the commercial recommendations made by folks seem to make good sense.
Smeggy Posted September 20, 2008 Author Report Posted September 20, 2008 I have the DIY abilities of a gnat. It'll have to be something ready made as I'm way too much of a doofus to ever think I could build an amp and expect it to actually work. I have a couple of options I'm pondering on now, also, I'm broke so options on ready mades are limited too. Gotta keep it cheap!
spritzer Posted September 20, 2008 Report Posted September 20, 2008 The best way to improve those DIY abilities is to build something. A Starving Student shouldn't be to hard and you could even paint it gold...
morphsci Posted September 21, 2008 Report Posted September 21, 2008 I'm sorry to hear that What exactly is not well about it? There is a lot of background static. It is there whether you use the volume control or not. You can actually faintly hear the music and its volume is unaffected by the volume control. It was sort of a "free" find anyway. I had packed it up when we were moving from SD and just happened to find the box a few weeks ago.
Upstateguy Posted September 21, 2008 Report Posted September 21, 2008 I think a high powered m3 would be a great choice. Otherwise, the commercial recommendations made by folks seem to make good sense. 2X the M^3 USG
Smeggy Posted September 21, 2008 Author Report Posted September 21, 2008 I would love an M^3, It's probably the ideal amp for orthos and I could probably put one together but would have no way to test or fault find as I know absolutely dick about electronics. Finding parts would also be a challenge because no-one has a standardized build and people swap and change parts as they see fit. I couldn't even nail down what transformer to use with a gainclone because everyone does it differently and unless you know, you don't know. Which is why even though I asked around I still have nothing more than a bunch of parts. I gave up through frustration. Belive me, I'd love to DIY it, I simply don't understand electronics. Old dog, new tricks and all that balls
n_maher Posted September 21, 2008 Report Posted September 21, 2008 Smeggy, If you look at amb's site you can still find the BOM that I did in an excel spreadsheet. If you can manage a paint by numbers type of exercise (really, it's just a matter of taking your time) then you should be able to stuff the pcb just fine. Same deal with the power supply. And I for one don't see much need to deviate from the standard parts list for 99% of the build. The only changes to the PS would be to upspec the trafo and heatsinks and same with the amp, just beef up the heat sinks. I might even have some parts to donate to the cause.
spritzer Posted September 21, 2008 Report Posted September 21, 2008 Just build the basic BOM and ask before doing anything stupid.
Smeggy Posted September 21, 2008 Author Report Posted September 21, 2008 Thanks for that. I'll take a closer look at AMBs site and see what's involved. Oh and Spritz, if I asked before doing something stupid then it wouldn't be stupid and I have a reputation of stupidity to uphold
luvdunhill Posted September 22, 2008 Report Posted September 22, 2008 just a guess, but perhaps orthos will prefer a transformer coupled amplifier?
spritzer Posted September 22, 2008 Report Posted September 22, 2008 I really wanted to try out the Trafomatic amp but then this B22 showed up and it has the added benefit of being able to drive anything I throw at it, even my Tannoy speakers.
Duggeh Posted September 22, 2008 Report Posted September 22, 2008 You'd better be drinking Irn-Bru while you're listening to those Tannoys.
spritzer Posted September 22, 2008 Report Posted September 22, 2008 what Tannoys do you have? Revolution 2. They are from my speaker days along with an Audio Analogue Puccini (original not the crap later versions) and some vintage amps. Not bad speakers at all and I got them ex-demo for next to nothing.
spritzer Posted September 22, 2008 Report Posted September 22, 2008 I was once young and stupid. I've had these for about 10 years now but I've also got a set of Quad ESL63's that need a complete overhaul.
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