Dynahi or β22?

[mattcalf]

I've read as much as a I on the topic and there seems to be fair arguments for both amps. It seems HC fosters a fair few with impressions of both amps, so I figured I'd ask here for opinions.

My situation is this:

I don't plan to begin building/organising the eventual winner of this topic for at least 5 months, but as the changing of hands of djgardner's KG amp stash to AMB has offered me a wonderful oppurtunity. Get the boards and the majority of the transistors from one place, and Ti even offers matching which would cut down on alot of the hassle.

All in all, this may be the best opportunity I have to build a dynahi. But I don't want to build it if the β22 would be an all-around better choice. Only problem I foresee with the Dynahi (especially if I decide to build it balanced) is it runs very hot, and I live in a very hot and humid part of the world. My laptop even tends to overheat without external cooling.

I listen to a range of music, metal, alternative mainly with an occasional dabble in classical.

Firstly will use it with my HF1, but also looking to get an ortho (LCD, or the more I read about the Thunderpants the more I want one) and a modded pair of K340.

Thanks for your time,

Matt.

[swt61]

Sorry I've never heard the Dynahi. From what I hear you can't go wrong with either choice.

I can tell you that the Thunderpants sound sublime on the Beta22.

[grawk]

Having owned a dynahi and spent some time with the B22, my suggestion is an overbuilt M3 .

[n_maher]

I'm with Dan on this, if you already live in a hot place I'd hesitate to build a space heater of a headphone amp and both are on the warmer side of things.

[jp11801]

From a cost to dollars perspective yes the M3 is the way to go and you give up little to nothing.

I am in the minority in not liking the B22 sound as to me it is sterile and uninvolving unless matched with a more aggressive headphone like an RS1. Use it with a 701, 650 or any other smoother HP and it is too boring for me. The dynahi was a great amp and one I wish I had kept, it is a space heater and in your situation may be a bad choice if the additional heat of the amp is an issue for you. I'd ask KG is the room temp is an issue for the amp. The M3 that I heard was Dan's an an excellent amp, I only heard it with the JH13s at the NYC meet but it sounded great. I am not aware of people doing comprehensive comparisons to these amps though so most comments will be from memory.

[Nebby]

Having owned a dynahi and spent some time with the B22, my suggestion is an overbuilt M3 .

What configuration would this overbuilt M3 be?

[swt61]

Had an M

[deepak]

I heard both amps on different sources, but have heard a couple of different ones of each of them. I prefer the Dynahi as well, there is an immediateness/realism to it that made me want to keep listening. It's sort of like comparing high end vinyl to high end digital. They're both great. One of them sounds a lot closer to real music.

[grawk]

The one I had used AD843 opamps, a 5a/36v sigma 11 power supply, and some beefier heat sinks, 6 channels, and cinemag cmli 15/15a input transformers. Colin can detail what he biased everything to. It was built to be able to drive speakers, tho by the end, I'd moved it to preamp/headphone amp use. I do think even the stock 3 channel build with a good power supply would be quite satisfying.

[n_maher]

I should have expanded my explanation:

If the requirement is to be able to work with anything from the HF-1 to the K340 you're going to need switchable gain which while technically possible on the beta or dynahi is not really practical. I'd setup a balanced M

[Nebby]

The one I had used AD843 opamps, a 5a/36v sigma 11 power supply, and some beefier heat sinks, 6 channels, and cinemag cmli 15/15a input transformers. Colin can detail what he biased everything to. It was built to be able to drive speakers, tho by the end, I'd moved it to preamp/headphone amp use. I do think even the stock 3 channel build with a good power supply would be quite satisfying.

Thanks for the info, I have a few parts for a M3 build so I was curious what you had used.

[Pars]

From my limited experience re. heat, my 2 ch Dynahi so far doesn't run very hot at all (biased at 75mA). It is built on hifi2000 pesante heatsinks (1 per channel). The sigma22 seems to run hotter than either amp channel does, though I haven't cased the whole thing up yet.

Digger945 had his dynamite at CJ, and I didn't recall it seeming hot either? He can perhaps weigh in on this. I haven't heard either a beta22 or an M^3, so can't comment. Also haven't heard a DynaFET either.

[mattcalf]

Thanks for the replies so far guys.

Tropical Queensland is where I reside, temperatures don't ever exceed 34

[n_maher]

I figure by the time I get around to building the LCDuino and it's relay attenuator will be available, suitable or something like a DACT?

I'd be most concerned with the max level of attenuation, graduation of steps (if applicable) and channel matching at the highest levels of attenuation.

[mattcalf]

I'd be most concerned with the max level of attenuation, graduation of steps (if applicable) and channel matching at the highest levels of attenuation.

So wait and see how the LCDuino performs?

[digger945]

The heat is relative. After working on the DynaFET, everything else seems not even warm. I had a chance to listen to a balanced B22 at a meet side by side with mine. B22 is a good amp. Either one will crush yer scull with good sound.

Put me in the M3 camp with the others. Grawk has the recipe for success imo. I would go with higher rails/good ps and choose a good attenuator as Nate explains.

[mattcalf]

Either one will crush yer scull with good sound...

I assume from the replies here that the balanced M^3 should follow suit?

In the last week of school for this semester, will have a fun holidays learning more about the M^3.

Thanks!

[mattcalf]

Gday grawk, just wondering if you had any surviving internal pictures of your balanced M^3. I could only externals over at the other place.

Do you still have it or has it moved on?

Cheers,

matt.

P.S. If it's not overstepping my mark, what was the build cost?

[johnwmclean]

Hey Matt, I

[mattcalf]

The spanner remover (wrt my jaycar), now throws the spanner.

Thanks for the opinion John, I honestly value what you say highly and watch all of your builds closely. However, I've come to the conclusion that as much as I love headphone listening, I'm not the most discerning. I never really accepted it but this thread has made me realise that I can be satisfied with a M^3 while not worrying that I'm missing too much (whether I can hear it or not). It'll also be a fun and challenging build, not on a B22 or Dynahi level though.

[grawk]

it was sold a while ago to fund other acquisitions. I don't have any internal pictures anymore, but maybe someone else can post some.

[johnwmclean]

Good for you Matt! The M^3 is superb and will hold it

[mattcalf]

Thanks John.

By the time I finish it you can expect me to fly down to the Blue Mountains and we can have a 'balanced AMB' off/'Please help fix my build, while i watch + learn'.

[cetoole]

it was sold a while ago to fund other acquisitions. I don't have any internal pictures anymore, but maybe someone else can post some.

I found this pic somewhere online.

[digger945]

Do a search on hf for bada bing(I don't know exactly the corrct spelling) as he has built both b22 and m3 and last we talked working on dynahi.