- Joined
- Oct 11, 2007
- Messages
- 8,590
- Reaction score
- 520
This amp has been in the making for a few years now. having had developed a few amps over the last decade I really didn't have a great urge to do this one as I knew how much energy and money goes into the development of such an amp. but a few people convinced me to actually do something about the design that has been living in a simulation program for just over two years. it was time to create the first prototype board. but even that would take time. I asked my good friend Heinrich to help me with the layout and prototyping of this stage.
the original crowdfunding gang had to wait a few months before we could even show them some of the artwork and another few months before we got to the first prototype.
At this point have to add that right through the design I tested most concepts on my T-rex to make sure that it satisfies the objectives I was going for.
I wanted an amp based loosely on the amps I have been designing through the years but this time it had to be a beast.
Design considerations
- it has to be musical
- it has to be stable in almost any load
- wide input voltage range. typically 30v-100v
- effortless and exceptional control
- Fairly low THD around 0,005%
I think I have achieved all that :dop:
so a bit more about the general design
the amp itself is a quasi complimentary design. some might argue that this is such an old school way of doing things but its pros far outway its cons. so I am still sold on this topology.
the power supplies. I am using a very simple CRC for the output. 2200uf caps with a 0R1 resistor. not hell of a lot filtering is required at this stage. then for the IPS and VAS I am using a tried and trusted pre tracking regulated supply and to finish of the PSU board I have added a simple but very effective speaker protect. this can be left out and you can use a Velleman 4700, especially if you want to bridge the amps
Heinrich did the first tests on some cheap speakers in his garage and that went very well. he then connected it to his SMGA and ...................... I never heard those maggies sing like that. it had incredible speed and it even manages to make the maggies produce bass I never heard from them before
I had to take pry the setup away from him and get it into my own system. It really outdid my wildest expectations. I knew I was onto something special. as far the sound goes there is nothing I need to change here but obviously I had to change a few technical bugs so we had to make a second prototype
So photos of the first prototype
amp board
Power supply boards
Heinrich hard at work building the first test board
First test
close up of all the SMD
full setup test
in system test
the original crowdfunding gang had to wait a few months before we could even show them some of the artwork and another few months before we got to the first prototype.
At this point have to add that right through the design I tested most concepts on my T-rex to make sure that it satisfies the objectives I was going for.
I wanted an amp based loosely on the amps I have been designing through the years but this time it had to be a beast.
Design considerations
- it has to be musical
- it has to be stable in almost any load
- wide input voltage range. typically 30v-100v
- effortless and exceptional control
- Fairly low THD around 0,005%
I think I have achieved all that :dop:
so a bit more about the general design
the amp itself is a quasi complimentary design. some might argue that this is such an old school way of doing things but its pros far outway its cons. so I am still sold on this topology.
the power supplies. I am using a very simple CRC for the output. 2200uf caps with a 0R1 resistor. not hell of a lot filtering is required at this stage. then for the IPS and VAS I am using a tried and trusted pre tracking regulated supply and to finish of the PSU board I have added a simple but very effective speaker protect. this can be left out and you can use a Velleman 4700, especially if you want to bridge the amps
Heinrich did the first tests on some cheap speakers in his garage and that went very well. he then connected it to his SMGA and ...................... I never heard those maggies sing like that. it had incredible speed and it even manages to make the maggies produce bass I never heard from them before
I had to take pry the setup away from him and get it into my own system. It really outdid my wildest expectations. I knew I was onto something special. as far the sound goes there is nothing I need to change here but obviously I had to change a few technical bugs so we had to make a second prototype
So photos of the first prototype
amp board
Power supply boards
Heinrich hard at work building the first test board
First test
close up of all the SMD
full setup test
in system test
