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SkyPirate

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Posts posted by SkyPirate

  1. 3 hours ago, alanhuth said:

    Wow!  I have seen ZenMod.  He’s very active and knowledgeable, but I had no idea he actually built a new board.  I will go read up on the DIYaudio thread.  I’m curious to know what the problems were that he fixed, as I built mine with zero problems.  Ran perfectly the first time using FLOHMANN’s build guide for noobs, which was very well done, complete with detailed instructions, Mouser-loaded BOM!, build tips and gotchas.  If anybody is thinking about building an Aleph J, I highly recommend it.  https://diyalephj.blogspot.com

     

    I hadn't seen that blog with the detailed build guide! That's very well done, and I'm sure it was really helpful! Echo the recommendation to anyone who wants to build one. Fantastic amp.. My next project is the Salas DCG3 pre/headphone amp.. Too much fun!

  2. On 5/28/2021 at 2:39 PM, alanhuth said:

    SkyPirate,  I’m curious about your Aleph J amp.  I just built one, and the boards look quite different from the ones in your picture.  Where did they come from?   Mine were from the DIYaudio store.  They have 4 mosfets per side:  https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/attachments/pass-labs/937026d1617032053-aleph-build-guide-noobs-e9cd7a68-807e-4a65-a694-a56e8530f5e1-jpg

     

     

    Alanhuth, .

     

      Good eye! The boards on my AJ are the new "ZenMod" boards that Zen designed recently. He said he got tired of people struggling over the same issues with the old board design (I didn't have experience with it, so I"m not sure what those issues were). I wouldn't be surprised to see Zen's revision become what the DiyAudio store sells at some point. Some discussion of it over there on the AJ build thread.. I'm loving the amp though.. It's very quiet and sounds lovely.. esp after doing the "Super Hersey" mod! (Also, I rotated my boards so that the mosfets are at the bottom! Noob error)

     

    Cheers!

     

    Partially finished ZM/AJ board below!

     

     

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  3. On 4/29/2021 at 8:43 PM, ClaudeJ1 said:

    They are tighter tolerance but should sound no different. You may want to try to just do a capacitor upgrade without changing the Autoformer and maintain the original capacitor values. Just do a woofer swap, port, and insulation like Fido did. It's faster, easier, and less work that way. Fido said they sounded as good as Forte 1's that way and his younger wife with better ears agreed. You can always do the mod the rest of the way if you feel you have too much bass. You own the salt shaker and the taste buds and the option to do it incrementally up to the original recipe allows for this progression, which you can stop if you are happy with the easier way. Both are an improvement.

     

    Claude,

     

      Thank you for the response.. Finished up the full upgrade a week ago before seeing your post! Followed your specs to a T, although I did use the eminance delta speaker vs sourcing a Klipsch.. (cheapskate I know).. Much improved mids and lows, and very happy with the changes.

     

      Question about your comment above.. Had I upgraded caps to original values, and left autoformer connections in the stock config, would that have, in theory, yielded more low/mid range response? The bass is good, I wouldn't say too much though, and def depends on what I'm playing..

     

    Thanks again!

    John

  4. Good morning all..

     

      First time poster,  long time reader.. Wanted to introduce myself! I started a journey in the 'audio' realm a year ago when a good friend/audiophile buddy talked me into building a proper headphone amp, and pairing it with a a DAC and a good set of phones.. I built my headphone amp at his rec with the option of being able to use it as a preamp in case I decided to build a power amp at some point.. (this is a slippery slope, as I'm learning). A year later I'm thinking "man, I'd like to get some speakers and build a power amp".. So he and I chat a bit and I'm considering buying a new set of lower end Klipsch speaks. He said "no way would I buy those.. get yourself a pair of Hersey's.. old school.. same price.. no brainer"..  My craigslist search begins..

     

       I found a pair of Hersey I's about an hour from me that were advertised as in good condition.. I went and looked at them and although I didn't know what I was looking at, they looked pretty nice! lol.. Bought them (guy wouldn't negotiate and had a line of folks to buy them) for $650.00. I spent the next few months gathering parts and finished building a Nelson Pass/First Watt/Pass Labs "Aleph J" power amp.

     

      My speaks are unmodified, unmolested with original oil can caps. They sound pretty good to my ears with the AJ, but I have to listen to them in a smaller room and I can def tell that they are lacking a bit on the low end.. clarity is outstanding however.. I think that this mod is just what I need to get the best out of my system, and I'm looking forward to getting it going.

     

      Ordered the Delta Eminance Pro 12A's/port/egg crate yesterday. The caps are backordered so I substituted these instead: https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-PMPC-2.0-2.0uF-250V-Precision-Audio-Capacitor-027-214

     

      Anyone have any experience or thoughts on these?

     

      Anyway, looking forward to getting this project started.. Thank you in advance to all of you guys for the hard work you've done to sort all of this out and take an amazing set of speakers and make them even better!

     

    Cheers!

    John

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