Time to DIY like it's 2009! (hobby has changed, man)

Once you factor in labor (opportunity cost from the builder’s “real job” hourly rate), DIY audio has never had a good value proposition.

Except for the satisfaction of knowing that you made it yourself. Even if it’s someone else’s design, there’s a little je ne sais quoi to a rack of self-handmade gear, and to the abyss with value.

 

Indeed! I've always considered my own labor free, from the pure enjoyment. Casework, not so much. That shit is expensive.

 

You should check out some discussion of the LuFo amp ( as a headphone amp ) discussion over at DIYA - using a very simple circuit with a power JFET - https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/372679-lufo-amp-39w-se-class-28v-rail-28.html#post6688880

I may have to build one of these for myself.

..dB

 

Neat! Bookmarked.

 

Thanks to the mechanical keyboard community, there has been demand for custom laser cut metal plates in different materials and thicknesses. Custom aluminum panels can made much cheaper than they used to be.

unless you want it to look really pro, I get a stock case and get my panels cut and laser etched by a place like laserboost.

 

I still haven't done a dead-bug build. The dead-bug CMoy in a lucite cube was pretty cool....

 

Does anyone know of a class AB power amp design that can manage 100-150Wpc into 8ohm, preferably without a ton of negative feedback? I know about the Honeybadger, was wondering if there’s anything else. I also know about Neurochrome kits, but they’re crazy expensive and the high-power ones are preassembled, so less interesting.

I’m wrapping up a build of Amiga MT speakers, and they’re extremely insensitive. I considered making a First Watt F5 or F6, but 25Wpc probably won’t cut it for a speaker rated at 83dB/W@1m.

 

There have been a few discussion on DIYA

NP's AB100 -- there are a few iterations PCBs are all through GBs though, so you would need to find someone with a PCB.

XRK's FH9HVX , PCBs on ETSY - build thread on DIY

I built XRKs amp - it is good

edit - not AB but totally awesome, zenmod's BabelFish XA252 this is likely the next amp I build ( well let's clarify - aside from all the half assembled amps , this will be the next amp I buy parts for )

 

@gepardcv
Bryston offers all of their old schematics for free:
http://old.bryston.com/pages/technical.html

Here's the 4B from the last generation, 150W @ 8ohm:
http://old.bryston.com/PDF/Schematics/4BSST2_SCHEMATICS.pdf

 

I've been trying my best to find and follow projects on DIYA, but man, coming in from the wilderness it's almost a full time job. Projects go from conception, to execution, to a group buy for boards, to being built, and then forgotten, in a matter of weeks. So tough to learn when everything moves so damn fast!

 

Yes, i was actually flowing one of the AB100 build threads when XRKs version popped up and it was prototyped and built before the GB boards were available.

 

I think this thread is a pretty good basis for why I disagree my friend. What is the incentive? Because it's fun!

Old designs that you build or tweak to make them your own have value in the time spent.

I remember the A47 project. Basically a cmoy with another opamp as buffer. It didn't do much of anything, but it was kind of cool.

I totally drool over Sijosae making tiny cmoy amps with bc327/bc337 buffers in the space of a tin can. I actually made a couple based on his layout with an lm317 battery charger and stuffed it into a Hammond 801 case with a 9V.

What I'm trying to say is that you don't need to create something better than what exists. You just need to build what you can call your own. Sorry, I'm kind of a romantic.

 

Sijosea was / is an inspiration! The bottle cap heatsinks are inspiring and his compact layouts are an art form.

I agree with the concept that most everything possible has been built with the components we have access today. ZM's philosophy is you learn along the way, make new friends and have something to be proud of when you are done = joy of DIY

.. dB

 

Oh yes, from the point of the builder, I have no issues at all and mostly agree. But where is the incentive for a designer these days?

Consider the difference between an average diyaudio thread today, and the instructions you could find for a Cmoy, or anything published by AMB or Beezar. The gulf is enormous. Why did Ti Kan and @TomB put in so much effort? Aside from them just being great people, I think it is because at the time, the designs were extremely competitive in a price/performance envelope. There was a huge market of eager DIY'ers, they knew lots of people would build them, and on-sold amps would stand above equivalent commercial gear. With the abundance of cheap and good mass-produced amps, this is probably no longer the case.

Of course, this is absolutely not to diss what happens on diyaudio, or demand anything extra from them, because thousands of talented folk like @dBel84 are certainly making it work. It is simply a recognition that the audiences, market, and the skills/time required are very different now vs 10 years ago. So, I come back to my main conclusion - in 2021, it is really hard to make a case for new and accessible mid-fi DIY projects. People with skill design for themselves, and the best DIY happens at cheap-and-cheerful, or crazy-bespoke.

And I do agree with you for my projects already built and in the process of being revamped. I swell with pride every time I see my own gear. But to build new from scratch now? Ehhhhhh, I'm having difficulty seeing it. So for me, it really is a case of GIT GUD, or just buy something commercial.

 

Maybe one of our next projects should be to make a CNC mill...

 

HA! One of my planned 3D printing projects is to build a small mill out of a Dremel.

 

Back in grad school when I was heavy into headphone modding and transplanting drivers, I definitely made use of the machine shop in engineering. I made more than a couple old school Fostex driver housings on the lathe and drill press. Don't think I'd ever get up to the level of making fancy front panels though, beyond whatever I could do on simple mill.

 

I understand your point of view @Beefy

I also think the answer to your question is so obvious that it's silly. What's the incentive? Just rephrase that question to "why". Isn't it obvious? Because it's fun.

Yes, you'll spend a lot of time thinking and drafting concepts, then more time writing an overview, maybe using software to model it, and that's before the headache of planning and organizing any kind of actual prototype.

The point is, this is fun for some people, and they may enjoy spending their time doing this.

The first thing that came to my mind is making a pcb that fits into a Hammonds case, onboard transformer, regulated psu, opamp with a simple voltage follower, high current.

I found some drawings I made years ago.

There's a very good chance that this is absolute nonsense, as an active ground shouldn't require this design, especially a single rail virtual one, but give me a break, I made this in MS Paint like a decade ago without knowing anything.

 

Sorry if I'm just spamming your thread @Beefy
I just came across this really great educational video on power supply caps and wanted to share:

 

Cool, I'll take a look.

For educational purposes, I'm also a big fan of electroboom...



(fair warning: if you haven't seen electroboom before, don't go down the rabbit hole, you will surely be watching his channel for hours)