rickcr42
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Post by rickcr42 on May 12, 2006 18:54:49 GMT
....maybe.Not a whole lot of detail there and the company is unknown to me but the specs/topology say there is potential and my only beef would be the lack of a gain select function. 300mv sensitivity tells me the gain is around +20dB and that is too high by X4 for Grado usage and maybe even too high for Senns by +5dB I also like the small side to side footprint that you folks in Europe seem to have locked down and patented as your own while we in the U.S. have headphone amps so big they need their own shelf or have to be stacked on top of the CDP www.profundo.us/heed/canamp.htm.
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Post by PinkFloyd on May 12, 2006 18:59:50 GMT
Very nice Rick, what does this puppy retail at? Not dissimilar to this 1987 job in shape is she?
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rickcr42
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Post by rickcr42 on May 12, 2006 19:11:22 GMT
still trying to track down some more info so stay tuned dude. I have to note that while the entire DIY headphone amp community and not a few "me too" manufacturers/DIYers turned "for profit" is mostly doing the op amp/buffer shuffle (or at best unimaginitave "diamond buffers" in discrete because they can't design a proper stage) there is a recent deluge of THROWBACK amps that bring to mind the earliest examples I had ever seen (talking '70s popular electronics articles here) and were made to perform a specific function,more "mini power amp" than up muscled gain stage (as it should be) No and that is EXACTLY the point i made to you in the other forum ! Look at those babies.Even side by side they take up very little real estate and the layout is so common sense the only thing I would change on "best method" terms would be to have ALL audio signal level to front (side jacks) and ALL AC section areas to back for damn near two-chasssis section isolation but that would be impractical in a modern system so second choice would be what we are looking at-smart,very smart and proper amps and i love this trend that maybe will in the near future separate the pretenders form the real players once some damn head to head takes place. You can't fake power and while you CAN make chicken soup out of chicken shit it will in the end still taste like shit
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on May 12, 2006 19:18:19 GMT
oh BTW-another "proper" amp that even has the same type footprint : headwize.com/projects/showfile.php?file=stokes_prj.htmI gotta tell you man,this amp flat out kicks ass and is an old design by DIY community standards and don't let the bad mouthing by certain parties who need to make loot off the unauthorised redesign fool you.There is NO hum and the the circuit is fine as isplus you can "dial in" the amp with this version i have built several of these and to be honest i am always trying to make "the next BEST thing" but could live out my life happily with this amp if i had to in a pinch (mine has OP275 as the front end,uses the first schemo and is "open frame" like the original)
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on May 12, 2006 21:07:36 GMT
DAMMIT MIKE ! You are the guy I look to for info on UK/Euro amps and yet doing a search I find Heed products are EXTENSIVLEY available in the UK,are a major presence at audio shows and have been around for a very long time yet i never heard of these guys before. what i gotta do man,come over there and throw a rock through your window to get you on point dude ? anyway: This guy is listed as a Heed dealer but there is zero on the page.Not knowing where in Scotland you/he is i have zero clue if you can maybe hook up and get a review sample but it would be cool as hell www.kevingallowayaudio.co.uk/products.asp?CatID=9&ManuID=27A U.K. dealer ? Has the phono stage and turntable motor but no HPA listing though being a Heed dealer means would have access www.needles-and-spins.co.uk/cat_heed.cfmmore dealers www.tsource.co.uk/extra3.htmlthe Heed Audio home page www.heedaudio.hu/en/prod_el.htmlBTW,check these out : unless I am going blind or losing my mind (either/both possibilities) that is a single ended class-a output stage ,about as rare as hens teeth mated to an opamp gain stage with me knowing only of two previous types and both DIY projects not commercial products
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tomo
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Post by tomo on May 13, 2006 2:18:47 GMT
Hey,
Thats ... That's an AC-coupled Szekeres amp! You ain't blind, Rick.
I think if you go that low, might as well build a buffer amp and buy the most expensive volume control money can buy. ...
But it's just me.
T
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rickcr42
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Post by rickcr42 on May 13, 2006 4:21:15 GMT
that was my thought,a variation running in the 100ma per channel area,should sound fine and for the asking price probably a good bargain for the non-DIYer mine even as a "bare naked follower" has a power supply section that cost me way more than the price of that entire amp,is AC coupled (elna Cerfine) and is too damn hot to sit next to in the summer months so I wonder who is the crazy one sometimes : A commercial product manufacturer making choices to hit a price point or me for spending 200% more on a similiar DIY product to get maybe 5% more in performance just because I CAN
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Post by PinkFloyd on May 13, 2006 10:12:44 GMT
£225
"The CanAmp is a two-stage amplifier. While the first - voltage gain - stage is based on an integrated circuit of the highest audio pedigree, the second - power gain - stage is a single-ended, pure Class-A amplifier. It enables the CanAmp to drive virtually any headphones from 8 ohms up to 600 ohms. As its output power (at 8 ohm) is nearly 1W, the CanAmp could drive even a high-sensitivity loudspeaker! The unit has no internal wiring, and the signal path is kept to a minimum on its PCB. Its high-quality, 1 dB-tolerance Blue Alps volume pot goes through a further selection process during manufacturing to achieve an even tighter, 0.5 dB tolerance. "
Technical Specifications: Input Sensitivity/Impedance: 200 mV/10 kOhm Power Output: 900 mW @ 8 Ohm Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 95dB Distortion: <0,5% (900 mW/1 kHz) Frequency Range: 10 Hz - 50 kHz (+/- 0,5dB
I will look into this for sure. Sorry I've been off the ball a bit of late Rick, trying to find a house, will be RIGHT back on the ball soon!
Mikester.
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Post by PinkFloyd on May 13, 2006 10:21:02 GMT
OK, made a call and am trying to arrange a demo of this amp, will keep you posted
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rickcr42
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Post by rickcr42 on May 13, 2006 15:08:54 GMT
Cool beans Mikeo Angelineo always like to see the obscure but well thought out product get their due or at the minimum have someone with some actual experience put them throught the paces and I beleive it is your stable of "mid fi" amps (which is not an insult but means you are not into the flash and dash amps at $3K a pop) can give a more accurate description on what is and is not a worthy product. Can't wait man
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on May 13, 2006 15:11:26 GMT
BTW-glad you are getting out of that petty neighborhood but to be honest your neigbors should be damn happy I do not live on the same continent or I am thinking they would be very unhappy souls.
No one f**ks with my freinds and not get some "in your face rick" pure 100% undiluted and natural as f**k with a bit of sand and grisle ;D
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Post by PinkFloyd on May 31, 2006 19:14:34 GMT
Well, shouldn't be long before the Heed CanAmp arrives now. I received a very nice email from Alpar Huszti who has been busy with other things @ the Munich High-End Show, I shall quote part of it:
Actually, we wouldn't even mind if you published the CanAmp's circuit in your review. We have a more "indulgent" view than most: no one of the DIY community would ever buy a factory-made product. The average hifi punter, on the other side, would never ever knock together something himself. In other words, we lose no customer. So why not to offer them something, as well? We've already offered kit versions in Hungary, not the entire Heed range but the CanAmp is a "suitable candidate" - especially if the tinkers buy the basic kit from us.
Of course, first I'd like to know what you think of it.
Look forward to reviewing it and will do the full frontal here.
Mike.
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on May 31, 2006 22:45:01 GMT
class act there but obviously never heard of the vultures at a certain web site that will first shit all over the design then when all thoughts of buying one by potential customers destroyed do the DIY version then sell it behind the scenes (PM based business) as they did with the RA-1.
MOST folks are honorable but man,i HAVE seen the dark side and it is an ugly mother
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tomo
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Post by tomo on Jun 1, 2006 16:33:50 GMT
Hey! Are you talking about me? ... If you were, I am gonna mail you rotten tofu!
Anyways, I think the dood at the Heed makes sense. I would never hesitate to buy LM317/337 dual PSU kits. It is now simply laborious to go far wiring them up when you gotta board already. And saves good deal of time thinking about the amp itself. Also, I dislike helping the people who doesn't care to DIY anyway to begin with. I mean they don't even look at the spec sheet to check pin-layouts!! Those people can go for kits and leave us alone. ...
I am not trying to be mean. They would be much happier with commercial products. ... Especially considering the time-value of your effort. With time spent on the hopeless and the unwanted quest for DIYing, you could have gone to movies, dinner, or cafe. ...
T
P.S. This does not mean I would go bash every non-DIYing persons off the net. ... I am not like that anymore.
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on Jun 2, 2006 18:29:04 GMT
try all you want Tomo but I think you get an "F" grade in Evil.Just not your nature no matter how hard you try. Me ? I do evil better by accident than most can on purpose and have been known to scare some folks with a look if they pissed me off or did something I did not like.Kind of my "don't go there or you will not like the results" look Even someone who CAN do full DIY finds a "populate the pcb then solder it" build nice for some things which to me is pretty much anything that I can not hardwire point-to-point. for someone new to the internet or electronics in general I cut some slack but for others it is pure laziness at work and for them I refuse to do their grunt work.How hard is it to "google" a data sheet ? If after reading the sheet they don't understand something then again I will help but like you said,asking the pinout of a part means they want others to do their work for them and to me that is an insult because it says they consider THEIR time valuable while yours means nothing.I despise lazy almost as much as an elite attitude,usually from someone severly lacking so how they came to feel superior remains a mystery yeah you are but you don't do mean very well.want some lessons ? I started out with kits and there is nothing wrong with them IF from a reputable company that backs the products and has a "I need help" hotline unlike what passes for kits these days. REAL kits are like the above and in my day from the likes of Dynaco,Heathkit,Eico and SWTPC (cut my DIY teeth on SWTPC kits ) and come with full documantation.Documentation is the key that separates "kit" from just a pc board and "you figure it out jerky" "Hi.My name is Tomo and I am a former basher of all non DIY types until one day I purchased my first finished product and realised I was spending WAY more money than i needed to.I am better now but i do have these relapses............."
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tomo
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Post by tomo on Jun 6, 2006 2:22:27 GMT
Aww! Relapse!! Awweee! You go look it up on the Google and type in OPA132 darn it. Git yo arse in gear over there. ... Oh I feel better now. Thank you. Hey speaking of the Szekeres quite a long ago. Lookie this. T
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on Jun 6, 2006 2:59:33 GMT
What is that case dude ? Never seen one with quite that footprint before and for a headphone amp just about perfect Oh yeah,nice layout too.I see you have gone back to a resistor at the source of the mosfet to set idle current (as have I since everything exotic only sounded "different" but not better ) Always amazes me how easy the Szekeres is to build and have sound good with even cheap parts but at the same time how easy that sound is to screw up as soon as the attempt to "improve" the desaign is attempted if that improvement is anything other than better passive parts or a better power supply (or buffering the front end with a "Broskie" jfet follower taking the gate capacitance cpacitance out of the equation )
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jun 6, 2006 10:47:25 GMT
Yeh, what is that case Tomo? Looks like it opens up on a hinge, very handy indeed for servicing / modding. I would be very interested in the source for these enclosures. I'm almost ready to move into my new house up north and, once I'm in, will be going 100% on all things audio (have only been on 5% the past few months) so am on the lookout for new / unique enclosures etc. Mikesterooni.
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tomo
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Post by tomo on Jun 6, 2006 12:28:09 GMT
Hey,
Sorry they don't move on hinges like a workerman's lunchbox. Now I think about it, it is quite a viable option. I don't think using hinges will work for this particular chasis because it fits real tightly.
I think this chasis is from Hummond. I am not really certain. I might go check tomorrow when I go to Akihabara "for WORK"!!!
Tomo
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on Jun 6, 2006 13:05:16 GMT
see what you can find out for us Tomo,that case looks to be ideal for power supplies or headphone amps with that heavy chassis for heat sinking and ideal dimensions for side by side audio gear.not ugly by any stretch either
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tomo
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Post by tomo on Jun 13, 2006 15:58:44 GMT
Sorry, guys.
The chasis is a local brand. It is NOT a Hammond. ... I suppose it makes my amp unique in a sexy way.
Hehe.
T
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on Jun 13, 2006 23:33:33 GMT
whap ! Wrong answer
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jun 14, 2006 20:35:34 GMT
No word back from Alpar re: the Heed CanAmp, as yet, but it will appear here as soon as it arrives
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Post by PinkFloyd on Aug 29, 2007 16:42:42 GMT
Just found this thread guys and it turns out it was Rick who originally got me aware about the HEED CanAmp...... just thought I'd bump her up.
^ boing! up she goes!
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leo
Been here a while!
Team wtf is it?
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Post by leo on Aug 29, 2007 19:24:41 GMT
I was going to have a go at building the SDS Labs Headphone Amplifier but didn't get round to it, maybe one to give a go some time ;D You made a much better job of the Headcase HF009, far better than the cheesy black vinyl wrap
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