pics of the finished product

[earwaxxer]

Man I love this Quickie! Its a tweakers paradise! I simplified the layout some by getting rid of the dual imputs since I didnt need them, thus removing one switch in the audio path. I also used pure silver wire throughout just because I had it and I have silver wire throughout my system. As far as caps and resistors etc. I used Mundorf supreme's for the coupling caps, Elna's on the electrolyics and Tantalum resistors. TKD potentiometer and GE NOS tubes. I was surprised to find the GE tubes have a much "bigger" sound over the stock. Much more "tubelike". I am a big fan of the higher end Mundorfs as you can see. I have the Silver/Oil in my t-amp and as bypass caps on my Maggies. To save some bucks I used the supremes on the Quickie. I will probably obsess over that and wonder how the silver/oils would sound! I couldnt be happier - for now. Its unreal how well this preamp drives my little t-amp. It really gets it cooking. It never used to get warm at all. Now its warm even at reasonable volume. Much more drive and "volume" ie. size to the sound. Even at low volumes. ---oh and battery power on the Quickie - thats 45V LiPo, and of course AA NMH rechargeables for warmers. On the t-amp I use NMH 30V packs.

I heard tell that a 300B preamp was in the works?

Cheers - Eric

One last thing --- Whats really cool about an amp of this simplicity is that I can learn a lot about what role each component plays. Its still heady stuff but it brings it down to a level that the average enthusiast can digest.

 

[Grainger49]

Nice work and excellent components. 

I recognize the crossover in the fourth picture but exactly what is the third one?

Thanks,

 

[earwaxxer]

Thanks for the complement Granger... The 3rd pic is my Winsome Labs Mouse t-amp with the cap mods mounted on the top of the case (didnt fit inside)  - there I also used the Elna electrolyics 1000uF, and the Mundorf Silver/Oils 2.2uF for the coupling caps. Other modes in the case include replacing the jumpers with pure silver wire and dispensed with the speaker connectors. That battery pack to the left of it is the 30V NMH that powers the amp.

 

[Grainger49]

A, Ha! I thought that was all capacitors and it is a stack of batteries.  I'm a big battery supply fan.  Using rechargeable batteries is all the smarter.

 

[earwaxxer]

Hi Bottleheaders!

I though I would share the new amp pics with you guys first, since it was the Quickie that got me to pull the trigger. Got the Emotiva XPA-2. Still only a couple of hours of burn in time. Quite nice, considering. I would expect some harshness. Especially from a green "big balls" amp. If it didnt smooth much from here I would be ok with that. I think it will smooth to a considerable degree. With the amount of number and amount of capacitance/fets etc. That beef has to loosen up.

Of course I knew all along the Maggies needed some serious power. Several forum posters have even got a bit testy with me that I was "only" using a 50wpc t-amp. That little amps still sounds "better" than the big boy in its current greeness, as far as mids go. Life is not all mids though. The flesh on the bones is what makes music satisfying and fun at normal listening levels. The Emotiva definately has flesh! Unlike my Peareaux E160i that I sold when I bought the t-amp. That integrated had some good power, but the t-amp showed it could also go loud but "clean" as a baby's bottom. Thats why I was not convinced I would go back to class AB mosfets. I was thinking along the lines of peachtree, wyred4sound, Spectron etc for some more power.

Not sure how the Emotiva compares with similarly powered class D/T amps. All I know is that I only payed $699 DELIVERED! Its over 80lbs by the way. It doesnt sound like a ham fisted big power amp. I "knew" this puppy would sing with a good tube pre. It does. BTW I was able to strap on my Mundorf silver/oils to my Quickie, since I retired the t-amp.

Peace

 

[Chris]

an audiophile friend has the wyred 4 powering his flagship maggies.. i have heard this combo many times and have to say the amp is up to the task...

 

[earwaxxer]

Yep - Wyred 4 sound has been on my radar for some time. It would have cost me about 2x what I spent for a wyred amp. Not bad considering the Emotiva is one of those extreme value "designed in USA made in China" units. Its a geat time to be an audiophile!

Its kind of interesting that Emotiva was heading in the class D/H direction, but turned back to A/B.