This system has been a true labor of love. Building many of the components from scratch partially as a form of meditation, partially as heck this is kind of fun
It all started with a pair of full range transmission line speakers which opened up the door to the joy of cross over less speakers and low power amps.
I have built a range of amps from Class D, to Chip amps (think gaincard) to my all time favorite, Nelson Passs Zen V9 (F3) 15 watts of pure clean class a power with the sweetness of tubes.
This amp matched with a pair of Druids and Tube pre (eastern electrics minimax) evokes pure sonic bliss.
The trials and tribulations of my various DIY projects can be found on my blog:
http://web.mac.com/noteldov
Please take a look and let me know what you think.
This system is still very much in progress so any thoughts would be appreciated.
Custom LP 12. I rebuilt the LP 12 replacing the Valhalla power supply and motor with a DC controller board and Maxon motor. Battery powered
ZU DL-103
ZU modification of classic denon MC cartridge
Linn LP-12 Valhalla
Replaced Valhalla power supply and AC motor with DIY DC controller board and Maxon motor. Amazing stability and runs at 0.03% accuracy
First Watt F3
The commercial version of the Zen V9.
Pass Labs Zen V9 (F3)
Pass DIY Zen Version 9. Custom Built Pass amp based on the low wattage First Watt F3. Fully independant pure Class A monoblocks
Benchmark DAC Pre1
Replaced NOS DAC
Apple ATV
Apple TV jacked to add 1TB of storage. Digital output to Benchmark DAC. Goodbye Slim devices hello apple
Apple IPhone
USe the remote application on the iphone to control Apple TV transport. Brillaint interface
EAR USA 834P
Finally a phono section to help make the Blackbird Sing
Integrated Gainclone w/ NOSDAC .
DIY gainclone. This integrated gainclone consists of the following components: 1. Gainclone using LM3886 chip 2. Audio Sector NOSDAC 3. Mark Levinson based op amp 4. Digital reciever- hacked slimp3
DIY Class D Charlize based Tripath amp
DIY class d Charlise amp with seperate SMPS power supply
Zu Audio Druid MK IV
Full range cross over less speaker. 101 dB
DIY Transmission Line Jordan 92's
Full range transmission line speakers using Jordan 92's drivers
How challenging was the V9 build? Aside from the chassis, is it identical to the F3 circuit and parts selection? Does Nelson offer instructions? Enviable execution of the DIY builds! Cheers ~ Mike
Loxodrome, I think i spot an alto vase with tulips in your system. Gorgeous clean space. I checked out you website... an architect and modernist too. You might find our office work interesting as well: www.saitowitz.com
Thanks for the kind remarks. I have always kind of been a believer of "looks good, sounds good" school of thought. Partially why i started to build my own amps, I am as interested in the chassis design as anything else, and as it turns out, unless you are interested in very esoteric capacitors, it will be where most of your time and money goes.
The Zu's really struggled with the gainclone (LM3886 chip) but really came alive when driven by the Zen's. Something to be said for pure class A power
I too love the eames table and the aalto vase, I have an old clear one in my bathroom that I keep my toothbrushes in, I love his work. Your system looks great, must sound even better.
