I started my DIY amp project a few years ago. There were two main reasons - no money to buy Accuphase 
and curiosity.
I needed some real analogue design entertainment, as at the time my main job was FPGA coding.
So I spent about a year on evenings and where time permitted in reading books about psychoacoustics and simulations.
Quite a few ideas were generated and eventually I decided to create a modular amp to check whether all of this is going to work at all
I deliberately chose cheap (but quality) transistors, and the rest of components are pretty simple - nothing esoteric of "for audio".
For example, input capacitors are industrial high-current pulse ones used for CRT TV horizontal deflection.
I chose Sony amp for box and remote control capabilities only as I got it cheap from eBay.
To get the cost of project down I even made PCBs on my own...
Year later it was born. First sound check shown good potential and temperature stability was good as per simulated model.
Few board layouts tweaks, new preamp board (for volume control) and MM preamp few month later - here it is.
As it is just a prototype test for some ideas, its main purpose was to drive my Epos ES12s or other 8 Ohm speakers reasonably loud.
It is capable of doing about 80W/channel, 4 ohms speakers with care.
I had a lot of thoughts after my close friend's reviews of the amp before showing it anywhere. It is a prototype (in my world). It was
very hard to build and wire in this small case. It does not have an optimal layout.
I am thinking whether or not to make it commercial.
The reasons are:
1. There is a lot of music lovers who can not afford very expensive gear. The classical music is extremely difficult from amplification point of view. I think my amp is quite capable for the classical music (it may well be not).
2. I have a lot of ideas about loudspeakers, digital audio and turntables. Some of them are probably crap. If I can dedicate myself to audio design I can probably make something useful.
3. I don't want to make money to buy Ferrary. I don't need it. But I need to support my family.
At the moment I am doing simulations for the Mark 2 accumulating my previous experience - whether it is going to happen in hardware or not.
So please guys who heard my amp put your critical thoughts here. Any other comments are welcomed.
and curiosity.I needed some real analogue design entertainment, as at the time my main job was FPGA coding.
So I spent about a year on evenings and where time permitted in reading books about psychoacoustics and simulations.
Quite a few ideas were generated and eventually I decided to create a modular amp to check whether all of this is going to work at all
I deliberately chose cheap (but quality) transistors, and the rest of components are pretty simple - nothing esoteric of "for audio".
For example, input capacitors are industrial high-current pulse ones used for CRT TV horizontal deflection.
I chose Sony amp for box and remote control capabilities only as I got it cheap from eBay.
To get the cost of project down I even made PCBs on my own...
Year later it was born. First sound check shown good potential and temperature stability was good as per simulated model.
Few board layouts tweaks, new preamp board (for volume control) and MM preamp few month later - here it is.
As it is just a prototype test for some ideas, its main purpose was to drive my Epos ES12s or other 8 Ohm speakers reasonably loud.
It is capable of doing about 80W/channel, 4 ohms speakers with care.
I had a lot of thoughts after my close friend's reviews of the amp before showing it anywhere. It is a prototype (in my world). It was
very hard to build and wire in this small case. It does not have an optimal layout.
I am thinking whether or not to make it commercial.
The reasons are:
1. There is a lot of music lovers who can not afford very expensive gear. The classical music is extremely difficult from amplification point of view. I think my amp is quite capable for the classical music (it may well be not).
2. I have a lot of ideas about loudspeakers, digital audio and turntables. Some of them are probably crap. If I can dedicate myself to audio design I can probably make something useful.
3. I don't want to make money to buy Ferrary. I don't need it. But I need to support my family.
At the moment I am doing simulations for the Mark 2 accumulating my previous experience - whether it is going to happen in hardware or not.
So please guys who heard my amp put your critical thoughts here. Any other comments are welcomed.
