Amplifiers you use

[scholl]

I like the old Ashly FTX2001 amps for mibass, mids and highs. if I can find something I like more for five times the price maybe I'll change. A big ugly Crest for subwoofers.

I use various silver faced vintage.
I use various class d amps.
I've used many, many different tube amps.and still have a 6BQ5 integrated.

The FTX series 1 and 2 are a different design than the FET, FTX uses the vertical MOSFets like hifi amps. the FET are more like Hafler amps. The series 3 goes back to lateral but are the BUZ types. I borrowed a big SAE A501 amp and the Ashly has a notedly fuller midbass tone. The SAE found a place on the shelf until it can be returned. ClassDaudio modules with huge power supplies might have a little better sound stage but I never really trust those with heavy music at high output. I like looking at schematics and the Ashly designs are as modern as Adcom, Parasound and Emotiva, they're not Accuphase but nothing is. They're more sophisticated designs than Crown, MAC, QSC, AB international, Peavey etc. The only things to mod on them are input caps and power supply caps which are easy to do. I did it to one with measurable ripple and sag improvement but not much sonic improvement. The whole amp can be completely disassembled in 15 minute with two or three tools. I buy the Ashlys for $85 to $125 each and have a few opportunities a year to buy them local. If the local amps are series 3 for under $125 buy them. If you can find an Accuphase Pro5 for under $1000 buy that. Anything in between is a toss up.

[a4eaudio]

How good is the Honey Badger compared to your other amps?

[Dirttracker73]

This is DIY. Here's my most recent build, Apex AX14. Built on circuit boards designed by diyaudio member prasi. Powered by +- 42VDC courtesy of shaan's PeeCeeBee PSU / protection boards (also diy). This amp plays beautifully. No noise, even spralled out across my workbench. Very dynamic, crystal clear with excellent imaging. This one deserves a nice enclosure and finishing. Also have other diy amps including VSQC, PeeCeeBee v4, Honey Badger, several LM3886 and TDA7293 chip amps. Harman Kardon hk1400 and Sony str-de915 are two of my commercial amps. Several others in various states of repair / parts / salvage...

[a4eaudio]

Thanks! You probably just cost me several hundred dollars as that motivates me to take the plunge on the F5. I also have the boards and jfets for the Pearl2.

[Kornbread]

DCG3 preamp.

Links???

[ugly woofer]

The F5 that I built uses a larger transformer, and over 250,000uf of capacitance in the power supply. It does some things extremely well, such as patricia barbers voice, but it can sound a touch hard, but that is in comparison to the Aragon. I personally prefer the smoother presentation of the aragon by a small amount, but the F5 is excellent, as a matter of fact my wife likes it better. Different flavors. I will probably built a F7 when ever it gets cloned, but back to the original point, it is better than all of the others on my list, with the exception of the Aragon. By the way, it is not even close to what you would call tube-like.
I have also built a pearl2 and I'm currently working on a DCG3 preamp.

[scottsehlin]

I had an older Ashly (FET200). It sounded great for percussion (dynamic as anything I have had) but was a little unrefined otherwise. There are a couple FTX2001's available to me nearby, so you've got me a little curious. What have you compared them to?

[stephenmarklay]

I have thought about it also. I would like to try a solid state amp. I have built up some tube amps which was really fun.

[a4eaudio]

...
first watt f5
...

How do you rate the F5 compared to your other amps? I'm not sure that I really want to take on a DIY amp, but I do think about trying the F5.

[scholl]

I like the old Ashly FTX2001 amps for mibass, mids and highs. if I can find something I like more for five times the price maybe I'll change. A big ugly Crest for subwoofers.

I use various silver faced vintage.
I use various class d amps.
I've used many, many different tube amps.and still have a 6BQ5 integrated.

[mlwebb]

Re: Nutube preamp, Nelson Pass version:

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/313612-b1-korg-triode.html

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/the-diyaudio-store/343087-korg-b1-completion-kit-pioneer-batch-feedback.html

https://diyaudiostore.com/collections/kits

There is also a version out there by Peter Millet, on Ebay.

[Wolf]

I can try it that way, dual bridged monos, as I have speakon speaker cables made to do it. I ran them this way at InDIYana 2017. I normally use them as left front/left surround, and right front/right surround. That way the left and right are always separate once they leave the preamp.

[alandavidhenry]

Use a Pioneer A300R to power my studio monitors (Behringer B2031P). Onkyo NR626 AV Receiver for my HT.

HT is under construction. Finished the Digger 8 sub and currently building five Heliums.

[Kornbread]

Re nutube, sounds very good. Mine will ring a little if tapped, but soon quits - my diy enclosure is quite heavy, which I suspect helps.

Re: Cost - I am very good at hiding the cost of my audio projects from myself, could not tell you with any accuracy (: I did replace some of the caps with better ones (per ClaudeG's recommendation in the B1K thread).

Interested in building a nutube pre, care sharing some links to get me started?

[devnull]

For pure stereo it's an actively cooled Pioneer SX-850 still withthe original caps
HT is a Integra 70.4 with an inuke 3000dsp for the subwoofers
The office has a Sony STR-DE935
The garage has a POS Pioneer that was free
The bedroom has the chip amp in the TV driving in-wall B&O IWS1000
For parties it's JBL EON615s backed by EON618s subwoofers