Lespier, I think we are kindred spirits regarding DIY. However, I think your abilities surpass my own, but what I've been able to do has been very rewarding.

Your turntables are impressive, as are your power amps, and those loudspeakers!

The Voxativ's, from what I've read, are one of the preeminent high-sensitivity drivers available today, but for me, are much more than I could ever afford (to my chagrin).

What you've done must sound amazing, you are to be congratulated.

Regards,
Dan

islandmandan October 20, 2014 18:31

Lespier,
I have heard about AN caps going bad. Let's hope this newest batch is more reliable! As far as the schematic, once you PM me I can give you my email address and you can shoot me the schematic that way. Thanks so much!

Jet

jetrexpro July 29, 2013 19:15

Wow, beautiful stuff.
I've only heard similar looking speakers at shows (not certain of the drivers and specifics of the design) and they almost always sound good. I'm imagining they sound quite nice with that amp and the rest of the gear.
Thanks for posting and Enjoy!

sebrof July 29, 2013 18:30

I agree the TFTF caps need to be used in moderation. I have them in the phono stage of my pre but the line stage has Mundorf Silver/Oils as output coupling caps. I need about 4uf in that position and AN caps in that value would be prohibitively expensive for me.
I like the sound of the AN Cu a lot but have not had good experience with them as far as reliability goes. I used them in the phono stage of the pre when I first built it up and the voltages were all wrong. Turned out 2 of the (new) AN caps were leaky. I had also used them in a Leak stereo 20 and they sounded great but I got about a year's use before they went belly up.
That was several years ago so current production would most likely be better.
Found the schematic ... now just have to figure out how to attach it to an A'gon message.

lespier July 29, 2013 17:57

Lespier,
They are factory speakers, not from a kit. When contemplating AN speakers, I didn't feel like I could match the sound of the factory builds.

When I built the AN phono stage I used the cheapest parts I could find including Solen Caps and A-B resistors in the signal path just to see if I could acutally get the thing up and running without hum, etc. BTW, A-B (Allen Bradley) resistors sound very good to my ears...so I left them in several places. I put in AN Tantalums in serveral critical areas about a month ago. After reading and thinking about the circuit and my already warm system, I decided on V-Cap TFTF for at least part of the circuit. I was temped to use Vcaps for the whole circuit but thought that would be too much teflon. Many builders preach mixing part types for a more balanced sound so I went with the .33uf copper caps for the last cap directly in the signal path.

After putting the .047 V-Caps and the .33uf AN on my cap burner for over a week, I put the V-caps in circuit first and a few days later installed the AN copper caps. With the V-Caps only I noticed a very open sound but with a bit of "tinnyness" which would be expected with only 200 hours on them. I continued to burn in the V Caps in circuit with a heavily attenuated tuner. (The attenuation so it would not overload the phono circuit). I added the AN Caps a few days later. With both V-Caps and AN Coppers in the circuit, I am hearing that openess of the V-caps and I also notice that the sound has become beautiful and large and I would attribute that to the AN copper caps. I figure the V-Caps need at least another 100 hours to start showing their stuff so I'll continue to use my tuner to burn in the caps, in circuit, for a few more days. I won't draw any conclusions for a few weeks at least.

Thanks for trying to dig up your 300b schematic.

jetrexpro July 29, 2013 14:57

Hi Jetrexpro.
Like your system too. Did you build the AN speakers as well? I'm particularly interested to hear how you get on with the phono pre as I've been contemplating building a phono stage(MM) to supplement the higher gain one on board my preamp. I've also used quite a few tantalum resistors in my system as well as TFTF's in the pre. Will PM a schematic of the power amp when I get a chance to dig it up.
Cheers!

lespier July 28, 2013 19:40

Lespier,

Nice system and nice DYI 300b amp. I enjoy DYI as well. A really great way of voicing one's gear for one's audio taste! I just finished recapping and resistoring my home brew Audio Note phono pre with AN Tantalum resistors and V-Cap TFTF and Audio Note copper caps. Would enjoy having a gander of the schematic you used for your DYI 300b. You can PM me if you wish, Thanks!

jetrexpro July 28, 2013 08:19