# Anyone Built gear for their HT



## Danny (May 3, 2006)

I have seen a few good kits available in Australia recently where you can build amps etc. The Question??? Has anyone built something for their HT either from a kit or by your own design


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Wow, great question, Danny! Building amps and other components used to be a fairly common practice in home audio back in the day, but you don’t see it much anymore. I guess it’s because things have become so complicated – multi-channel amps, digital processing, integrated circuits, etc. I imagine the fact that stuff becomes obsolete so fast hasn’t helped that hobby along, either.

Regards,
Wayne


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## Danny (May 3, 2006)

True True

I guess now it would be for the pride of being able to tell someone that you built that


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## gsmollin (Apr 25, 2006)

Most of the digital stuff can't be hand soldered anymore, unless you are so good at soldering that you can touch solder to a 25 mil pitch device and not solder 6 leads together. One place where it could be done would be a discrete power amplifier. I think that's feasible. On the other hand, it wouldn't save you money. The assembly costs for PC boards are pretty low in China. It would have to be one of those labors of love. I could see doing it, but that must mean it won't sell. Heathkit went out of business years ago. I still have one of their FM tuners.


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## JCD (Apr 20, 2006)

I looked into this area as well.. and came to the conclusion that for the same cost, I could probably get something better already assembled than building it myself.

Headphone amps may be one area where you could build something and save some $$. It's a pretty small niche market, so I think the economies of scale don't play as much into the cost of the unit. 

I'm building one right now, but to be honest, a big part of the reason is that I wanted to build something. I THINK it will beat something in the same price range, but I don't know for sure.

As for regular power amps, maybe if you were going to build a tube amp you might be able to beat the cost of a similar quality pre-built model. I have a feeling that a solid state amp would be difficult to build for less than an equivalent store bought amp.

Just my random thoughts..

JCD


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## Phil M (Apr 19, 2006)

Amps based on the UcD class D modules are built from standard parts that require no soldering (except for RCA's), look easy to put together. Pity I don't like the sound!


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## gsmollin (Apr 25, 2006)

Phil M said:


> Amps based on the UcD class D modules are built from standard parts that require no soldering (except for RCA's), look easy to put together. Pity I don't like the sound!


What's a UcD class D module?


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## Phil M (Apr 19, 2006)

These are made by Hypex in the Netherlands, and are used as the amp modules by a number of manufacturers - such as Channel Islands Audio, Edge and others. The UcD modules are class D amps and use similar technology as Nuforce and ICE (Rotel, Bel Canto). 
You can buy the kits and make the amps yourself -the best source is Kevin at DIYcable.com. 
I can't solder anything, but did consider buying a kit to play with - Kevin has kits from 2 - 5 channels. They're like PC's in that all the parts are modular and slot together.
The manufacturers who use them claim to tweak the basic modules, and then tweak your wallet!!!! 

http://www.diycable.com/


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## kingkip (Apr 20, 2006)

Cool link Phil, thanks!


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## reed.hannebaum (Apr 21, 2006)

You may want to look at amp kits from a company called 41Hz Audio. Their kits are class-T amps based on the Tripath chip set. There are other companies making similar complete amps as well. These are relatively low power amps and seem to have a cult following among some audiofiles.

http://41hz.com


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## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

This company makes well thought of DIY kits: Bottlehead.


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## Steve Williamson (May 11, 2006)

Might be off the mark, but I built my own fixed frame screen.

I started off using a normal manual pull down image screen 4:3, didn't like the look in the theatre, so I used the material from the pull down and fastened that to 2 pieces of plywood with a 2 x 3/4 frame, then had the local picture framers create a frame for the screen in black gloss curved wood.

Only regret is I should have used a matt or semi matt finish on the frame.


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## toecheese (May 3, 2006)

As I've been saying a lot- build your own IB Sub. If you want to get fancy, you can really have at it- I was thinking of going so far as to making it configurable by having a panel where all the voice coil connections terminated (by woofers are dual VC) so that I could configure them parallel, serial, add resistors, etc. 

The other DIY thing as far as equipment goes is the modifications you can do to existing equipment. I'm going to be modifying my EP2500 Amp to slow and reverse the fan speed (the cult has links to doing it).

I might add some LEDs. :yikes:


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2006)

haha. I've built a projector before. that was fun. due to the nature of the beast, one of the lcd FFC ribbon cables broke and i decided not to fix it. but it cool regardless. i never got a chance to watch it on a nice screeen, but it did look really good if you had no ambiet light at all.

http://www.turborocco.com/projector/

Next on my lists are Acoustic panels


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## Darren (Apr 20, 2006)

Hi Danny,

I built the AKSA 100 X 3 amplifier for my home theater. Extremely good solid state amps that have kind of a tube sound but with really good bass reproduction. The **** thing barely gets luke warm when I've beat the **** out of it.

Hugh is a great guy to deal with. I've had my amp for 5 years now without a single problem.

www.aksaonline.com

Of course I also built my Mains, surrounds, and subwoofer as well. (GR-Research AV2's, AV1RS's, and an IB subwoofer 15" X 4)

My webite has photos of most things I've built except the amplifier: www.garagehobbies.com


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## Josuah (Apr 26, 2006)

My DIY projects:
Riser for second row.
Panel trap on back wall.
Projector hushbox.
Blackout cloth projector screen.
Subwoofer isolators.
Center channel stand.
Fabric canopy.
Acoustical panels for surround speakers.

Not as DIY:
Velvet curtains on front wall and as side partitions (curtains from Target).
Blackout cloth on all windows and glass door to backyard.

Planned DIY:
Passive radiator subwoofer tuned to 5Hz.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

"Passive radiator subwoofer tuned to 5Hz."


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## Brian Bunge (Apr 21, 2006)

Is that Darren Thomas? Good to see you over here! I didn't know you'd built an amp. I'm looking at doing something similar in the near/distant future. A 3-channel amp would be perfect to run my front 3 speakers. Especially my huge towers and their 3 ohm load.

I've just got too many projects going on right now....


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## Darren (Apr 20, 2006)

Brian Bunge said:


> Is that Darren Thomas? Good to see you over here! I didn't know you'd built an amp. I'm looking at doing something similar in the near/distant future. A 3-channel amp would be perfect to run my front 3 speakers. Especially my huge towers and their 3 ohm load.
> 
> I've just got too many projects going on right now....


Yup, it's me Brian... I signed up for the forum when it first came on-line but have been so busy I hadn't really had much time to read and post. I'm here now though 

I highly recommend the AKSA amps. Mine is 100 watts per channel into 8 ohms, I run them with 4 ohm loads right now and the dang amp doesn't even get luke warm, just barely beyond room temp. I work it hard too. I've been pretty busy building my IB sub, have it installed and am running some beta drivers for Darrel at Hawthorne Audio. I'm trying to get some decent measurementsand EQ settings right now.

Hey, how did those towers turn out? Have a thread link?


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## dynamowhum (Oct 3, 2006)

Well to start I did most of my own work on my hometheater. I have built a center channel now and and IB sub. Later I will be building some corner bass traps, a procenium, main speaker to match center, 2nd couch row riser for couch. I thought real hard about amps but being a bang for the buck sort of guy I just don't see how this would be practical. Oh yeah I want to upgrade the IB as well one day and then some tactile transducers and and and.
Well here it is another day and I have decided to upgrade the mains to some Natalie Ps. You can find them over at htguides missions accomplished section. These use the RS28 tweeter and two RS180s. I laid out the front baffles which will be a 1" BB plywood and 1" MDF sandwhich last night. I also laid out the speaker holes. I have to work outside without shelter and this morning it is raining cats and dogs. So I think I will go back to bed.


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## Chrisbee (Apr 20, 2006)

It seems strange how little is made by enthusiasts in all interests and pastimes today. Increased disposable income and reduced prices from mass production in the Far East have made buying commercially the most economical solution in many hobbies which were once almost entirely skilled DIY. We no longer value the time we spend on hobbies but concentrate on the results achieved from what we hope is careful selection. 

Manual skill levels have also fallen rapidly in manufacturing with the introduction of CNC machines. The digital age has given us the ability to share our interests worldwide. Yet we find ourselves sharing pride in our purchased products instead of what we made with our own hands. This pride in ownership has often become mere labelling of mass produced products in many cases. Though we all now share a much wider knowledge base, quality has become ever harder to judge by eye. Hand tools have become largely powered by electricity rather than by our own efforts. 

Happily speakers and subwoofers are still made by enthusiasts even if practical electronics are largely beyond our skills.


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## chasw98 (Apr 20, 2006)

Good post and point, Chris. How true it is in this disposable society. These days if someone spends $300.00 or less on a piece of electronics and it breaks, it is not worth the money to repair it cause a new model is out that does more for less. Not to mention the price of repair for a skilled bench tech working for a company that has to pay for parts, rent, taxes, payroll, etc. Disposable society.

I started out building a shortwave radio with my father when I was 11 years old. A tube unit from Heathkit. When we finished constructing it, we only had one bad solder joint on a tube. It worked for years.

Computer based electronics (DVD player, Pre/Pro, etc.) are almost impossible to put in a kit form unless it just becomes building a case and plugging components in al la a PC. But I have built all sorts of electronic circuits to make my HT experience better. Active hi pass filters for subwoofers, AC & DC trigger boxes for amplifiers, control circuits for lighting. And you can still build a pretty good SOTA active crossover if you put your mind to it. Why I have even seen the components for High End passive & active preamps with remote control capabilities! 

Chuck


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## norpus (Oct 11, 2006)

Darren said:


> Hi Danny,
> 
> I built the AKSA 100 X 3 amplifier for my home theater. Extremely good solid state amps that have kind of a tube sound but with really good bass reproduction. The **** thing barely gets luke warm when I've beat the **** out of it.
> 
> ...


Darren yes the Aksa amp has recently had an upgrade that many have purchased reportedly. Did you upgrade yet?
Hugh has a nice preamp too the Swift. He came around to my place with it one day when we had a preamp shootout. Very entertaining and knowledgable chap.
Since then, had another preamp shootout and found again the Swift was close to the top of the 7 auditioned. I may do the diy on it shortly as it is 3x cheaper than buying the madeup model ($3600AUD)


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## Darren (Apr 20, 2006)

I've been out of touch on the AKSA front other than being very happy with my 100. What does the upgrade entail? I'm curious, might have to browse the site and see what I can find. 

I did get the Nirvana kit when I built mine... I see there is a Nirvana plus... Is that the new upgrade? Wait, I see it... you must be talking about the Lifeforce 100... I think I'll pass at more than double the price of the 100 nirvana... I can't imagine it can be twice as good


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## norpus (Oct 11, 2006)

Yes the Lifeforce. Hugh told me he sold 28 upgrade kits last month - which he was very happy with from his small operation


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