Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

a 3W single ended EL84 amp for home, work & school

Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby dsound » Fri Aug 23, 2013 8:41 pm

Thanks to Shannon for making such a great kit. I love the sound of the Budgie with my cheapie bookshelf speakers. And thanks to all who gave advice when my troubleshooting was stalled.

Here are some pics of the completed project:
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Image
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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby highflyin9 » Wed Aug 28, 2013 3:04 pm

Looks great, congrats! (lol)
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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby Geek » Wed Aug 28, 2013 11:26 pm

Beautiful.

Great photography, too :))
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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby dsound » Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:04 pm

Thanks for the kind words! Photography is another fun hobby of mine :))
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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby dsound » Thu Sep 19, 2013 9:37 am

I picked up a pair of used Blumenstein Orca's, they should arrive early next week. I'll be sure to post impressions of the Orcas + Budgie once they arrive.
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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby dsound » Tue Aug 12, 2014 10:53 am

Long overdue update.

I have been listening to my Budgie SE + Blumenstein Orca's for a little less than a year now that they are a superb pairing. The sound is inviting and lush; I am also constantly surprised at the volume that these guys put out (enough to fill my medium-sized family-room).

On another note, my Budgie SE serves most of its duties as a headphone amplifier for me. I recently brought it to a headphone meet and it was very well received (it was driving a pair of Beyerdynamic T5p's). Compared to directly out of the Dragonfly DAC/AMP, the Budgie rolls-off the treble and give the bass a nice bloom, which warms the T5p's signature nicely.

At the meet I also was able to try driving the LCD-2's with the Budgie SE and it drove them with authority. Satisfying bass slam and wonderfully textured mids. I tried this with the HD600 and can't recommend that pairing though (possibly because of it's higher impedance?).
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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby Shannon Parks » Tue Aug 12, 2014 11:10 am

dsound wrote:At the meet I also was able to try driving the LCD-2's with the Budgie SE and it drove them with authority. Satisfying bass slam and wonderfully textured mids. I tried this with the HD600 and can't recommend that pairing though (possibly because of it's higher impedance?).


Nice report! Always wondered how the Budgie SE would do with the Audeze headphones. I definitely plan to check them out at the RMAF in October.

Interesting about the HD600s - they indeed are a high impedance at 300 ohms. Probably the 20/20 circuit should be altered for these high Z headphones for maximum voltage transfer. Perhaps R24 & R26 jumpered and R25 & R27 left open.

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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby dsound » Wed Aug 27, 2014 1:20 pm

Thanks Shannon, I may try to modify the circuit someday (maybe with a 4PDT switch).

Quick followup question, would it be possible to figure out the power output to the headphone jack with the unmodified 20/20 circuit? Say at 70 Ohms? Sorry for the rudimentary question but I couldn't find any existing information on this subject.

Thanks again for designing such a great amp!
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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby Shannon Parks » Thu Aug 28, 2014 1:43 pm

dsound wrote:Thanks Shannon, I may try to modify the circuit someday (maybe with a 4PDT switch).

Quick followup question, would it be possible to figure out the power output to the headphone jack with the unmodified 20/20 circuit? Say at 70 Ohms? Sorry for the rudimentary question but I couldn't find any existing information on this subject.

Thanks again for designing such a great amp!


I think the manufacturer ratings are mostly just letting you know what the headphone can handle without self destructing, as those levels would make one go deaf. But assuming the Budgie can do 5Vrms output, this would be 2.19Vrms after the voltage divider of 20 ohms and (20 ohms in parallel with 70 ohms). Then 2.19V^2 divided by 70 ohms would be 69mW.

I think the 20/20 circuit doesn't attenuate *enough*. Right now it's just a -6dB to -8dB reduction in the output (depending on the impedance rating of the headphones) which may actually be a good range for headphones like the Audeze. For the more sensitive headphones probably a -14dB reduction is more in line. So we change the lower resistor in the divider (R25 & R27) to 5 ohms. This is where I've been testing my new Budgie with my Audio Technica ATH-M50X and Sony MDR-V6 headphones.

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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby dsound » Tue Sep 02, 2014 8:40 am

Thanks for the reply Shannon, that is very-helpful. I've been enjoying the LCD-2's for a couple weeks now with the Budgie SE, sounds fantastic.
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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby Shannon Parks » Tue Sep 02, 2014 10:21 am

dsound wrote:Thanks for the reply Shannon, that is very-helpful. I've been enjoying the LCD-2's for a couple weeks now with the Budgie SE, sounds fantastic.


Cool! So with the LCD-2's, do you feel you have good range with the volume pot?

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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby dsound » Tue Sep 02, 2014 12:01 pm

Yeah, on most songs I am @ 11 o'clock on the volume-pot. Plenty of headroom, I can't listen past 1 o'clock as it is too loud for me.

What's interesting is that Audeze recommends an amp with at least 1W of power to the headphone-jack, but the Budgie seems to perform just fine.
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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby Shannon Parks » Thu Sep 04, 2014 5:31 am

dsound wrote:Yeah, on most songs I am @ 11 o'clock on the volume-pot. Plenty of headroom, I can't listen past 1 o'clock as it is too loud for me.

What's interesting is that Audeze recommends an amp with at least 1W of power to the headphone-jack, but the Budgie seems to perform just fine.


Good info - thank you! Seems like a perfect range. The 1W to 3W range Audeze specs basically means some lower powered portable devices may let you down. I think they worry about voltage swing capability more than power sinking. Tube amps are a perfect match for these planar magnetic headphones (and headphones in general) as voltage swing is no problem. 5V USB powered devices won't have the same headroom.

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Re: Finally got the bugs out! [pics]

Postby samsie » Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:35 am

Shannon Parks wrote:
dsound wrote:Yeah, on most songs I am @ 11 o'clock on the volume-pot. Plenty of headroom, I can't listen past 1 o'clock as it is too loud for me.

What's interesting is that Audeze recommends an amp with at least 1W of power to the headphone-jack, but the Budgie seems to perform just fine.


Good info - thank you! Seems like a perfect range. The 1W to 3W range Audeze specs basically means some lower powered portable devices may let you down. I think they worry about voltage swing capability more than power sinking. Tube amps are a perfect match for these planar magnetic headphones (and headphones in general) as voltage swing is no problem. 5V USB powered devices won't have the same headroom.

Shannon


yes, I agree the amp is a perfect match with Audeze headphone. I built mine a few months ago. I had a pair of old output transformers with a selection of 4 ohm, 8 ohm, 16 ohm and 32 ohm output tab. I added a selector to select different output impedance. 8 ohm output for speakers. 32 ohm output is used to connect directly to Audeze headphone. It sounds so good.

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