HMF's Mysterious Custom 2A3 Amp

Discussion in 'Power Amps' started by HitmanFluffy, Jan 31, 2017.

  1. HitmanFluffy

    HitmanFluffy Hoping to see real genitals someday!

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    [​IMG]

    Some of you guys may have heard of this thing from me over the chat channels, some at the LA meet in person, but its finally finished and running! A single 2A3 per channel amp, using the 26 tube as a driver for an all-DHT amp (the octal sockets are the byproducts of the scrapped idea for gas voltage regulators, I now use them to display my nicest 6SN7s). I had this built by a mysterious robed figure who refuses to be named, and left the case unbranded.

    Distortion clocks in at about 0.17%, going marginally higher in the bass, and gain is about 12dB, putting this in the category of the teeniest of flea-watt amps.

    I'm still stuck in a college dorm room, so no speakers for me yet, but I've been a devotee to giant horn rigs for some time and accepted the harsh reality of 3W of power and the compromises that come with it. As far as running headphones goes, its absolutely amazing. Everything you want for the full experience is there, and it resolves well beyond anything I've had in my home prior. It's more or less my target sound, meaning the tone of solid-state except in the treble, and the 3D staging that you get with tubes.

    Right now I'm using cheapy EH Gold Grid tubes in the output, and I'm curious to see if more expensive NOS will further improve the experience. Other possible bottlenecks at the moment include digital volume control, as I'm waiting to receive the cables to let me run my Saga into this, and the USB input into my Gungnir Multibit, as I can scarcely spare the space for a real transport at the moment.

    BOM Dick-waving:
    Electraprint Solid Silver Secondary OPTs
    Lundahl Interstages
    Mundorf Supremes as shunt bypass caps :D
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2017
  2. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

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    I have heard HitmanFluffly's amp. It is amazing. No bloom, staging is amazing, treble timbre is righteous, the bass extends deep, stage depth is proper with no false depth caused by bloom, guitars are aptly crunchy, and snares snap perfectly. It exposes how crappy the Torpedo 3 staging truly is. A good DAC feeding this amp out resolves vinyl. This amp is so good that it resolves the bass boost in the Gungnir Multibit, certainly the Yggdrasil too, and surely how whack the low end is on most non Moffat made R2R DACs. Do not feed this crap for it is a superhuman ubermensch machine like Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner.

    However, this 2A3 amp exposed the tonal limits of the pitiful transducer that is the HD 600. Harpsichords were unlistenable and frequently metallic percussion threatened to overwhelm strings and voices. This amazing equipment transcends headphones and shows how pitiful all of them really are in the upper mids and treble. If you must, use the HD 580 or 650 if you care about the relative levels of instruments in a mix even with the ever so slight emphasis of fundamentals so the melodic lines (the actual music that is being played) will not be overwhelmed.

    A neutralish DAC feeding this 2a3 design will cause those lo-fi listeners of rolled-off, gooey, oversaturated garbage who are known by a particular sound guy term that is now verboten on Super Best Audio Friends to keel over in instant death. This even gives a tiny bit of life like Frankenstein's lightning to the normally dead HE-5. Highly recommended.

    Material used in lossless FLAC CD rips. If you do not use CDs or lossless digital, then open a window, punch out the screen, crawl out, jump off, and go get some. All of these were played at a well over 80 decibel average sound pressure level, usually hovering at 90 or so give or take but probably more. Low volume, low fidelity listeners need not apply.

    Abba
    Bach
    Morbid Angel
    Rachmaninoff
    Sammath
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2017
  3. Vent

    Vent Friend

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    Every time Psalm posts I feel like I just got punched in the face.

     
  4. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    If only this mysterious robed figure would sell the design to Schiit so they could make cheaper clones for the unwashed masses.
     
  5. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    Wow.. so this was a commissioned custom build from an amp company? So much for being a "cash-short student"! |\/|
    Looks like it came from a certain non-budget company that is highly respected around here but sounds like you want to keep it secret so I won't ask.

    Wish I could hear it! @Psalmanazar should write ad copy. His description, despite being a punch in the nuts, made me want to hear this setup even more.
     
  6. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    BTW, how does the sound of this amp differ from the standard non-custom offerings of Mysterious Robed Figure Inc.©?
     
  7. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    Spill the beans, who is responsible for this contraption?
     
  8. kevnin

    kevnin #facetweeting - Friend

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    Sounds like a badass amp!

    I'm curious what are the benefits and trade-offs of using DHT drivers for an all-DHT amp?
     
  9. Dino

    Dino Friend

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    Hmm, the power switch is in the back...
     
  10. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    I keep reading this as HFM rather than HMF.

    Maybe Fang can take a poke at this for the ShangriLa ;)
     
  11. uncola

    uncola Friend

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    I heard this is real overrated and only for neutralheads from an unnamed source in an undisclosed secure location, his name rhymes with Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
     
  12. Ryu

    Ryu Friend

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    It's an okay amp.
     
  13. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Schiit would never make this. The only transformer they use are power transformers.
     
  14. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    Ok, I'll spill the beans. It's made by Chord.

    :p
     
  15. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    Too little taps. You need a million speaker taps sticking out the back, even if it's not wired up.
     
  16. HitmanFluffy

    HitmanFluffy Hoping to see real genitals someday!

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    S*t*n does not want to be named as the person who built this amp, so there. Not an established company in any sense of the phrase. I'll be able to update you guys on the sound with my pre later today.
     
  17. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    Oh ok. I was going to guess that you sold a kidney to have it done by Eddie Current/Craig Uthus based on the tubes and the looks. :) Silly me!
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2017
  18. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

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    LO-FI NEED NOT APPLY

    This amp is amazing. It's like Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner: fully human but more human than human, super human as it was designed and made that way. Stronger, faster, smarter, just better than you.

    If this is Blade Runner, Eddie Current is Dark City, Schiit is Event Horizon with Laurence Fishburne, and Bottlehead is Danny Boyle's Sunshine. Audio-GD is Battlefield Earth and JDS Labs is Ed Wood. Not the movie with Johnny Depp, but the dude.
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2017
  19. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    This is the Ojan amp based off the schematics Marv happily shared right? There is no need to be weird about where it came from.

    Glad it finally made it to market. I know he was working on it for a long time and it was a labor of love.
     
  20. HitmanFluffy

    HitmanFluffy Hoping to see real genitals someday!

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    I did ask him if he wanted to be mentioned and he declined, but that cat's out of the bag now. EDIT: It's very different from that.
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2017

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