1. KurtSvensson

    KurtSvensson Friend

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    After Big sound I've been curious about this amp, Bob Katz seemed to think it bested all the gear in the room. Has anybody hear heard it or built it?
     
  2. Mshenay

    Mshenay Barred from loaner program. DON'T SEND ME GEAR.

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    You know it's funny but I read an article on this very Amp today my self as well, I'm trying to have one built for around $500 so I can hear it for my self, an hopefully have something really worth while to run SE headphones out of,

    my NFb10ES2 balanced out could be end game for me, though I'd appreciate not having to Recable every headphone I own just to get a accurate comparison to my Refferance cans. Ideally, I'd like to run the AMB M3 as a testing unit for SE headphones. Spend that $500 up front to save what could be thousands if I recabled every new headphone I got for the sake of reviewing
     
  3. hifi01170

    hifi01170 Acquaintance

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    have been also wondering about this amp after reading BigSound 2015. So any feedback is welcome! :)
    In terms of price performance ratio it seems to be quite nice.
     
  4. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    It's an ok amp. I heard Spritzers M3 when I lived in Iceland. Nothing too spectacular though. I wouldn't, however, expect that Bob's M3 sounds like the stock one.
     
  5. fishski13

    fishski13 Friend

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    i've built a few. some prefer it to the B22. it responds well to opamp rolling, with the ADA4627-1 and OPA1611 being my favorites. i think it's a great amp.
     
  6. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

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    Unless you need a million jiggawatts, I think the CKK is a better option :cool:
     
  7. hifi01170

    hifi01170 Acquaintance

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    and in terms of sound quality?
     
  8. KurtSvensson

    KurtSvensson Friend

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    As far as I can tell from his article he only replaced the op amps though.
     
  9. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

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    opamp + MOSFET vs. JFET + BJT

    I guess it depends on what you like, but yeah
     
  10. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    In two stage amps it's mostly the voltage amplification/input stage that dictates the primary distortion profile. Hence, opamps mean everything.
     
  11. ohshitgorillas

    ohshitgorillas Friend

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    I've been planning on building one of these eventually using a high voltage power supply and opamps. I'm not sure how the stock form sounds, but I think the version of the MMM that can do high voltage swings is probably killer for dynamics and orthos. As a current HD600 lover and future HE500 owner, the bass boost option is very appealing, as well as the fact that the thing can do high current AND high voltage swings.
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I'm one of the "some" that prefer it to the B22. Ti's usually got three of his amps laid out on his tables at the meets, the M3 has always been my favorite and IMO far superior to a lot of the big names out there. I definitely feel it's worthy of building; and Ti's documentation is excellent. The circuit is simple without a zillion parts, probably why it sounds good.
     
  13. Argopo

    Argopo Facebook Friend

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    I built a bridged-balanced version (using two boards, one for each channel). Great sounding amp, especially for my LCD-X.

    Volume is shorted. But with variable gain to accommodate different headphones.

    I plan to re-build it to incorporate input transformers to make it fully differential and to allow for single-ended to balanced conversion at input.

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The flickr album: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjZQCRMi
     
  14. Mach3

    Mach3 New

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    What is it about the M3 that you prefer over the B22?
     
  15. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    M3 had a snappier, more precise sound. The B22 is warmer, seems less precise in the bass - slightly warmed over, which can work with certain headphones, but I prefer something less like this.
     
  16. hifi01170

    hifi01170 Acquaintance

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    for my personal taste, I find that the between the laconic NBM, mjolinir 2 and the M3... the M3 provides the best synergy with the HD800 (SD modded).
    I was about to give up on the hd800 when I remembered I had a M3 that was lying unused. It makes it way less lean sounding and improved greatly the bass slam.
    I'm yet to make a direct comparison with the mjolnir 2 (under repair..........).
     
  17. Huxleigh

    Huxleigh Almost "Made"

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    Of the various amps I've owned, the M3 has gradually become my favorite. To me, it is the Rick Astley of headphone amps. Phenomenally underrated, if not perhaps the Giant Slaying Destroyer of Amps™ that Bob Katz dubbed it years ago.

    Anyone new to SBAF who's a) not afraid of building their own or b) has the ability to track down someone reputable to build one for them should give this classic serious consideration. It's a boss, especially with dynamic cans.

    Pics courtesy of its builder, the estimable @fishski13. But don't deluge him with build requests as he's currently retired AFAIK!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Additionally, I've found that the M3 pairs extraordinarily well with the Bifrost Multibit. Especially with the new G5 input! Prefer to use the Moby/Eitr with the ECP Black Diamond for a more linear sound.
     
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2017
  18. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    I'm glad my old amp has found a good home! @fishski13 has wonderful builds and customer service! I wish I could have held on to that, but I have another one of his solid state creations!
     
  19. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Somewhere in my mad science days I scribbled down notes on how to hack the M3 into an "active balanced ground" like Jan Meier's amp topologies. I got so far as obtaining all the parts to build one, but as with all the other abandoned projects in my basement, life got busy and there on the shelf it sits... of course I also had ideas to build it into a suitcase with a battery supply, etc etc.
     
  20. Huxleigh

    Huxleigh Almost "Made"

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    Have MOSFETS, will travel. :cool: That'd be awesome, if mildly insane. But awesome!
     

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