Discrete Dynamics Class A/B Power & Pre-Amp - A New Star is Born

Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Messages
73
Points
18
Location
Vadodara, Baroda
I have been owning Amp Camp Amp and Le Monstre Jean Hiraga for a few years now; after trying out multiple class AB and D amps. Till a few months ago I believed that nothing can come closer to class A amps in terms of musicality. The only amp that pleased me apart from the class A amps has been Pee Cee Bee designed by Shaan. I won’t be wrong in assuming there are many people having strong likes and dislikes, in other terms bias towards specific classes of amplifier. This attitude often allows us not to tryout new amplifiers (equipment) and deprives us from the pleasures of the world of music. I used to be once such person but I am on a path of transformation which started with Pee Cee Bee and it is Discrete Dynamics (DD) that has taken it to a new level.

It all started when Aniket, the designer of the amp came to my town a few weeks ago and got a fully built amp for me. He is a good friend who took to amp and speaker building out of passion, though trained as a computer engineer. I was aware of his new baby he was working on for sometime designing, building prototype, testing etc. That’s that and initially when the amp was hooked to my system, I was not very impressed. He left, and I removed the amp from my system. After a few days, Sachin started convincing me that the amp is awesome and sent me a couple reviews from Lencoheaven. I also learnt from him the amp was not yet broken in. So, 4-5 days ago, I re-hooked the amp in my system. Let it burn in for a few hours by playing music at a very low volume.

It was then time to crank up the volume at a descent audible level. And………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Yes, friends I was speechless, there was a stillness which gradually transitioned into peace. I kept on listening and didn’t notice the time passby.

I was playing music from all genres, and I felt the singer was present right in my room and the ensemble of musicians lined up behind the singer. The separation of instruments was immaculate and the sound-stage was all pervading. The bass is just right. Human voices, both male and female, made me feel their being there in the room. There is absolutely no hum and the built quality is very robust.

If I have to compare the DD to the amp camp amp and Pee Cee Bee, I would say it is not as warm as the latter ones, but it certainly has an amazing musical quality which makes me listen to it more and more and more. It does not give listening fatigue at all. Well, I don’t claim that I am an audiophile, but discrete dynamics make every listening session one hell of a listening session or rather a meditation session!

Equipment used:
Acer Laptop
High Quality Flacs
TeraDak 2.7D DAC
5 and half inches ASB Audio Desktop Speakers (designed by Sadik)
 
Nice.
Good to see diy products getting well deserved recognition.
Any pics?
Cheers,
Raghu
 
Very interesting. Is it an integrate or amp and pre are separates ? Please post pictures. Sounds like you are describing a well excecuted tube amp and with the goodies of no hum.
They can be built separate. I have a lot of stuff lying around, so thought it will be good to go in for an integrated amp. And I haven't listened to a tube amp, but DD is magical. No matter how much I brag about it, it deserves a listening session. Once you do that, both of us can brag together :).
 
Thanks Shailesh for your detailed review. This is a killer amp/preamp combo.
I actually requested Aniket to design a hi quality amp which should be easy to build and economical. He has done an excellent job on this combo. The Power amp can be configured into 75W or 120W per channel. It has onboard power supply and protection circuit. The user only has to connect a transformer, minimum soldering requires as it comes as fully soldered board, including PCB mounted heatsinks. The Preamp is very good too and can be use as headphone amp as well.
Here are few builds and reviews on Lencoheaven https://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=30648.0

I am posting few pics of PCBs and modules
Amp Pcbs
0cDgQo6.jpg

6RKPgIy.jpg

Preamp PCB
9J8mbvT.jpg

Power amp modules
skHzNoW.jpg

CVgljR7.jpg

kMWkteL.jpg

dOexSZi.jpg

Preamp Modules
RSVmxPl.jpg

mvomfVx.jpg



Regards
Sachin
 
Last edited:
below are the specs of stereo amp:

Power output : 70~120W into 8 ohms, 110~180W into 4 ohms.(continuous avg per channel.)
THD : <0.03 % at rated power 20-20000Hz, 0.003 % @ 1kHz half power
Signal to noise ratio : 112dB
Frequency response : 3Hz-250kHz.(-3dB)
Input impedance : 25k ohms
Input sensitivity : 1V rms for rated power
Damping factor : 200, @ 8 ohms, 20-500Hz
Transformer for75W : 30-0-30, 300 9-0-9V AC for protect
Transformer for 120W : 40-0-40V AC, -500VA, 9-0-9V AC for protect
PCB size Power Amp : 280mm X 120mm

BJTs used for 75W Toshiba 2SC5200N/A1943N
Power caps , 4 X 6800uf, 50W

Bjts for 120W: Toshiba 2SC5949/A2121
Power caps , 4 X 10000uf 63W

Regards
Sachin
 
below are the specs of stereo amp:

Power output : 70~120W into 8 ohms, 110~180W into 4 ohms.(continuous avg per channel.)
THD : <0.03 % at rated power 20-20000Hz, 0.003 % @ 1kHz half power
Signal to noise ratio : 112dB
Frequency response : 3Hz-250kHz.(-3dB)
Input impedance : 25k ohms
Input sensitivity : 1V rms for rated power
Damping factor : 200, @ 8 ohms, 20-500Hz
Transformer for75W : 30-0-30, 300 9-0-9V AC for protect
Transformer for 120W : 40-0-40V AC, -500VA, 9-0-9V AC for protect
PCB size Power Amp : 280mm X 120mm

BJTs used for 75W Toshiba 2SC5200N/A1943N
Power caps , 4 X 6800uf, 50W

Bjts for 120W: Toshiba 2SC5949/A2121
Power caps , 4 X 10000uf 63W

Regards
Sachin


there are some corrections Sachin, I may attach the manual for this amp here.
 

Attachments

  • DISCRETE DYNAMICS PWA241.1 manual.pdf
    254 KB · Views: 422
Aniket, Do you have a lower power version of this with similar dynamics and specs ? I am afraid so much power may fry my Alnico drivers. Thanks.

This amp will work happily with as low as 20V DC, but I will recommend to use a 18V, 200VA transformer, you will get around 25W with this, which I think is sufficient for efficient drivers.

Regards,
Aniket
 
I had the pleasure of listening to the discrete dynamics amplifier at the meet held recently in Bangalore.
It still did have a active pre and volume was controlled passively with a gang.

It sounded brilliant on a pair of Alpair frugal horns and bettered marginally only by a pair of Class A mono blocks.
Though many other members liked the tube amp also on display over the Frugals, my ears preferred the DD, it was more balanced with a clearly more controlled low-end.
The intricate difference I have always observed between Class A and AB other than some other aspects, is the openness in the mids (The mids sound that much more liberated with Class A amps), and I heard the DD sounding pretty close to that.

The DD also performed superbly with a pair of demanding transmission line 2-way speakers designed by a member. Though it was bit lower in dynamics as compared to another Class AB amp, this one clearly sounded more musical.

I was pretty disappointed not to find the time to try it out on my DIY bookshelves which have been voiced to my taste over months and months of listening and tweaking.

This is a superb amp and is definitely on my radar.

Cheers
Kannan
 
I have been owning Amp Camp Amp and Le Monstre Jean Hiraga for a few years now; after trying out multiple class AB and D amps. Till a few months ago I believed that nothing can come closer to class A amps in terms of musicality. The only amp that pleased me apart from the class A amps has been Pee Cee Bee designed by Shaan. I won’t be wrong in assuming there are many people having strong likes and dislikes, in other terms bias towards specific classes of amplifier. This attitude often allows us not to tryout new amplifiers (equipment) and deprives us from the pleasures of the world of music. I used to be once such person but I am on a path of transformation which started with Pee Cee Bee and it is Discrete Dynamics (DD) that has taken it to a new level.

It all started when Aniket, the designer of the amp came to my town a few weeks ago and got a fully built amp for me. He is a good friend who took to amp and speaker building out of passion, though trained as a computer engineer. I was aware of his new baby he was working on for sometime designing, building prototype, testing etc. That’s that and initially when the amp was hooked to my system, I was not very impressed. He left, and I removed the amp from my system. After a few days, Sachin started convincing me that the amp is awesome and sent me a couple reviews from Lencoheaven. I also learnt from him the amp was not yet broken in. So, 4-5 days ago, I re-hooked the amp in my system. Let it burn in for a few hours by playing music at a very low volume.

It was then time to crank up the volume at a descent audible level. And………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Yes, friends I was speechless, there was a stillness which gradually transitioned into peace. I kept on listening and didn’t notice the time passby.

I was playing music from all genres, and I felt the singer was present right in my room and the ensemble of musicians lined up behind the singer. The separation of instruments was immaculate and the sound-stage was all pervading. The bass is just right. Human voices, both male and female, made me feel their being there in the room. There is absolutely no hum and the built quality is very robust.

If I have to compare the DD to the amp camp amp and Pee Cee Bee, I would say it is not as warm as the latter ones, but it certainly has an amazing musical quality which makes me listen to it more and more and more. It does not give listening fatigue at all. Well, I don’t claim that I am an audiophile, but discrete dynamics make every listening session one hell of a listening session or rather a meditation session!

Equipment used:
Acer Laptop
High Quality Flacs
TeraDak 2.7D DAC
5 and half inches ASB Audio Desktop Speakers (designed by Sadik)

What class D amps have you tried so far?
 
Heard the pre Which replaced the K buffer in the chain

First of all PCB is compact and all in one (PSU with pre board)
So don't need big cabinet

That all does not matter if ultimately sound is not up to the mark

The sound was much more open and dynamic (true to it's name) then the K buffer which by it's own is a superb pre buffer
Imaging , soundstage (width and depth) was also an upgrade

Excellent work @Aniket & @sachu888
 
The Marantz PM7000N offers big, spacious and insightful sound, class-leading clarity and a solid streaming platform in a award winning package.
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