My Pass F5 Build

[bibin3210]

Very neat and professional work, please post the illuminated F5 on the face plate, F5 in action will look awesome.

How does it sound bibin?

Here it is Sann....






Thanks,
Bibin

 

[bijinmb]

Bibin,

Great build. What speakers are you using to connect to F5. The sound profile of F5 will be different and if you have not heard before you will find it tilting a lot more to mid and highs. But the fact that is it has lot more detail in high and mid than other amps gives you that impression. Listen to it for a few days across your favourite tracks and then listen to other amps afterwards and see what you think.

Cheers.

Anil have you listened to Jean Hiraga - Le Monstre? If not i strongly suggest you to build one or do an audition if get a chance.

We (myself and bibin) did a close comparison, sat for few hours putting one channel hiraga and the other channel F5. I am very disappointed to be frank for the effort, money, and time we put for pass F5.

You know though Le Monstre is just 8W, its massive i should say almost 60% more on output and fantastic dynamics.

Hiraga goes with a minimalist approach on the other hand. I donno what voodoo magic its doing for producing that kinda unbelievable dynamics.

Another thing is pass is quiet popular and i think many hobbyists are just blindly following the buzz.

My rating towards Pass F5 is 6 out of 10 and Hiraga 7.5 out of 10.

Anyway will be doing more comparison and test when time permits.

 

[bibin3210]

Bibin,

Great build. What speakers are you using to connect to F5. The sound profile of F5 will be different and if you have not heard before you will find it tilting a lot more to mid and highs. But the fact that is it has lot more detail in high and mid than other amps gives you that impression. Listen to it for a few days across your favourite tracks and then listen to other amps afterwards and see what you think.

Cheers.

Thank you Anil, Currently i have connect it with my DIY 3-way FS using peerless/vifa drivers. I have build this basically for my new full ranger (Frugel-Horn Mk3 with Fostex FE-126EN).

Let me listen to it for few days as you have mentioned and see...thank you for the guidance Anil.


Thanks,
Bibin

 

[kroyin]

Looks to die for
Did you change the JFETS
Do yourself a favor, build a Aleph J. Get boards & parts, reuse chassis,power supply

 

[sann]

That is called a finish bibin, can anybody guess, that it is a DIY build, beats a lot of factory finishes.
truly inspirational. Thanks again for posting. - sann'

 

[anilva]

Anil have you listened to Jean Hiraga - Le Monstre? If not i strongly suggest you to build one or do an audition if get a chance.

We (myself and bibin) did a close comparison, sat for few hours putting one channel hiraga and the other channel F5. I am very disappointed to be frank for the effort, money, and time we put for pass F5.

You know though Le Monstre is just 8W, its massive i should say almost 60% more on output and fantastic dynamics.

Hiraga goes with a minimalist approach on the other hand. I donno what voodoo magic its doing for producing that kinda unbelievable dynamics.

Another thing is pass is quiet popular and i think many hobbyists are just blindly following the buzz.

My rating towards Pass F5 is 6 out of 10 and Hiraga 7.5 out of 10.

Anyway will be doing more comparison and test when time permits.

You might be right on Jean Hiraga. My only comment is the amp and speaker is one unit and with the speaker set up that you have, it is possible that Hiraga is better. It is not correct to say that hobbyists are blindly following Pass designs. There are many discerning hobbyists as well who have tried various builds and come to settle on Pass designs.

 

[bijinmb]

You might be right on Jean Hiraga. My only comment is the amp and speaker is one unit and with the speaker set up that you have, it is possible that Hiraga is better. It is not correct to say that hobbyists are blindly following Pass designs. There are many discerning hobbyists as well who have tried various builds and come to settle on Pass designs.

Anyway will be doing more comparison test. Mean time let both amps take time to break in.

 

[sann]

Jean Hiraga listening to F5

[source of the image: 6moons industry features: Jean Hiraga]

 

[omishra]

Jean Hiraga listening to F5

[source of the image: 6moons industry features: Jean Hiraga]

Sann, where did you find this?
Anyway nice find.

 

[bijinmb]

Jean Hiraga listening to F5

[source of the image: 6moons industry features: Jean Hiraga]

It seems like lot people haven't seen that image before.

Its obvious that all these engineers do audition lots of top class amplifiers. That is one way they can improve, compare their design. Have you noticed other amps in the shelf?

I would say please find some time to learn about Hiraga's history because he is not that active in public so people are unaware.

 

[sann]

I agree bijin, Jean Hiraga is very respected figure in the audio field. I just posted the pic on a lighter note. I hope I haven't hurt sentiments.
Regards, sann'

 

[jls001]

The Jean Hiraga amp may be very good but with just 8 Watts to spare, it rules out less efficient speakers. Power-wise, it could be comparable to mid-powered 300B or 211 SET amps.

 

[omishra]

Its obvious that all these engineers do audition lots of top class amplifiers. That is one way they can improve, compare their design. Have you noticed other amps in the shelf?

I would say please find some time to learn about Hiraga's history because he is not that active in public so people are unaware.

Bijin, that is understood. That's why those people are great.

It seems like lot people haven't seen that image before.

[For me, Yes I did see this picture but I prefer remembering images of equipments and circuit diagrams.]

 

[bijinmb]

The Jean Hiraga amp may be very good but with just 8 Watts to spare, it rules out less efficient speakers. Power-wise, it could be comparable to mid-powered 300B or 211 SET amps.

I agree. but not this time. please check the 10" woofer excursion done by hiraga 8W RMS. It surely gonna change your belief.

3-Way Floorstander performing with Hiraga - Le Monstre.mp4 - YouTube

This amp is totally diff. story, hence I said its a miracle for me so far.

Unfortunately there is nobody (as per my understanding) in our guild who have real hands on exp. on it. so can't help much other than that video proof...

 

[soundnovice]

The Jean Hiraga amp may be very good but with just 8 Watts to spare, it rules out less efficient speakers. Power-wise, it could be comparable to mid-powered 300B or 211 SET amps.

i believe 8W is just more than enough even if speakers have efficiency above 85dB and most of the speakers do have sensitivity more than 85dB at the least. normal listening levels dont cross 90dB unless you are partying in the garden!

 

[omishra]

Unfortunately there is nobody (as per my understanding) in our guild who have real hands on exp. on it. so can't help much other than that video proof...

That's true! Now I am getting curious towards this. But i have see if I can get better option than Chinese parts.

Thanks for bringing it up.

 

[bibin3210]

Check this....


DIY Audio Projects Forum • AmpFest 2010-11 Down Under

Hiraga "le monstre" - Page 70 - diyAudio

Hiraga "le monstre" - Page 68 - diyAudio

Thanks,
Bibin

 

[sachu888]

Thank you all for the comments.

Regarding sound, the mids are really good and highs to an extend but low is not that good....may be due to the low gain of the design. I feel like B1 is not a good match for this.

Thanks,
Bibin

I have never listened to F5 or Hiraga but reviews suggest that F5 has a better bass.F5 Turbo is another story.There may be some component mismatch.See this thread DIY Audio Projects Forum • AmpFest 2010-11 Down Under
Nice F5 build BTW l

Regards,
Sachin

 

[jls001]

i believe 8W is just more than enough even if speakers have efficiency above 85dB and most of the speakers do have sensitivity more than 85dB at the least. normal listening levels dont cross 90dB unless you are partying in the garden!

That's a very interesting observation, and I guess it suddenly opens up a new world of lower powered amps, including the Le Monstre, even to people who don't own 100 (or thereabout) dB efficiency horns or full range speakers. I had always held the view that 8- to 12-watt amplifiers would be too low powered to drive normal efficiency speakers (by which I mean 86-92 dB/W/m) to normal listening levels.

 

[bibin3210]

I have never listened to F5 or Hiraga but reviews suggest that F5 has a better bass.F5 Turbo is another story.There may be some component mismatch.See this thread DIY Audio Projects Forum • AmpFest 2010-11 Down Under
Nice F5 build BTW l

Regards,
Sachin

Thank you Sachu, I have also gone through that thread. I don't think it is a component mismatch. FM kroyin has also mentioned the same experience with F5. I am not saying it is too bad or there is now bass. It is there, but compared to Le Monstre the sound dynamics are bit low.

Thanks,
Bibin