Sony VFET 2 :)

[manniraj]

I had the Sony VFET kit from the great Nelson Pass with matched VFETs since more than couple of years when the actual group buy on the diyaudio forum happened. It was lying with me and with other commitments and builds did not venture into building this amp. Now that I found some time I have completed it and it does play awesome and one of the best class A amps that I have built and definitely a looker with the new cabinet

Look at the below thread for a detailed build information and other details.

Sony Vfet Illustrative build guide

Right now playing with my evergreen Soekris DAC using SPDIF taken from the Chromecast audio with Tidal playing on my iPad with "Hi-Fi" trial mode. Will be pairing with my BA3 preamp as well as DCG3 and also the DIY Musical Fidelity X10D tube buffer and see which pairs well and stays in my setup and the rest will go up for sale

 

[prem]

Looks super Manniraj. Congrats. Love those vu meters. Which other class A amps have you compared it to?

 

[manniraj]

Thanks Prem, I have earlier built the Hifisonix SX then Aleph J and sometime in between the Shaan's V4 (class AB but) with Class A biasing to 500mV

Also I have the KT88 + ECC83 based tube amplifier which outputs 12+12W. This tube amp got from China with PSVANE and EH12AX7 tubes.

 

[prem]

How does the Vfet compare to these other amps? Is it more natural sounding, better transparency, etc?

 

[mshifi]

WoW!!! Looks Great. Nice work.

 

[manniraj]

How does the Vfet compare to these other amps? Is it more natural sounding, better transparency, etc?

VFET has a tube kind warmness but nice punchy bass, crisp and clear highs. The details and instrument separation with the vocals being a little forward (which I like) are awesome. Very wide sound stage and nice imaging especially with my DIY Jericho Horns built sometime back with Fostex 208Sigma drivers.

Now after a brief usage of the tube amp back to all my DIY stuff right from the PC to the Soekris DAC to the preamp to interconnect cables and speaker cables

 

[jls001]

Great work, as usual!

Awaiting your detailed listening impressions.

 

[Kannan]

Superb effort Maniraj...I am one jealous guy now
I am due for a Bangalore trip. Will catch up if you are free at that time

 

[shafic]

Nice work!! Congrats!!
Those blue vu meters looks beautiful!!

 

[manniraj]

Great work, as usual!

Awaiting your detailed listening impressions.

Thanks Joshua, I am not good at describing the sound signatures if you know what I mean. The amp sounds very good and more than my expectations and true to Nelson Pass words it just makes music

Superb effort Maniraj...I am one jealous guy now
I am due for a Bangalore trip. Will catch up if you are free at that time

Sure let me know when you come down and we can catch up.

 

[sadik]

Beautifully Built.... very nice.
Questions:
1. Where did you made the Face Plate?
2. What is the thickness of same?
3. Where did you get those beautiful VUMeters?
4. Whsts the height of Heatsink & how hot does the heat sink gets

Most of all how is the Performance

Sadik

 

[manniraj]

Hi Sadik

Thanks for the compliment.
I got the entire cabinet except those heat sinks from China (aliexpress) along with those VU meters. The heat sinks got from Akash metals of Pune and the model I think is HS300x83 which is 300x150x83 (LxHxW). The front panel should be 10mm and all the other panels 3mm except the bottom one which I think is 4mm. Even though its class A unlike my other Class A this does not heat up so much and with those big heat sinks it barely heats up.
The performance is very good and more than my expectations, lively and sweet sounding.

 

[Naturelover]

Way to go manniraj!!
You sure know how to play within a tight budget and yet make it work beautifully. Congratulations

 

[manniraj]

Thanks Rajiv, that's the hobby with DIY work

 

[Sumanta]

Just one word, marvelous!

 

[anilva]

Excellent build. As a fellow Pass amp builder, I am not surprised with the results. Right now I am the process dismantling a F5 Turbo V2 to house a VFET2 amp.

I have seen you post on diyaudio.

Cheers

 

[manniraj]

Excellent build. As a fellow Pass amp builder, I am not surprised with the results. Right now I am the process dismantling a F5 Turbo V2 to house a VFET2 amp.

I have seen you post on diyaudio.

Cheers

Yes Anilva, its one hell of an amplifier and now being housed in this almost vintage looking cabinet it gives me goosebumps when the music plays. I got some initial issues with one of the channel unable to bias the input stage and with the help of diyaudio forum members realized that I had the mosfets damaged. Replaced them and was able to finish the build
Please go ahead and finish and let me know how it compares to F5 or many other Pass amps that you have built. I also came to know that you have the same set of Fostex 208Sigma series drivers but in the BLH design. I have built the same drivers in the Jericho Horns as the BLH was coming too big and heavy for my living room. I use the Jericho and my Frugal Horns are lying unused since long and need to put them for sale when I find some courage to let them go.
Any local Bangalore members if interested in my Frugal Horns (Mark Audio Alpairs 7p + HiVi Swan Tweeters + L-Pad attenuator + Audiophiler caps) please PM me and we can take it forward Too lazy now a days to post it on the For Sale section.

 

[antoniodias]

You must be in high spirits with your achievements. Great keep it up. You are sure to get goosebumps specially when it is applauded with praises from so many knowledgeable dear forum members. Keep smiling!!
Regards . Antonio

 

[shaan]

A great amp in a great looking cab! I like your tendency towards class-a aesthetics.
Happy listening.

 

[manniraj]

A great amp in a great looking cab! I like your tendency towards class-a aesthetics.
Happy listening.

Yes Shaan always biased towards the Class A amps. How many amps you build once you get the heat of a class A amp you always tend to go towards it