Re: Tannoy Reveal and LM3886 power amp IC

"Serge Auckland" <sergeauckland@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
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"Arny Krueger" <arnyk@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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<JamesGangNC@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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On Mar 26, 11:34 am, "Arny Krueger" <ar...@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

BTW, a little searching came up with the factoid that
high end favorite Jeff Rowland has some power amps with
about a dozen LM3886s in them (6 per channel) for maybe
$5K a pop.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That's rich. I'll bet at volume you can probably get
those under $3 apiece.

Here's how to turn 6 sub-$3 chips into a power amp
asking $5 large: http://www.shine7.com/audio/jeff.htm

It *is* rather nicely built, however.

The metalwork is nice.

I like the well-legended and tidy PCB.

In volume production, the incremental cost for a well-designed board is very
small.

The casework is also rather well made.

Time on N/C machines is getting cheap.

Whether a power amp can ever be worth that
sort of money is a value judgment, but in this one at
least, you can see where the money went.

Ironically, note that the Jeff Rowland amp's power supply caps are *not*
Blackgates. They are Nichicon LQ-M series parts. I see some 3,300 uF 80 volt
Nichicon LQ-M caps for sale on the Active Electronics web site for less than
$1.60 each... ;-)

By the way, I
don't see what the difference is between using 6 $3 chips
as opposed to 12 $1 discrete transistors and a load of
other passive components, with a total component cost of
perhaps $25. (other than $7).

Methinks that Jeff Rowland's judgement might have been swayed by the
popularity of LM 3886 ICs in "Gainclone" amps.

I would expect an IC solution to be both more reliable and more stable.

Well, we know from this thread that the LM 3886 is not indestructable. ;-)


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Tannoy Reveal and LM3886 power amp IC
    ... high end favorite Jeff Rowland has some power amps with ... about a dozen LM3886s in them (6 per channel) for maybe ... Here's how to turn 6 sub-$3 chips into a power amp asking $5 large: ...
    (rec.audio.tech)
  • Re: Tannoy Reveal and LM3886 power amp IC
    ... high end favorite Jeff Rowland has some power amps with ... about a dozen LM3886s in them (6 per channel) for maybe ... Whether a power amp can ever be worth that sort of money is a value judgment, but in this one at least, you can see where the money went. ... with a total component cost of perhaps $25. ...
    (rec.audio.tech)