Alpha Nirvana 39w 8ohm Class A Amp

I have not been following this discussion very closely lately, I see mentions about a darlington upper device that makes me curious. Is there a schematic, or even better, a sim of that mod somewhere in the thread?
It's getting quite long (and the amp deserves the interest), and I was not able to find anything when quickly going through the posts.
 
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@AKSA

Please include me as well or just post here with any changes to the output stage so we can all benefit from the Sanken Darlington BJT substitution 2SD2560 of the current NMOS. I have a feeling just a small change in value of the gate resistor is required. Then we can update the 1st post on the 1st page of this thread for people to get a direct link.

Best,
Anand.
 
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Sam, Anand:
1. Drop in of Sanken 2SD2560 but check pinouts SOURCE to EMITTER, DRAIN to COLLECTOR and GATE to BASE.
2. Do not increase the rail voltages beyond 24V; this will threaten the SOAR limitations of the Darlington.
3. Use a 43R base resistor for the Darlington.
4. Do not increase any other amp components. The bootstrap resistors and Source/Emitter resistors may remain unchanged.
5. Take extra care to cool the darlington, as bipolar are highly susceptible to local hotspots if the cooling is not uniform.

Benefit? A little slam and impact, more like a SS rather than a tube.

HD
 
Sam, Anand:
1. Drop in of Sanken 2SD2560 but check pinouts SOURCE to EMITTER, DRAIN to COLLECTOR and GATE to BASE.
2. Do not increase the rail voltages beyond 24V; this will threaten the SOAR limitations of the Darlington.

Hugh ... surely that suggests the Darlington option is only suitable for the AN4R - given its DC rails are +/-21v ... whereas the AN8R has +/-27v?
 
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Got a pair from UK seller Littlediodes for £3.50ea + post. I'm not a big Digikey user and would have needed to have make up an order, so I'm happy with these.
Must get my AN39 back in system after a PSU rework.
 

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Got a pair from UK seller Littlediodes for £3.50ea + post. I'm not a big Digikey user and would have needed to have make up an order, so I'm happy with these.

Have not heard of "Littlediodes"; sure GBP3.50ea might be a good price ... but are you sure they're genuine? 😵

At least buying from the majors - like RS, Digikey or Element14 - you can be sure that their supply lines are kosher.
 
Hi Francois,
It is a difference of sound presentation; just another version.
Slam and impact is a big issue with orchestral music and rock concerts, and an advantage with many instruments and voices all playing at the same time. The laid back, rounded and organic sounds of tube sound are preferred by many, but in my personal view best suited to simpler music, and particularly jazz vocalist music. To me nothing beats a good 300B SET with a jazz quartet.
BUT audio is a bit like clothes, or food. Lots of variations, different strokes for different folks........
Good to see you in the thread!

HD
 
Yeah, this sucker runs hot. Each amp goes in a Modushop monoblock chassis, so that's a pair of 4U x 200mm heatsinks (so each output MOSFET is on its own 4U x 200mm heatsink). I have a thermal camera (FLIR TG267) which is reading about 55 degrees (celsius) on the heatsink and 63 degrees on top of the MOSFET helper PCBs. With the thermocouple reaching behind and directly on the MOSFET, it reads 74 degrees. So hot!

As for bias, I measure 334 mV across the 0.12 ohm resistor (R141), so that's 2.8 A. On the LTP, I measure 11.1 V across the 5 kohm resistor (R112), so that's 2.2 mA.

They'll go into the chassis and playing music later today (I hope).

--- Bobby
 
Βobby.
Thank you very much for the analysis and presentation of your amplifier. I wish you good listening.
I have approximately the same measurements in LTP , and one last thing....how much voltage do you apply +/- 20V or +/- 21V ,which supply?
 
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