A guide to building the Pass F4 amplifier

C3D10060 (I simply took them out from different amp project). They reach ~40 C @ 200mV bias after hours of playback. I measure ~22.2V on caps output with 0,22R 12W for voltage dropping.

C3D10060 are quite strong according to datasheet (especially that there a four of them per one rail per one channel, 16 in total, four bridges), but let me know if I done anything stupid here ... :)

Actually I do not want to drop the idea of SMPS. It seems for me that base control was better with them. But I might be biased ... It needs audition, measurements and ABX testing. Waiting for 2x500W SPMS units ...
 
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And as I said last time I checked the thread after a long layoff, so great to see more people really loving this amp. Mine won out over Coincident Frankenstein 300b monoblocks, Atma-Sphere M60 monoblocks, a Lyngdorf tdai 3400, and a Nelson's own xa-25. I recommend it all the time over on audiogon, but of course there's little interest because it's not a sexy new amp. Thanks again everyone for helping me build it.
 
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And as I said last time I checked the thread after a long layoff, so great to see more people really loving this amp. Mine won out over Coincident Frankenstein 300b monoblocks, Atma-Sphere M60 monoblocks, a Lyngdorf tdai 3400, and a Nelson's own xa-25. I recommend it all the time over on audiogon, but of course there's little interest because it's not a sexy new amp. Thanks again everyone for helping me build it.

say what's line stage you're using with F4, then we have full info

XA25 is by itself damn good amp, but obviously too low in THD amount for your liking

rest of them I can't comment (in general - liking idea of any decent made toob amp, but being absolutely indifferent to any digital drek around) .......
 
Thanks!

Balanced the amp will see the speakers as 2ohm and damping factor will be 20 instead of 40 so will I lose bass punch with lower damping factor?

Will the amp go out of Class-A at low watt due to 2ohm?


Re. Your 2nd question: no it will not affect the class-a envelope of the amp: while each half of balanced monoblock will see 2 ohm load, it will also need to swing half of the voltage (as balanced mono brings 6db voltage gain).

And this corresponds to same current need

Re. Your 1st question: there are many highly regarded amplifiers with high output impedance: e.g. first watt sit’s, dartzeel’s, dan dagostinos come to mind (see stereophile reviews), so not necessarily a bad thing: ideally you try for yourself.

One thing is for sure: balanced monoblock enables substantial 2nd harmonic cancellation which also helps for lower intermodulation distortion.

And if you are digital only, you might even be ok with a dac with volume control that can swing 6vrms from balanced output (which corresponds to ~10w power per channel to 4 ohms), and ditch the preamp, just saying..
 
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Looks amazing Yoshida. And I love that case, just beautiful.

Can you provide a source for your transformer?
The case is takachi's HY177-33-33SS.
This heatsink is a bit smaller for F4 so I reduced the bias a bit.

The R-core transformer was custom made by Phoenix Corporation. They are popular for DIYer in Japan because they accept custom orders for amateurs.
However, they do not seem to accept small lot orders from overseas.
It would be nice if the Store handles it.
 
Re. Your 2nd question: no it will not affect the class-a envelope of the amp: while each half of balanced monoblock will see 2 ohm load, it will also need to swing half of the voltage (as balanced mono brings 6db voltage gain).

And this corresponds to same current need

Re. Your 1st question: there are many highly regarded amplifiers with high output impedance: e.g. first watt sit’s, dartzeel’s, dan dagostinos come to mind (see stereophile reviews), so not necessarily a bad thing: ideally you try for yourself.

One thing is for sure: balanced monoblock enables substantial 2nd harmonic cancellation which also helps for lower intermodulation distortion.

And if you are digital only, you might even be ok with a dac with volume control that can swing 6vrms from balanced output (which corresponds to ~10w power per channel to 4 ohms), and ditch the preamp, just saying..

Great info. Many thanks. I actually have a DAC with volume control and 6v at XLR. How did you know :)

If 6 vrms is not enough what XLR vrms is needed for max output for bridged balanced F4?
 
Great info. Many thanks. I actually have a DAC with volume control and 6v at XLR. How did you know :)

If 6 vrms is not enough what XLR vrms is needed for max output for bridged balanced F4?


You can use the classical formula
Power = VxV / R
To calculate voltage swing need

Say you need 50 watts, for 4 ohm load, applying the above formula ->
V = sqrt (50 x 4) which makes roughly 14 V rms.

That being said, I suggest you first test the loudness level with 6 Vrms output then look for any higher gain options.
 
You can use the classical formula
Power = VxV / R
To calculate voltage swing need

Say you need 50 watts, for 4 ohm load, applying the above formula ->
V = sqrt (50 x 4) which makes roughly 14 V rms.

That being said, I suggest you first test the loudness level with 6 Vrms output then look for any higher gain options.

I looked at this post.


Is it correct that I would only get 18w in Class-A 4 ohm bridged bit up to 50w Class-A parallel?

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pas...s-4ohm-load-balanced-input-2.html#post4198300
 
Perhaps that you may find 18W sufficient. Of course, that depends heavily
on your speakers and listening space and personal preference.

Yes sure.

But which version would you chose? I am ok with 50w max power.

Use bridged and get 18w Class-A and max power 200w and damping factor 20

OR

Use parallel and get 50w Class-A and max power 50w and damping factor 80.