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Amplifiers Megathread

nyxnyxnyx

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Hello everyone !

I created this thread because i didn't see any "general" topic to throw in my questions about amplifiers so i figured i should make one where you can ask general questions about amplifiers , not just one product in those specific measurement topics . This way it will not dilute other threads if you have something kinda irrelevant to express .
So if there's something you wanna ask or discuss but don't feel like it belongs to any specific amplifier product's posts , please do it here .
 
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nyxnyxnyx

nyxnyxnyx

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I'll start with the question i wanted to ask a few days ago in Atom thread but felt like it wasn't the place to ask :
How hard is it to re-create an amplifier?

I was wandering around chinese online shops like aliexpress/taobao the other day and saw there were all kind of different amplifiers "cloned" or "inspired" by well-known products . And there was one that caught my eyes
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/327...chweb0_0,searchweb201602_7,searchweb201603_55


Supposedly , it's a clone of Beyerdynamic A1 - a kilobuck amplifier for only 1/10 the price . Now i know that being a random made-in-china product from some unknown seller chances are it may not even work properly , let alone having the same sound quality . I lack both the knowledge and practical experience to understand if this clone ( or any clones from any models ) is genuine or not . Because apparently a few years back someone called Kevin Gilmore successfully cloned a very identical Krell KSA5 - another kilobucks amp , for a way cheaper cost .
 

SEKLEM

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OP
nyxnyxnyx

nyxnyxnyx

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I personally don't really believe in chifi or unknown made-in-china products due to bad experiences in the past .

But counting in factors like the beyer amp will probably never worth 1000$+ if there's no branding and marketing involved , and the fact that the company is based in EU may or may not affect the total cost of making an amplifier . Meanwhile there could be some non-company personalities who have great knowledge and experience in amplifiers (take amir for example but he measures and do QC not creating amp IIRC) and are ready to create their best works for an arguably small profit or basically to make a name for themselves , i can't knockoff the possibility that there are excellent DIY clones/original amplifiers either .

But anyway , the internal parts do look different comparing to the real A2 , so shouldn't it sound different at the very least?
 

LuckyLuke575

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I'll start with the question i wanted to ask a few days ago in Atom thread but felt like it wasn't the place to ask :
How hard is it to re-create an amplifier?

I was wandering around chinese online shops like aliexpress/taobao the other day and saw there were all kind of different amplifiers "cloned" or "inspired" by well-known products . And there was one that caught my eyes
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/327...chweb0_0,searchweb201602_7,searchweb201603_55


Supposedly , it's a clone of Beyerdynamic A1 - a kilobuck amplifier for only 1/10 the price . Now i know that being a random made-in-china product from some unknown seller chances are it may not even work properly , let alone having the same sound quality . I lack both the knowledge and practical experience to understand if this clone ( or any clones from any models ) is genuine or not . Because apparently a few years back someone called Kevin Gilmore successfully cloned a very identical Krell KSA5 - another kilobucks amp , for a way cheaper cost .
This looks really dicey man, I wouldn't trust it. It looks like those Chinese fake Gibson Les Pauls that turn up on YouTube videos and don't work anything like the genuine article.
 

cookiefactory

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Does anyone have any experience and/or thoughts on the Carver M500T power amp? There are a few of these for sale and I’m drawn to the vintage character of these. Of course that doesn’t matter if it doesn’t perform.
 

Koeitje

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cookiefactory

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Does OP mean this to be about headphone amps or power (speaker) amps?

8DE2661B-2C48-47B8-8D6D-C978AA3299C2.jpeg
 

Martin

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I'll start with the question i wanted to ask a few days ago in Atom thread but felt like it wasn't the place to ask :
How hard is it to re-create an amplifier?

I was wandering around chinese online shops like aliexpress/taobao the other day and saw there were all kind of different amplifiers "cloned" or "inspired" by well-known products . And there was one that caught my eyes
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/327...chweb0_0,searchweb201602_7,searchweb201603_55


Supposedly , it's a clone of Beyerdynamic A1 - a kilobuck amplifier for only 1/10 the price . Now i know that being a random made-in-china product from some unknown seller chances are it may not even work properly , let alone having the same sound quality . I lack both the knowledge and practical experience to understand if this clone ( or any clones from any models ) is genuine or not . Because apparently a few years back someone called Kevin Gilmore successfully cloned a very identical Krell KSA5 - another kilobucks amp , for a way cheaper cost .

It’s just over $100. Buy it and send it to Amir. It would be interesting to see how it measures.

Martin
 
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