hello,
I am thinking of starting a first amp project and i'd like to have some advices from you experienced people.
First some background: i have been building guitar effects and 1 tube amp in the last 2 years. I have a general understanding of circuits and how some parts of them work, but nothing really complicated yet.
I usually play at designing my own pcbs in eagle when i see a schematic that i like. Usually it's much simpler than an amp, but nothing seems too complicated to be done with 2 layers and a few squares inches of pcb.
I have a solid state amp project that i'd like to concretize and i would like to have your opinion and advices.
The idea behind the project is to clone my beloved polytone mini brute.
The preamp would be a clone of the preamp of the mini brute (basically an op-amp amplification device with an active bandaxall EQ).
For the power amp, I've heard the polytone power amps are really hard to bias and basically a bad design. I've also read that power amps basically do NOT change the sound at all, they just amplify the sound. So i was thinking that i could move away from the polytone power amp for a classical design with more qualities. However, i would like to be SURE that i' wouldn't be loosing some of the key features of the polytone sound by doing that.. do power amp influence the sound/dynamics/feel of the amps at all?
Power supply : linked to the power amp i suppose -> ??
Dimensions : as small and light as possible .. my polytone packs everything in a very tight package, and 9 kgs.. i'm hoping to do that, or better as components are now smaller...
Here is what i already know that i don't know...
- The practical connectivity into the amp: how to send signals/power to the boards (if there are more then one), and switches.. what physical connections should be used and how.
- heatsink!!! i don't know anything about it. my polytone has 2 power transistors glued to 2 big heatsinks, which are stuffed into the CLOSED amp, filled with fiberglass foam .... so i guess heat dissipation is not at its best, still, it doesn't seem to matter.. i guess it's possible to do better, how to manage that properly.
- power supply needed : depends of the circuit and power
- where to order a decent and not too expensive faceplate
- the actual cabinet construction . not the slightest experience but i can be helped.
So my main question at this point is : would changing the power amp fro mthe polytone power amp to a classical design change the sound?
How do i calculate the needed heatsink and power supply ?
Thanks in advance
I am thinking of starting a first amp project and i'd like to have some advices from you experienced people.
First some background: i have been building guitar effects and 1 tube amp in the last 2 years. I have a general understanding of circuits and how some parts of them work, but nothing really complicated yet.
I usually play at designing my own pcbs in eagle when i see a schematic that i like. Usually it's much simpler than an amp, but nothing seems too complicated to be done with 2 layers and a few squares inches of pcb.
I have a solid state amp project that i'd like to concretize and i would like to have your opinion and advices.
The idea behind the project is to clone my beloved polytone mini brute.
The preamp would be a clone of the preamp of the mini brute (basically an op-amp amplification device with an active bandaxall EQ).
For the power amp, I've heard the polytone power amps are really hard to bias and basically a bad design. I've also read that power amps basically do NOT change the sound at all, they just amplify the sound. So i was thinking that i could move away from the polytone power amp for a classical design with more qualities. However, i would like to be SURE that i' wouldn't be loosing some of the key features of the polytone sound by doing that.. do power amp influence the sound/dynamics/feel of the amps at all?
Power supply : linked to the power amp i suppose -> ??
Dimensions : as small and light as possible .. my polytone packs everything in a very tight package, and 9 kgs.. i'm hoping to do that, or better as components are now smaller...
Here is what i already know that i don't know...
- The practical connectivity into the amp: how to send signals/power to the boards (if there are more then one), and switches.. what physical connections should be used and how.
- heatsink!!! i don't know anything about it. my polytone has 2 power transistors glued to 2 big heatsinks, which are stuffed into the CLOSED amp, filled with fiberglass foam .... so i guess heat dissipation is not at its best, still, it doesn't seem to matter.. i guess it's possible to do better, how to manage that properly.
- power supply needed : depends of the circuit and power
- where to order a decent and not too expensive faceplate
- the actual cabinet construction . not the slightest experience but i can be helped.
So my main question at this point is : would changing the power amp fro mthe polytone power amp to a classical design change the sound?
How do i calculate the needed heatsink and power supply ?
Thanks in advance