kevin gilmore

scratchy on the pot means there is some dc offset somewhere

10 times the input capacitance, 20 times the output capacitance. Yes it will work as the gate follower, but in the gain stage the frequency response is definitely going to change

flyback switcher on board. another stepdown flyback switcher for the filaments

the 5.1k resistors are to protect the headphones.

so all sorts of problems actually building this. 1) input transformer needs a center tap probably tied to about -420v 2) voltage swing on the ecc88 is such that you are going to loose 40v or more on negative swing 3) 6sn7 filaments would have to float and then you are still limited by the cathode to filament voltages to about 400V 4) 33R output resistor absolutely a bad idea 5) available 900V mosfets are high gate capacitance limiting frequency response 6) resistor plate loads for 6sn7 a bad idea 7) 900V npn output transistors no longer exist have to use obsolete parts, or currently best transistor is 800v no servo to control output stage dc

about 1V

absolutely stunning, but I think the triumph would be a lot more fun, too bad i'm way past my prime to ride something like that. more than 20 years since the K100RT

hum and heat are 2 issues the lyr3 seems to be getting a reputation for.

yes the amp is balanced. whether there is a opamp unbal to bal converter like the liquid carbon or lcx, is unknown. But there is no reason why the front end cannot be a differential amplifier and then its balanced. of course that depends on your definition of balanced, its not the same kind of balanced as a super symmetry dynalo. its a unbalanced/balanced to balanced converter and then 4 x cfa output amplifiers. Same as liquid gold, liquid carbon, lcx. I see the confusion from my post, the single ended output is going to be limited to something like 18vpp (30 volts - VGS(x2)-2) whereas the cth would be about 26v This amp is definitely to compete with the lyr3. whether they knew that the lyr3 was coming or not. Both amps have serious limitations and issues. also that picture is the cavalli version the monoprice version will probably be different just like the differences in the original cth and the production version

+/-15V power rails and mosfet output transistors. Single ended output with very limited voltage swings. Same super simple CFA output section as CTH,Liquid Carbon, Liquid Gold, Liquid crimson etc. Virtually no class A power. And this is $700?

No reason for an extra buffer

I am sure that the design is a version of his current source feeding a buffer output stage. Possibly ac coupled. With a fair bit of feedback.

it may have been cute when schiit came out with its original batch of cheap shit. all sorts of compromises necessary to produce something for $149 But now we have schiit competing with massdrop competing with monoprice, producing seriously compromised product for prices approaching $700. All sorts of issues including virtually no class A output power, split rail power supplies, low component life due to some really high chassis temperatures, noisy external switching power supplies and flyback switchers internally. Throw away product for sure. When you can buy real products from real companies for $500 or less.

the cfa input is a diamond buffer and is biased thru the base currents of the input pair.

I think it may screw up the first stage bias currents, but you can certainly try it.

It's the complex impedance of the cables that can cause oscillations if driven from a zero impedance output. input impedance of the amp does not matter. this is why a buf634 can oscillate and it always has a gain less than 1

you can always add the protection circuit board.

If you are driving 20ft or more cables, 50 ohms is a good match for the cables. For headphones no resistance necessary

there is a difference in voltage gain. 6db.

8M$ total sales based on serial numbers.

Even with the grossly inflated prices cavalli eventually went under due to too many hands in the cookie jar and shit quality requiring a lot of repairs, especially the liquid carbon. when there was only one standard for measuring distortion it was easy. Now that there are a number of adc based distortion devices each with different firmware and software, and digital filters you can generate impossibly low distortion numbers that are meaningless. jude might want to look at how measurements were done many moons ago and emulate that. Far more useful information. i think a reasonable number on sales exceed 8M$ over the 8 year life of cavalli. Lots of people are going to take a bath, just like singlepower

the thd+N is .0075%, and although it does not specify, its likely at 1khz. look at the schematic posted above. about 15db of feedback around the grid of the tube. Lowering the input impedance to bipolar levels or lower and kind of negating any possible use of an input tube. Also the plate current source. spice indicates a second harmonic distortion of -74db at 1khz (.02%) and a 3rd harmonic distortion of -109db (.0003%) at 1khz however at 10khz the second harmonic is -60db (.1%) and the third harmonic is -96db (.002%) you can work out the summation on your own. plus of course the messed up soundstage due to the inverse phase. Something the plankton experts seem to ignore. In reality, with an old school analog thd meter, the numbers are going to be much much higher. and of course this is all measured with a 300 ohm resistor. Use a real load especially low impedance, and the numbers go way up.

2nd harmonic and 3rd harmonic vs frequency is what influences sound signature the most. bipolar vs mosfet outputs makes the most difference. there is no cavalli house sound. This amp is bipolar outputs, the LCX is mosfet.

because i'm lazy, taobao links for liquid gold clone and LL please. approximate schematic here. too lazy to finish the plate servo. some resistor values obviously wrong, probing from here with voltmeter to Iceland seems unreliable. (and kinda slow) .1% thd at 10khz 2nd harmonic. which is not that horrible cth2.PDF

Going thru the schematic its kind of obvious that for the 1/4 jack, this amplifier inverts phase. Not sure about whether the wiring on the 4 pin is flipped to fix this problem. people sensitive to phase, or at least notice the difference, and this amp is going to sound different.