TomB

Looking forward to it as well!

Yes, it's better. Better output transistors and more powerful transformer mounted off of the PCB (less noise). Also, the tubes we had at ATL were a miss--match with the amp configuration at the time. I think it sounds very, very close to the T5 from the year before: maybe a tad less soundstage, but better tonality, deeper bass with the same microdetail up top. At the same time, Doug's design with the PCB and packaging - especially the thermal bar - means the entire amplifier is much more robust than the T3. This is the guts of the production version:

I think the pics are great, Purk. Thanks for documenting a great meet! John - thank you for continuing to give us the opportunity and support for headphone meets in the Atlanta area.

Dang, that's bad news for us, Brent! Hopefully, it's a great move for you, though! I was selfishly hoping for some more yo-yo lessons.

More pics:

The Audio-Video Club of Atlanta is proposing a headphone meet on Sunday, May 7, 2017 from 12 to 5 PM. The proposed location is at the Dunwoody North Driving Club, north of Atlanta. Detailed directions will be provided later in this post. Local retailers and popular manufacturers will be invited and all headphone enthusiasts are encouraged to attend. This is a no-charge event.

I was shocked - shocked, I tell you, to find out you throw yo-yo's. Actually, I'm the one that just throws. What you do with them is fantastic. I need lessons from you. I'm so happy that Doug got to come. It was pretty hectic getting him in Friday night from the airport and adding the last touches to the equipment. We were soldering in my Beezar Audio den until about midnight, I think.

Yes, from what many people told me there, his Copenhagen tube and sand amps were the absolute hit of the event.

The biggest is the discovery that we can shoehorn in the Mundorf EVO caps for the parafeed caps: http://diyforums.org/Torpedo-III/TorpedoIII-tweaks3.php Then there's also a new tube CCS, which several have installed with good results. I should be offering it as an option/side kit soon when the boards come in. There is an output CCS in the works, but Doug's 2nd attempt apparently blew up on him this evening, so the jury's out on that one, yet. Maybe it was the flux capacitor.

Sounds like a lot of great people will be there!

The T3 has been improved since then, too.

I just wanted to add that Doug let me build one of these (populating the PCB, only) and I've been listening to it for the last few weeks. Basically, I begged him because showing off the T3 at headphone meets was not working well with the DACs I had. I needed something Summit-Fi as a source, but didn't have it. The Walnut v5 solved the situation in spades. Before anyone asks - I would not recommend it as anything but a custom build from Doug. I built it myself, but it took weeks of preparation. I got two new pairs of $45 tweezers, a hot-air re-work station and other tools, too. I took several days to practice on some of my scrap Beezar DACs. I still made mistakes when I attacked the Walnut. I finally got it working, but I'd have to say it was the most challenging build I've ever done, bar none. Again, I'm just talking about the PCB. Anyway, the sound is absolutely exquisite using a T3 and HD800. I've never experienced sound at this level before and actually owned it. Thank you, Doug!

Several people had asked about "built" Torpedo III's being available. I'm almost finished constructing four new Torpedo III's. I'll put these and a couple of others on sale in the next few days.

Yep - I guess you guys aren't too far apart, now. As always, Doug is pushing the boundaries of design thought with regard to headphone amplifiers. Very impressive.

I can testify to the Black Diamond's excellent sound. I blew it in the last Atlanta meet, probably because I was trying to feed the DAC that Doug built off of the same crappy Acer Netbooks that I use for meets. Bad move. Anyway, I had the privilege to listen to it at home for a week or two - simply outstanding.

Yes - the Dr, but the Cybermen wear the Abyss.

Well, I bought what was supposed to be a genuine "Ety" adapter off of eBay and yes - seems to do the trick. AFAIK, it appears to be genuine. That said, I really don't notice any difference in frequency response. It's more of a gain convenience. Tricking the ER-4 into an "S" means that you can use an amp with reasonable power and still be able to adjust the volume with some bit of flexibility. Put an ER-4P directly into that situation and you're down on the first quarter of the volume dial or less, nothing more.

Getting discouraged about this. Seems like it's been quite awhile now and there's no indication of more stock. They increased production runs on the HF-2 much more quickly.

From what I've read, they're actually vented. I think if you look closely in some of the photos, you can see the openings between the cup and the outside covering. Still, I'm an easy target for something like this. I want one and signed up for the "get stock email" the very next day (missed the first day). I never heard of Bushmills, either, but maybe they'll do a Torpedo or Hop Stoopid version some day.

Whoa! I did not know about triplexes! Yes - you caught the reference. Challengers were 4-6-6-4's.

Are you really a Big Boy or a Challenger in disguise?* Sorry, couldn't resist that. It's been interesting reading from the beginnings that I know of a Stoopid Opamp Hybrid Amp that cost $50. * that's steam locomotive talk, btw, not anything derogatory.

Very cool. Still, those look a lot better quality than a 6088 whose pin structure is clamped into a single plane as solderable-leads. So, is it OK for a Stax SR-009 if you don't bang on the table too hard?

I don't get it - microphonics are now the norm ... and are fine for a $5000 Abyss according to some.

^ this ... practically said the L-2 was the solution to HD800 amp issues. Of course the BHSE with SR009 is an end game. As for the headphones, this is just an appearance comment, but I can't understand why people want to design a Dr. Who - Cybermen headphone frame. Even the SR-009 has that kind of appearance when you see someone put them on. The SR-007 was much more graceful, IMHO.

Damn! I bet more than half that stuff is still better than the DIY designs available today. Yes, I recognize the original Millett Hybrid PCB - just as it looked in the Audio Xpress magazine.