MonAmour, our new premium 2A3 monoblocks kit

Doc B. · 74624

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Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #15 on: December 01, 2019, 05:29:54 AM
I finally ordered MonAmour.
Does the instruction/schematic ready to be downloaded yet?
Awesome!

We shot the photos for the manual on the 10th, and the manual writing process usually takes some weeks, so it will be a little while longer before the manual is ready. 

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline tipatina

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Reply #16 on: December 09, 2019, 07:58:31 AM
Looks like a great kit and fun build. How are microphonics?



Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #17 on: December 09, 2019, 09:58:25 AM
Microphonics are visible on an oscilloscope, but not something I've been able to hear with any of the 5670 driven amps we have put out.

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline triode

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Reply #18 on: December 22, 2019, 11:04:33 AM
Hi Paul

I notice that the parafeed caps is big (12uF !!) compare to usual 3-5uF.
If I want to substitute this, would 10uF sufficient? or should I go for 15uF? 12uF is rather hard to get.

Also what is the interstage coupling cap value?

I guess the 400V would be minimum rating for both coupling caps?

I'm in the mood for Christmas shopping here and already thinking of upgrade caps !!

Thank you very much




Offline Paul Joppa

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Reply #19 on: December 22, 2019, 12:02:05 PM
The calculated value is 13.3uF, so 15uF is closer - but 10uF will work. The difference is unlikely to be audible, and if it is, it will be more a function of the speaker than the cap per se.

I do not recommend a voltage rating less than 600v for either cap. Interstage is 0.10uF.

Paul Joppa


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #20 on: December 22, 2019, 02:23:16 PM
I am always impressed by how people know what to upgrade on an amp that no one except us guys here at Bottlehead have heard.

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.


Offline triode

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Reply #21 on: December 22, 2019, 02:50:50 PM
Thanks Paul

Doc, I understand you have choose the components meticulously. I have no mean of disrespect in changing parts.
But I'm just want to build it in one go and don't want to de-solder and re-solder. Maybe the stock would already really good and I can't really hear the "upgrade". But its more for my peace of mind, fooling myself that I put "better" what ever component in and not wondering "what if".




Offline Jamier

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Reply #22 on: December 22, 2019, 04:56:13 PM
“What if” is what DIY is all about.

Jamie

James Robbins


Offline Keta

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Reply #23 on: December 29, 2019, 06:09:32 AM
Being 2,800 miles away, I wasn't able to attend the MonAmour/Jager Listening Session on Friday. Would love to hear some feedback on how they were received.



Offline johnsonad

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Reply #24 on: December 29, 2019, 04:50:27 PM
I am always impressed by how people know what to upgrade on an amp that no one except us guys here at Bottlehead have heard.

I’ve listened to Doc’s system more than many out there and can attest to the sound. The builds are stock and sound fantastic.  Not once did we ever swap a component during a listening session. We moved speakers around plenty but the constant was always the outstanding sound from the quality stock builds.

Aaron Johnson


Offline Natural Sound

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Reply #25 on: December 30, 2019, 04:44:00 AM
I learned to solder more than 40 years ago in a formal 2 year electronics class. My instructor taught us the importance of a solid mechanical connection prior to soldering. Whether I'm building a kit or a scratch build a little extra planning is prudent. With a kit build I'll build it stock but also think about what parts I might want to experiment with. Those components, coupling and parafeed caps for example, will just get tac soldered in place. That way it's super easy to try different components without the hassle of ripping mechanical joints apart. Then when you settle on something you like you can install it permanently.

I've been building Bottlehead kits for a long time. In the early years there were some areas where you could improve the quality of the components. Those little brown interstage caps an speco autoformers come to mind. But over the years Bottlehead has refined their designs. The prices of their kits have gone up a little but component quality has gone up a lot. I can't tell you how many times an "upgrade" that I thought would be better actually made the sound worse. But you wouldn't know that unless you built it stock first. My recommendation is to build it stock. Let it break in for a good hundred hours or more. Get familiar with the sound. Your journey might just end there. If you get the bug to experiment, go for it. Just take your time, only replace one component at a time and enjoy the music along the way.




Offline Keta

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Reply #26 on: January 02, 2020, 03:25:25 PM
Very nice manual.  Thanks



Offline Doc B.

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Reply #27 on: January 03, 2020, 06:23:52 AM
Credit to Josh and PB for the manual. They've been doing them for many years now and have it down to a science.

A little update on getting the first kits out -

I've been getting parts bags kitted as the last few small parts come in. The holidays always throw a wrench in the works regarding shipments from our vendors, and so we have a couple of things left to show up before we can finish the packing process. Chokes and output transformers should be coming soon and some of that $$$$$$ Teflon wire seems to be temporarily lost in the shipping void. Those things will all hopefully arrive over the next week and we will be boxing things up.

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.


Offline Keta

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Reply #28 on: January 09, 2020, 08:48:08 AM
Has there been any discussion about a future 2A3 based preamp to match the MonAmour or would you just stick with the BeePre?



Offline Doc B.

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Reply #29 on: January 09, 2020, 08:59:40 AM
I'm using the BeePre with the MonAmours and it is a very good pairing.

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.