1969 HOOD AMP REPRO

Archguy

Official Roiurama Factory Rep
New Krell amplifiers come from Southeast Asia and cost less than $200, right? Just checking
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Anyway, the new device discussed here arrived on Saturday. Looking sharp!

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Naturally, before hooking it up I had to open it to see if there was any obvious damage, loose connections etc from travelling from the far side of the globe. (It was shipped from Singapore.)

Also to see if it resembled the photos in the listing...

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Fortunately everything looked okay. A question about this next photo:

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What's the clear plastic gasket-like thing surrounding each Motorola transistor? Transistors get so hot, why would there be plastic? I also note that one is sort of cruddy as though it were used, just as in the listing photo! (See other thread)

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This is what I like to see on the back of an amplifier (or even a pre-amp) -- as little as possible. This one doesn't even say which speaker terminals are R/L (although the interior view makes it clear). Fortunately it does say 110v and I say 'fortunate' because they supplied a Euro 240v plug with the thing. That might have had me worried otherwise.

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I have a transformer for one of my Japanese amps which cuts my household current from 120 (actually averages 121.6) to 100v and I'd like one which bucks from 120 to 110. Recommendations invited.

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It's a neat-looking device, heavy like a brick and seems to be pretty close to the 1969 John Linsley Hood design, if not perfectly so. YouTube vids add little imho, but I've made one anyway. It's not as though you can judge the sound that way.

Oh yeah, the sound. I'm pretty impressed from just a few hours' listening. It's rich and full, yet clean and detailed in the upper registers. Playing it through my Infinity Kappas (in vid) there is nonetheless a bothersome boominess in the mid-bass. It's definitely not the speakers, which I've run with other amps and sound great. Obviously I could hook up a pre-amp and attenuate the bass but this device does include a volume control and I'd like to keep the signal path as clear as possible. Advice welcome.

Definitely not sweating the details here though--the thing cost next to nothing and it's really just a fun toy that also looks cool. We live in amazing times.
 
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I've had one of those for about a year. The only thing I don't like about it is the Krell logo...such a shame that they felt they needed to do that. Easily the best cheap solid state amp I've owned. Mine has no Mid Bass Bloom...I'd guess that the Kappas are a fairly difficult load for that amp and probably has something to do with it.
 
Thanks guys. It's just something I did for fun, which happens to sound great too. So little invested that I'm hardly worked up over it, though I will switch out the speakers tonight and see how much the bass thing changes. I'm not a bass fiend by any stretch to begin with.

Those bits under the transistors are not plastic, they are mica insulators:

http://www.mecint.co.uk/Item/107

https://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/transistor-mica-insulators/16268

Nice amp, looking forward to more impressions.

Guh, that makes sense! Mica! Thanks

I've had one of those for about a year. The only thing I don't like about it is the Krell logo...such a shame that they felt they needed to do that. Easily the best cheap solid state amp I've owned. Mine has no Mid Bass Bloom...I'd guess that the Kappas are a fairly difficult load for that amp and probably has something to do with it.

The silly logo plates are interchangeable. Although I didn't receive any alternates. NONE of my friends has the slightest clue what a Krell is anyway, so it doesn't matter much around here! (None of my friends knows what a McIntosh is even. I asked. Even my friend from upstate NY! How sad is that?!)

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Yeah - that one looks like a Krell :D

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The amp does look interesting for sure.

God, the real thing is so beautiful inside. Now that's an amp I'd be very careful with.
 
I tend to agree on swapping out different speaker combos. My Infinity Kappas also tend to have issues with mid bass when used in certain amps.
 
Could make great sense--until now I was using them with a Yamaha receiver and a Jolida FX10.
Though you'd think those two would have very different signatures. Neither was boomy with the Kappas.

Meanwhile, to waylay my own thread even further, I just found this too.
Can't deny that I love the way it looks. But I have too many amps!

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You know, meters only cost $15 or so each. And it's no big deal to offer silver (or champagne/gold) as well as black faceplates. Some mass-market mfr selling here in the USA should really step up and offer such at a reasonable price. Or would what I've described only appeal to a tiny group of buyers?
 
Nobsound DX-925 hybrid tube Bluetooth amp. I've never heard of it and there's no consumer reviews available. I'd be suspicious of an amp with no reviews. I'd pass unless it was selling for a substantial discount from the wholesale price.
 
I tend to agree on swapping out different speaker combos. My Infinity Kappas also tend to have issues with mid bass when used in certain amps.

Well, tonight I switched the Hood amp to the Polk Monitor 70s which happened to be standing unused next to the Kappas. The sound has really opened up in a very appealing way. The old phrase "dulcet tones" came to mind. It's incredibly rich and seems to be getting better. Even the mid-bass 'bloom' seems attenuated (still a bit more than I like though.) Overall it's as if the amp has settled itself a bit. (ETA: Additional note about the bass issue)

Now, I'm very skeptical about the 'break-in' / 'burn-in' phenomenon with regard to solid-state electronics (I definitely believe in it wrt loudspeakers) and am acutely aware of the pliability of perception. But I'm really wondering here... The amp sounds so much better than it did at the outset. Already there are too many variables to be remotely scientific about this, but I will switch back to the Kappas and see what I think. Later, that is--I'm enjoying this too much right now to stop.
 
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Now, I'm very skeptical about the 'break-in' / 'burn-in' phenomenon with regard to solid-state electronics (I definitely believe in it wrt loudspeakers) and am acutely aware of the pliability of perception. But I'm really wondering here... The amp sounds so much better than it did at the outset. Already there are too many variables to be remotely scientific about this, but I will switch back to the Kappas and see what I think. Later, that is--I'm enjoying this too much right now to stop.
I’m not sure whether there’s a “break in” period for the amp, or “break in” period for the ears, but it does sometimes seem as if there’s a sound improvement after a day or two of listening to new equipment. It could also be the difference in the genre of music played or quality of the recordings listened to which makes the amp / speaker combo stand out better.
Please, share your impressions after a few days of listening.
 
I could see Kappas having trouble with 8 watts per. I've been looking at this amp myself, to use with my high efficiency speakers. The question is , does is sound better than similarly priced, or a little lower class D amps from China? I would hope for more refinement. Maybe not as good of a grip on the bass.
 
I could see Kappas having trouble with 8 watts per. I've been looking at this amp myself, to use with my high efficiency speakers. The question is , does is sound better than similarly priced, or a little lower class D amps from China? I would hope for more refinement. Maybe not as good of a grip on the bass.

I definitely prefer it to a couple different versions of my TPA 3116 amps. Definitely a little more liquid sounding than TPA's...there's more dimensionality and a "tube like" (for lack of a better word) sound. Others may like the super clean sound of the TPA's though.
 
I definitely prefer it to a couple different versions of my TPA 3116 amps. Definitely a little more liquid sounding than TPA's...there's more dimensionality and a "tube like" (for lack of a better word) sound. Others may like the super clean sound of the TPA's though.
Thanks, that's what I would be hoping for. I haven't found the TPA's to sound very good with my horns. They do sound good in my computer setup. My main amp sounds great but I just want to experiment a bit with the Chinese gear. it's a hobby.
 
Tonight I connected my Mac CD player directly into the Hood amp (it has a volume control, after all) and it sounded better than ever. Cranked Sticky Fingers and really no boominess in the bass. Still using the Polks, afraid to go back to the Kappas.

However, a tad shrill when I got really loud with it. Probably the Polks. Since I have two dozen speaker pairs maybe I'll switch them out tomorrow.

Still looking for a good device which'll buck 120v down to 110.
 
Tonight I connected my Mac CD player directly into the Hood amp (it has a volume control, after all) and it sounded better than ever. Cranked Sticky Fingers and really no boominess in the bass. Still using the Polks, afraid to go back to the Kappas.

However, a tad shrill when I got really loud with it. Probably the Polks. Since I have two dozen speaker pairs maybe I'll switch them out tomorrow.

Still looking for a good device which'll buck 120v down to 110.

I have one of these Aliexpress JLH 1969 amps too, I've had it for about month now. I'm using a Schiit Saga for a preamp and it's really nice match and super transparent.
 
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