|
Products
Piccolo
FryBaby
HagUsb
The Ripper
Castanet
Chime
Cornet2
Clarinet
Cymbal
Bugle
HagClock
iRIAA
Ordering
WebOrder
Warranty
Technical Support
WebForum
Design Theory
Archive
Product Reviews
Design Ideas
Technical Articles
Patents & Awards
Company
WebLog
Contacts
|
"Cymbal" 8W Amplifier ($119 kit/2) Order now!
Upgrade to a "PA-10" from Hagerman Audio Labs!
The Cymbal monoblock power amplifier is a unique and modern push-pull design using ultra-linear 6H30
triodes in a zero-feedback circuit. The uncommon circuit is optimized for sonics rather than raw power.
Perfect for efficient drivers and horns, its eight watts of output power are extremely well-controlled by
virtue of an astoundingly low 1.6 ohm output impedance (8 ohm tap). Overdrive into clipping is soft
with a clean recovery. The input stage is fully differential and has a ground-lift switch to eliminate
pesky ground loops.
The monoblocks are built in mirror image pairs. A second input offers capacitive coupling and can be
designed to a set high-pass frequency to match systems requiring a subwoofer. Plenty of high quality iron
is used in this design, including a fully choke-regulated B+ supply.
The Cymbal is not an "el-cheapo" amplifier, rather a fully tricked out and substantial product. The
half-kit DIY version will cost you approximately $550 in raw parts each.
Is the Cymbal right for you? Yes, if you have efficient speakers with a reasonable impedance curve.
If an SET works for you, then a Cymbal will be perfect. An example of an easy speaker to drive is the BK-16
from Madisound. Or the remarkable Horns at The Horn Shoppe.
|
Completed Cymbals
Completed Circuit Board
|
Features
- All vacuum tube topology
- Pure Class A amplifier stages
- No feedback
- No hum
- Differential input stage
- Low output impedance
- Vacuum tube B+ rectification
- Choke regulated B+
|
Specifications
| Power | 8W into 8 ohms |
| Input Sensitivity | 1.5Vrms (15dB gain) |
| Input Impedance | 47k ohm |
| Bandwidth (-3dB) | 10Hz to 95kHz |
| Distortion | 0.18% @1kHz @1W |
| SNR | 95dB A-weighted |
| Damping Factor | 5 |
| Size | 7.25" x 11.65" (PCB) |
| Weight | 14 lbs |
| Input Voltage | 100V, 110V, 120V, 200V, 220V, 240V |
| Tubes | 6H30 x 5, 5AR4 x 1 |
Reviewer Excerpts
"The Cymbal sounded quick and agile. It had good bass extension and control with the JBLs. The highs
were extended and fairly smooth. Midrange coloration was minimal. I would place this amplifier in the
resolution-over-romanticism category, although it sounded quite smooth and pleasing - somewhat reminiscent
of a good SE amplifier in the same power range. It is a neutral, truthful, balanced sounding amplifier that
will allow the user to listen relatively deeply into the music with appropriate loudspeakers. The Cymbal's
low overall distortion and lack of compression (until it ran out of steam) belied its power rating, and will
play convincingly loud with any speaker of reasonable efficiency." - Kevin Kennedy
Read the entire article at Positive Feedback Online.
Measurements
The Cymbal amplifier has low distortion despite using no feedback. This is due to the superior linearity
of true triodes and remarkable circuit design. Distortion is mainly 3rd order, just 0.18% at 1W.
The 10kHz squarewave response is near perfect. Very wide bandwidth for a tube amp.
Downloads
Customer Testimonials
- I'm running the cymbals with a solid state balanced FET preamp the Coda 02b and Klipsch LaScala's
1994 vintage. They are dead quiet, not buzz, no hum, and the music is crystal clear, lifelike and with
a black bottomless noise floor. I also own a Morrison ELAD preamp which is well known for its extremely
low noise floor, beyond human hearing. When run with my Bryston 3BST, speakers are dead quiet too. The
cymbals noise floor is every bit a match in depth, and with low distortion, yet you use triodes and no
negative feedback (of course there's some in the tubes), quite an engineering feat. Perhaps the best
testamonial of the cymbal comes from my mom, who said, its sounds like "you're there" and from my dog.
While playing the DVD "Assasins" with Sly Stallone and Antonio Bandaras, a cat "meows" in a warehouse.
My dog freaked out and started barking like crazy and stormed around the house looking for the "cat".
You fooled the keen ear of a dog with lifelike low distortion. In the phony audiophile world of pseudo
EE science, super duper silver solder and magic cables, your products are a fresh perspective.
|
