Dreaming of a DIY 8W Class A amp designed by Nelson Pass?

I'm in agreement, for someone that has not built electronic equipment before (myself included), the Kit looks like a lot of fun.
I tend to get confused when people with experience begin talking about upgrades that will increase the level of the builds. I'm in favor of the upgrades but my inexperience makes the upgrades look confusing because I no longer have the step by step directions to follow with the exact parts I need.

@lak

Ignore the upgrade discussions then. Make your build, and then see if you feel like tweaking. For instance, the question of the power supply is something you can experiment later. Is the switched mode supply really worse than linear?


Well, in a year you can build a linear power supply and find out. The neat thing about kits like this is that they are yours. Not just you brought them home from the store, but you put it all together and you can take it apart and change things around.


Nothing on earth gives you this level of first hand experience, far better than merely reading.

The power supplies are external and easily swapped. However if you want to try alternative resistors, caps, and internal wire, de-soldering the original pieces from the PCB is a PITA. Consider researching substitutes for the initial build. The schematics identify the necessary values. I used Welwyn RC55Y resistors in the 1/4W positions(excellent at @$2), an Audio Note Kaisei electrolytic in the large coupling cap position(in parallel with the largest film cap that would fit across the top of the Kaisei), a 4.7uf ClarityCap film cap in place of the small electrolytic at input of signal path, and Panasonic FM or FC electrolytics in the power filtering positions. The point-to-point wiring can be whatever you like.
No, I have not heard the amp equipped with stock piece parts.
These mods add a few hundred bucks to the build.
BTW, these amps have relatively low gain. A preamp with gain may be appropriate when matched with less sensitive speakers.

this is the first discussion i see from erik without negativity. 
give him a break guys maybe he is tired of arguing.
ide love to buy a used assembled kit .in the world of guitar amps there are good examples of kits by mojotone that you can buy assembled already .i only want to worry about swapping tubes not soldering i'm spoiled and couldn't be bothered it's easy to screw up if you are not experienced in such things and professionals will do a better job. 

I've also heard great reports on the Elekit tube integrated amp kits.