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

 two things one I've already own a pass lab amp and the second one is 8 watts you would be severely limited to the speakers that you can hook up to it sorry to be such a drag

@dutchydog  It develops around 16wpc when wired as a bridged or balanced monoblock.

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.