VOLT+D class D amp , dual mono 2x 60W

[Chinquapin]

Yes, that’s right. Without the pot, you get 60k ohm impedance, which is perfect.

[PaperPro]

Just picked up one from Chicago Electric and got the Alitov PS from Amazon. Sounds good so far but is there a break in time for this amp? Length of time? What can I expect?

[Chinquapin]

Congrats! Yes there is a break in  time of at least four days. I leave mine on all the time. Now look to remove the pot . Picture shows the bottom of the circuit board. The outer two pair are twisted together, and the center pair just get snipped off. This gives you an input impedance of 60k ohms-perfect load for anything. Best and enjoy. Please let me know what you think.

[Chinquapin]

6 minutes ago, Chinquapin said:

Congrats! Yes there is a break in  time of at least four days. I leave mine on all the time. Now look to remove the pot . Picture shows the bottom of the circuit board. The outer two pair are twisted together, and the center pair just get snipped off. This gives you an input impedance of 60k ohms-perfect load for anything. Best and enjoy. Please let me know what you think.

A little solder is necessary as well.😀

[HiFiJeff]

3 hours ago, Chinquapin said:

A little solder is necessary as well.😀

 

What happens if you don't solder it? 

[Chinquapin]

9 hours ago, HiFiJeff said:

 

What happens if you don't solder it? 

It would most likely work, but the connection would not be as positive. Leave the leads a little longer and it’s a very easy job. Bend out of the way, and you’re done. I have to repeat that this mod is for people that plan to use a line stage with its own volume control feeding the Allo.

[KingRex]

Personally,  i would disconnect the wires from the volume pot and put a small blue wire nut on them.  That way they can be reconnected in the future  

[SMen]

Regarding power supply, being in the UK I went for (I believe) similar 24v 5amp power supply from Amazon to the one Chinquapin recommended after seeing what he wrote.

AC 100-240V To DC 24V 5A 5.5x2.1mm DC Output Jack Power Supply Converter Adapter for Led Light Strips

and I was very surprised. I am just getting more 'information', low level detail, sound staging. Duets are more 'in their own space'. More impact from percussion at lower volumes. I am using 88 db kefs - 6ohm.

I wonder if Allo will bring out a power supply with the mono blocks, or if they feel that with their CM this type of supply is enough.

I missed out on their discontinued one, but I was confused as to its actual voltage because it was measured at 23v I think but described as 21? Cant remember.

My comparison is with their standard 19v supply. The 24v seems well made, and is described as being well protected etc. It is double the size - see photo.

[Chinquapin]

32 minutes ago, SMen said:

Regarding power supply, being in the UK I went for (I believe) similar 24v 5amp power supply from Amazon to the one Chinquapin recommended after seeing what he wrote.

AC 100-240V To DC 24V 5A 5.5x2.1mm DC Output Jack Power Supply Converter Adapter for Led Light Strips

and I was very surprised. I am just getting more 'information', low level detail, sound staging. Duets are more 'in their own space'. More impact from percussion at lower volumes. I am using 88 db kefs - 6ohm.

I wonder if Allo will bring out a power supply with the mono blocks, or if they feel that with their CM this type of supply is enough.

I missed out on their discontinued one, but I was confused as to its actual voltage because it was measured at 23v I think but described as 21? Cant remember.

My comparison is with their standard 19v supply. The 24v seems well made, and is described as being well protected etc. It is double the size - see photo.

So pleased that you have discovered the full potential of this amp. Yes, the 

Alitov seems decent enough. My analog Spidey Sense tells me to build a better PS, but my ears and practical sensibilities say no to that. Still.... I do have two of the same 12v car batteries.....digital amps don’t seem to be as critical about their diet—PS above seems OK— as I find most of them are. Nice not to need to spend big bucks to get optimum results. Not sure what Allo night supply with the new amp, but I’m not worried. If it wants 24v, I’ll use a cheap switching PS like “Alitov”, or the one above.

[SMen]

Yes it is interesting isn't it. If you have compared it to battery and are happy with the switch mode ps that is interesting too. I do have a fancy power cord by Chord Co. going into mine! Got it with a magazine subscription a number of years ago!

 

[Chinquapin]

14 hours ago, SMen said:

Yes it is interesting isn't it. If you have compared it to battery and are happy with the switch mode ps that is interesting too. I do have a fancy power cord by Chord Co. going into mine! Got it with a magazine subscription a number of years ago!

 

I have not yet tried two 12v car batteries in series for the requisite 24v, but I intend to—probably with a Breeze D2 3116 amp at first. To be honest, I do not believe it will show benefit. Unless you are off of the grid and used to using big batteries regularly, this type of PS is impractical. Nice swag with the power cable! 

[PaperPro]

Any word on the new mono/stereo 100w amp?

[Chinquapin]

Nothing on the website, yet....

21 hours ago, PaperPro said:

Any word on the new mono/stereo 100w amp?

 

[allo.com]

Not yt we will update when we are more advanced

[Chinquapin]

23 hours ago, allo.com said:

Not yt we will update when we are more advanced

Roger that. Will stand by.....

[Anto]

Hi everyone, a question for Allo:
I'm deciding whether to wait for the release of the new 100 W btl or buy Volt + D now
How long will it take around the time the new product is released?
last thing; it is possible to buy the bare Volt + D card, without case, potentiometer and various outputs.
Thanks

[Chinquapin]

On 12/16/2019 at 8:40 PM, Anto said:

Hi everyone, a question for Allo:
I'm deciding whether to wait for the release of the new 100 W btl or buy Volt + D now
How long will it take around the time the new product is released?
last thing; it is possible to buy the bare Volt + D card, without case, potentiometer and various outputs.
Thanks

Looking for sonic improvement while waiting for the 100 watter? Use one channel of two V+Ds for mono-blocks. To protect the unused channel short one input, and put a 50 ohm 10 watt resistor on that channel. This kills one channel and allows each amp to work less hard. The difference in separation is readily apparent. In addition, the overall sound is more relaxed. Another mod you may notice in the pictures is the removal of the volume pot. The input impedance of the amp chip without the pot in the 20 dB gain setting is 60 K ohms. This is a perfect load for most line stages. With the pot in the circuit, the input impedance is around 8 K ohms. This might be a difficult load for some devices, and would limit the use of long interconnects. In my main system, I thought the amp with the attenuator sounded somewhat thin when compared to the amp without the pot. The line stages that I use can easily drive long cables or difficult loads. Still, removing the pot improved the frequency balance. Removing the pot is easy, or you could have Tom Tutay do it for you. PM if you want to know how and are modestly competent with diagonal cutters, and a soldering iron.

[KingRex]

Jesus goodness,  its a $170 piece of hardware.   Use it for a short while and throw it away when your done.   Its nice but it ends there.  Orchard Audio sells pretty much the same thing, same price.   A nice class D amp for next to nothing.  It's no giant killer.  Its shocking accurate and balanced,  but its still a $170 audio device.  It lacks a lot.   Its amazing for the money.  Buy it and be happy, but dont agonize like your missing out waiting for monoblocks. 

[Chinquapin]

44 minutes ago, KingRex said:

Jesus goodness,  its a $170 piece of hardware.   Use it for a short while and throw it away when your done.   Its nice but it ends there.  Orchard Audio sells pretty much the same thing, same price.   A nice class D amp for next to nothing.  It's no giant killer.  Its shocking accurate and balanced,  but its still a $170 audio device.  It lacks a lot.   Its amazing for the money.  Buy it and be happy, but dont agonize like your missing out waiting for monoblocks. 

You say it lacks a lot. Please be more specific.

[Chinquapin]

27 minutes ago, Chinquapin said:

You say it lacks a lot. Please be more specific.

Orchard Audio’s BOSC monoblocks cost $1250 ON SALE! That’s only a 10 fold difference in price- not the same. Perhaps a fair comparison, perhaps not. The notion that price dictates quality is the reason for the largely inflated prices in High End Audio. A good friend who builds loudspeakers told me that the higher he raised his prices, the more speakers he sold. The human ego is a fragile and easily influenced thing. I’ve learned over time to listen, and trust my ears.

[KingRex]

Its a very neutral and amazingly clean amp.  It works flawless.  I bypassed the internal volume and its even better with my preamp fronting it.

 

Having said all that, it does not at all make me stop and listen.  Other components I own glue me to me seat. I sit up strait with rapt attention and melt into the songs. Whole album side will pass and I sit and listen.  The Allo does non of that for me.  And at first blush they sound quite similar.  But come on.  Its so inexpensive,  if you dont like it, who cares.  Its not $1200, or $3500 or $6000.  Its like $170 bucks or so to your door.  Sell it for $100 and let the next guy try it.  Its impressive.   I would sell him mine but I included it with my Altecs when I sold them.

 

By the way.  If Tom put his mind to it, he could build a better amp.  A few simple changes in mine really improved upon it.  In the end, IMO, my Ampsandsound are far more engaging than either.  Best $4400 I ever spent on amps.  I am so happy I did not spend $11,000 on the  VAC.  I like the Ampsandsound better. 

[al2813]

I got today the Volt + D and it’s an amazing value. My bedroom setup has currently a Bluesound Powernode 2i, by itself a very nice sounding amp/DAC/ streamer. Against it I tested the volt with my 150 euros Topping NX4 connected to my phone. This improvised cheap setup already sounded cleaner and better imaged than the powernode costing 3 times more. I am now looking to get for it a DAC and a source. I currently use Deezer Hifi that replaced recently Qobuz.  Deezer just has a much better catalogue, but only issue with it is that it supported by less sources. Any recommendation for this setup are welcome 

[Chinquapin]

3 hours ago, al2813 said:

I got today the Volt + D and it’s an amazing value. My bedroom setup has currently a Bluesound Powernode 2i, by itself a very nice sounding amp/DAC/ streamer. Against it I tested the volt with my 150 euros Topping NX4 connected to my phone. This improvised cheap setup already sounded cleaner and better imaged than the powernode costing 3 times more. I am now looking to get for it a DAC and a source. I currently use Deezer Hifi that replaced recently Qobuz.  Deezer just has a much better catalogue, but only issue with it is that it supported by less sources. Any recommendation for this setup are welcome 

Let the unit burn for four days. Will sound much better. Remove the volume pot, and be certain to use a 24vdc power supply. This will max out the amp’s performance. Enjoy!

 

On 12/21/2019 at 12:43 AM, KingRex said:

Its a very neutral and amazingly clean amp.  It works flawless.  I bypassed the internal volume and its even better with my preamp fronting it.

 

Having said all that, it does not at all make me stop and listen.  Other components I own glue me to me seat. I sit up strait with rapt attention and melt into the songs. Whole album side will pass and I sit and listen.  The Allo does non of that for me.  And at first blush they sound quite similar.  But come on.  Its so inexpensive,  if you dont like it, who cares.  Its not $1200, or $3500 or $6000.  Its like $170 bucks or so to your door.  Sell it for $100 and let the next guy try it.  Its impressive.   I would sell him mine but I included it with my Altecs when I sold them.

 

By the way.  If Tom put his mind to it, he could build a better amp.  A few simple changes in mine really improved upon it.  In the end, IMO, my Ampsandsound are far more engaging than either.  Best $4400 I ever spent on amps.  I am so happy I did not spend $11,000 on the  VAC.  I like the Ampsandsound better. 

Too bad you never heard a fully modded Altec 1570. Yours did not have vacuum tube rectification which is a real game changer in the sound of that amp.

[al2813]

Question to those who have this amp - I am now looking to order a DAC for it (and then look for a streamer). I don't knw if I should keep it at the 200 level (Topping D50s/SMSL M300) or go to the 400 DACs (SMSL M500/Topping D70/Sabaj D5)? What do you think? What DACs are you using with your Volt + ? 

[KingRex]

On 3/16/2020 at 5:26 PM, Chinquapin said:

Let the unit burn for four days. Will sound much better. Remove the volume pot, and be certain to use a 24vdc power supply. This will max out the amp’s performance. Enjoy!

 

Too bad you never heard a fully modded Altec 1570. Yours did not have vacuum tube rectification which is a real game changer in the sound of that amp.

I am told to get the most from an Altec you need to change the output transformer.  I have also listened to Howard Swanes setup a few times.  I know what the whole shebang does.  Its good, but honestly, the Allo is more linear and tonally correct.  The Altec is too rich, as in bumped up frequencies, and glazed over.  Kind of slow, not too bad, with some washed out detail.  

 

Technically the Allo is probably better on a bench.  More precise and true to the source.  Decent bass.  Tighter than Altec.  Much more clean and quiet.  Pulls out more hidden detail.   But it does lack some of the musicality I seek out in tubes.  Far fewer songs draw me in to sit.   But darn.  For $149 its a steal.  With a decent tube preamp in front of it its much better. The included passive resistive ladder works but is too dry.  Unscrew the wire ends from the pot and put a small blue or grey wire  nut on them. Don't cut them.

 

Get the best dac your $ can afford.  A bad dac can ruin it all.  Also look at a used Schiit or Orchard Audio.  Your on a tight budget.  The server is going to be a big deal too.  I hear dragonfly are also very good.