41Hz Amp6 BASIC minireview

Hi,

I just finished an 41hz Amp6-BASIC. The build was super quick, basically too easy to be challenging. The amp sounds great, I can't tell a difference between Amp6 and Amp6-BASIC. I found a 12V 2A SMPS lying around and it fit the included connector and I was up and running in minutes.



Sound: Very clear all around and full and rigid bass, even with pretty bad ghettoblaster loudspeakers. Much better sound with bad no-name speakers + Amp6B than good KEF speakers and a basic NAD receiver. The sound is so stiff! It's ridiculous how this tiny, cool-running amp controls the speakers SO much better than any other amp I've heard. With even the cheap, simple Amp6-BASIC, the audio quality bottlenecks in my system has definitely become the source - not the amp or speakers really. This is no news to those that have heard good Class-D amps, but still, experiencing it is great, every time.

I like the ready-wound inductors in the BASIC model, very easy to solder.

Positives -
Ridiculously easy build, everything is in bags and the bags are numbered and ordered. Open bag, solder stuff on. Next bag.
Everything is included - jacks, terminals, fuse, bla - everything but the case and power supply.
The sound!
The impressiveness factor is huge. Flatmates are hugely impressed that I knocked a whole amplifier together in a couple of evenings after work, and they can definitely tell the difference in the sound.
Musicality! People's favorite music is even more lovely with this amp. What is removed was unneeded, what is added is goodness.

Negatives -
I think the default gain is a bit too high, I'll probably lower it a bit. (Resistors for lower gain are included in the kit.)
I don't think I'll be using the built-in minijack audio-in, and probably not the supplied power connector either.
It's a bit hard to case the amp with the default jacks - I want to use a BIGGER case than the jack locations on the PCB call for.
I'd like to have status LEDs included.
The input caps could be easier to replace with nicer, bigger ones. (It's easy if you omit the minijack input, so that's OK by me.)

None of these flaws are significant drawbacks, just amp personality.

For a beginner, the Amp6-BASIC is perfect, though I'd personally take an Amp6 with the ready-wound inductors as a perfect easy-build amp.

Next up for me, a couple of Amp11 monoblocks. I ancticipate that these will sound better - and they have none of the "negatives" I mention in this review.

Thanks to everybody who has written about audio DIY! Hints, tips, help, instructions, howtos, etc. etc.