Jean Hiraga Super 30 - The Beginning

[Lionx]

Ok, I will never ever want my DIY stuff to look like an commercial product unless I want them to be sold and my customer demands it. If I wanted a commercial looking product I will buy one and I definitely have the budget to buy one. Imo, the charm of DIY is lost once they have a look of a commercial product. I believe that if you are working on a limited budget, I will rather spend 90% of the budget on the components and only 10% on how it looks as they don't matter to me much. Even if I have the best looking amplifier if they don't sound good to me then it's scrap for me. On the other hand even if they look horrible if it sounds amazing it stays on my rack and I use them day and night. Looks may last only for a week or probably a month ( like Chinese stuff), but performance is going to last a lifetime ( like German/ Russian).
Others may have different approach or standards of performance which give them a kick and it's perfectly acceptable as each one us are different and have different aspirations and tastes.

Imagine a pair of big flat panel OBs in your living room, no matter how much you argue that it is sounding lovely which of course is true; those will be an eye sore. We play music may be for an hour or 2 in a day and it's a jugaad for the rest of those 22hrs.

 

[sachu888]

Superb build, fantastic.

Regards
Sachin

 

[Hari Iyer]

I wholeheartedly agree in your points that component selection is really should have prime importance than the aesthetics and I might have done that if it's just for me. But I cannot send a basic looking device to a customer who has trusted me with his hard earned money no matter how good it sounds. There is an acceptance factor for any product be it electronic or mechanical which a DIYer often neglect stating the very same reasons you have listed. That's where a DIY product soon becomes a depreciating asset, many of us would have faced the situation while selling/buying used diy products.

There is a perfect example in automobile space in India, Skoda Yeti. It's a brilliantly engineered vehicle which failed miserably just because of the looks, you ask any of the guys uses it; all will vouch for its perfomance. Similarly no matter how good your amp sounds it will be a boring piece of electronics sitting on your rack if you are not taking care of the aesthetics. Less than 5% of people notice 5% improvement in sound by using exotic components, it's just the opposite for a aesthetically designed unit.

That's what I precisely said - all of us have different requirements and standards of performance goals. Be it looks or sound quality. Nothing wrong or right in following your mind and heart as per your KQ( kick quotient).

 

[Hari Iyer]

Imagine a pair of big flat panel OBs in your living room, no matter how much you argue that it is sounding lovely which of course is true; those will be an eye sore. We play music may be for an hour or 2 in a day and it's a jugaad for the rest of those 22hrs.

Again the same - I never compromise performance for looks. I can still stay with a bad looking product but NEVER a bad performing product. YMMV.


When you marry a girl for only her good looks and stay with her , and after a month she neither adjust with you or family members then then her good looks won't matter. On the contrary even if the girl is ordinary looking but is very adjusting your marriage is a success.

 

[Bloom@83]

@Hari Iyer : I would say that looks of a product play a bigger part in our perception of sound than we care to acknowledge. A good looking amplifier would often actually lead a buyer in believing it is better sounding than it actually is , as against the exact same product having plain Jane looks. This is psychoacoustics.

 

[shafic]

Super job. I really appreciate the effort and energy you put in to this wonderful project. Bravo

 

[Kannan]

@Nikhil @captrajesh dear moderators the discussion on 'brain over beauty' maybe moved to a separate thread.

 

[radium7]

Time for the unveil
View attachment 53247

The cat eyes,
View attachment 53262
The Neutrik Powercon connectors,
View attachment 53249

With 2.5sqmmx3 custom power cable,
View attachment 53250

Rhodium RCAs,
View attachment 53252

Binding Posts
View attachment 53253

Rear panel
View attachment 53254

You may see the Logos are placed with Epoxy and has a shine which enhance the contrast.
View attachment 53255

The spikes has a shine due to epoxy but retains the natural look.
View attachment 53256

The top plate logo has a subtle background color.
View attachment 53257

That's how I look when playing.
View attachment 53258

This is designed to be kept on the floor for smooth air circulation, the amp gets only warm (below 40) now even after hours of operation. The massive heatsinks and black anodizing must be helping, you wont feel that its a Class A in operation. There is no need to explicitly mention how the amp sounds as JH design is well known for the warm sound and butter smooth mids. It has a real nice control on the low notes and has plenty of power to drive most of the speaker units, we had paired it with Tannoys towers and the result was mesmerizing.

The amp has been delivered last week, a month earlier than the target date and well within the budget.

The signoff pic,
View attachment 53260


Thanks for viewing, please let the comments flows.

High professional finish.

 

[surfatwork]

Again the same - I never compromise performance for looks. I can still stay with a bad looking product but NEVER a bad performing product. YMMV.

When you marry a girl for only her good looks and stay with her , and after a month she neither adjust with you or family members then then her good looks won't matter. On the contrary even if the girl is ordinary looking but is very adjusting your marriage is a success.

I am a bit baffled by this. Sumith has clearly not compromised on the quality of sound - what leads you to suggest that? And when the quality of sound is not compromised, then why not spend effort on making it look good? Aesthetics are definitely important. If I were to compare two Diy efforts, then I would certainly give more marks to the diy'er who took pains to make his creations sound and look good, over the one who stopped when it sounded good.

Anyway, fab effort, Sumith.

 

[jmascreen]

Time for the unveil
View attachment 53247

The cat eyes,
View attachment 53262
The Neutrik Powercon connectors,
View attachment 53249

With 2.5sqmmx3 custom power cable,
View attachment 53250

Rhodium RCAs,
View attachment 53252

Binding Posts
View attachment 53253

Rear panel
View attachment 53254

You may see the Logos are placed with Epoxy and has a shine which enhance the contrast.
View attachment 53255

The spikes has a shine due to epoxy but retains the natural look.
View attachment 53256

The top plate logo has a subtle background color.
View attachment 53257

That's how I look when playing.
View attachment 53258

This is designed to be kept on the floor for smooth air circulation, the amp gets only warm (below 40) now even after hours of operation. The massive heatsinks and black anodizing must be helping, you wont feel that its a Class A in operation. There is no need to explicitly mention how the amp sounds as JH design is well known for the warm sound and butter smooth mids. It has a real nice control on the low notes and has plenty of power to drive most of the speaker units, we had paired it with Tannoys towers and the result was mesmerizing.

The amp has been delivered last week, a month earlier than the target date and well within the budget.

The signoff pic,
View attachment 53260


Thanks for viewing, please let the comments flows.

Great build sumit

 

[jmascreen]

Thanks for building an amazing JEAN HIRAHA SUPER 30 for me SUMITH...i love the sound and design tooo much...just cant pay off your efforts... it's just marvelous

Bhai put some review

 

[keith_correa]

When you marry a girl for only her good looks and stay with her , and after a month she neither adjust with you or family members then then her good looks won't matter. On the contrary even if the girl is ordinary looking but is very adjusting your marriage is a success.

If your measure of a successful marriage is a girl "adjusting" then - Ugh!!!
IMO, your comments in this thread are out of place, unwarranted and totally unnecessary. For one, I see the point you're trying to make but I fail to see the relevance of your points in this thread. Please stop!

 

[Hiten]

Good Morning Mates.
Read the first post by Lionx. He has used high quality components, R Core Transformers, Neuterik connectors. Having built, he paid attention to aesthetics. We all put on nice decorations on things we love. As simple as that. Honestly dont know why it is discussed. Let this wonderful DIY thread be about Lionx's build. Lets start separate thread for offtopic discussion. If you have any queries... ask. If want to know his impressions on SQ... ask. If you want to know where he procured components or how he built it ...ask.

Warm Class A Regards

 

[Hari Iyer]

I am a bit baffled by this. Sumith has clearly not compromised on the quality of sound - what leads you to suggest that? And when the quality of sound is not compromised, then why not spend effort on making it look good? Aesthetics are definitely important. If I were to compare two Diy efforts, then I would certainly give more marks to the diy'er who took pains to make his creations sound and look good, over the one who stopped when it sounded good.

Critical power supply capacitor are compromised. Also resistors look compromised to me.

 

[Lionx]

Good Morning Mates.
Read the first post by Lionx. He has used high quality components, R Core Transformers, Neuterik connectors. Having built, he paid attention to aesthetics. We all put on nice decorations on things we love. As simple as that. Honestly dont know why it is discussed. Let this wonderful DIY thread be about Lionx's build. Lets start separate thread for offtopic discussion. If you have any queries... ask. If want to know his impressions on SQ... ask. If you want to know where he procured components or how he built it ...ask.

Warm Class A Regards

Thanks Hiten for clearing the air, as I mentioned earlier all the components on the amp PCB are carefully chosen for optimum performance. It was initially intended for my personal use hence there were no compromises made on quality.

Hari's point is that he would have gone for some exotic parts instead of spending on the looks. It is also valid and of course a personal choice, I could have gone with gold plated connectors, pure silver wires and also oil capacitors and put all these in a simple wood or sheet metal case.

My sole intention to publish this thread here was that to change the perception of DIY build. It can match any professional build if the designer put his mind to it. I haven't kept any trade secrets here, all my sources are listed and I am more than willing to help anyone who needs assistance.
I already started designing a not-so high end looking but versatile chassis design which can host any heatsink models. Going to make 10 units of that so that we can save a lot of money on CNC and that can be used for low power class A and any class AB amp boards.

 

[john mathew]

Great work sir.

 

[oldmonk]

Nice work!

Congratulations !!

Am sure the amplifier build is very satisfying indeed !

What's the rest of your system like ?

 

[greenhorn]

Critical power supply capacitor are compromised. Also resistors look compromised to me.

This is a much more useful comment than any of the others in this subject. A lot of us are amateurs and may not be able to understand extremely high level feedback.


Ideally, an even more helpful response would have been one suggesting why one should prefer known japanese/euro brands from a reputed source (capacitor plague, longevity and reliability concerns etc and maybe decent alternatives - right now a cursory search shows just keltron and nichicon fw available from the usual online sources - one is a competent cap without the brand image, and the other is a known brand, but not a low esr psu cap - in other words, not the optimal solution either)

Same goes for the resistors, but in their case, even I'm not able to make out what the compromise is.

 

[srinisundar]

Stumbled on this thread today only.. Nice build..

 

[Lionx]

Nice work!

Congratulations !!

Am sure the amplifier build is very satisfying indeed !

What's the rest of your system like ?

That's a complicated question, being a diyer I experiment with multiple designs and it keeps on changing.
Let me list down the list down the systems currently in use.
Amplifiers,
1. Jungson JA-99C Class A
2. NAD 3150
3. JLH 1969
4. Philips HiFi vintage

Speakers,
1. Lyrita Audio Amity
2. Karlsonator 6 using Lii Audio F6
3. Akai Vintage 2 way
4. Custom H frame and Horn design using RCA 15" and Vitavox GP1

Critical power supply capacitor are compromised. Also resistors look compromised to me.

Thanks for pointing out, this will be a lesson learnt for my future builds. I am not sure about longevity and durability pf the power supply but as I mentioned there has been no compromise on sound quality. This has been compared with amps costing 3 times and held its ground.

Since we are talking about my DIY design I guess its worth to mention my very first build. Its a 2 way speaker design, Open baffle FR and H frame woofer. Just like JH it was also made for a friend, I will start a thread for it when time permits showcasing the details.