What Does My New Amp Sound Like and How I Learned Electronics

I'm probably downplaying how much actual electronics knowledge I have, but my point is that I never did gain a proper educated understanding of it from a purely academic point of view. I can't do the back-of-the-envelop math to describe how a circuit will perform like guys who have that academic training can. But what I can do is take a circuit, sim it to see what it's doing, modify it if I need it to be different in some way and then (and this is the big one) build it and test it in the real world. At this point in history, nearly everything you can imagine has already been designed in the world of audio circuitry, so it's just a matter of adapting what you need to work the way you need it to work. Now, like I said in the video, if I had my time back I would have put more effort into the theory and math when I was younger. Eager to just make something instead of studying, I didn't realize that I would have been better off in the long run if I had traded the soldering iron and the parts I was about to ruin, for those books I should have read more often. Onward to the amp and the demonstration of it starting up. No audible turn on thump is a plus, but that may change when the active crossovers are in the signal path. I can add circuitry to mute the amps while the crossovers start up, but that complicates things and I want to wait and see how it works without it. Hiss and hum are as nonexistent as I would ever need, and remember this is the amp running out in the open with wires going every which way all over the place. That sound clip was recorded with my high quality lav mic just inches from the speaker's tweeter and boosted by 30db on top of that, so if there was any noise you would very easily hear it. But again this is without the crossovers connected, so subject to change. But I'm pretty sure the crossovers are as noise free (and hum free) as the amps are, so I'm not expecting any issues. The next phase of the build is to finish the amp boards and test those individually before installing them. That's the tedious and time consuming part, and when that's done I have an equally tedious task to do - finishing and testing the crossover boards and getting those wired in.

Your back story sounds stunningly familiar! I think we all need a few elves to help us make progress when we lose interest in a particular project!!!

My interest in woodworking started about 10 years ago and my journey has included watching your channel throughout the years. This year I decided to take a stab at building my own speaker cabinets. Your channel has been a great resource because I can relate with you on so many levels. For example, I never really played with the toys that I had when I was a child, I tore them apart to see how they worked just like yourself. I went on to become an automotive technician for the first 15 years of my career. I no longer work in the automotive trade but that experience can never be replaced. As of lately I've lost interest in many of the woodworking channels. Finding your new channel that focuses on speakers and audio projects has proven to be really helpful with some of the projects I'm currently working on. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience and knowledge on YouTube.

There is a lot of wisdom in this episode. I can relate to much of what you say. I bounce from woodworking, to microprocessors, to audio, to CNC, to ....squirrel. We are very fortunate to have many people that are willing to help others try new things. I could never have considered building an amplifier if it was not for the generosity of those on the forums. Channels like yours help motivate me to get back at it. Thank you for this John.

Hi John. This side channel is great. Nice work on the amp. I had to smile when you described your "improvements" to your toys because mine all had the same fate. I just taught my son to solder last week when he decided to repurpose the guts of his rc car to get some lego moving.

I could have made this video! I really enjoy what you do and show because we are so similar in our approach.

I took a similar path learning electronics, started out with destroying my toys after playing them to threads and then a breadboard, stack of components and a copy of the manuals of the philips electronics kits. I did study electronics for a while but learned more by just by doing. And ideas I collected from magazines like Elektor. I'm able to take basic blocks or modules from schematics and join them into something new, not always functional ;). Similar to programming, I'm a bit of a cookbook programmer, following recepies, make some variations and lots of experimentation. Keep doing what you love to do and thanks for sharing!

Awesome that you are not afraid to learn and do the things that are challenging. I think many people have lost that drive. You are accomplishing something that it would take a whole team of people normally to do (in a company setting) Engineers for the different parts of the design i.e. Audio Engineer, Power supply Engineer, Mechanical Engineers for the chassis design etc. So you are accomplishing a great deal as well as Filming and Editing for us to ride along with you...Thank you for all that!!!!

Thanks for giving the details on how you learned electronics. I was one of the posters who wanted to know because I admire your ability and would like to mess around with this stuff too. You may not have realized it, but you did give us noobs some really good info and a path forward.

That amp for your side speakers looks amazing! These videos in general are so interesting. I, like you described your journey, am in the phase where I have an interest but no clue what I'm doing so ready made designs are something I look for, then try to understand. Im in my early 30s and am in a similar phase to your description of your 30s where I enjoy making speakers. I research and learn a bit but dont fully understand everything, that will come with more learning and research. Maybe at some point ill have to look into that software and see if designing is fun and feasable for me. Maybe with time and tinkering I'll be at your level that you are at now. Learning new things like this is always so exciting.

Nothing tops practical, hands-on experience. I have a degree in electrical engineering from a "top 5" university, but have done no real EE work in over 20 years. I'm sure you understand how your amps work much better than I do.

I get that every now and then, "How did you learn to do that?". A combination of Interest, dedication and necessity in different ratios. And yes, all my toys inevitably met Mr. Screwdriver. :)

My first exploration into electronics was through the Radio Shack 65-in-1 project kit. I guess I liked it enough to get the 100-in-1 kit a few years later. I can't say I learned how electronics worked but it was fun.

Thanks…’you have done a lot with very little’ is my takeaway from this 😊👍

Ah! The lovely and usually solitary song of the autodidact. I sing my own version. I really empathize with the bulldog obsessions and the "this is what I like doing now" bit especially. It makes us jacks of all trades, and over the years we end up doing really cool crap. Thanks again for sharing. I've learned a lot from you across a couple of my obsessions just by watching.

Hyper Focusing is the term I think you're looking for. I do it a lot... It's just about the only way I can get things done. I've got a love hate relationship with my ADHD/ASD. Also, I started out with electronics just like you. But after a while of fumbling my way through it, I hyper focused on the theory for a while and it did a lot of good but messed me up when visualizing electron flow in my circuits. Practical application and theory often bump heads. IE diode polarity markings and NPN/PNP theory. Drove me nuts and assisted with my burnout on the hobby.

Learned from Elektor back in the 80 and 90's and then discovered Audio Amateur. As the internet grew useful diyaudio. You were there to John. I only frequent a few threads on diyaudio any longer. Nice to see this get up and running.

I learned much from Heathkit. Their kits and instructions were fabulous and it was a great way to get into building electronic devices. How many did Heathkit kits?

Haha, I took all my toys apart also. It's a type.

Sounds...Fu$king Amazing!