Amp Camp Amp (Complete Kit)

Completed this build a few weeks ago. Took me several days to finish but was my first attempt at assembling a kit and I didn’t want to rush things. Instructions were pretty straightforward and I had my brother to consult if I was unsure of any step (he’s been building ham radio, stereo, and guitar amp kits for years). Pleasantly surprised when it fired right up. And the sound? Despite having read many positive reviews I am completely wowed. Running it with Zu Omen DW speakers in a fairly large room and at moderate volumes it sounds fantastic. Doesn’t deliver the bass of my Cambridge Edge A integrated but is impressively resolving and detailed wit excellent sound stage. Amazing little amp. And DIY store service was top notch. Thanks!

The build experience was tons of fun. All components that came with the kit were well within spec. After listening to Mr. Pass talk about his stash of parts, I feel like a got few gems. Populating the PCBs and wiring the amps up was a great couple of afternoons (I built a pair). Build instructions are perfectly clear.
As far as what they sound like:
They are crystal clear and massively transparent. They will simply recreate the source material they are provided.
I run them as a set of unbalanced monoblocks in a relatively nearfield environment and enjoy them almost every day.

I’ve built several tube amps, but haven’t had success with any solid state builds until I took this kit on.

And what an amp! I listen to it every day with bookshelf speakers. It sounds beautiful. Like my favorite tube amps, this amp demonstrates how much can be done with a simple minimal design.

As bridged monoblocks they have the best sound ive heard to date in my system. instrument detail , stereo image in vinyl has exeeded all my expectations and the overall sound is beautifull, gives you a smile. Totaly recomend it and will buy again to build for friends

First and foremost, this is a nice little project! That being said there were a couple of small issues I ran into. First, two of the resistors were the incorrect size. I dug out some correct ones from my stash, not a big deal. Secondly, the instructions were sometimes difficult to follow. For example making the back panel power bus, I soldered it to all three terminals before reading "do not solder to speaker terminals yet". Maybe I was in a hurry, but I had to unsolder and redo that bus like 6 times. Read all the way through each section before soldering anything. I also had to redo the enclosure to heatsink mounting a few times to make sure everything fit without touching. It's entirely possible that my excitement got the best of me, and I got ahead of myself (normal occurrence). After all is said and done, this is a fun little amp. It definitely does not have the power reserves that my Yamaha M-80 has, but it can drive my Cornscala's (6 ohms) to reasonable levels, and sounds pretty good doing it! I will soon be trying the mono mode, when a friend brings his ACA over for a listening session. I have high hopes for that as well. I would definitely build another one, given the chance.

Recommended. It went by quick. I'm burning the amp in to the Grateful Dead as I write. Very surprised and pleased the sound quality, loudness, and bass. Build hints: 1) Read 1.6 (board build) and separate 1.8 (wiring only) instructions end-to-end first including helpful comments. 2) Brush up on soldering technique 3) Would be nice to get a chart listing wire count and length but plenty wire supplied. It worked first time. Easy peasy.