I’m not,by principle,making Papa’s amps for money , neither public (First Watt) nor non public (or not exactly public) Pass Labs .
What I’m doing occasionally ,money involved, is :
-making my Babelfish amps for someone ,where Babelfish being a term for my iteration/anticipated version of Papa’s , born in time when Papa’s FW circuit still wasn’t published ; (when having more time/space , I’m explaining Babelfish series as unnecessary complicated iteration of Papa’s circuit 😉 )
-lending my hands and experience to someone making First Watt but ,being novice , not exactly being able/sure how to do it ; in most cases I already participated with few advices regarding needed hardware for amp in question,then I’m taking in when all hardware he collected needs some Voodoo to became whole.
However , when money is not involved , just friendship, I’m little more relaxed regarding Papa’s IP.
I have a close friend , in some circles known as SuperFi , in other circles simply known as Igor;he is DIY person too , but due to work mostly and constantly lacking in free time department . So , when I made my own Papa’s Koan M2 , he was (naturally) interested, having not just adequate speakers (Sonido 8″ FR in big horn ) but also some needed hardware.
Result is shown in next gallery ; construction was dictated by heatsinking layout ; base metal case made with help of our friend Stein (few mistakes , mostly drill size ,as usual are result of long command chain 😉 ) , top assembly made by Igor’s carpenter …. still missing Al rhomboidal net in top holes and missing decent front plate, then some feet.
I’m responsible for most part of concept , then drilling , tapping , and everything else ….
Btw. , these were finished more than year ago .
As I’m informed , Igor is constantly happy with his pair of M2 monoblocks ……
But , as he’s keeping Sonido speakers in Mom’s house (his own childhood room ) while in Wife’s living room he sneaked some speakers not so easy to drive ; previously there were some Ecta called funny (for me ) smalldrivershifiboxesmadeprettytall , now he’s having B&W 800 Diamonds (result of pretty much lucky purchase) and there (was) is a problem ……
Again , what else than some Papa’s gadget……..
We were talking first about XA30.5 , then about some XA.8 , but that one was easily dismissed simply because I wasn’t so willing to Babelfish newest Papa’s adventures ; there are too much variables in XA.8 power amp possible and I’m simply not having that time.
Thus, choice made easy – there is just double hardware needed for XA60.5 , comparing to XA30.5 ,so ….. why not 😉
Top, bottom and back plates (5mm Al) made locally , CNC by some Sketchup sketches I made, then powder coated by Stein.
Base frame -square 15mm Al , weld locally , by other Sketchup files .
Pcbs – my secret channels , no text on them .
Then , power supply mounting plates , drilling , tapping and everything else , made by me .
Still missing decent fronts , with needle Zen Amount Meters (titled XA60.5 by Zen Mod to make needed distinction to back plate text) and fancy feet .
Also , still missing , Al rhomboidal mesh for bottom and top openings .
Of course – stand by switch will be incorporated on front , same as appropriate (small ) connector for aux switching on back plate.
As usual , there is souvenir from Igor’s biz trips – Skenderbeg Brandy ….. we had few shots to celebrate new amps .
Sound , with B&W 800 Diamonds – as Igor sez – like nothing before ….. completely adequate to his face expression , in last few pictures 😉
