March 2005

The First Watt Model F1 Current Drive Power Amplifier
Follow Up
Review By Dick Olsher
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  Being a current drive amplifier, the F1 demands a special breed of loudspeaker, optimized to take advantage of its output characteristics. The original article introduced a pair of matching loudspeakers (the BassZilla Leopard and Panther) designed specifically to elicit maximum performance from the F1.

One of the most daunting tasks for the DIY speaker builder is the assembly of the crossover network. Madisound Speaker Components now offers a fully assembled crossover board for both the Leopard and Panther. In this report, I take a close look at the quality and performance of the Madisound boards.

Leopard

Panther

As you can see, the components are intelligently laid out on generously-sized fiber glass boards. All of the large coils are the Madisound Sledgehammer steel-laminate type, as specified in the schematics. The large caps are Solen Fast Caps -- my preferred choice for this application. Note that no wiring harness is provided, since the wiring length is dependent on the location of the crossover network. A layout diagram is provided, however, as an aid in soldering the wiring harness.

The Madisound boards were substituted for my "reference" boards for extensive listening tests. In addition, I measured the speaker system's frequency response and found that the Madisound boards agreed with my hand-crafted reference boards within about 1dB. I am happy to report that these board look great and sound remarkably musical. Highly recommended for the DIYer looking for a pre-packaged crossover network solution. Contact Madisound for pricing information.

Click here for main article regarding the First Watt Model F1 current drive power amplifier.

Manufacturer

Madisound
P.O. Box 44283
Madison, WI 53744

Voice: (608) 831-3433
E-mail: info@madisound.com
Website: www.madisound.com