Cap-coupled 1626 Darling Stereo Amplifier

Based on Tom McNally's (and LeBong's) schematic

2x 1626, 1x 12SL7, solid state rectifier

Singled ended triode, 3/4 watt per channel

Built on custom metal-on-wood chassis

Built for Mike McKee

Completed on 6/18/09 

Darling 1626 amp - been listening to this for about one month
"I have this in my home office mated with a pair of Pioneer HPM-100s (93dB sensitivity).  I have a turntable via the Bellari phono preamp, a universal player thru a DAC and the computer sound card connected to it.  This little thing is perfect for this setup.  It is dead quiet, has 2A3 sound character and is plenty loud through my moderately sensitive speakers.  I told Min I wanted something that would sound just like my main system at very low volumes and what he built for me exceeded my expectations.  At low volumes (70dB or so with speakers less than 4 feet away from listening position), the detail, clarity, balance and soundstage are very apparent.  The volume control has noise in it and I am certain it is a quality control problem with the part.  I will be changing this out and expect it to be perfect after that." - Mike McKee