Fast forward a number of years and now the Gainclone is probably the most commonly built and well-known DIY amplifier project amongst audio hobbyists. The controversy ensued after a number of positive magazine reviews of the Gaincard amplifier. The Gaincard amplifier raised a number of eyebrows in the audiophile community when it was discovered that the Gaincard amplifier cost less than $100 US in parts, but sold for $3300 US with its small power supply. The Gaincard amplifier with its unconventional design that had far fewer parts, less capacitance and simpler construction than similar power Hi-Fi amplifiers.

The Model 4706 Gaincard amplifier was introduced in 1999 by 47 Laboratory. Photograph 1: 47 Laboratory Model 4706 Gaincard and Power Humpty

Despite the high retail cost of the Gaincard, you should easily be able to build a great sounding gainclone amplifier yourself for about $200 to $300 US. Photograph 1 below shows a 47 Laboratory Model 4706 Gaincard which retails for about $3300 US. However as time has gone on, to many Gainclone amplifier is now generally understood to mean: any low component amplifier based around high power IC and intended for high performance audio.

50 Watts output power (25 Watts per channel).

Voltage regulation with a 170 VA cut-core transformer.

PSU filter with 1000♟ to 2200♟ capacitors.

9 parts per channel based around the LM3875 IC.

The 47 Laboratory Model 4706 Gaincard amplifier has these features: The simple Gaincard amplifier is based around the National Semiconductor (now Texas Instruments) LM3875 integrated circuit (IC). So what the heck is a Gainclone amplifier? Originally, the term Gainclone amplifier was generally understood to be a clone of the 47 Laboratory Gaincard amplifier. 4706 Gaincard Amplifier and Gainclone Amplifiers

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