The Nokito is coming! The Nokito is my micro version of the NOK. For those not familar with the NOK, the NOK was our flagship amplifier and a beast for me to build. NOK stands for Nude OverKill and I named it that because many of the components found in that amplifier would be considered by most to be overkill for a portable amplifier. For instance, the NOK uses TX2575 Naked Z-Foil resistors throughout the amplifier stage. These resistors are considered to be the best available for audio applications because they are the closest you can get a straight wire without coloration. The NOK also did away with the potentiometer and replaced it with a two stage stepped attenuator that also used TX2575s, two per channel, so all your source ever saw was two resistors at the input and the best possible two resistors at that.
The Nokito takes all of the design elements of the flagship NOK and puts it into the case of the Portaphile MICRO. This thing is tiny. The Nokito will feature the same Naked Z-Foil based stepped attenator I designed for the NOK. The Nokito will also use the same opamps and Naked Z-Foil resistors in the left and right channels as the NOK but will use thin film surface mount resistors in the ground channel because of space limitations. Buffers used in the Nokito are Burr-brown BUF634s (a total of 6). Run time will also be less than the NOK because of the smaller size/battery. Expect a run-time of around 4.5 hours just like the MICRO.
I am still testing out the Nokito amplifier boards and finalizing the cases, should be another month (or two) at least before it will be available for sale. The Nokito is built using TX2575 through-hole Naked Z-Foil resistors throughout the amplification stage and the “CAN” version of the excellent Texas Instruments’ audio opamp, the OPA627AM in the left and right channels. The Nokito will use a two stage stepped attenuator in place of a traditional volume potentiometer and will have two user adjustable gain settings. Both the stepped attenuator and gain settings will be user controlled via two small switches on the front panel. Preliminary pricing will be set at 699.00.
Contact me via email if you’d like to pre-order an amplifier. Thanks for checking in and happy listening!
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