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Post by interdy on Mar 20, 2009 11:59:16 GMT
Hi all I am planning on building one of these but not exactly sure what ill need and how time consuming these will be to build. I plan to keep this stock however what would be some budget upgrades? Also how will the amp go in powering phones such as 770 and 990 pro (80)
Cheers
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robertkd
Been here a while!
Electronics Engineer from sunny Queensland
Posts: 111
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Post by robertkd on Mar 20, 2009 12:29:14 GMT
Hi all I am planning on building one of these but not exactly sure what ill need and how time consuming these will be to build. I plan to keep this stock however what would be some budget upgrades? Also how will the amp go in powering phones such as 770 and 990 pro (80) Cheers chees talk about how long is a piece of string, can you solder, do you know which end of a drill bit goes into a chuck. well the basic SC HA maybe 2 to 3 hours, PSU maybe an hour case integration maybe 1 or 2 hours more maybe depending on experience. id say a good weekend your mileage might vary ;D as for drive bayer's why wouldn't it cheap mods for me half a dozen tants and a couple of polypropylene's 2 1000uF 25V electrolytic's would prety much cover it meh $10 or $15 in Brisbane Robert
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2009 20:52:36 GMT
interdy Further to what Robert has already said, I would suggest that this isn't really a suitable project for a complete novice. You really need to have some soldering experience with this kit, as there are lot more soldered joints than a smaller, purely I.C. based kit.You could of course first practice on a redundant PCB from some discarded electronic item. Again, regarding Robert's comments about drilling, the tricky bit is the need to make a suitable cutout in the rear panel for the mains socket. The easiest method , is to perhaps drill a series of small holes inside the cutout area needed, then break out the centre section and file the cut out so that the I.E.C. mains socket is a snug fit. Any heavy handed drilling will either ruin or break the rear panel, and you will need to purchase a whole new case. Also there is the need to follow directions for the mains wiring side fairly closely, and ask other members for advice if not sure. Your life, and those of other people who use the unit may depend on it. Alex
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Post by nickyboyo on Mar 21, 2009 3:23:30 GMT
It's a great amp to build. Listen to the 2 guys above and you won't go far wrong
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Spirit
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That's where I'm gonna go when I die
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Post by Spirit on Mar 21, 2009 8:00:08 GMT
And if you do go wrong, one of them will be only too happy to bail you out (or at least tell you how to fix the mistake)
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Post by st on Mar 21, 2009 9:15:50 GMT
just to say I'm going through the same process and have found the people on here are more than willing to help you create a great amplifier!
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Post by jphoward on Mar 22, 2009 1:19:18 GMT
Further to what Robert has already said, I would suggest that this isn't really a suitable project for a complete novice. Speaking as a complete novice - I'd say yes, it can be done, and you'll learn a lot, and be thrilled with the result. I bought a cheap little $10 kit from Jaycar as well to practice soldering on first, before I started on the real thing. Other than that, the headphone amp is my first project. I bought a Dremel tool for doing the case, which is a fair bit easier than a drill - for stuff like the IEC socket you can use a cutting or grinding bit to get it 'just right'. There's a bit of room for error anyway with that cutout - although I must admit I used glue rather than just relying on the plastic tabs. The first amp PSU took me about 4 hours I'd guess, and the amp itself took about 6 hours. I then build a 2nd one in order to try out some upgrades, and the PSU took 1 hour, and the amp 2 hours. The first time just took quite a while since I had no idea what I was doing, so things like polarity and resistor values needed to be checked and rechecked. In the 'tweaks' thread post 2 has some simple changes which don't even require any new parts - for instance removing a couple of big (hot) resistors from the PSU - which made a really big difference for me. I also bought a replacement opamp (LM4562) which simply plugs straight in - no extra soldering required. There are some other upgrades you can do, and suppliers for the necessary parts are listed in this thread and the tweaks thread. Over the next week or 2 I plan to document the building and tweaking of this for beginners, if you don't mind waiting a bit.
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Post by nickyboyo on Mar 22, 2009 5:38:50 GMT
The build and soldering side isn't a problem, for me anyway. The problem i had is not knowing my arse from my elbow with regards to electronics. Just put it this way, after powering up my first attempt at building this amp, it made a wonderful ticking machine, that's all it did was tick, and i don't mean out of the headphone jack, i got that arse about tit as well and was as dead as a dodo. The ticking came from the transistors shaking like bastards after putting the positive tran's into the negative line and vice versa. Thank god for AK and his patience, plus his large collection of spare parts
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Post by interdy on Mar 22, 2009 7:05:37 GMT
thanks for all the replies guys. Hmmm I'm still not sure about this, really afraid i'll stuff something up. Anyone from Brisbane that could offer me some help possibly?
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Spirit
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That's where I'm gonna go when I die
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Post by Spirit on Mar 22, 2009 7:08:28 GMT
Funny you should ask... Come about a weeks time, I'll compile a list of *everything* you'll need. Also where to get it in ONE order to about 3 different places, rather than about 2 orders to 5 different places As for soldering, we'll have to see that mine works before I go offering you help with that ;D P.S. I'm in the western suburbs... near Indooroopilly.
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Post by interdy on Mar 22, 2009 8:58:32 GMT
sounds good thanks for help spirit. Hopefully your soldering goes well. I live near Sunnybank but go to UQ almost everyday so Indro is near by.
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Will
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Post by Will on Mar 22, 2009 10:02:18 GMT
Interdy,
This kit is a great introduction to hobby electronics, I think, and the sense of "Blimey, I made this, and it sounds this good!" cant be beat. As has been suggested, practice soldering on old board first, and the build will be much easier.
I would suggest, though, that when it comes to mains (220V AC) electricity, that you get some help locally if possible, if not experienced in dealing with these voltages. Whereas on the lower voltage side of things, you can have caps popping and transistors failing and the chances of serious injury are less, but you do not want to get mains wrong. The guides on this site will get you most the way there, but is better to be safe!
Having said that, don't let it scare you off. Once you have learned those skills, you have them for life!
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Post by jphoward on Mar 22, 2009 11:59:14 GMT
I should also mention that I found a couple of books very helpful: Electronics for Dummies and Electronics Projects for Dummies. Don't let the 'for dummies' title put you off - they are both written by very well respected and experienced people, and have been very well reviewed. The 'Projects' book in particular has really pragmatic advice about tool selection, creating your 'spare parts bin', prototyping, and techniques for creating cases (including software to help you get your holes in the right spot).
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Post by interdy on Mar 22, 2009 14:05:14 GMT
sweet thx again for all the help guys!
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