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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 17, 2010 19:31:04 GMT
All very well, you can always take your car to a mechanic if it breaks down, but you are pretty much buggered if your amp goes up in a puff of smoke or you electrocute yourself  |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 17, 2010 19:35:42 GMT
Hi all I just could not resist the temptation of this good looking kit any longer.  mine is on order  I'll post when it arrives Hi Shaun, you'll love it |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2010 20:00:33 GMT
Well Ian, i will be giving it a go at my own pace. If i do cock it up, i don`t think i will be the first, and probably not the last to do so building my own Amp, at least i was willing to give it try. However, if it all go well, and it fires up like it should and sounds great, i will be chuffed to bits  Mick, you're a brave man!! I haven't used an iron for donkeys. It'll be interesting to see what different ears make of it. For me, Mike's 'ears' seem quite close to what I hear so his descriptions ring true for me. Yours too. I like your box as well. The price is terrific as well. populate the board with some different (brand) caps.... I have some very expensive ones gathering dust, about time I put them to good use I knew that was coming!! In fact Mike, you've already replaced caps in the first one haven't you? I recognise the gold/black ones. You're going to do a V-Can beef up eh?  |
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leo
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Post by leo on Sept 17, 2010 21:43:20 GMT
Yes thought you might purchase some more Mike, at this price and quality its hard to turn down the opportunity, especially in your case, as you have the knowledge and ability to build them very quickly. Nice one. Mick. What I have in mind with one of the others is to build it very slow and populate the board with some different (brand) caps.... I have some very expensive ones gathering dust, about time I put them to good use I have just started using a different type of solder and I absolutely LOVE the stuff, I'd like to solder one of the other Panda's with this gear It's pretty expensive for 250g of 22swg but well worth it.... It runs like water and dries to beautifully shiny (mirror like) joints... it's certainly the nicest stuff I have ever used. That solder looks like nice stuff for SMD , thanks for the heads up on it |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 17, 2010 22:01:25 GMT
What I have in mind with one of the others is to build it very slow and populate the board with some different (brand) caps.... I have some very expensive ones gathering dust, about time I put them to good use I have just started using a different type of solder and I absolutely LOVE the stuff, I'd like to solder one of the other Panda's with this gear It's pretty expensive for 250g of 22swg but well worth it.... It runs like water and dries to beautifully shiny (mirror like) joints... it's certainly the nicest stuff I have ever used. That solder looks like nice stuff for SMD , thanks for the heads up on it Forget SMD.... it is AWESOME for general usage Leo |
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leo
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Post by leo on Sept 17, 2010 22:11:31 GMT
That solder looks like nice stuff for SMD , thanks for the heads up on it Forget SMD.... it is AWESOME for general usage Leo Having a solder which works well with both SMD and general use is ideal for me, I hate SMD but can't get away from it especially when fiddling with things like dacs  |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 17, 2010 22:22:56 GMT
Forget SMD.... it is AWESOME for general usage Leo Having a solder which works well with both SMD and general use is ideal for me, I hate SMD but can't get away from it especially when fiddling with things like dacs This stuff melts like butter and flows beautifully whether it be SMD or general use.... I ALWAYS use a 400C iron (whatever I'm soldering) as I like to get on and off the joint as fast as possible.... this gear, used in conjunction with a 400C tip, is ROCKET fast and produces the cleanest / shiniest joints I have ever seen.... it's incredible. I'll be sending you "those" scrap amps we discussed next week Leo and will include a good few metres of this solder for you to try out at the same time. Mike. |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 17, 2010 22:29:07 GMT
By the way.... I'm sure it would perform just as well at 179C but my philosophy is "Hot iron / in and out as fast as possible".... I have NEVER fried even the most delicate of parts using this technique. Tin your bit, wipe well on a wet sponge and get in and out at the fastest rate of knots you can..... IMO, "179c" is just a marketing figure.... sure it will melt at 179c but it will melt a LOT faster @ 400C Mike. |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 17, 2010 22:32:24 GMT
Maybe a seperate thread on our soldering techniques? Would make for interesting discussion  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2010 10:43:05 GMT
hi all well I'm kind of lucky with my wife she's had years of me building huge tube amps and open baffle speakers so she finds the headphone stuff soooooo easy. ;D so my advice for marital bliss is to build big first so the small stuff can go UN-noticed. ;D funny thing is as a long time tube user i actually prefer the more upfront sound of Neco portable and Mikes modded V-can with my phones to the little dot which to me sounds too soft. I'm a point to point kind of guy so i may need a little help with these new fangled circuit board thangs. we live and learn |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2010 11:27:24 GMT
Shaun
Don't kid yourself even for a minute that the smaller ones go un-noticed.
They simply keep adding up the apparent total value of the smaller ones, like a human calculator, and then right out of the blue,you will be asked for something in return.
Perhaps a new lounge suite , or something ?
Alex
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2010 11:48:29 GMT
hi Alex i have three alternative approaches 1) say the kit is to repair the heating system 2) administer Valium to the spouses tea on the morning of the expected delivery. 3)take her out to dinner and introduce the subject gradually during the meal i guess i must be one of the lucky few, still I've only been married for two weeks and my previous five wives were much less understanding. ;D take care |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2010 16:38:05 GMT
hi Alex i guess i must be one of the lucky few, still I've only been married for two weeks and my previous five wives were much less understanding. ;D Nice one, lol Dave |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 18, 2010 16:56:12 GMT
You can tell that I am not married.... reason being? I like to do what I want when I like and not have some annoying, yappy woman telling me what to do with MY money |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 18, 2010 21:43:01 GMT
Hi Ian, Nope..... EVERYTHING in the Panda is stock. They are such good quality parts (and the real deal too) that I didn't touch them. I'm going to build myself another two..... one will be built with stock parts and the other with different types of capacitor / bypassing and all that so I will then have two stock reference points to compare any "mods / component" changes (in Panda three) with. It's pretty difficult when you've just got the one amp to hand to say "yes", (adding XYZ made an improvement) because you've only got your memory to go on and you may "think" a Black Gate capacitor (for example) has made a big improvement but it may only be a placebo thing as you "want" and "expect" a capacitor costing that much to sound better. I have 7 X-Can V2's, two X-Can V3's and two new replacement V1's (I sold my last one to you!) No way would I offer my mods for sale if I had only worked on "one" amp and based the results on my "memory" of what it sounded like before. Nope... I like to have a couple of stock amps and a third amp which I use as a guinea pig. The stock amps are overhauled with brand new Jamicon caps and left to burn in for 500 hours so, hopefully, they are representative of a brand new X-CAN... I also leave one untouched. Basically, any "mods" in the guinea pig are compared directly with the stock amps.... if they are good they get a tick, if they are bad they get pulled out and something else is tried. With the V2 (for example) plenty of people have e-mailed me saying they have fitted "black gates" throughout as well as a whole raft of other things and ask me if it's true that the Black gates need 6 months to burn in etc. I tell them the truth, "I tried black gates in The X-CAN and they sounded like turd".... they still try to convince themselves that their amp MUST sound better because they've fitted these caps. They have nothing to compare with and spend the rest of their days convincing themselves that a "worst sounding" amp actually sounds better than it did before they wasted £££ on "boutique" caps! I think the same holds true for any comparison.... don't use your "memory", have a stock model of the unit you are modding to compare it to and, if you can, jumble them up so you don't know which is which I have two sticky labels, one marked A and the other B...... I get someone to go into the workshop (the postman usually) and ask him to stick a label on top of the two amps sitting on the bench.... I also ask him to shuffle the amps before he does this. This is where it gets REALLY difficult and shows you JUST how misleading things can prove to be ...... you choose amp "A" (for example) thinking it sounds a LOT better than amp "B"..... you strip it down to find it is the STOCK amp you preferred! Back to the drawing board, rinse and repeat the test...... this can take years (LITERALLY) to get it right and you know when you've got it right as the "modded" amp is revealed 100% of the time.... Only then do I accept that anything I have added or subtracted from the stock amp has made a HUGE improvement..... never go in "cock sure" thinking that all that glitters is gold, real improvements in Sonic Presentation take many hours to achieve and LOTS of trial and error. Sure, you do start to get a "feeling" about what will work well where but, like everything else, this takes time and experience before you master the art. I doubt I will be able to make the Panda sound better as it is "perfection" to my ears.... if it gets better than this then I have been missing something all these years..... The Panda has taken my listening and expectations of how sound should be presented to totally new heights.... I don't think it "can" get any better (as I have never heard it this good) but let's see what happens! Pinkie. |
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Post by leo on Sept 18, 2010 22:16:00 GMT
Its tempting only two amps left Only thing I don't like is the Nichicon caps, not a fan of those personally. good thing with diy, you can fit what you like  |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 18, 2010 22:43:06 GMT
Its tempting only two amps left Only thing I don't like is the Nichicon caps, not a fan of those personally. good thing with diy, you can fit what you like Are you unemployed Leo? If not then £50 "shipped" is pretty much peanuts.... what's taking you so long to decide mate? Surely your wife won't go apeshit if you spend fifty quid?  If so, divorce her and spend the rest of your days soldering and listening to great music stoned out of your head.... "Women" are a boring / repressive bunch. |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 18, 2010 22:53:04 GMT
Only one left now cause I've just bought another one..... get your wallet out fast Leo..... trust me, this is the best £50 you have EVER spent |
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Post by leo on Sept 18, 2010 23:09:11 GMT
If I was unemployed I could build this stuff all day everyday Too many projects on the go tbh, problem with me is that I can't save something like a kit knowing its sat waiting to be built, If theres any left after the dac and speaker amp is finished I'll get one to play with, build as stock and then tweak the bugger |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 18, 2010 23:16:49 GMT
If I was unemployed I could build this stuff all day everyday Too many projects on the go tbh, problem with me is that I can't save something like a kit knowing its sat waiting to be built, If theres any left after the dac and speaker amp is finished I'll get one to play with, build as stock and then tweak the bugger Word! |
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Post by clausdk on Sept 23, 2010 19:16:09 GMT
IT IS ALIVE !![/size] I am a happy guy
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 23, 2010 19:42:33 GMT
[/size] I am a happy guy [/quote] |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2010 20:04:55 GMT
Nice one Clausey-babes! Have you plugged into any favourite tunes yet? Initial impressions and maybe some piccys, warts and all. Don't be shy |
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Post by clausdk on Sept 23, 2010 20:20:29 GMT
[/size] I am a happy guy [/quote] But it goes silent after a couple of minutes, it made a click and then dead.. I waited some minutes and tried again it worked but after some time click--silent  it seem to me that it is the big blackbox that makes the click.. What has gone wrong ?? |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 23, 2010 20:42:48 GMT
[/size] I am a happy guy [/quote] But it goes silent after a couple of minutes, it made a click and then dead.. I waited some minutes and tried again it worked but after some time click--silent it seem to me that it is the big blackbox that makes the click.. What has gone wrong ??[/quote] That would indicate a dry / loose joint somewhere.... now the fun begins Does it cut out on both channels? |
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If so, divorce her and spend the rest of your days soldering and listening to great music stoned out of your head.... "Women" are a boring / repressive bunch. 