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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 9, 2010 22:49:54 GMT
Leo, Are the caps socketed? If so, this will play a part (albeit minor).... always best to hard wire  Yes, I "do" know what you mean... there is no doubt at all in my mind that this amp can REALLY blossom..... in stock guise it's incredible (with a wide variety of 'phones) I also feel that it's capable of even more. It's the first amp ever (IMO) that has got me creaming my pants on first listen / out of the box..... I reckon, by this time next year, the Panda will have evolved even further. I'm happy, yet disappointed, that you have "already" altered part of the circuit without listening to the amp "as is" for a while... I know, it's tempting, but only with prolonged exposure and getting to know the sonic signature can evolution occur.... the thing hasn't even had 24 hours to cook but you have already modified it.... I can't understand that. Your "reference point" is now an amp that has been modded, did you give it a chance before applying these mods? No...... you've gone straight in.... bad move IMO. Give her a GOOD 500 hours and 500 hours spent "listening to music" and "then" (and only then) if you feel something is lacking start messing about with it..... To start changing parts before you have even had the opportunity to get to know it "musically" seems to me like you are going in with an "I know best" attitude and you are changing the recipe before you've even tasted it I've been guilty of that in the past.... perfectly good if we are in our own sheds catering to an audience of "one" but when the world is watching it's essential we get things right and spend "time" evaluating gear before ripping into it holus bolus and bastardizing it to our personal "ideas" I'm not having a go mate, you know me well enough by now, but I thought you would have listened to the stock amp for more than a few hours before tweaking it? Mike. |
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Post by leo on Nov 9, 2010 23:29:58 GMT
Hi Mike, I spent most of the weekend listening to it as stock (sat night and most of sunday) you'll notice the bigger 1k5 resistor in the pic above next to the CRD's have solder on the legs Now I've found the current I like with the CRD's I can easily put the 1k5's back in instead and swap back to the CRD's later. The holes in the pads for these resistors are pretty big so its really simple removing . I already removed and fitted the CRD's three times to get the right current so removing again and refitting the resistors is no problem, it takes only minutes. I decided to solder the caps straight in, the only ones I may swap later are the ones in the regulator circuit (a total of four) The rest are fine. The only main thing I wanted to do is improve the regulation to the input stage, I get obsessive with wanting to keep the voltage suplies as clean as possible  so apart from adding the CRD's, maybe the 4 x caps in the regulation I'll probably keep the rest as is . Cheers, Leo |
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Post by leo on Nov 10, 2010 0:18:33 GMT
BTW the CRD mod is very subtle , it doesn't really change the signature of the amp, just an idea to help clean the rails up a little |
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Post by leo on Nov 10, 2010 0:59:44 GMT
Ok dokey Night night you nutter |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 10, 2010 22:25:28 GMT
At last, the Hi-Fi 2000 "galaxy" enclosure has arrived so I should have Panda three cased up by the weekend  Some people prefer the "pre-drilled" holes but I think I prefer drilling my own as you can put them exactly where you want them. Sure, you don't have "headphones" / "volume" markings etc. but, unless you're an idiot, you don't need them! The "quality" of the Galaxy enclosure is much about the same as the Panda enclosure but it is vented "top and bottom" so the internal temperature will be less with the Galaxy.... the sides can also act as heatsinks which is handy (for other amps).... just got to get some nice feet to go with it, these "stick on" things are a joke.... I may even poach four feet off an old CD player, much nicer looking than these rubber blobs! Pics to follow...... |
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Post by leo on Nov 10, 2010 23:04:42 GMT
CRD's removed resistors back in, its pretty much all stock now apart from the output resistors going to the jack socket. subtle difference , Its a little more tubby , still sounds big with huge balls Are you Shpongled is rattling my teeth  |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 11, 2010 15:04:13 GMT
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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 11, 2010 16:31:44 GMT
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mrarroyo
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Post by mrarroyo on Nov 11, 2010 17:17:52 GMT
Very nice build Mike!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2010 17:28:34 GMT
Lovely job Mike, looks very classy, does it come with the knob feet etc, and at what cost.   |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 11, 2010 18:05:10 GMT
Lovely job Mike, looks very classy, does it come with the knob feet etc, and at what cost. Hi Mick, The knob is seperate and was around 10 euros. The feet are from a broken Denon CD player... look really good in real life. I plan on having two different output impedances from each socket... socket one will be 9.1 ohm and then a 75 ohm series resistor to socket 2 making socket two 84.1 ohm. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2010 18:28:52 GMT
Mike, Have you got a little knob I can buy? Been looking around for one but nothing particularly nice. I even tried a gold one like my Panda, but it's too deep so I can't get a grip.  Basically, the knob on my portable class A amp is fine except it's just a fraction tight in the recess and so tends to touch the casing when you twirl it. When I measured it, it came out at just over 25 mm so I ordered a Panda type know because that measures dead on 25mm so just that tiny fraction less would stop it catching the case. Anyway, I couldn't screw it onto the shaft so couldn't use it. It was a push on type but the shaft of the control is metal so I can screw a proper knob on. The shaft is just a bit thinner than the one on the Panda though so they tend to go off to one side. Instead, I pulled a knob off another amp but it's not really right and when you screw it down it goes off to one side making it do a switchback motion as you turn!!. Is there a good place for knobs other than myself? |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 11, 2010 19:52:30 GMT
Mike, Have you got a little knob I can buy? Been looking around for one but nothing particularly nice. I even tried a gold one like my Panda, but it's too deep so I can't get a grip. Basically, the knob on my portable class A amp is fine except it's just a fraction tight in the recess and so tends to touch the casing when you twirl it. When I measured it, it came out at just over 25 mm so I ordered a Panda type know because that measures dead on 25mm so just that tiny fraction less would stop it catching the case. Anyway, I couldn't screw it onto the shaft so couldn't use it. It was a push on type but the shaft of the control is metal so I can screw a proper knob on. The shaft is just a bit thinner than the one on the Panda though so they tend to go off to one side. Instead, I pulled a knob off another amp but it's not really right and when you screw it down it goes off to one side making it do a switchback motion as you turn!!. Is there a good place for knobs other than myself? 25mm wide? Do you have a pic of the amp so it'll give me an idea of a suitable knob.... I've got quite a few |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2010 20:02:02 GMT
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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 11, 2010 20:15:51 GMT
I've still got the original knob that came with your Panda enclosure:  That should do the job nicely? |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 11, 2010 20:18:55 GMT
Have you had a look under the bonnet Ian? It may be better to just replace the potentiometer for one with a 6mm shaft and then your knob won't do the rollercoaster move when you rotate it |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 11, 2010 20:20:11 GMT
By the way... is the shaft splined or is it a "D" type?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2010 20:49:46 GMT
It's splined and metal so I can bolt down onto it. The original was just a push on fit. It also looks like it's a 6mm shaft. Maybe my knobs have got big holes? |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 11, 2010 21:39:30 GMT
It's splined and metal so I can bolt down onto it. The original was just a push on fit. It also looks like it's a 6mm shaft. Maybe my knobs have got big holes? Does it have a groove in the centre? If it does I will send you down a piece of metal to wedge into the groove, this will expand it very slightly. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2010 21:57:13 GMT
It's splined and metal so I can bolt down onto it. The original was just a push on fit. It also looks like it's a 6mm shaft. Maybe my knobs have got big holes? Does it have a groove in the centre? If it does I will send you down a piece of metal to wedge into the groove, this will expand it very slightly. Yes, Mike, it does.......  The knob that goes with the Panda might have the screw too far back to grip it though. |
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Post by geetarman49 on Nov 11, 2010 21:57:33 GMT
Panda 3!! that does look like a very nice build, PinkFloyd. is it sold? any plans to?
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Post by leo on Nov 12, 2010 23:51:39 GMT
Well its been running in a good few days , to save a bollocking I'm running it stock Source is a modified BuffaloII dac with modded Legato output stage, cans is HD250 LinearII The Panda is a big fun sounding amp with my 250's, the bass is still insane , sometimes a little tubby with some material. I find the mids and lower mids thicker and more meaty than say the SCHA. vocals sound very sweet and has more weight. I thought the high's was a little rolled off at times but tbh I'm not missing any details. I've threw a few crappy recordings at it, it clearly shows the rubbish up but doesn't take your head off like some amps do . I'm finding it needs a good half hour to warm up and stabilize, offset only flickers about a few mV's. Highest being 12mV after being set to 0v , its not in a case yet so obviously this has some effect I'll leave it on 24/7 over the weekend just to see if the supplied caps need any more burn in, the sound to my ears improved noticeably (opened up) over the first couple of days |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2010 13:37:36 GMT
It's splined and metal so I can bolt down onto it. The original was just a push on fit. It also looks like it's a 6mm shaft. Maybe my knobs have got big holes? Does it have a groove in the centre? If it does I will send you down a piece of metal to wedge into the groove, this will expand it very slightly. It's done!! I shoved a screwdriver down the spline and opened it. It was as you said - closed. I didn't realise. Put a new gold knob on and it looks really posh now. Thanks Mike. |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 13, 2010 13:44:50 GMT
Leo, Another "small" improvement will be to hard wire the inputs / outputs onto the board... those screw down terminals are pretty shite. You know all this anyway and just have it "lashed" up for testing . It deffo sounds better "housed" |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Nov 13, 2010 13:46:03 GMT
Does it have a groove in the centre? If it does I will send you down a piece of metal to wedge into the groove, this will expand it very slightly. It's done!! I shoved a screwdriver down the spline and opened it. It was as you said - closed. I didn't realise. Put a new gold knob on and it looks really posh now. Thanks Mike. I'll send you a piece of tailor made aluminium Ian... fit it between the groove and it will be perfect |
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Yes, I "do" know what you mean... there is no doubt at all in my mind that this amp can REALLY blossom..... in stock guise it's incredible (with a wide variety of 'phones) I also feel that it's capable of even more. It's the first amp ever (IMO) that has got me creaming my pants on first listen / out of the box..... I reckon, by this time next year, the Panda will have evolved even further.
so apart from adding the CRD's, maybe the 4 x caps in the regulation I'll probably keep the rest as is . 
Some people prefer the "pre-drilled" holes but I think I prefer drilling my own as you can put them exactly where you want them. Sure, you don't have "headphones" / "volume" markings etc. but, unless you're an idiot, you don't need them!
