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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2012 10:35:16 GMT
Shaun I think that Miguel may still be using the bigger brothers to mine. Regards Alex Hi Alex Miguel has good taste  take care |
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mrarroyo
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Post by mrarroyo on Jan 21, 2012 15:02:47 GMT
Yes I still use the DCM Time Windows 1A and love them! Attachments:
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2012 22:11:54 GMT
Yes I still use the DCM Time Windows 1A and love them! Hi Miguel yes the same ones as my friend has BUT yours seem to be in slightly better condition. from memory the ''sock'' covering the main speaker and drive units can be a little fragile. but they sound fantastic. Hi All i subjected the Class A PRE/HA power amp combo to the most rigorous test today. er the wife test. she had asked for a listen because she is interested and wanted to hear ''what i'd been up to''. let me be clear there are no punches pulled when it comes to giving opinions on my DIY efforts (i sometimes dread her asking for a listen). she described my DCB1/Audio-sector as OK but digital sounding and dry. a hard pill to swallow but she was spot on and i knew it  i played Johny Cash / Hurt on Alex's amps and it just blew her away. it was a relief to see her jaw drop in amazement.  ''dripping with detail but natural and real sounding'' was the verdict '' the best sounding amplifier you've ever built''. ''superb'' she loved it and actually talked about it throughout the day. so not just my ears but the ears of someone who tells it how it is. it really is a great sounding piece of kit. I'm lucky to have the loan of it  take care |
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jonclancy
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Post by jonclancy on Jan 21, 2012 22:42:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2012 22:46:00 GMT
Hi Shaun The wife test is always the hardest of the lot isn't it ?  Years ago I had a great sounding 4 channel system with logic steering. When my wife decided to shoot through to the Central Coast with the local doctor,(from Hong Kong) she pissed off with all my gear and LPs. I had a devil of a job getting them back again. Kind Regards Alex P.S. Shaun is already aware that it should sound a little better again with the rest of the mods, including the dual LS devices . The 1N5819 can't properly track with temperature as the amplifier heats up after a period of use when all cased up. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2012 14:59:57 GMT
Hi Shaun The wife test is always the hardest of the lot isn't it ? Years ago I had a great sounding 4 channel system with logic steering. When my wife decided to shoot through to the Central Coast with the local doctor,(from Hong Kong) she pissed off with all my gear and LPs. I had a devil of a job getting them back again. Kind Regards Alex P.S. Shaun is already aware that it should sound a little better again with the rest of the mods, including the dual LS devices . The 1N5819 can't properly track with temperature as the amplifier heats up after a period of use when all cased up. Hi Alex wife number four was like that ;D it was ''either me or the HIFI'' MMMMM OK I'll book you a cab I'm pretty lucky i guess to have a partner that takes more than a passing interest in what i do. she has great hearing and is pretty good at spotting things in the sound that interfere with the music. yes i know from experience with the SF12 change on your HA/PRE that it's going to make quite a difference. the plan is to let the other 2N3811A arrive and then drop them in with the SF12 and change to 200r resistors. TBH I'm still getting used to the huge quality jump from my previous set up (which is one giant step). for me I'm looking forward to hearing what the SF12/2N3811A/200R change does. but the version i have now is sounding really good so a little time to enjoy is welcome. take care |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2012 14:43:18 GMT
Hi All
Did i mention how quiet Alex's HA/PRE /PA combo is?
well just a faint wisp of hiss and no hum whatsoever.
when i first switched it on with the stunt speakers i had to get my ear pretty close to the drive unit when making sure that it was working.
to keep the vintage vibe going I've also ordered a pair of LM394H .
it will be interesting to hear how the 2N3811A/LM394H stack up against the LS devices.
take care
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2012 20:20:48 GMT
Hi Shaun
Seeing that you have confirmed this later batch of 2N3811A meet
the Motorola HFE specifications, I now have a pair on the way too.
Regards
Alex
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2012 22:57:28 GMT
Hi Shaun Seeing that you have confirmed this later batch of 2N3811A meet the Motorola HFE specifications, I now have a pair on the way too. Regards Alex Hi Alex sounds like a plan to me so lets hope for the best consistency wise 8-)the price seems OK considering the quality of these devices. a little expensive in transistor land but I've paid much more for NOS tubes so not tooo painful.  i ordered the LM394H from Mr Tubeshunter also so lets see how they pan out HFE wise (hoping for a nice high number well >1000 would be great). take care |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2012 23:19:31 GMT
Hi Shaun
I had a quantity of LM394H etc.but gave them away a while back.
I had several with an HFE of 1,300 and one was around 2,000
Perhaps the Sydney member concerned would be willing to part with a pair to any interested Aussies constructing the 15W, if he hasn't already used them, or plans to use them ? Incidentally, the LS313s that I used in the Class A HA, and came from the GB had HFE around 800, so not too shabby !
Regards
Alex
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Post by jeffc on Jan 25, 2012 0:06:20 GMT
Worth asking Alex maybe a swap for some rare TO92 heat sinks And Shaun, good stuff on geeting this amp built, first to the lolly shop as usual . I will get to discussing my DML panels sometime but as they're my design, experimental and built from hard to find Class VH very high density EPS cut into 10mm thickness sheets for me from massive blocks of this stuff, www.foamfast.com.au/pdfs/isolite.pdfeven if interested they'd be a lot of trouble to build, and being large ie. door sized, you need space that I'm lucky enough to have. Plus I've gotta have one up on you  . And based on the numbers and types of transducers now appearing, I'm sure there'll be more commercial "Podium"-like DML panel offerings on the HiFi scene in the not too distant future. cheers.. jeffc |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 0:22:19 GMT
Hi Jeff
You may be pushing shit up hill, trying to find DIY loudspeakers with better imaging qualities than the DCMs. Miguel loves his too, despite their age . ;D
Incidentally, I will be passing on trying the Crystal DAC PCB in the SC DAC. It also requires a firmware upgrade to the Atmel controller.
The designer has also taken a swipe at those on the Internet who have changed I.C.s in the output stage of the published design.
Seems he is another closed minded EE obsessed with the figures from S.C.'s Audio Precision test gear,The HF channel separation in the new PCB is not quite as good as the original either, and that was an area we deliberately tried to improve using the JLHs
He simply does not want to believe that his original design as he implemented it sounded quite mediocre, as already verified by several RG members. He has also needed to use electrolytics in the signal path, so the output is not direct coupled either.
Regards
Alex
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Post by jeffc on Jan 25, 2012 1:07:23 GMT
I don't doubt that Alex, I've owned and listened to several great sounding conventional speakers too, but I'm not heading back to using "monkey coffin" type speakers ever again, even if my DML panels have some limitations. And as you know, for my speaker-based "grotto" system downstairs, its days operating in "stereophonic" mode, which is simply wrong to me due to cross-talk, are numbered too. But I'm a slow poke and that's another storey I shouldn't be contaminating this thread with either. cheers.. jeffc |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 1:28:33 GMT
Hi Jeff
Just remember that controlled cross talk between speakers is an essential requirement for good imaging, as is speaker placement, and in some cases "toe in".
Alex
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Post by jeffc on Jan 25, 2012 1:52:40 GMT
Thanks Alex, For sure, no question for good stereo, but none of this will be relevant with a 4 speaker based panambiophonic setup which is the direction I'm heading with this system. As inferred, I've slept with good 'ol stereo for many years now and its time for me to move on to a new younger, sexier and 21st century ear partner. cheers.. jeffc |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 2:04:09 GMT
Thanks Alex, For sure, no question for good stereo, but none of this will be relevant with a 4 speaker based panambiophonic setup which is the direction I'm heading with this system. As inferred, I've slept with good 'ol stereo for many years now and its time for me to move on to a new younger, sexier and 21st century ear partner. cheers.. jeffc Jeff I hope your wife doesn't read this ! ;D You already appear to be skating on thin ice with SWMBO as it is . Soon, you could be sleeping in the dog house with Rocky, if you spend too much time on these pursuits. I don't have to worry about things like that any more . Alex |
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Post by jeffc on Jan 25, 2012 2:55:53 GMT
Yep Alex, need to tread carefully  but you're a culprit here too as if I wasn't perpetually building the NEXT piece of "must-have" AK-tricked up gear , I’d have more time to fiddle about. BTW for this fiddling about with ambiophonics, I won a next to new Yamaha 6.1 channel receiver on eBay last week for $20, local pick up and little bidder interest as it was listed as broken, wouldn’t power up. Replace one 22nf 630V MKT cap that somehow activates the standby power circuit and soft start relay and it works like new. cheers.. jeffc |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 3:16:31 GMT
Jeff
Nice work with the repair.
If your panels are as good as you sab they are, you may just be surprised at how much surround sound you can get from 2 speakers via the 15W Class A given good material.As I have already said , movies like Avatar can fill the whole room with sound.
Alex.
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Post by jeffc on Jan 25, 2012 4:26:22 GMT
Hi Alex, I wouldn't be having a go at building this amp if I wasn't hoping for this, and have complete faith it will deliver 3D in spades based on your reports and Shaun's recent confirmation, not forgetting his most recent bride too, that "it sounds phenomenal". Re the DML panels, playing material like AERO by Jean Michel Jarre already generates panic attacks because of sounds that seem to be whizzing past my nose and all around the room. Sometimes I've needing to pause playback to calm down due to this "freaking me out" . I might have to refrain from playing this CD with the 15W Class A or risk ending up at a Psyc Clinic. cheers.. jeffc |
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Spirit
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Post by Spirit on Jan 25, 2012 8:57:08 GMT
Re the DML panels, playing material like AERO by Jean Michel Jarre already generates panic attacks because of sounds that seem to be whizzing past my nose and all around the room. Sometimes I've needing to pause playback to calm down due to this "freaking me out" . I might have to refrain from playing this CD with the 15W Class A or risk ending up at a Psyc Clinic. Glad you're enjoying the CD Jeff, and I look forward to seeing you at the psych clinic Good work figuring out the transformers too. Shaun - I presume the "(provisional)" after my name on the GB list is because I haven't specifically said 'yes'. This is me saying YES! I'm planning on dual mono and only going up to 10 (as opposed to Chris's '11'). Cheers, Phil |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 13:19:18 GMT
Hi All just to keep this available. for the LS device GB so far i have Will 2x LS352 and 2X LS313 Phil 2x LS352 and 2X LS313 Me 2x LS352 and 2X LS313 + 2 X LS313 Syd 2x LS352 and 2X LS313 Alan 2X LS352 and 2X LS313 Alex 2X LS352 and 2X LS313 Mark 2X LS352 and 2X LS313 (cyteen) Jeff 2X LS352 and 2X LS313 Jon C 2X LS352 and 2X LS313 Kits GB Chris Syd Phil Will mark (cyteen) Jon C me Boards only GB Alex Alan Jeff anyone else? take care Hi Phil good move you've been on holiday (a good one i hope) so I've just been waiting for confirmation as things can change. your going to love this amp. Hi Jeff ''I've gotta have one up on you ''. you are Australian so that's a pretty good start I'd still be interested in a little more detail on those speakers just out of curiosity. Alex's HA/PRE PA set up does deep and wide better than anything I've heard. but also does the trick of keeping the sound tight and focused (some amps just seem to blur things when going for scale). the Volco seems to be more of a size control. it seems to have very little effect on the tonal quality of the sound. some amps seem to get brighter and harder as the wick gets wound up but not this one. i like loud but with my 88dB @ 1W 6ohm speakers i rarely get past 10 o'clock. I've had a few days of listening and wondering where all of the little things have come from that I've not heard (or have been lost in the mush) before. and mine is just the AK lite version. what i can say though is that the topology seems to work very well indeed. one thing that i would mention though. do convert your AK HA for pre use. i tried my DCB1 and good though it is well it gets nowhere near the quality of the AK PRE sounding a little flat and small in comparison. Alex's class A is a superb HA but really does come into it's own when used as a PRE with his PA and has a big dynamic,detail and sound stage edge over the DCB1. IMHO the Class A betters the DCB1 in just about every department. that's IMHO in my set up but I'll be interested in your thoughts once you have things up and running. So my DIY world shrinks still further as I'll not be building a HA/PRE or PA (apart from upgrading with Wills boards) for quite some time if at all. it really is that good, ONE LAST THING people waiting for the GB's and boards could think on the metal work. it's the most expensive part of the build and breaking the orders into parts could make things a little less painful. I've used Modoshop but any ideas on good cases would be great. take care |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 16:48:02 GMT
Hi Shaun....Jeff....Spirit....Alex....Chris......et al, I must say that I have to agree, the "SandyK" set up as a Pre is superb. Let's hope I can complement it's present great presentation of AK's Hi Res Files via my elderly Quad 405 when I get the AK SC Class A 15W amp up and running, I don't doubt that the Quad will be pensioned off into the DrymDrum hall of fame on that day. Had I left the "SandyK" as a HA I'd have had no music up here in the "Den" for some time as I'm unable to don the headphones since a nice Lady Plastic Surgeon took a bite out of my left ear. So L/S output courtesy of The "SandyK Pre" being the order of the day with special dispensation for all day playing at my preferred S/L from SWMBO who's great "TLC" has been outstanding........don't knock it Alex........when you've got a good un' you know it. Ah! Shaun lad you won't be short of a project or two, etcher of the year, with the ability to easily conjure up a board or two. Well I've been thinking along the lines of a case with integrated heat sinking. It would require that you do a bit.....lot ...of pop riveting but you'd get a dimensioned case exactly to your requirements. I've found a supplier of aluminium cut sheet, bar, plate, angle you name it they will cut to size small or large order. So Ill first off order up what I need and then when I have built up a viable case let you all know......however I'm slow so don't hold that breath too long. A piece of plate 300mm X 100mm X 8mm comes in at £3.74 plus vat and postage. I envisage that as a nice face plate.............add some u channel as fins and we have a nice back plate with heat sinking. Make another two for the sides with U channel H/S for the two 15w modules and that's the basic case. My PSU LT1085...LT1033 efforts have now come good with one fully built and the second one just needing the JLH sections stuffed. This PSU incorporates the JLH with C/L and Regulator sections on the one board, final board size 140mm X 105mm. The transformers are cased up in redundant PC SMPS boxes one per traffo, with the secondary 20v output by captive three core mains cable. So next up the case. Regards, Alan |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 18:25:49 GMT
Hi Alan ''when you've got a good un' you know it'' that case sounds great. Morgan Jones builds his tube amp chassis with Uframe and they look good and are bullet proof. the sheet Ali looks pretty reasonable also but I'm pretty poor at metal work so paid through the nose. if only i had some of the skills that you guys seem to effortlessly employ with metal. great news on the PSU front and I'm sure that they will be up to your usual high standards. are you going to heat sink the regs on the same sinks as the OP devices? i have my regs on a U2 Disipante case (one per side) and while they don't run hot they do still get warm. keep it up Hifi Superman take care |
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Will
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Post by Will on Jan 25, 2012 20:39:49 GMT
Blimey Shaun, can I have a bottle of what you are on?  Nice work on the etching, and getting the PA up and running, thats proper diy that is, and I'd love to see a picture or two (as would others, I'm sure) It's also nice to have further confirmation that this amp is well worth pursuing and building. We know that the HA is world class, and to hear again that the PA version is stellar as well gives a good feeling. How warm is the 4U heatsink by the way, once it's been up and running a while? Well done Shaun, good stuff! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 23:16:01 GMT
Blimey Shaun, can I have a bottle of what you are on? Nice work on the etching, and getting the PA up and running, thats proper diy that is, and I'd love to see a picture or two (as would others, I'm sure) It's also nice to have further confirmation that this amp is well worth pursuing and building. We know that the HA is world class, and to hear again that the PA version is stellar as well gives a good feeling. How warm is the 4U heatsink by the way, once it's been up and running a while? Well done Shaun, good stuff! Hi Will I'm on a bottle of the hard work done by others such as yourself , Leo and Alex on the HA/PRE. most of what i needed for the PA build was in that thread. have a look back on that folks there is plenty of good info stored there. the 4U runs just warm even after a few hours it's still OK to touch and nowhere near as warm as my MF A1 (original 20W version)used to be. so pretty good on that front. no thermo nuclear meltdown with this amp or branded pets for that matter. ;D ;D the U3 that you suggested should be just fine but i would not go much lower than that with the HIFI2000. but that's just me as i say I'm keen on keeping the OP devices as cool as possible. looking at the heat sink originally recommended it looks like a U2 sized one but i think that the thermal resistance is way better than the equivalent HIFI2000 case. as you say the U3 is closer resistance wise so a better bet. but for me having the OP devices running cool helps longevity a little so I'm happy with the slightly bigger case. also just on the board. I've tried to have my OP devices centered on the heatsinks. I'm not sure how important this is but I've read that it allows heat to be dissipated across the heatsink more efficiently so i did that anyway just to make sure. Will without poking my nose into your board work to far how big are the boards going to end up being? any idea? the width (edge with the OP devices) may be significant in terms of fitting all of the boards in. you will see from my pictures when i post some that with the original boards all fitted no problemo. i also have etched a pair of your lovely offset correctors (thanks for those) which are mounted on the inside edge of the board but there is more space to play with there so it works out nicely. 400mm case may be bigger than people can accommodate and 300mm is much more errr standard. maybe a sub board with the DC correction stuff may make life easier and give more scope to have a nice but not to tight fit. I'm no expert on that though but just a thought. I'll post some pictures soon but my layout is pretty much the same as Alex outlined in his PA picture. i have a deeper case though so i divided the case in half with the bottom half for power connections and top half for signal and LS sockets. the reason I'm asking about the PA board size is if it gets tooo big (wide)it's going to be a tight squeeze with the JLH and LS protection board. there may be more space in the middle of the case which is where I'd go for any board expansion. i may have that wrong so just thinking out loud. Will it's a cracker of an amp but i still have a few bits to fit yet so may get even better. take care |
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but you're a culprit here too as if I wasn't perpetually building the NEXT piece of "must-have" AK-tricked up gear 
