neutralzz

sold

sold

sold!

Thanks guys. I think what's important is that it is possible to do these things with the materials made avialable to us here in Singapore. We just need to find it. A visit at Art Friend Bras Basah opened up so many possibilities for me and I was just totally inspired.

 

I'm missing my Shure SE530. Its gone to China to get reshelled and I don't know when I will see it again :-(

At least these project will keep me happy till it comes home..

do you have a link to where i can send mien for reshelling too? the cable insulation of one side just gave way as usual and since its out of warranty plus a not very "nice' local agent so i'm thinking of options other than going customs

I hate to say this but, bad choice bro... not to say that their products aren't good. but i recently bought a 4% silver solder from them and it can barely stick on my connector. Most of the time, i ended up mixing it with normal 60/40, tin/lead. However viewpoints may differ from person. As a beginner, i'd advice going for normal 60/40 or the 2% silver. I can't say anything about the mundorf silver solder since i'm yet to try.

use more solder grease/flux and a hotter iron.

i've mundorf 9.5% silver solder, 3.8% solder.

9.5% i got it when i was overseas, 3.8% you can get from larry hifi at basement of peoples park (the one where koba is), or you can get from Leda, very nice chap from Leda whom you can passionately discuss mundorf products and speaker design with.

for 9.5% it wets and solidifies best if you use a very hot iron, 60W to 100W, i've been able to get it hot enough for this solder to be nice and runny with some flux. smaller irons can work, but it will not melt properly, the solder joints will be quite dry, not exactly good.

right now i only use the 9.5% silver solder if i'm doing connections with pure silver wire, else everything else i'm using cardas's quad eutectic solder, easy to solder, flows and solidifies nicely without the need of a big fat iron. i bought it from parts connexion the last time i was buying resistors etc from them to save on shipping.

a good joint with normal tin solder > a silver containing solder but bad joint

ok just bought a new one. poof.

bought.

Which conditioner are you using? Most budget version doesn't regulate voltage. So far I find that the best is still isolation transformer conditioner for unstable voltage.

any idea how an isolation trans power conditional regulates unstable voltage?

i had once attributed hum and noise to the poor old electrical wirings in my old home and had considered to get a 1:1 isolation trans before, but never got around getting it

In vinyl.

 

not expensive to keep a copy now, prices will continue to go up.

i'm thinking of a way of conveniently and accurately re-mastering more LPs into lossless format for the fun of it. burnt the flac files onto a black diamond disc and in the cdp it still sounds as analog as on vinyl.

Just wondering. if any one still having one of this working. =)

 

http://www.avguide.com/blog/the-ultimate-s...nt?src=Playback

 

On a sweet note. There's quite a few places to get the reels. Just wished there was nickleback album on reels. Lol! =p

 

http://www.tapeproject.com/catalog/catalog.htm

tapes are awesome stuff, very analog sounding. but long abandoned

in flac format

was wondering where to buy 2nd hand ayaka ablums or first hand? hereen?

1st hand, gramaphone at bugis has, elsewhere mostly sold out. i bought the last 2 pieces from hmv citylink. hmv at heeren may have more. possible restock coming though

which track do u all like for ayaka? mine is i believe!

i like a lot of her songs

one of my favs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN_uvqbXh84

ayaka. great vocals that the local pressings dont do much justice to her voice. considering to buy her japanese pressings

Resistors -> what are the boutique resistors on the market?

Carbon composite resistors -> arcol, NOS allen bradley. these resistors have low precision, i.e. you have to buy 10-20 to match a couple of pairs yourself, but they are the very best/most preferred by many in the signal path. this is because carbon composite is not like the long film in metal film etc that can result in distortion and noise with increasing resistance values. they function best as grid suppressor resistors typically in my opinion.

Carbon film resistors -> Kiwame, Riken etc.. note!! kiwame, although are very precise resistors, have magnetic end caps!!! terrible! i stripped out and threw out most of kiwames out of my work when i found them magnetic, which in turns become inductive. (plus kiwame is quite identical looking... to koa speer... so i wonder if.. they are really different...). riken resistors are conneisseur stuff, having gold plated leads, and very well loved by many audio diyers. they have composite types too.

Metal film resistors -> Takman, Holco, Caddock. excellent resistors, but the newer batches of NOS holco on the market have magnetic end caps, you can use a magnet to probe quite easily.. i've a couple of vintage integrated amps which use predominantly holco resistors through out. a good choice on the cathode, typically caddock, which is known to give good tight bass.

Wirewound resistors -> mills, dale, etc typically used for high wattage purposes, i.e. 50W.. wirewound and non inductive.. they are the best as plate resistors and anode loads.

tantalum resistors -> only known to be used by Audionote japan in their premium amplifiers. Shinkoh resistors ceased production over a decade plus ago. it was believed that the use of such resistors gave kondo audionote amplifiers, some of the shindo labs amplifiers etc.. the special sound. nowadays, audionote manufactures their own tantalum resistors at abt SGD $20+ per piece. some NOS shinkoh resistors can still be obtained from stockists world wide. these resistors are quite my all time favourite in DIY usage.

Criteria for a good resistor, is that it must first be non inductive, from the end caps, to the leads. else when it carries alternating current, there will be undesirable effects on sound. use a magnet and check yours today! minimize ultra high resistance usages if possible for metal film resistors, the higher the resistance, the more noise as well.

Allen bradley resistors

Shinkoh resistors

examples of 0.5w, 1w, and 2w

This thread is mainly for discussion on valve amps, circuits and the components of analog circuits

topics to be discussed will include boutique components, such as resistors, capacitors etc, and the rational side of things ~

finally here! 3 little upgrades that takes the amp to my reference levels..sounds so much better now

50 watt mills resistor for both plate and anode load

shinkoh 2 watt resistor on cathode, the very best resistors in the world for tube amplifications, bypassed with sanyo oscon 16v 1000uf... which soulds very clean, detailed etc compared to the more expensive silmicII and blackgates.

dude, you have any loose c3gs or c3ms pairs. Don't mind keeping a pair

oops, didnt see this earlier..

i actually have just enough for my own projects i.e. 4 pairs etc..

if i happen to get my friend to send more over next time, i'll let you know.

up and running, totally hum free and noise free, even when volume pot is turned to max when nothing is playing

high voltage supply in typical C->L->C regulation i.e.

2 x Mundorf HV 500v 150+150uf

1 x Hammond 159P choke

1 x Lundahl 1649 power trans

1 x 5AR4 retifier

2 x C3G and original NOS siemens loctal tube sockets

all resistors are allen bradley, except cathode resistor temporarily is kiwame (the shinkohs are coming in the mail). cathode bypass -> elna silmic II (considering to swap over to oscons) + one little auricap

temporary plate resistor, the mills resistors are in the mail too..

output coupling cap, mundorf 400V 100uf film cap + jenson paper in oil bypass. considering to change to mundorf silver/gold/oil 10uf since i only need 10uf to block the DC, but that is a very expensive decision, so is still under consideration ($1.2k for a pair of capacitors is ).

the mundorfs here are quite big ass caps.. here's the size in comparison to the rectifier

sounds pretty good so far, totally quiet and clean, but i have yet to have gotten some higher impedance can to go with it yet.. using my grados now.. might go can-shopping soon.. subjected to budget approval

what is WBT? o.o i only heard of Furutech. Furutech is expensive cause its rhodium plated?

http://www.partsconnexion.com/connectors_rca_wbt.html

wbt silver's a strip of wavey silver for connection.

there are many connectors to choose from, but it depends on how good one's interconnects are, i.e. no point having a copper jack if using silver wire and vice versa.

hi expert in tube!!!i always want to build a warm ,wide sound stage diy tube amp,sure i dun wanna use exotic parts,cos wanna build it at low cost,it is possible?it will be best if can get all parts in koba or SLT,so any good suggest for me?

 

thanks,

hi, i'm not an expert, i just meddle around in my free time.

it actually depends on which cans you are driving, i.e. your estimated impedance etc.

it is cheaper to go OTL, but that is only good for high impedance cans. however the only OTL design that i've come across good for low impedances is the 6C33, that is picking up in popularity right now, i.e. almarro 318B, graaf-20 using them OTL to drive speakers, zana deux too, uses 6c33 for cans. i might build one soon for the fun of it, however use of the 6c33 will require special sockets that allow for anode cooling (thats why you see most 6c33 amps have elevated sockets platforms)

for your requirements of warm, and wide sound stage, i would think the 6922 would be a good candidate for you to build on, you can take a look at the morgan jones (its on headwize), however it requires a large output cap coupling, that you are limited to using electrolytics unless you're loaded to go for big film ones.

the POST tubes are more neutral sounding (based on what i hear using it as a pre-amp, no cans used yet for audition), the highs are more transient and transparent, but these tubes can be quite glaring in revealing inferior recordings, its not so much like the 12ax7 or 6922 that "mellows" a little, making most recordings more listenable.

Good case work..It looks it need a lot of measuring and drilling work to do..

 

Yes..Looks like the tube and socket don't come cheap and easy..

The resistors looks big size for higher wattage..

So the schematics is for one stage amplification for one channel? Rectifying to DC required from transformer?

 

The amp have 4 transformer, and the five tubes..So it is just series the different amplification stages? Drive speaker driver just for testing?

 

Sorry newbie here..

its a power amp thats why there are so many parts etc.. i.e 1 rectifier tube, 2 output tubes (2A3), and 2 pre-amp tubes i.e c3g.. was using a random speaker driver to test the amp..

the schematics i gave is 1 stage amplification for one channel, for headphone or pre-amp. yes, rectifying to DC is required from transformer, depending whether you are using tube or diode rectification.. usually diode bridge rectification is cheap and usable.

c3g, in background.. the cheap 5AR4...

an expensive pair of babies (i'm a fan of lundahl trafos)

the ugly looking circuitry.... allen bradley resistors... i might bypass the grid suppressor resistor if needed.. hopefully it doesnt oscillate

a tiny little power supply for the c3g

eeek.. not another 2A3 amp...

TlKyHD2zNEM

first test on the amp.. luckily nothing blew up...

forgive my shabby drawing.. this was drawn up based on the spec sheets and it works well, very good linear gain in triode mode

i've currently done up a 2a3 power amp using c3g to drive in this similar fashion and it drives exceedingly well.

Thank you..learn something..

So is it easy & cheap to get post tube in Singapore? The C3 tubes from Valvo, Siemens and Telefunken looks very expensive and very hard to get..

actually i dont get mine from jac music

i have friends in germany so they source for me, the price they get it at is actually a fraction of the online price

in singapore so far i only saw aural designs starting to pick up post tube amps, i.e. i saw a c3m pre-amp a couple of weeks ago, but generally not that many people in singapore use them.

the other hard to get thing is the socket, which is loctal, and not octal, i get either the NOS siemens one or in my latest shipment cheap ones from china which are a few dollars each

another challenging thing about all tube amps is just eliminating hum.. and some solutions can be pricey...