feesh 0 Report post Posted May 6, 2008 Hi everyone, recently bought a grado ra1 clone kit from alvin. and since this is my first successful diy attempt, i thought i'd post it up. (: the whole thing plus the batteries couldnt fit into a mint can. so i foraged around the house and found an old tupperware. not aesthetically pleasing but hey, at least it works. (and is airtight! ha ha) had to diy the power supply to make it work tho. haha. but i'm glad that it did. had the op-amp replaced to the National LM4562 and it sounds wonderful! i never thought i'd get so much details from mp3s. i've got a few questions though. currently, i'm using 2 x luxon 470uF electrolytic caps for the psu and 2 x wima 0.1uF caps for the input, or at least, i think its for the inputs. i have 2 x Rubycon 220uF electrolytic caps. would replacing the luxon 470uF caps with these make any difference since i understand that Rubycon is a "better" brand since it used to make blackgates (correct me if i'm wrong) i also have 1.0uF solen caps. i was thinking of replacing the 0.1uF wima caps with these. would it make much difference? thanks in advance to all amp gurus here! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alvin1118 0 Report post Posted May 6, 2008 everyone can cook! ops.. no no.. everyone can DIY! make sure the all PCBs are secured tight, dont short it which would burn ur baby Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
heady 0 Report post Posted May 6, 2008 (edited) i've got a few questions though. currently, i'm using 2 x luxon 470uF electrolytic caps for the psu and 2 x wima 0.1uF caps for the input, or at least, i think its for the inputs. i have 2 x Rubycon 220uF electrolytic caps. would replacing the luxon 470uF caps with these make any difference since i understand that Rubycon is a "better" brand since it used to make blackgates (correct me if i'm wrong) i also have 1.0uF solen caps. i was thinking of replacing the 0.1uF wima caps with these. would it make much difference? I am not guru and this is my opinion only. No point replacing the Luxon 470uF with Rubycon 220uF. This is for the power supply. And in this position, quality is not more important than capacity. In any case, just because it is a Rubycon, doesn't mean it is better. Manufacturers make different capacitors for different purpose, so need to look at specs and not just depend on the brand. For the film caps, if these are input capacitors, replacing the 0.1uF with 1.0uF cap will give you more bass and since it is a Solen, I expect the sound to be brighter too. Film caps have different sonic characteristics for different brands. Edited May 6, 2008 by heady Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
feesh 0 Report post Posted May 6, 2008 I am not guru and this is my opinion only. No point replacing the Luxon 470uF with Rubycon 220uF. This is for the power supply. And in this position, quality is not more important than capacity. In any case, just because it is a Rubycon, doesn't mean it is better. Manufacturers make different capacitors for different purpose, so need to look at specs and not just depend on the brand. For the film caps, if these are input capacitors, replacing the 0.1uF with 1.0uF cap will give you more bass and since it is a Solen, I expect the sound to be brighter too. Film caps have different sonic characteristics for different brands. ahh, thanks heady. will keep that in mind. i just realised how HUGE the solen caps are. hopefully they'd fit in my humble casing. a bit lazy to desolder and solder the caps back. hehe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mouz 0 Report post Posted June 18, 2008 (edited) Hi Feesh, just curious, did u make tat power supply out of the cmoy schematic to create a virtual ground? Edited June 18, 2008 by mouz Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
feesh 0 Report post Posted June 28, 2008 lol yeah i did. and it works perfectly fine. i increased the capacitor values tho, juust to be safe cause we're dealing with double the battery power than the cmoy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mouz 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2008 I bought a similar kit but its a DAC with RA1 clone circuit, used a TLE2426 to create a virtual ground (thanks to tangentsoft's site for this tip). Saves loads of space as it's using only cap and a TO92. Gonna try using the DIP8 version tat comes with noise reduction cos I'm thinking of powering it off a 12v AC/DC adaptor. Keeping my fingers crossed on this cos many are commenting on how noisy it is running an amp off a wall wart. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest jacj6049 Report post Posted October 28, 2008 ah?RA1 clone kit!!how much it is? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
