* The DIY Audio Thread *

Dr.EM · 8 Jan 2009 at 20:45

Nice work p4radox, a nifty all round reciever unit

You do need at least 2 fuses in that unit though. One rated to protect your high current toroid and also one to protect the small DAC transformer as the one for the main toroid will be too large to offer protection to that transformer (the one for the small transformer will be in the order of 100ma I would guess). My most recent amp has 9 fuses in all and ideally should have 11, they are worth your time installing as they will limit the damage if something did go wrong as well as being a fire safety measure

Adam, sweet looking valve amp

. What speakers are you intending to drive with it?

adamau5 · 8 Jan 2009 at 20:53

kef q5's which are 91db/w so fairly efficient.

but....... guess what the next build is?

full range fostex

Dr.EM · 8 Jan 2009 at 21:22

Interesting, what drivers do you plan to use? I have some FF225K's if your interested, 96db :cool:

adamau5 · 8 Jan 2009 at 21:31

I was thinking about 206. To be honest i need to do a lot of research, i am ok with electronics, wood work and cabinet design...... not so much!.

The amp sounds very powerful, it drops lower and has good control over the bass than my solid state its replaced. You would never guess its only putting out 12watts.

maybe if i hooked it up to some 86db quads it would struggle.

Dr.EM · 9 Jan 2009 at 10:54

Fullrange should be the easiet to build if your new to it, no crossover to worry about. With FF225K you may want a supertweeter but because it's rolloff is quite smooth a simple capacitor can run the tweeter, 6db/octave

. Any largish fullrange will probably benefit from a tweeter, and small one from a subwoofer

Many fullrangers benefit from back loaded horn designs, fostex publish some designs on thier site. Some can be made to work in TL or MLTL too, or even bass reflex. Open baffle is a consideration but with this you really are likely to want a sub

MikeHunt79 · 9 Jan 2009 at 13:15

Nice work p4radox, especially get all that in one case, how do you like the sound of the Amp 10?

Founder_film · 11 Jan 2009 at 13:39

Hi, was wondering if someone could recomend me a POT value for my passive preamp? I am currently using a 100k ohm which is fine for my iPod but though the line out of my DVD player I can only turn the POT a fraction before it gets loud.

What value you think I should got for?

adamau5 · 11 Jan 2009 at 14:30

thats odd... sure its audio taper (log)??

Founder_film · 11 Jan 2009 at 14:47

Ah, no its not! I bought the POT ages ago and it seems like the linear and log pots were mixed together in the catalogue and I didn't think to check!

Ok so I will get myself a new log POT. You think I should stick with 100k? A lot of sites recommend 10k for passive preamps.

Would a 10k alps POT be the best choice?

adamau5 · 11 Jan 2009 at 18:57

i'd just go for 50k, its the best of both, enough control, not too much noise from the large resistance.

p4radox · 11 Jan 2009 at 20:26

MikeHunt79 said:
Nice work p4radox, especially get all that in one case, how do you like the sound of the Amp 10?

It's great. Much better than my ancient Technics receiver that I've been using. The power output is quite frankly ridiculous, but still, at least it's there...

Mundu · 13 Jan 2009 at 21:40

Got myself a solder iron today and finally have some cash spare to invest in building something.

Seeing as I haven't used a solder iron in about 8 years I assume a CMOY amp would be the perfect place to start but I need a amp and DAC more than a headphone amp so would rather have a go at that but I don't want to overwhelm myself at the start.

Also is there any other tools I'll need apart from the solder iron?

Yaka · 13 Jan 2009 at 23:16

drill, pliers, helping hands, workbench ( i recently ruined a case by using a normal desk for case work work bench makes it all easier. and pleanty of time.

the last one is major one. i messed up my Starving student build badly. powered it up and there was sparks all over the heatsink and i made mess of the soldering and the wire work

all ruined in 20 mins of rushing

commited · 14 Jan 2009 at 01:40

Justin said:
****

How mucho?

I really really really want to build a cheap valve amp. How difficult was it and how much time did it take?

Where did you buy the stuff from?

Edit - just noticed it's a headphone amp.

Are there any simple, cheap, awesome sounding valve amps for speakers?

adamau5 · 14 Jan 2009 at 08:03

not really.

I think you will really struggle to do anything under £240.

adamau5 · 14 Jan 2009 at 08:05

The best thing i can think of for you is a valve buffered gainclone. Should be relatively easy to build, and i think i remeber seeing a uk guy doing a group buy from some pre made pcbs.

You'll get some of the valve sound, but the power of the gainclone to back it up.

commited · 14 Jan 2009 at 13:25

Adam,

How much did your valve amp cost to build and how long?

Looks fantastic to be honest, after owning Arcam/Meridian stuff, I'd love to head towards a valve amp set up.

Founder_film · 14 Jan 2009 at 16:32

Finished my passive preamp to go with my gainclone. The knobs are temporary until I find some to mach the enclosures, also I will replace the pot with a better quality one or a proper attenuator.

Pics:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3332/3196207647_68d48789d1_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3495/3197052304_f8cc3429ee_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3414/3197050160_0e4a93a105_b.jpg

Yaka · 14 Jan 2009 at 18:22

you are using your gainclone for tv use anrt you? how are finding it?

adamau5 · 14 Jan 2009 at 18:47

commited- My amp cost me about £300 all in.

Plus a lot of time!

got to say its stunning to listen to. And thats what you do, you just end up listening and toe tapping. Nothing about it offends. Lovely!

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* The DIY Audio Thread *