I've used the Kester Rosin Cored 63/37 0.031" Diameter on a few audio projects and it flows nicely. I can't say how it sounds but the few things I've built using it sound very good
Kester 24-6337-8800 50 Activated Rosin Cored Wire Solder Roll, 245 No-Clean, 63/37 Alloy, 0.031" Diameter: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
aljordan, sounds like you endorse diyaudio's recommendation:
Eutectic Solder - diyAudio Guides
I'm specifically seeking to follow this guidance, I want to give myself as much leeway as possible and this recommendation appears to offer noobs like me as much forgiveness up front, as reasonably possible.
Last edited:
Rafa,
Congratulations on your build. It's absolutely beautiful, and just goes to show what a little thought, creativity and determination can do. If I hadn't been following this thread I'd have asked where you purchased the chassis. Well done!
And thanks for sharing your story; this spirit of collaboration is what the DIY community is all about. You have every right to be proud. Otis and Zoot certainly approve...
Congratulations on your build. It's absolutely beautiful, and just goes to show what a little thought, creativity and determination can do. If I hadn't been following this thread I'd have asked where you purchased the chassis. Well done!
And thanks for sharing your story; this spirit of collaboration is what the DIY community is all about. You have every right to be proud. Otis and Zoot certainly approve...
Attachments
I see a pair of Klipsch KG4 for sale locally for cheap. They spec at 94 dB but have a nominal impedance of 6 ohms instead of 8. Any thoughts as to whether these may mate well with the 24 volt ACAs?
Thanks!
...that they were plentiful and available worldwide on the secondhand market?
You know, as long as we're dreaming...
However - this is not to say that these will work and other speakers will not -- in fact quite the opposite is true; nobody has connected up their speakers and said "golly, they just don't work well". The trend happening so far is that the amp can drive all sorts of speakers and people are happy with the amps!
You know, as long as we're dreaming...
However - this is not to say that these will work and other speakers will not -- in fact quite the opposite is true; nobody has connected up their speakers and said "golly, they just don't work well". The trend happening so far is that the amp can drive all sorts of speakers and people are happy with the amps!
Last edited:
Compatible speakers for Pass ACA enthusiasts
In the spirit of diy and my recommendation:
Denovo Volt-10 Coaxial Speaker
There are several other designs on that website but I know the above will work with just ONE ACA (i.e. no need for monoblocks) in a typical room.
Best,
Anand.
In the spirit of diy and my recommendation:
Denovo Volt-10 Coaxial Speaker
- 40Hz extension (-3dB)
- Great efficiency (95dB)
- Easy load (8 ohm nominal)
- Some efforts made in making it an ideal point source i.e. constant directivity
There are several other designs on that website but I know the above will work with just ONE ACA (i.e. no need for monoblocks) in a typical room.
Best,
Anand.
Thanks everyone for your replies. I was really overwhelmed by them, and got so excited that I gave the iPad to my wife so she can read them. Her words were: "that's lovely... and its great to see that you are not the only one in the world that, instead of spending hours watching football, you spend them sanding, drilling and soldering!" . She was really emotional (albeit she sided a bit with Zen Mod and said I did sound a bit 'sissy' ). Thanks everyone!
Well, as offered, here are the more 'nasty' inside pictures:
Overall front view, best to understand the 'inverted PCBs' scenario. It presented a challenge when soldering some cables and the MOSFETs, and also for calibrating the lower POT.
Here's a close view of the MOSFETs and their proximity to the angled aluminum profile. It was so 'close' I had to file the washers to have a flat region. That is not that great.
A view of the led holders and (severely out of focus) the front switch (the main DC cable is barely showing - the yellow one going straight downwards.
The minimalist PSU connector in the back (swamped with solder). Not so proud of that either.
The overall cable layout. Maybe the most notable 'change' to my original plan is the GND (green twisted) cables from the PSU. I was hoping to make a direct connection from the back panel to the PCBs, but since the holes were now inaccessible due to being covered by the aluminum profile, I ended up carrying them to the front along with the uninterrupted DC main where they meet the interrupted V+ cables and get twisted together to go back into the PCBs from the front. This was not what I planned, but I don't think it turned out too bad.
These are the connectors. I ended up moving the RCAs a lot closer than what I first planned on the 3D models to better accommodate for regular stereo RCAs without the need to pull them apart.
And, finally... here's the finished AMP, with logo an all :
My temps are now steady at 56º on the outside heatsink fins. That is between Bloody Hot and X*?@! Hot!!! on Mr. Pass' heat scale. The power resistors measured 70º yesterday. So I built a nice amp that can dub as a room heater or frying eggs burner
But, oh, how much am I enjoying the music!!!
On a final note: I have now tested the ACA with my 4 Ohm Rainmaker bookshelfs, my 6 Ohm large Pioneer speakers and the 8 Ohm smaller Kin Mini bookshelfs. The amp is comfortable with all of them, but really, really likes a nice PRE in front of it. When hooked to a 2V line level output, it performs nice, but lacks punch and almost needs full volume to reach that fullness that is so great about it. But when you put a PRE in front which elevates the gain to higher levels... all the body and punchiness just shine through!!
So, if any of you fellows feel the amp a bit thin on your speakers, first try a PRE in front before dismissing the pairing. My 4 Ohm 87 db efficient speakers fair a lot better with the ACA + PRE than my 8 Ohm 89 db efficient ones without the PRE. Just in case this is useful to anyone.
Well... thanks once more! I look forward to all the people building up their 1.6s and hearing about their experiences.
Big hug,
Rafa.
ps. I love all the cat references, pictures and stories that my Kira encouraged here!
. She was really emotional (albeit she sided a bit with Zen Mod and said I did sound a bit 'sissy' ). Thanks everyone!Well, as offered, here are the more 'nasty' inside pictures:
Overall front view, best to understand the 'inverted PCBs' scenario. It presented a challenge when soldering some cables and the MOSFETs, and also for calibrating the lower POT.
Here's a close view of the MOSFETs and their proximity to the angled aluminum profile. It was so 'close' I had to file the washers to have a flat region. That is not that great.
A view of the led holders and (severely out of focus) the front switch (the main DC cable is barely showing - the yellow one going straight downwards.
The minimalist PSU connector in the back (swamped with solder). Not so proud of that either.
The overall cable layout. Maybe the most notable 'change' to my original plan is the GND (green twisted) cables from the PSU. I was hoping to make a direct connection from the back panel to the PCBs, but since the holes were now inaccessible due to being covered by the aluminum profile, I ended up carrying them to the front along with the uninterrupted DC main where they meet the interrupted V+ cables and get twisted together to go back into the PCBs from the front. This was not what I planned, but I don't think it turned out too bad.
These are the connectors. I ended up moving the RCAs a lot closer than what I first planned on the 3D models to better accommodate for regular stereo RCAs without the need to pull them apart.
And, finally... here's the finished AMP, with logo an all
:
My temps are now steady at 56º on the outside heatsink fins. That is between Bloody Hot and X*?@! Hot!!! on Mr. Pass' heat scale.
The power resistors measured 70º yesterday. So I built a nice amp that can dub as a room heater or frying eggs burner But, oh, how much am I enjoying the music!!!
On a final note: I have now tested the ACA with my 4 Ohm Rainmaker bookshelfs, my 6 Ohm large Pioneer speakers and the 8 Ohm smaller Kin Mini bookshelfs. The amp is comfortable with all of them, but really, really likes a nice PRE in front of it. When hooked to a 2V line level output, it performs nice, but lacks punch and almost needs full volume to reach that fullness that is so great about it. But when you put a PRE in front which elevates the gain to higher levels... all the body and punchiness just shine through!!
So, if any of you fellows feel the amp a bit thin on your speakers, first try a PRE in front before dismissing the pairing. My 4 Ohm 87 db efficient speakers fair a lot better with the ACA + PRE than my 8 Ohm 89 db efficient ones without the PRE. Just in case this is useful to anyone.
Well... thanks once more! I look forward to all the people building up their 1.6s and hearing about their experiences.
Big hug,
Rafa.
ps. I love all the cat references, pictures and stories that my Kira encouraged here!
) 
Rafa,
Thanks for posting the photos. Very nice build and chassis. I won't post photos of mine since it looks just like the photos 6L6 took for the manual. I've now moved the ACA into my main system with an DIY Aikido 5687 pre-amp, Wyred4Sound DAC-2, and B&W 803s 90 dB. The bass is amazing - gripping! I love the sound of mid's and high's as well. Smooth, liquid, detailed, with a black background and good soundstage. My DIY Menno van der Veen design KT120 tube mono blocks have more depth and feeling in the mids but it's an unfair comparison given the cost difference. For the price, the ACA is phenomenal! It was a joy to build with a very satisfying sound. My 17 year old loves hearing his rap music through it because of the awesome bass due to its measured wide bandwidth.
So elegantly simple in design - I really like that. Kudos to Nelson Pass and the DIYAudio team for creating such an amazing kit!
Thanks for posting the photos. Very nice build and chassis. I won't post photos of mine since it looks just like the photos 6L6 took for the manual.
I've now moved the ACA into my main system with an DIY Aikido 5687 pre-amp, Wyred4Sound DAC-2, and B&W 803s 90 dB. The bass is amazing - gripping! I love the sound of mid's and high's as well. Smooth, liquid, detailed, with a black background and good soundstage. My DIY Menno van der Veen design KT120 tube mono blocks have more depth and feeling in the mids but it's an unfair comparison given the cost difference. For the price, the ACA is phenomenal! It was a joy to build with a very satisfying sound. My 17 year old loves hearing his rap music through it because of the awesome bass due to its measured wide bandwidth. So elegantly simple in design - I really like that. Kudos to Nelson Pass and the DIYAudio team for creating such an amazing kit!
Last edited:
Thanks for that tip off. I've not spotted too many high sensitivity DIY speaker kits that also tick the KISS box.
Pity that they don't appear to ship internationally. May have to scope out a freight forwarder.
Last edited:
For reasonably priced high efficiency speakers check out Omega Loudspeakers. (of course, DIY speakers are fun too). Luis makes a beautiful product at a very fair price. I have the 3U speakers (he makes them custom) they are the 4.5" RS5 speaker in a box the size of the Super 7. Amazing speed and soundstage. 95 dB sensitivity. Monitor Speakers
– Omega Speaker Systems
– Omega Speaker Systems
Last edited:
Thanks for the kind offer. I'm lucky enough to have family connections stateside, so I'd be able to wangle something if push came to shove ...