New aleph mini build

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aleph-m-front.jpg


Attenuator knob is ground from blue-gold tigers eye stone
 
All finished

I finished. Nothing special inside, except maybe the copper grounding bus.

250 VA transformer there, for a ~10 watt/channel amp....

Supply voltage is ± 15.75 Volts dc

Supply capacitance is 62,800 per rail - all Nichicon "audio grade" caps.

Input wiring is silver-plated / teflon coax

22 step Eizz 50k stereo attenuator used

Gold plated copper RCA input jacks (not brass)

Large binding posts for output

OFC 14 ga wiring used for output wiring from amp boards to output binding posts

Series resistor limits brightness of white LED-lit ring on power switch, 'ON" is indicated by a somewhat subtle glow, as opposed to an indicator that is bright enough to read by....

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aleph-m-front-open.jpg


aleph-m-inside.jpg


aleph-m-rear.jpg
 
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That's intersring, I had not thought of that. I can replace the bolt though the transformer with a nonferrous bolt, or even a reinforced nylon bolt.

I wonder what kind of voltage is induced here. FYI the copper bar is not bolted to the chassis at any point. The rear of the coper bar is bolted to the transformer retaining bolt, and the front of the copper bar is attached to a delrin post. But, a copper wire does connect the bar to the account line safety ground, on the back panel.

I'll put a nonferrous bolt in there, that should eliminate any interaction with the transformer.


What kind of problems could this shorted turn cause? There's no hum or noise in the amps output.... I suppose the shorted turn could heat up if there was a significant current flowing....
 
No current

In best case it will just melt without burning your house.

I don't think so.

I opened an air gap between the copper bar and the chassis, and I measured NO VOLTAGE there, to the limits of my ability to measure - so, less than 0.00 mV of AC (or DC for that matter) and also looked at current that might be flowing through this "shorted turn" and found less than 0.00 uA of AC. This is the lowest limit of my ability to measure. So, no, the assumed "shorted turn" created by my copper bar is not real, it is not a problem.

I listened to the amplifier and then replaced the steel bolt through the transformer with a nylon one, and listened again. There is no difference in sound.
 
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Not so hot, after all

Here's a thermal imager view of the amplifier. White is the hottest, then red, yellow. Blue and green are the coolest colors.

I ran the amplifier for four hours then removed the cover and took this thermal image.


aleph-flir.jpg


CLEARLY the copper bar - the "shorted turn"- is the COLDEST object inside the amplifier. Now, who was it that said that the "shorted turn" would either melt the amp or burn my house down? I guess this thermal image should put that flawed idea to rest.
 
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