I noticed something funny. Pretty well everything sounded good, but whenever the full-ranges came online, after a few minutes people in other parts of the building would say "Hang on, that sounds interesting. Let's wander over there and see what's up."
**** it, I didn't _want_ to hear the difference, but just as with cables I was convinced against my will. Something definitely wants investigating. Oh well, social lives are overrated anyway....
**** it, I didn't _want_ to hear the difference, but just as with cables I was convinced against my will. Something definitely wants investigating. Oh well, social lives are overrated anyway....
Hi All,
Still wiped from the days preceding the show.
This show happened despite some unexpected changes and events. Hats off to Vladimir, SY and Variac. These guys truly pulled together a great show. I hope I can make it next year. Working with Magura, Jan, SY and Variac was great. Nelson even rolled up his sleeves to help the F4s come to life. Wonderful team.
Walking around when I got a chance, I managed to meet most of the members that attended. It was really great seeing everyone who was there. Everyone seemed to be having a great time.
I must say that the quality and diversity of projects and people was refreshing. Not everything was perfect, but it all worked. The well finished efforts were a great example of what some of our members can put together. Excellent!
In all, most people seemed to have really enjoyed themselves. I am hoping that some of you are inspired to try your hands at a project of some sort. It's all been very worthwhile.
In all, thank you to everyone who did attend. I enjoyed meeting everyone who happened by "my" soldering iron (it went to SY who desperately needed a new iron). SY is headed to a secret European destination and hopefully made it in one piece.
So, I have a plane to catch tomorrow morning and I have to crash soon.
Next year this show can only get better! Don't miss the fun and plan early to attend. Every project from small and inexpensive to wondrous is more than welcome at the event. Meeting your fellow DIY members was my high point.
I finally met Nelson Pass in person. How about that!
-Chris
Still wiped from the days preceding the show.
This show happened despite some unexpected changes and events. Hats off to Vladimir, SY and Variac. These guys truly pulled together a great show. I hope I can make it next year. Working with Magura, Jan, SY and Variac was great. Nelson even rolled up his sleeves to help the F4s come to life. Wonderful team.
Walking around when I got a chance, I managed to meet most of the members that attended. It was really great seeing everyone who was there. Everyone seemed to be having a great time.
I must say that the quality and diversity of projects and people was refreshing. Not everything was perfect, but it all worked. The well finished efforts were a great example of what some of our members can put together. Excellent!
In all, most people seemed to have really enjoyed themselves. I am hoping that some of you are inspired to try your hands at a project of some sort. It's all been very worthwhile.
In all, thank you to everyone who did attend. I enjoyed meeting everyone who happened by "my" soldering iron (it went to SY who desperately needed a new iron). SY is headed to a secret European destination and hopefully made it in one piece.
So, I have a plane to catch tomorrow morning and I have to crash soon.
Next year this show can only get better! Don't miss the fun and plan early to attend. Every project from small and inexpensive to wondrous is more than welcome at the event. Meeting your fellow DIY members was my high point.
I finally met Nelson Pass in person. How about that!
-Chris
Hi,
Thank you very much to all of you who contributed for this. Thank you for posting the photos, so even some of us who've been sitting in their chimneys can have a picture of the event. It would be great if somebody could put some video on Youtube.
Vix
P.s. Wish that Variac's F4 was the teleportation device, and beam us right to the event
p.s.2 . Nelson, after this, I won't be surprised to see an airplane dropping a box
with the parachute with "Gift from Santa" written on it!
Thank you very much to all of you who contributed for this. Thank you for posting the photos, so even some of us who've been sitting in their chimneys can have a picture of the event. It would be great if somebody could put some video on Youtube.
Vix
P.s. Wish that Variac's F4 was the teleportation device, and beam us right to the event
p.s.2 . Nelson, after this, I won't be surprised to see an airplane dropping a box
with the parachute with "Gift from Santa" written on it! 
Amazing...
We set up the bare bones of an event with S.F. as a backdrop and you all showed up and made it happen.
I saw the same passion that I see on DIY Audio create an inspiring event well beyond what we could have expected.
The difference was everyone was excited , everyone was positive, and the variety of projects was astonishing.
I got very busy with work after planning the basics so wasn't able run down many of the details that would make a perfect event. Then I spent any extra time during the the last week trying to finish my F4's, with great help from Vladimir and his amazing machine shop. After all, Zen Mod and SY had built special preamps specifically for that power amp, and if I didn't finish it, they wouldn't be heard..
Well, I felt that had completed a lot of the work but somehow when Magura arrived at my house friday he found lots to do on it . Then we drove to the airport to pick up Jan Didden who was also staying at my place. We were up late working out the innumerable amp details. We also visited SY's place to get some great heatsinks that he had offered me, and discovered that he had Anatech locked in his garage shop finishing up SY's tube preamp... It appears that I wasn't the only one exploiting my guests!
Saturday, we went for the sail. In the evening there was barely time to pick up the event supplies (5 cases of beer and a bunch of crackers, bagels cheeses, smoked salmon, etc,) before heading for a nice dinner at Vladimir's (AR2) studio. SY and his great cooking buddy prepared an exceptional meal. truly a great prelude to the main event. Then , it was back to my place where we discovered that it was 1:00 AM and the amp wasn't close to being finished. Jan and I each got about 2 hours of sleep- just enough to look our best and perform our most coherently all day! Magura got about four hours and came a bit later to the event..My wife dropped him off along with 4 gallons of coffee and the show could start!!
Thank you all for your patience, Our motto was "you can't have a well organized second event until you've had that chaotic first learning event"
We did learn a lot but would like to hear suggestions and opinions here for future events.
I thank all that attended for their efforts to bring components for us all to listen to and admire.
We set up the bare bones of an event with S.F. as a backdrop and you all showed up and made it happen.
I saw the same passion that I see on DIY Audio create an inspiring event well beyond what we could have expected.
The difference was everyone was excited , everyone was positive, and the variety of projects was astonishing.
I got very busy with work after planning the basics so wasn't able run down many of the details that would make a perfect event. Then I spent any extra time during the the last week trying to finish my F4's, with great help from Vladimir and his amazing machine shop. After all, Zen Mod and SY had built special preamps specifically for that power amp, and if I didn't finish it, they wouldn't be heard..
Well, I felt that had completed a lot of the work but somehow when Magura arrived at my house friday he found lots to do on it
. Then we drove to the airport to pick up Jan Didden who was also staying at my place. We were up late working out the innumerable amp details. We also visited SY's place to get some great heatsinks that he had offered me, and discovered that he had Anatech locked in his garage shop finishing up SY's tube preamp... It appears that I wasn't the only one exploiting my guests!Saturday, we went for the sail. In the evening there was barely time to pick up the event supplies (5 cases of beer and a bunch of crackers, bagels cheeses, smoked salmon, etc,) before heading for a nice dinner at Vladimir's (AR2) studio. SY and his great cooking buddy prepared an exceptional meal. truly a great prelude to the main event. Then , it was back to my place where we discovered that it was 1:00 AM and the amp wasn't close to being finished. Jan and I each got about 2 hours of sleep- just enough to look our best and perform our most coherently all day! Magura got about four hours and came a bit later to the event..My wife dropped him off along with 4 gallons of coffee and the show could start!!
Thank you all for your patience, Our motto was "you can't have a well organized second event until you've had that chaotic first learning event"
We did learn a lot but would like to hear suggestions and opinions here for future events.
I thank all that attended for their efforts to bring components for us all to listen to and admire.
Nelson Pass really did show up with his F-250 Pickup loaded with so much useful DIY stuff that it was like Christmas in October!!! Maybe the santa hat that he was wearing helped with that impression.
It all was placed on and under 4 tables and participants were able to place their names on items that they wanted.
Later there was pretty much a free for all as any more attempts at order failed. I saw huge heat sinks, various Fostex and Moth drivers, a couple dozen Pioneer BOFU's for BIB's , hundreds of output devices, piles of caps, soldering stations- it never seemed to end, including those 4KV toroids that were tempting but at over 40 lbs each , not tempting to carry away!
After a couple of hours I took a break from my announcing duties and pulled some stuff for my next amp. I thought that most good things would be gone , but not the case at all! Looks like another Class A amp is in the works for next year. !
here's the loot, those are two serious 1KVA transformers, A decent pile of MOSFETs also, huge heatsinks. The white on the heatsinks is just grease..
Mark
It all was placed on and under 4 tables and participants were able to place their names on items that they wanted.
Later there was pretty much a free for all as any more attempts at order failed. I saw huge heat sinks, various Fostex and Moth drivers, a couple dozen Pioneer BOFU's for BIB's , hundreds of output devices, piles of caps, soldering stations- it never seemed to end, including those 4KV toroids that were tempting but at over 40 lbs each , not tempting to carry away!
After a couple of hours I took a break from my announcing duties and pulled some stuff for my next amp. I thought that most good things would be gone , but not the case at all! Looks like another Class A amp is in the works for next year. !
here's the loot, those are two serious 1KVA transformers, A decent pile of MOSFETs also, huge heatsinks. The white on the heatsinks is just grease..
Mark
Attachments
-only self-controlled because he couldn't carry much on the plane. 
He confessed to me that he would have taken the 4 KV transformers in a flash if he lived here!!!
Thanks to you all that helped with the F4's
AR2
Magura
Anatech
Jan
Nelson
Very obviously I couldn't have finished them without all the help.
Sure glad they didn't turn out to be Burning Amps.. Maybe the Playa dust I sprinkled on them worked
On the event day Magura, Anatech and Nelson were like a pit crew clustered around our high performance machine. What a great bunch!
Then finally fired it up, hooked to my speakers and the two great preamps. I'm not waffling when I say that they were both excellent.
-SY's preamp's tube sound: clear, airy and delightful heard through the F4 - astonishing!
-Choky's Pumpkin: more solid and substantial, yet still very detailed. different but lovely.
a fantastic end to a fantastic day!
Mark
He confessed to me that he would have taken the 4 KV transformers in a flash if he lived here!!!
Thanks to you all that helped with the F4's
AR2
Magura
Anatech
Jan
Nelson
Very obviously I couldn't have finished them without all the help.
Sure glad they didn't turn out to be Burning Amps.. Maybe the Playa dust I sprinkled on them worked
On the event day Magura, Anatech and Nelson were like a pit crew clustered around our high performance machine. What a great bunch!
Then finally fired it up, hooked to my speakers and the two great preamps. I'm not waffling when I say that they were both excellent.
-SY's preamp's tube sound: clear, airy and delightful heard through the F4 - astonishing!
-Choky's Pumpkin: more solid and substantial, yet still very detailed. different but lovely.
a fantastic end to a fantastic day!
Mark
The Pumpkin
Hey Choky!
You designed a very nice preamp. Sounds great! The only thing that I would see as a positive change is some kind of 4 channel volume control.
Many of you may not realize that the two controls on the front are both dual volume controls. This preamp is balanced throughout and so a dual (stereo) control for each channel is required. The problem is finding a good quad volume control.
Your preamp survived a number of soldering irons and it wasn't even supplied with a shunt regulator. It ran from a very simple zener stack / mosfet pass transistor series regulator. Not how you designed it I'm told. It performed well in spite of these issues.
So, congratulations on a very good design sir! It was very well received. Many members showed interest in it even before it was presented.
-Chris
Hey Choky!
You designed a very nice preamp. Sounds great! The only thing that I would see as a positive change is some kind of 4 channel volume control.
Many of you may not realize that the two controls on the front are both dual volume controls. This preamp is balanced throughout and so a dual (stereo) control for each channel is required. The problem is finding a good quad volume control.
Your preamp survived a number of soldering irons and it wasn't even supplied with a shunt regulator. It ran from a very simple zener stack / mosfet pass transistor series regulator. Not how you designed it I'm told. It performed well in spite of these issues.
So, congratulations on a very good design sir! It was very well received. Many members showed interest in it even before it was presented.
-Chris
SY's preamp
Hi SY,
Your tube design preamp was a complete joy to listen to. The fact that I still close my eyes and see various stages of completion has nothing to do with my impression of it's performance! I hope you threw out that plastic sheet.
I had decided to built a tube type preamplifier much earlier in time. This preamp performed well enough so that I will build one for myself. Mine will not have porous boards to mount the components.
Anyway, I have to run. SY, I hope you have arrived safely. Have a great trip! Mine is just beginning shortly.
-Chris
Hi SY,
Your tube design preamp was a complete joy to listen to. The fact that I still close my eyes and see various stages of completion has nothing to do with my impression of it's performance!
I hope you threw out that plastic sheet.I had decided to built a tube type preamplifier much earlier in time. This preamp performed well enough so that I will build one for myself. Mine will not have porous boards to mount the components.
Anyway, I have to run. SY, I hope you have arrived safely. Have a great trip! Mine is just beginning shortly.
-Chris
Another "thank you!"
I was only able to stay to about 4pm - a social conflict in the evening, but what a great day!
Working on speakers in isolation, one can never build enough to hear all the variations, and it was great to hear so many different setups. I especially enjoyed the BiBs and the Metronome with vinyl - sweet and delicate sound.
I was lucky enough to walk away with the beginnings of a Zen amp --- this will be a great project over the winter to keep the house warm and feed my 3 way horns --- I will also be building some BiBs for my workshop with Mr. Pass' BUFUs and a couple of sheets of OSB.
Great atmosphere, great sound.
Thanks so much for making this possible. What a great group of people!
tim
I was only able to stay to about 4pm - a social conflict in the evening, but what a great day!
Working on speakers in isolation, one can never build enough to hear all the variations, and it was great to hear so many different setups. I especially enjoyed the BiBs and the Metronome with vinyl - sweet and delicate sound.
I was lucky enough to walk away with the beginnings of a Zen amp --- this will be a great project over the winter to keep the house warm and feed my 3 way horns --- I will also be building some BiBs for my workshop with Mr. Pass' BUFUs and a couple of sheets of OSB.
Great atmosphere, great sound.
Thanks so much for making this possible. What a great group of people!
tim
Here is Santa Nelson talking...
I do not know how long before it becomes active, but here is the youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsvR1zsMuf0
Enjoy!
I do not know how long before it becomes active, but here is the youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsvR1zsMuf0
Enjoy!
Zen Mod said:
reading between the lines in all these posts , I can clearly write just one objection and suggestion for next year, with or without my presence :
GIVE ME MORE HENDRIX!
Ah yes, Hendrix. As I write this, I'm looking at the Electric Ladyland cd that I forgot to bring in my haste to leave for the event.
It is waiting patiently for next year's Burning Amp along with Oliver Nelson, Santana lll, U2 and Hart/Airto/Purim!- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.