"The Wire" Ultra-High Performance Headphone Amplifier - PCB's

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null object

Member
Joined 2009
I just thought I would write here to say I am going to read this whole thread - all 81 pages.
I may be a little upset if I find out this thing was done and dusted months ago but none the less.

So in anticipation I will say I would like a whole kit. Balanced input to single ended headphone socket. Also a power supply PCB and all the parts you are going to include. (bal-se kit + ps kit)

I am kinda new here too so I'll edit this post if I have been riding the fools horse again.
 
N

null object

Member
Joined 2009
null object said:
I just thought I would write here to say I am going to read this whole thread - all 81 pages.
I may be a little upset if I find out this thing was done and dusted months ago but none the less.

So in anticipation I will say I would like a whole kit. Balanced input to single ended headphone socket. Also a power supply PCB and all the parts you are going to include. (bal-se kit + ps kit)

I am kinda new here too so I'll edit this post if I have been riding the fools horse again.
Click to expand...

Ok just finished reading this and I' going to decline.
Please disregard my previous post.
It sounds great but the price is higher than I can afford at the moment.
 
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IanAS

Member
Joined 2004
I would have to concur with what has been said about the goodness of Vishay bulk foils. Yes they are expensive. And it would depend how dialled in to you systems sound you are as to whether it's even noticeable. But when I've done careful specific comparisons, running them in for months, the Vishay bulk foils blow the total doors, socks and pants off the metal films.

Even when I just chucked a pair into the Meridian amps a year ago to replace the feedback resistor, not run in but immediately better. I really don't know why I didn't do that to them 14 years ago. I guess I was meaning to sell them that whole time and still probably will when I get around to it.

But if PTH bulk foils do that, like for like, to PTH metal films, fair to expect surface mounts will do it, like for like, to surface mounts.

And I expect that even PTH bulk foils will still beat surface mount metal films. To my ears anyway they are that good. I fully expect not to everyones though.

I've found that the feedback resistor in an amplifier is usually by far the most important one to change. In this Bal to Bal headphone amp 50% are feedback resistors :)

I would add that my Senn HD650's seem to make it all sound easy to listen to without ever becoming fatigued. Smooth and easy. Ridiculously good vocal compared to loud speakers. Full bass. Good or great stereo from the 'cross feed' algorithm in the DSP. I've silver wired them which was a bit better but various changes have so far all sounded OK where on the loud speakers that's not what happens, nastiness is revealed, preferences are ascertained.

So it may well be that the metal films with this kit will be fine and I'll run it with those for a while. But then I'd like to try the bulk foils just in case :)
 
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qusp

qusp

Member
Joined 2009
indeed, on this we agree. given there are so few components in the signal path i expect (given past experience of very similar applications) for the change to foil smd to produce a noticeable improvement in subjective transparency and objective measurements. all things considered 34/40usd (different tempo) -68/80usd (one of both resistors) is a pretty low priced tweak as these things go.

not the sort of thing you include in a kit, personal choice only; but worthwhile imo
 
qusp

qusp

Member
Joined 2009
no, buy them from texas components directly, just as you would the leaded types, thats 5 dollars too much and doesn't look nearly as cool as the 'naked type' either =) from texas components you can choose exactly the value you want as well for no extra cost.

VSMP series. you can solder the 0603 on the 0805, but these can be a bit sensitive to the outer coating being scratched with your tweezers and i would expect soldering 0603 would require more fiddling.

main page
naked VSMP page


and the only way to order is via email; i prefer dealing with Janet, if you would like her email let me know. perhaps we should get a small GB together? i might start a thread for interest? after i get some pricing for bulk. you can choose 0.02% global value match and then get them to take that quad (or just pairs would be cheaper) and do a secondary relative match to that level against each other. that starts to get a bit pricey though
 
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opc

opc

Member
Joined 2004
Paid Member
Hi Guys,

Just a quick update to say that the boards were delivered to my holding address in the US, and I'll be heading over to pick them up this week! That should give me the weekend to get cracking on assembly, then it's picture and measurement time!

I've started a Wiki page for this that will hopefully evolve into a more organized source of information. I would also welcome others to use it as a source for organizing group buys for any accessories you guys decide are relevant. Pretty much everyone is going to need identical transformers, so if someone wants to organize that, I'd be glad to link to it there.

It's a work in progress right now, but it will evolve over the next week or so, and I'll get a list posted so I can keep people updated in a more organized fashion, especially when it comes to shipping. I'll probably end up using the same layout as Per-Anders since he pretty much seems to have this whole GB thing down to an art.

Check it out here:

"The Wire" Headphone Amp GB - diyAudio

Cheers,
Owen
 
opc

opc

Member
Joined 2004
Paid Member
Just for the record, I would strongly suggest the AN-0115 transformers from Antek for all of these headphone amps. The exception is the full BAL-BAL amp if you plan to run it into roughly 72 ohms and draw full power, in which case I would suggest a pair of AN-0115 transformers and dual mono supplies. I would strongly encourage people not to use huge transformers with these amplifiers as there is no tangible benefit, and a long list of downsides. The best part about these is that if someone does a GB, they would cost a meager $8.75 each for a quantity of 50. Even at full price, they're only $10.

Cheers,
Owen
 
qusp

qusp

Member
Joined 2009
i second the antek units, well actually i think i'm already sorted for potted sumR units for the amp, but i would probably still grab a couple as i need another couple from there for a certain other amp project.

opc mate sorry i need to organise finances, did you get a chance to read my email? the initial arrangement still applies. shoot me an email if you can, or if you need me to resend let me know, otherwise i have a bit of scrounging to do

great idea on the wiki, with this many builders it could end up quite a nice resource. i put forward the zfoil smd GB for those wishing to attempt to improve on perfection hehe, with that many of the same value the price could end up quite reasonable.
 
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qusp

qusp

Member
Joined 2009
for the SE kit perhaps, but both the BAL-SE and BAL-BAL will cope just fine driven from a balanced source as is except for extreme cases above 300R and i would rather not pay for others extreme cases. the BAL-SE kit drove the *** off my hd600 with unity gain and the BAL - BAL will have double the swing and up to 4x the power
 
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