would have been pushing it and you would have had to modify the gain in the VAS. BAL-SE or BAL-BAL would have been a better choice
cant see there being anything for some time, there has been a LOT of kits sold this year. you might be lucky and someone is willing to let one go. I have one of the SE-SE rework boards you can have if all else fails
cant see there being anything for some time, there has been a LOT of kits sold this year. you might be lucky and someone is willing to let one go. I have one of the SE-SE rework boards you can have if all else fails
Thanks for the offering, and the fast answer, i have a balanced output, so thats not the problem, i would use it with my Grados too, so balanced output is not the best for them.
I'm not really familiar with the circuit, can I make the gain switchable, as on my O2 ? (BTW I'm using my K1000 from the O2 at the moment, it actually sounds pretty smooth to me, I have enough headroom too, but feel like something is missing)
Edit: You're probably right, I should use the Bal-Bal setup, to be on the safe side with the K1000s.
I'm not really familiar with the circuit, can I make the gain switchable, as on my O2 ? (BTW I'm using my K1000 from the O2 at the moment, it actually sounds pretty smooth to me, I have enough headroom too, but feel like something is missing)
Edit: You're probably right, I should use the Bal-Bal setup, to be on the safe side with the K1000s.
Last edited:
Hi Zsubbo,
The BAL-BAL would be the AKG1000's best friend for sure. The 120 ohm impedance is almost exactly what the BAL-BAL wants to see for maximum power output.
If you run on +/-16V rails, you'll get about 20VRMS output and about 167mA RMS for roughly 3.3W RMS output. That's enough to comfortably drive the AKG1000 to about 109dB continuous.
They may be small, but they really are mighty!
Cheers,
Owen
The BAL-BAL would be the AKG1000's best friend for sure. The 120 ohm impedance is almost exactly what the BAL-BAL wants to see for maximum power output.
If you run on +/-16V rails, you'll get about 20VRMS output and about 167mA RMS for roughly 3.3W RMS output. That's enough to comfortably drive the AKG1000 to about 109dB continuous.
They may be small, but they really are mighty!
Cheers,
Owen
Well, then, if anyone has a BAL-BAL pcb or kit, and a power supply pcb or kit up for sale, I'm interested 
Can I ask you, if you're planing to run another group buy(I'm not in a hurry), maybe just for PCBs, so that way it's less hassle for you, or You're done for good with this project ? (You've done an absolutely fabulous work I think BTW)
Edit: I can't seem to find the measurements for the BAL-BAL version, only BAL-SE; SE-SE
Can I ask you, if you're planing to run another group buy(I'm not in a hurry), maybe just for PCBs, so that way it's less hassle for you, or You're done for good with this project ? (You've done an absolutely fabulous work I think BTW)
Edit: I can't seem to find the measurements for the BAL-BAL version, only BAL-SE; SE-SE
Last edited:
Yesterday I finally received the parts that prevented me from building the first iteraton of the Wire!
Next minute, solder time begun! Moved on with wiring and laying out a temporary test rig. Plugged my headphones on, and... listened to the radio! I could even faintly understand what they were saying. Cool. The high bandwidth of the wire do indeed makes it very picky to interference. Seemed like my shameless naked balanced cables were in cause. So I was back to the soldering rig building a good shielded cable using my trusted mogami 2549.
I plugged my headphones on again, and... Oh god is the amp fried??!! Nope, simply very very quiet (scarily so, I mean this thing is dead...).
Anyway, I hit play, and blissful sound came out.
Pics below to please you hungry people!!
Ruthless impressions to follow, and comparison with several commercial and diy products, in my quest of the ultimate line/ headphone amplifier.
Expect comparison with:
- SPL Auditor
- AMB Labs Beta22
- Avenson headamp
- Dispre-2 JFET
- Customworks Hypa-300SE
Next minute, solder time begun! Moved on with wiring and laying out a temporary test rig. Plugged my headphones on, and... listened to the radio! I could even faintly understand what they were saying. Cool. The high bandwidth of the wire do indeed makes it very picky to interference. Seemed like my shameless naked balanced cables were in cause. So I was back to the soldering rig building a good shielded cable using my trusted mogami 2549.
I plugged my headphones on again, and... Oh god is the amp fried??!! Nope, simply very very quiet (scarily so, I mean this thing is dead...).
Anyway, I hit play, and blissful sound came out.
Pics below to please you hungry people!!
Ruthless impressions to follow, and comparison with several commercial and diy products, in my quest of the ultimate line/ headphone amplifier.
Expect comparison with:
- SPL Auditor
- AMB Labs Beta22
- Avenson headamp
- Dispre-2 JFET
- Customworks Hypa-300SE
Attachments
Well, then, if anyone has a BAL-BAL pcb or kit, and a power supply pcb or kit up for sale, I'm interested
Can I ask you, if you're planing to run another group buy(I'm not in a hurry), maybe just for PCBs, so that way it's less hassle for you, or You're done for good with this project ? (You've done an absolutely fabulous work I think BTW)
Edit: I can't seem to find the measurements for the BAL-BAL version, only BAL-SE; SE-SE
he has already said that he isnt for at least the rest of the year, dont know what his plans are after that. edit: ahh i see opc has chimed i, i'll leave that for him to answer.
opc said:
indeed, mighty wicked!
in answer to your Q's Zsubbo: which are all answered in the wiki btw. no, no gain switch, though you could rig one up, i dont tink this would be a great idea with such a wideband amp; at a minimum you would have to use relays mounted close so you dont install a couple of aerials and make a radio. (CafeNoir i dont think the shielding would help all that much, more likely you just changed the cable routing to a more favorable location, youve got a bit going on on that bench =D)
Thanx qusp, I'll have a look at that wiki (although I checked out the two wikis of the wire, but doesn't remembered that, I'll re read them). If I'm going to build the BAL-BAL version I will not need that gain switch anyway, I'll just use it with only the K1000s.
Waiting one year for the kit is fine buy me, I'm just interested if there's any chance of another group buy.
Waiting one year for the kit is fine buy me, I'm just interested if there's any chance of another group buy.
i'm not saying there will be more kits in a year, just that opc has stated that he is working on other projects for a year. i wouldnt think he will just do a reprint at that point, pretty sure he and his wife would rather not look at another headphone amp pcb ever again. there have been 3 issues and 4 different designs plus 2 speaker amps in the wire series. and there must have been at least 750-1000 pcbs
I think your best chance is getting one from someone who isnt going ahead with the build so doesnt need their pcbs, but you will have to be quick off the mark to get anything that is posted.
so with a gain switch or not, you will need to add gain to the VAS depending on how hot your balanced source is, because as is the amp is set for unity voltage gain
I think your best chance is getting one from someone who isnt going ahead with the build so doesnt need their pcbs, but you will have to be quick off the mark to get anything that is posted.
so with a gain switch or not, you will need to add gain to the VAS depending on how hot your balanced source is, because as is the amp is set for unity voltage gain
What qusp said
Just to clarify on the gain question... switching gain on the fly using two different resistors would be a very bad idea, but you can fix the gain at pretty much anything you would like. You just have to adjust the Rf and Rin resistors. If you have a good strong source that can drive relatively low impedance loads, then you could probably get enough gain to swing rail to rail without really impacting the noise floor by a significant amount.
Regards,
Owen
Just to clarify on the gain question... switching gain on the fly using two different resistors would be a very bad idea, but you can fix the gain at pretty much anything you would like. You just have to adjust the Rf and Rin resistors. If you have a good strong source that can drive relatively low impedance loads, then you could probably get enough gain to swing rail to rail without really impacting the noise floor by a significant amount.
Regards,
Owen
Where should i look for unfinished/upstarted kits ?, in the for sale section ?
opc - are you planing on releasing the PCB files, or giving them to someone you know who will sell PCB-s ? (if those questions have been asked and have been asked already, I'm sorry for waisting your time, but I didn't found them)
opc - are you planing on releasing the PCB files, or giving them to someone you know who will sell PCB-s ? (if those questions have been asked and have been asked already, I'm sorry for waisting your time, but I didn't found them)
This is just an inside joke!
This question has been asked before for the NTD1 and what the outcome was in short is : NO
But then again, only Owen (OPC) can really answer this question since he's the one who owns it.
Ciao!
Do
Yes, Wolfsin izStill around. An accident during a listening test 'rewire' caused some smoke but most of the original BAL-BAL survived. Most of Wolfsin's pride got fried :-( There can be times when NOT soldering the buffer tabs is good.
I did get the eBay toroidals bolted to the pcbs and placed the BOM heatsinks on for sizing. Will provide image here rather than in other thread since what Wolfsin izBuilding will likely be a huge 'wire' for headphones. Seller accepted $7 each for the pictured toroid.
I did get the eBay toroidals bolted to the pcbs and placed the BOM heatsinks on for sizing. Will provide image here rather than in other thread since what Wolfsin izBuilding will likely be a huge 'wire' for headphones. Seller accepted $7 each for the pictured toroid.
Attachments
Glad to have you back wolfsin though it could get a bit confusing if we end up with lpuhp building being posted across different threads. Hopefully lpuhp gb moves forward at an unprecedented rate and we get a few more people building them soon!
Care to share more about the accident to prevent others making blue smoke monsters too?
Any news on your mutant-wires now they have a proper home? We haven't seen much of the rework boards yet, surely someone out there is having fun with them?!
Care to share more about the accident to prevent others making blue smoke monsters too?
Any news on your mutant-wires now they have a proper home? We haven't seen much of the rework boards yet, surely someone out there is having fun with them?!