My_Ref Fremen Edition - Build thread and tutorial

First of all, please read the Build Guide before posting, you will find most answers there.

BTW

I'm a little anxious to hook up toroid transformers.
The secondaries have 2 blue and 2 black wires.
What's Hot / phase and what is neutral?

See the build guide.

Will I hear it if I connect the wrong way.

If you connect it wrong you can have damage, if you connect it out of phase it can sound a bit worse but nothing incredible.

Shall ground wire from the toroid (mark "0"), mains earth and PGND on PCBs
hook in the same place on the chassis.
Do not understand this grounding point and My-ref PCB.
Can not see that you have hooked PGND to something in tutorial pictures?

Usually the PGND tab should be NOT connected.

It can be, sometimes, a band-aid for some grounding problems.

I have two pcb purchased in the fifth G.B.
which is the BOM that I have to buy?

Look on the PCB for revision number and then open the correct BOM:

Up to Rev 1.2
From Rev 1.5

There are significant improvements in the last pcb?

From v1.5 boards measured distortion is ten times lower but probably you will not hear it, it was already really low.

P.S .: what is the right direction of the resistance?

Follow the build guide.
 
I really don't care if you believe me or not about Z-foils its just my opinion.
...not only yours. [emoji12]

Sadly, as they are so expensive. But worth every penny, if you're after the best possible perceived SQ.

Differences may be hard if not impossible to measure (and I would not be so sure whether what you can measure has anything to do with what we perceive), but to our perception the difference is pretty obvious...

Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 utilizzando Tapatalk
 
what's with the personal wise crack? you should keep your personal view of me to yourself!!

Took me a while to figure out why you might be upset. I suppose my post could be intergeted as saying "you're misguided", but actually it was intended to mean that the Z-foils provide you with a better listening experience (some areas of the brain has been observed to have higher activity when enjoying listening to music).

Anyway, apologies.
 
Took me a while to figure out why you might be upset. I suppose my post could be intergeted as saying "you're misguided", but actually it was intended to mean that the Z-foils provide you with a better listening experience (some areas of the brain has been observed to have higher activity when enjoying listening to music).

Anyway, apologies.

LOL I misunderstood your post as well...:D
 
There is too much snake oil & marketing B/S in audio, it makes people wary, especially of claims expressed as fact instead of personal opinion. If something cant be measured and displayed on a graph it falls into the realm of personal belief. I believe a good design can sometimes benefit from fitting boutique components but people often overstate any gains made. If you have plenty of cash and everything else is as good as you can realistically make it then why not. The FE is the only diy project were i built two versions, one with original BOM and one with loads of boutique components including a couple of z foils. There are differences, obviously nothing big but they are noticeable. Whether it is value for money or not is another question only you can answer.
 
There is too much snake oil & marketing B/S in audio, it makes people wary, especially of claims expressed as fact instead of personal opinion.

But this isn't the audio industry, we are amateurs having fun. I agree people should accept their opinions are just that, but this is exactly what Peterma was doing here. No technical claims were being made.

I dunno, it seems to me that people should just be more tolerant of those who have different approaches.
 
My opinion on z-foils is based on what I have when I use the amps, I will recommend whatever I choose, Can I prove it? I don't have too, I have been building amp kits since I was in high school still doesn't make me an expert, its up to you I don't care and its like we come here to get away from marketing but you still cant have an opinion. I have 3 other amps that i don't use in storage, Technics SU-V8X, Creek and Yamaha they all sound different because they are different designs. ok sorry too much said. But I have to say its still mostly positive here and on other forums
 
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But this isn't the audio industry, we are amateurs having fun. I agree people should accept their opinions are just that, but this is exactly what Peterma was doing here. No technical claims were being made.

I dunno, it seems to me that people should just be more tolerant of those who have different approaches.
I couldn't agree more. Well said, mate.:p
To claim that if you cannot measure it , you cannot hear it is just as wrong as claiming that this or that component is the only way to Nirvana for everyone.
 
Well I guess it might have been better, with hindsight, to say:
"Enjoying the music more is measurable, but don't expect him to have an MRI scanner at home to prove it".

Too much internet bandwidth is consumed by the utterly pointless subjective versus objective argument. Seems to me that this is a mostly subjectively developed version of the orignal my_ref project and to ask for "proof" is out of place.

Davym seems to have the right approach.
 
But this isn't the audio industry, we are amateurs having fun. I agree people should accept their opinions are just that, but this is exactly what Peterma was doing here. No technical claims were being made.

I dunno, it seems to me that people should just be more tolerant of those who have different approaches.

I have no problem there, i do get tired of being told things like op-amps are poor compared to discrete, digital is poor compared to analogue etc etc. These are personal beliefs but are often stated as fact.

When it comes to component choice we cant usually make our own so we are subject to audio industry claims and are open to being exploited if we are unwary. My ears tell me the FE is a stunning amp and i am very grateful for all the effort that's been put into it's development. If i had the cash, it and my DCB1 would be stuffed with z foils but then i'd need better speakers etc :D
 
Some parts are expensive, if your curious and you have the money then try them, I was hesitant at first to build this amp because in the past chip amps had a bad reputation and I have had heard quite a few over the years, but that didn't stop me because there are a lot of opinions and talk here in the forums, and out of it all there must be some truth, but I like to have a go and try myself, cost doesn't mean better.
 
So I think its better to just stick your fingers in your ears when listening than to make a comment on audio equipment, buy the way I love this amp its like having the musicians in my living room with my home made (not expensive) speakers. oops I made a non accredited opinion, better get a second one..
 
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