YAY - finally finished my first gainclone and cases - pics too :)

[quickshift]

Having been inspired by some of the superb craftsmanship I have seen on these pages, I have recased my amp and tried to make it look nice

The amp lives in a 19" 1U ex network switch case and the PSU lives in a 19" 2U case from Maplins (which is very poor quality for £40 BTW!!! - that'll be replaced sometime... Maybe I'll make a case from scratch if I feel brave

Anyway - thanks to those who have designed and produced the kits and to those who have inspired me to make it look nice (IMO) too.

 

[quickshift]

Pic 2

 

[quickshift]

Pic 3

I have used the same wood as I'm using for my speaker baffles so it should make a nice set.

I got a 1/2 inch ally bar and milled out places for the chips with a router - it was dead easy TBH but the bit suffered slightly.

The heatsinks are glued at the edges with epoxy and have heat sink grease in the middle - this has always worked fine for stuff I have done with pooters and is an easy way of attaching them.

I still have a bit ot tidying up to do but it's about done

 

[jaudio]

Good job. Very handsome case. Have any pictures of the inside of the power supply?

 

[VT67]

Consider yourself one of the craftsman. Very nice job!

Cheers

 

[quickshift]

Kind words indeed. Thank you both

Here is a pic of one side of the power supply.

Don't tell anyone but I haven't actually bolted the cap and snubber boards down yet I'm waiting for spacers to arrive. They are insulated on the back with cork sheets though. I'll have that done this weekend I hope.

The cap bit is from the carlosfm cap and snubber diagram from the Decibel Dungeon site.

I have used knitted copper wire tube on the mains leads and the transformer is a 500va shielded unit.

 

[RCBandwidth]

Very Nice

Quickshift.. that does look fantastic....I saved the pics for future reference..Bob C.

 

[quickshift]

Cor, thank you Bob.

 

[jaudio]

I have used knitted copper wire tube on the mains leads and the transformer is a 500va shielded unit.

Is that for shielding?. If so how well does it work.

 

[quickshift]

Yes, that was the idea.

I don't know if it'll make any difference in this application TBH, I know that it's possible to shield electronic equipment from electronic surveillance by placing it in a cage made of knitted copper wire because it blocks EMR (faraday cage)

I wanted to try to reduce sources of RFI / EMI / EMR and all that stuff as much as possible and since the tube is only £1.25 per meter, I thought I would give it a go.

I don't think anyone else does this and I haven't tested it without the tube but it can't hurt I guess.

The amp is totally silent but other peoples are too and they haven't used tube.

 

[jaudio]

Where is it tie in, at the board with the bridges or where the power comes into the case?

 

[sqlkev]

would you mind telling us/me how much it cost for the project?
I'm really interested in building one like yours. The wood looks lovely. Excellent craftsmanship on your part.

How does it sound compare to everything else you've heard?

 

[troystg]

I don't think anyone else does this and I haven't tested it without the tube but it can't hurt I guess.

The amp is totally silent but other peoples are too and they haven't used tube.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=472043&stamp=1094849403

All of the wire that looks hazy is covered with stainless steel braid. All sections grounded at a central point.

If I lift the shield ground the noise floor raises slightly.

 

[quickshift]

Where is it tie in, at the board with the bridges or where the power comes into the case?

It's connected to the main earth via the red wires.

would you mind telling us/me how much it cost for the project?
I'm really interested in building one like yours. The wood looks lovely. Excellent craftsmanship on your part.

How does it sound compare to everything else you've heard?

Thank you. That's very kind.

The wood is lovely, it has a beautiful translucent sheen which changes with the light that's impossible to photograph. It's Brazilian mahogany, I got 3 of 11" x 36" x 1 1/4" from Ebay for about £45.

Roughly the cost breaks down like this.

Wood £12 (I have loads from the plank I used left)
Cases £40 (the 1U was free - it's from a broken switch at work)
Amp kits £70
Wire, spacers etc £20 (I have loads of wire left)
Aluminium bar and sheet for the back panel £10
Connectors for I/O and power £25
4 x caps and snubber assay boards £70 (includes the extra 22uf to reduce DC offset and the poly bypass caps on the amp boards)
Transformer £45
Screws and fixings £3
The rest of the stuff like the heatsinks, glue, thermal grease, cable ties, spade connectors etc etc I already had - maybe £20 to buy the quantity I have used?

Total cost about £270 but I have tons of bits left over for the next one.
Total build time was about 20 hours

It sounds amazing. Very clear and detailed indeed. Instruments have so much texture I can almost touch them. I'm absolutely delighted with the amp. It sounds so much more pure than anything else I have heard - no colouration. Well chuffed.

All of the wire that looks hazy is covered with stainless steel braid. All sections grounded at a central point.

If I lift the shield ground the noise floor raises slightly.

Excellent, thank you for the info. I'm pleased that I was thinking along the right lines.

That looks like a cracking job you have done there!!!

 

[troystg]

Excellent, thank you for the info. I'm pleased that I was thinking along the right lines.

That looks like a cracking job you have done there!!!

Thank you. Honestly, it was a great technical execution, but when the wife saw yours she said "Now THAT's pretty".

I concur, I think the wood is beautiful and the layout is good too.

 

[karma]

verry nice work