Experience with this DIY DAC ?

Just want to post that I am having great results with Altec Lansing 15356 transformers. Solid low end and pretty seductive so far with 500ohm primaries and Takman carbon resistors...:cool:

fugly:D

I'm glad you tried them, they were on my list. They were made by Peerless and carry the same Peerless part number as the Altecs. Should be comparable to the A-20s. They fit in a standard octal tube socket.
 
Messy job. I bet it has a lot of induced RFI's in those wires. And signal looks probably like jittery rounded hills (with the HF RFI superimposed) at the other end.

Can someone please explain this? I just want to make sure that I'm not making the same mistake in my current setup.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
 
fugly:D

I'm glad you tried them, they were on my list. They were made by Peerless and carry the same Peerless part number as the Altecs. Should be comparable to the A-20s. They fit in a standard octal tube socket.

Yes, the Obligatory Hendrix Perm style of wiring and diy. They sound awful good!

btw, I've written up a very basic tutorial on Audiocircle on modding this board for newbies and those who have better things to do than scour these 225 pages aka WHAT'S UP W/ THE WIKI!
 
I like those Altec transformers a lot! (just how they look and mount mind you).

I would like to go that route in my build! Are these still available?

Also interested in the other bits on the output- resistors etc. so I can replicate what you have (although a bit neater perhaps :eek:)...

Thanks!

I got the Altecs off ebay. They come and go, and for cheaper than the A-20's usually. So just need to keep an eye out.

I use Takman resistors. You can get them at Angela's for cheap, and they ship regular mail unlike most places so you don't take a hit w/ shipping. Fast service too. They also have Riken, etc.
 
Messy job. I bet it has a lot of induced RFI's in those wires. And signal looks probably like jittery rounded hills (with the HF RFI superimposed) at the other end.

Woo, please don't pee on my rug. It really ties the room together. Thanks - Duder

dude-the-big-lebowski.jpg
 
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I got the Altecs off ebay. They come and go, and for cheaper than the A-20's usually. So just need to keep an eye out.

I use Takman resistors. You can get them at Angela's for cheap, and they ship regular mail unlike most places so you don't take a hit w/ shipping. Fast service too. They also have Riken, etc.

Cool info.

I have my board ("deluxe" kit with R-core tranny and all the inputs on the main board) but have not started it yet. I see it is advisable to ditch the USB input; however I thought it might be nice for an Ipod or other computer based digital source in the future, so I'm keeping it.:)

With a wedding in a couple weeks, followed by honeymoon; house reconstruction, Land-Rover repair (for profit- not mine this time!), and a turntable project (scratch built everything- yes, the tonearm too) I am a bit busy at the moment. I am looking forward to this, and saved your thread for when the time comes!

I am thinking the Altec trannys and a nice enclosure (plus a few other minor details) will be it. I can't wait to A-B it with my Aragon D2A! I am expecting the D2A to be on eBay shortly therafter... (although it has served me well for a long time).

Do you see any disadvantage to using tube sockets for the Altecs? I like the idea of a neater implementation...
 
Started looking for transformers, and came across this:

ST-60600-OB Line-Out Audio Transformer Module 600?:600? - eBay (item 230408237034 end time Apr-04-10 07:37:35 PDT)

Has anyone used this and is able to comment on the sound?

I like that it is all ounted on a board (more or less) ready to go. It appears it will be able to make for a very 'elegant' implementation in an enclosure...

Wow. I don't think I've ever seen those mentioned. They look *very* cool. Nice specs! They seem to fit the bill. Snap them up!
 
Yours is OK, you have the pairs twisted and you have the rc filter at the jacks. RFI is in the air, especially in big cities. In some older PA systems we used we sometimes picked up AM radio stations so strongly people thought we had a tuner installed for intermission.
Thanks Bill.

Does pulling USB/optical circuitry provide a worthwhile improvement in SQ?
 
Wow. I don't think I've ever seen those mentioned. They look *very* cool. Nice specs! They seem to fit the bill. Snap them up!

I thought so as well; just wondered if anyone had any first-hand experience with them (or the seller).

Yes, the 'specs' are spectacular- frequency response etc. are perfect. BUT, the $10.00 question is: how do they sound?:confused:

I may order this just because. Pricing is in line with getting decent trannies loose, and then having to mount them etc. The board appears to have provisions for caps and resistors as well if you look at the photo...

Elegant. If we are not careful, we will have a very nice product on our hands!:D
 
BIG issues with input selection

Hi there folks!

I am in need of your expertise, I use my macbook´s optical output to connect to my lm-dac3 v9. I think i have set the jumper in the right place and i have tried all the different options i sound output.

I have also tried to use it with usb and the computer recognises the soundcard but it doesnt play, is a driver needed?

Please help me understand how i can solve this
:confused:
 
Hi lmdac

I had the exact same problem. It seems the recommended jumper settings are not correct.

Have a look at post #2245 page 225. This should help. The same with optical. Try a few different jumper positions and it should work.

Go to the sound control panel and select usb as primary sound device (PC settings, should be the same in Mac)