Zen -> Cen -> Sen, evolution of a minimalistic IV Converter

Some photos. 161.jpg

162.jpg

164.jpg
 
Unbalanced-Balanced output

Hello,
Sorry for my stupid question , but i want to connect the Out+ and Out- of the ES9018 to a unbalanced input amplifier. I want to use SEN IV preamplifier , but in this post, it seems everybody use a balanced version of SEN IV, with two board by channel. Can i use SEN IV preamplifier in Unbalanced mode ? If YES , what are the connections between ES9018 outputs , ground and Unbalanced amplifier input.
Thanks for your help.
Br
Jacky
 
To maximise the benefit of balanced output of the ES9018 (for distortion cancellation), you should really use the 9018 / SEN IV as balanced.
If you wish to feed this to a single ended amplifier, you need a balanced to single-ended converter, such as the XCEN.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analog-line-level/216557-xcen-balanced-single-ended-converter.html

But over here there are a lot of discussions about using a single phase of the 9018.
The art of Sen - pink fish media

I have not been following this for months now, but you might find some interesting information there.
Or join their discussion .... :)


Patrick
 
Hello,
Sorry for my stupid question , but i want to connect the Out+ and Out- of the ES9018 to a unbalanced input amplifier. I want to use SEN IV preamplifier , but in this post, it seems everybody use a balanced version of SEN IV, with two board by channel. Can i use SEN IV preamplifier in Unbalanced mode ? If YES , what are the connections between ES9018 outputs , ground and Unbalanced amplifier input.
Thanks for your help.
Br
Jacky

I found using a Jensen jt-11p-1 works great for balanced to unbalanced conversion after the I/V stage (I installed it in my amp).
 
Mains power supply

I've read through most of this thread, and I can't see that anyone has yet built Joachim's proposed power supply (on page 46),
but I see that more recently the Salas shunt reg is recommended.

I do have some Salas PCB's on my shelf (intended for another project) ... but would either of these two eBay mosfet regulators be good enough for the SEN -
High Speed LOW Noise Mosfet Power Supply Regulator KIT | eBay
High Quality Mosfet DC Regulated Power Supply PCB | eBay

The main difference between these eBay regs compared to the Salas is the absence of a CCS front end, am I right?
Is the CCS/shunt aspect critical to keeping the noise low?
 
I'm now keen to buy a SEN v18 kit, and try using DAC+ and A_GROUND of the ES9018 into one half of each SEN board, as unbalanced outputs.
But a question please; it's possible in the ES9018 software-control to invert the phase of the DAC- outputs, and then use these in parallel with the DAC+ outputs.

So instead of having 4 DAC outputs into each input of the SEN, I would have 8 DAC outputs. I understand this will result in twice the current from the DAC, and half the output impedance.

Is such a configuration compatible with the SEN v18?
Thanks.
 
The question then becomes is it feasible to use 8x 2SK369V for a single channel on the existing SEN board?

Could I, for example, populate the extra 4x 2SK369V's into the ready-made positions on the unused half of the SEN board, then jumper the relevant points back to the first half of the board?

Also, do these two separate quad groups need to be thermally coupled?
 
You can solder one group on the top of the PCB, and another group on the bottom.
Then place the PCB vertically for heat dissipation for both groups.
This I prefer to you proposal.

But you probably want to use a special PCB with thicker copper.
Or hand wire them yourself P2P with 0.8mm silver plated copper wire.

For thermal tracking, couple between each quad-set groups will be fine.
No need to couple one group to the other.


Patrick