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Tube-I-zator Professional PCB

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merlin el mago

merlin el mago

Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
headrott said:
Got some photos of the balanced version of the Tube-I-zator boards with the Twisted Pear Buffalo II DAC. Fully balanced version plus single ended. I have some Telefunken ECC88/6DJ8 tubes in it now. Sounds phenominal!! I would like to thank Oliver for all his help, I could not have done it without him. Thank you Oliver!!!:):wave: Pictures are below!! Sorry for the bad quality as they are from my Iphone.Greg
Click to expand...

Neat work congrats, where did you bought the R-Cores & wich value have in volts, power in W or VA, how many secondaries have, price, etc?

Thanks & cheers
Felipe
 
H

headrott

Member
Joined 2010
merlin el mago said:
Neat work congrats, where did you bought the R-Cores & wich value have in volts, power in W or VA, how many secondaries have, price, etc?

Thanks & cheers
Felipe
Click to expand...

Hi Felipe,

The R-cores are custom built from a place in Indiana (USA) called custom magenetics. They are very well built using winders made by Kitamura Kiden (The company that invented the R-core transformer). They are both 50 VA load and are dual primary (115V or 1230V possible) and dual secondaries (the red are 150V, 0.1A) and the yellow are (9V, 2A). They could do more secondaries if you need them. Both R-cores cost me $195.70 USD with shipping within the USA if I remember correctly. The R-core part number is: 1292-R-001 if you want the exact same transformer. The web site can be found here: Custom Magnetics, Inc.. I hope this helps you out. Thanks for the comments.

Greg
 
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H

headrott

Member
Joined 2010
francolargo said:
Fascinating! I wonder how the tubes would like a 1.2 volt trident on the Buffalo VDD? I imagine it would be money well spent.

Frank
Click to expand...


I am thinking of getting the tridents Frank. I have read they improve the sound (imaging, separation, dynamics, etc.) I have also read a number of people having problem integrating them onto the Buffalo II board though. I want to make sure I wil not have problems with them and when I am sure about the upgrade I will do it. I agree for the amount it costs for the Tridents it seems like a good deal.

Greg
 
merlin el mago

merlin el mago

Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
headrott said:
Hi Felipe,

The R-cores are custom built from a place in Indiana (USA) called custom magenetics. They are very well built using winders made by Kitamura Kiden (The company that invented the R-core transformer). They are both 50 VA load and are dual primary (115V or 1230V possible) and dual secondaries (the red are 150V, 0.1A) and the yellow are (9V, 2A). They could do more secondaries if you need them. Both R-cores cost me $195.70 USD with shipping within the USA if I remember correctly. The R-core part number is: 1292-R-001 if you want the exact same transformer. The web site can be found here: Custom Magnetics, Inc.. I hope this helps you out. Thanks for the comments.

Greg
Click to expand...

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the info:)

About Tridents go for them it's a big upgrade and if you have problems Russ & Brian will help you.

Felipe
 
dvb projekt

dvb projekt

Member
Joined 2009
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Personal announcement

Well my friends it is time to say again thanks to all of you, who like and ordered my pcb´s.

Because i am no developer of electronic circuits but have the knowledge to design pcb´s,
i wanted to give something back to the community.

Since i started with my 1st pcb, the Optical-Volume-Control on 15th October 2009,
a small donation from every sold pcb goes to diyaudio.com

Today i am proud to say that your :grouphug: cumulated donation achieve

:worship: $ 2.175 :worship:

Keep on having fun with my pcb´s and best regards

Oliver​
 
DQ828

DQ828

Member
Joined 2010
Hi All

I have just stumbled on this thread while searching for a tube output stage for the Buffalo II I should be receiving soon. Am I right in thinking if I build the Tube-i-zator & the shunt regulator all I have to do is connect the Buffalo & away I go, let me guess, it's not that simple.

Also I do not have a balanced system so would need to build it with standard RCA's is that doable?

How many boards do you need for a standard Buffalo configuration?

Is there a simple "How To" somewhere I can look at, as I'm a simple guy:)
 
Last edited:
dvb projekt

dvb projekt

Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
DQ828 said:
Hi All

I have just stumbled on this thread while searching for a tube output stage for the Buffalo II I should be receiving soon. Am I right in thinking if I build the Tube-i-zator & the shunt regulator all I have to do is connect the Buffalo & away I go, let me guess, it's not that simple.

Also I do not have a balanced system so would need to build it with standard RCA's is that doable?

How many boards do you need for a standard Buffalo configuration?

Is there a simple "How To" somewhere I can look at, as I'm a simple guy:)
Click to expand...

Hi DQ828,

for a normal RCA output use you need only one Tube-I-zator and one SSHV Shunt Module.

headrott build it in the balanced version.

If you have any additional questions, i will try to help where i can.
However, you could send a PM to Greg.

Best regards,
Oliver
 
DQ828

DQ828

Member
Joined 2010
headrott said:
Got some photos of the balanced version of the Tube-I-zator boards with the Twisted Pear Buffalo II DAC. Fully balanced version plus single ended. I have some Telefunken ECC88/6DJ8 tubes in it now. Sounds phenominal!! I would like to thank Oliver for all his help, I could not have done it without him. Thank you Oliver!!!:):wave: Pictures are below!! Sorry for the bad quality as they are from my Iphone.
Greg
Click to expand...

Hi Greg

I am VERY interested in what you have done, I have finally got my hands on a Buffalo II, should be here any day. I'm all single ended, so I will only be doing one of everything. I have sent a PM re getting the boards from Oliver & am greatly looking forward to building the DAC. I am a beginner but have wanted to do a valve output stage for a Buffalo for some time. I did have one failed attempt at following the Lampizators ZERO DAC mod but couldn't get the noise level down to what I thought was acceptable & in the end killed the ZERO board on the third rebuild, mind you I thought it sounded pretty good when it was working.

I hope you can put up with few questions coming your way :)

Do you have a mud map of your build?

Some better photo's would be great :D can't have too many photo's

David
 
francolargo

francolargo

Member
Joined 2007
Paid Member
headrott said:
I am thinking of getting the tridents Frank. I have read they improve the sound (imaging, separation, dynamics, etc.) I have also read a number of people having problem integrating them onto the Buffalo II board though.
Click to expand...

I didn't see your post till now, Greg. I did have a problem but it was totally my own fault from sending too much voltage to the Tridents. They sound fantastic at 5.25v, and the maximum they should ever see is 5.5v. If powered from a shunt regulated supply (as I do), don't scrimp on the current - I shunt almost 100ma.

Cheers, Frank
 
S

studiostevus

Member
Joined 2009
I recently built one using a homebrew pcb. I am currently using it comparing to a discrete stage.

It sounds nice, but i do think it adds a lot of harmonics to the sound, thereby drowning the details. It does swing though, that's why i kept it in for now... I need to find a solution that sounds as funky as the zator, and as detailed as the discrete stage.
 
pinnocchio

pinnocchio

Member
Joined 2010
quebecdiy.forumactif.com/
studiostevus said:
I recently built one using a homebrew pcb. I am currently using it comparing to a discrete stage.

It sounds nice, but i do think it adds a lot of harmonics to the sound, thereby drowning the details. It does swing though, that's why i kept it in for now... I need to find a solution that sounds as funky as the zator, and as detailed as the discrete stage.
Click to expand...

Hi Studiostevus,

I have built a dual mono Buffalo II with Tube-I-Zator output and it sounds incredible. I have no such problems on harmonics as you are stating. This is most probably due to the Tube you use. On my side, I'm using the TJ Full Music 12AX7 and they sound extremely good. I'm getting a really wide and deep stage with lots of air. Bass is tight and deep. Imaging is excellent.

I also have dual Legato 3.1 SS output but for now I prefer the Tube-I-Zator.

One thing to keep in mind is the component choice you're using... I was using PRP resistors at the beginning for Rk and R I/V and although they sounded good, when I moved to TX-2575 it was a big WOW! Output caps are also extremely important... I'm using the Clarity Cap MR series which are really good but LONG to break... I was almost getting desperate here... The Mundorf Silver Gold Oil is preferred by many but the best is the Duelund Cast PIO but are impossible to buy by the common mortal!

I will post pictures of my setup at a later time.

Ciao!
 
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