The Wire LPUHP 16W Power Amp parts GB

[qusp]

Hi Guys, well this one snuck up on us didnt it? beat some people too it seems unfortunately.

So i'll just get the ball rolling; there are a few areas where banding together will definitely get the costs down. As discussed it will serve us best to have 1 or 2 reliable members to handle the purchase and distribution from a base in North America, to keep shipping costs to a minimum and Ed LaFontaine has generously volunteered to at least help with that. Also to further that cause, perhaps even some regional distribution points for Europe, Asia and Australasia, though that should be discussed and costed out when the time comes to see if its actually viable.

This Group Buy is Limited to current members of the PCB GB i.e. if you arent included in the list below youre out of luck, it is intended to be a manageable size, so that there is not too much work for anyone and thus can more reasonably be expected to be a volunteer effort, with costs covered for those who donate their time. it is NOT intended to be an open GB; especially as its so wide ranging it would turn into a nightmare. My apologies, but thats the way its got to be.

so here is the list of participants in the GB as it stands

1543 2
badabing 2
bcg27 2
Ed LaFontaine 2
enantra 2
exa065 4
hochopeper 2
HYPERTUNE 2
jacobthellamer 2
jazzm 2
maravedis 4
neb001 4
particleman14 2
qusp 2
randytsuch 2
regal 2
sharpi31 2
Wirewiggler 2
Wolfsin 2

________________
Total for GB = 44

* opc 6

* added for completeness as i plan to group out this list into regions at some point and note next to each member to use at the end for putting together orders. i.e. marking if a member is getting passives, actives, heatsink, transformer, extras etc. not a detailed list, but a number associated to each for quick reference.

_________
Grand Total = 50

so Key Parts are

• National LME49600 or LME49610 16 per set of PCBs (see note 1)
• National LME49990 6 per stereo set
• susumu thin film resistors in various values
• LT317/337 (see note 2)
• transformers (see note 3)
• power supply caps
• Kemet ceramic caps
• trimmers
• 16awg hookup wire
• Heatsinks (see note 4)
• Keratherm Red or white


also some optional ideas we might GB for those who havent done a lot of SMD

• hakko 2mm chisel tips
• good tweasers
• cardas flux
• good quality metric standoffs for those who have the sense to live somewhere that has a functional mode of measurement
• ??
• ??
we obviously dont want to get bogged down in the optional extras, but i think a few of these might be a good idea no?

notes

1) perhaps we should get 20 each, getting spares might not be a bad idea at this pricing; they wont make them forever

2) i really think we should get these, buying this number the price will be decent and the LT model is worth the extra cost in my experience

3) either the one opc recommends, or perhaps a custom spec potted unit from sumR

4) this is a bit up in the air, i like the enzotech copper units coz they look wicked!! but best wait and see what our man in Sydney with the CNC comes up with as far as a custom unit

if anyone else has other ideas, fire away, this is mainly just to get the ball rolling before everyone starts buying their own parts, because there is quite a bit of money to be saved. this will be a matter for discussion, i'm not putting my hand up to organize the whole thing, i simply dont have the time at the moment, but i'll chip in, so anyone who thinks they can help out with procurement or regional distribution step forward.

thanks for reading, i think this little amp is going to be quite the surprise. Owen has gathered himself quite a few groupies who snap up every project he releases, i'm one of them, anyone who hasn't bought one of his boards before is in for a treat; imo they are THE most professionally designed and made boards i have come across in GB's here

I can only say thanks mate!!

Modular GB efforts

Digikey GB (passives and/or actives)

qusp 2 pas + 2 act (paid)
hochopeper 2 pas + 2 act (paid)
HYPERTUNE 2 pas + 2 act (paid)
bcg27 2 pas + 2 act (passives paid)
jacobthellamer 2 pas + 2 act (actives paid)
maravedis 4 pas + 4 act (passives paid)
randytsuch 2 pas + 2 act (passives paid)
1543 2 pas + 2 act (passives paid)
neb001 2 pas + 2 act (passives paid)
Ed LaFontaine 2 pas (paid)
wirewiggler 2 pas (paid)

_______________________
Total
Passives 24
Actives 20

note: actives are being handled regionally, but the numbers remain to help anyone who is wishing to help with that. the Australasian crew have already got ours

Custom CNC Alloy Heatsinks, kindly machined by Hypertune

qusp 4
hochopeper 2
opc 6
bcg27 2
1543 2
Neb001 4
enantra 2
jazzm 2
regal 2
wirewiggler 2
Wolfsin 2
maravedis 4
_______
total 34

Fully custom Chassis: to be advised, please register interest to better indicate viability

Keratherm Red TIM 86/82 interest check

Keratherm Red TIM (thermal interface material) group
expressions of interest

qusp
opc
HYPERTUNE
bcg27
hochopeper
1543
Ed LaFontaine, who now wonders if "dual mono" is heresy...where's the smiley face?
randytsuch
enantra
wirewiggler
neb001
maravedis


Custom potted transformer group buy? Count me in!

qusp 2
hochopeper 2
HYPERTUNE 2
bcg27 2
neb001 4
1543 2
wirewiggler 2

______________
Total 16



Parts Procurement Volunteers

Ed LaFontaine: National IC's Passives and perhaps 16awg SPC in PTFE from Apex JR

Regional Distributor Volunteers

USA

Ed LaFontaine

Australasia

qusp
hochopeper

EU

volunteers?

Asia

volunteers?

[Ed LaFontaine]

Logging on...Thanks for taking the initiative, qusp, this will be fun.

I'll have some time this weekend to prepare my worksheet.

[qusp]

i'll put my hand up for helping with Australasia regional distro if noone else comes forward and we go that way, which i think would be wise for here especially given the expense of shipping from the US.

hey Ed, nice, no problem and i'm glad youre on it given you have quite a bit of experience with your neverending GB's, also for those quick off the mark, i misspelt susumu for the thin film resistors, i actually often do this. it was too late for me to edit.

for those keen on overkill as i am, i will be getting 2 sets of 3 x ASMP SMD zfoil resistors for the VAS stage to lower distortion and increase CMRR even further and just because sometimes i'm a silly audiophool and i think they sound excellent! Anyone who wants to throw in for those too let me know, we should be able to get them down to 7-8 each or possibly a little less. depending on the price i can get for bulk i might even get them for all the signal path given just about all are 1k0, or just save that for a tweak for when i decide whether the low or high voltage wire will be powering my tweets; but definitely the VAS

[qusp]

also and this is a maybe: i'm an OEM for Eichmann for my business, i would be in breach of my agreement to pass them on at cost, as it states they have to be part of a product as i'm not a distributor, but i'll probably be able to arrange a pretty good deal on the ETI phonopod binding posts (banana and spade compatible). if enough people are interested i'll see what i would need to do to make that happen

[hochopeper]

A lot of the items you've listed are on my shopping list already so happy to GB.

I'm mostly interested in the vanilla opc flavoured BOM I think with extras of the opamp, buffers, resistors and caps.

Doesn't worry me which way it goes with the extras but I will need a larger tip for soldering iron and some tweezers.

@qusp if you end up being australasian distribution point I will volunteer my time to lend a hand sorting and arranging parts to help with the workload.

[jazzm]

Also interested in the GB. I'm down for 2 PCBs... I think the only question mark that I have is in regards to the Transformer as I'd probably prefer to run an off-board higher VA unit and shared between the two boards.

Tom.

[mikje]

I might be jumping the gun, but has a price been determined yet? Will this GB have all the parts necessary to build the amp, other than switch, AC cord, volume pot (if so desired), etc.?
Thanks,
Mike

Edit: OK, I just found the original thread about these. The only question I still have is about the price. The price is $236 per cahnnel in the original post. Will it be the same in this GB?
Thanks again.

[qusp]

Originally Posted by mikje

I might be jumping the gun, but has a price been determined yet? Will this GB have all the parts necessary to build the amp, other than switch, AC cord, volume pot (if so desired), etc.?
Thanks,
Mike

Edit: OK, I just found the original thread about these. The only question I still have is about the price. The price is $236 per cahnnel in the original post. Will it be the same in this GB?
Thanks again.

huh? you read my post right? if you havent already ordered your pcbs and since you only just found the thread i'm guessing you havent; i'm afraid you missed the boat on the GB as there are none left and i'm afraid i'm going to suggest that we also limit the GB to members of the PCB GB so it doesnt start growing too big and ungainly.


it is not aimed to be a kit service, i dont think we will lump any one person with organising and purchasing all the parts, its an expensive build relatively and thats a lot of money and not a small amount of time and the aim is to save money by banding together to buy parts, that is all.

the price has not been determined yet, as stated the contents havent even been decided yet. i also do not want to lock people into a full kit, as many like me will have some of the parts already; so perhaps a suggestion of breaking it up into semis, passives, transformers, heatsinks and extras. the semis and passives can probably be got at the same place so maybe the one person would handle that, but people should be able to choose to get one or the other, or both IMO.

anyway there is a ways to go before the final shape of this thing is decided

[qusp]

Originally Posted by jazzm

Also interested in the GB. I'm down for 2 PCBs... I think the only question mark that I have is in regards to the Transformer as I'd probably prefer to run an off-board higher VA unit and shared between the two boards.

Tom.

Hey Tom, cool so you actually made it onto the list, not the wait list? thats fine mate, like i said above, i would prefer this was a kind of modular GB so that noone is locked into buying a whole kit and the volunteers are not locked into a heap of work.

I would also suggest that we just keep conversation about what the kit will be for the moment, rather than people starting to post their orders right now. is that a good idea? not trying to be a tyrant, anyone should speak up

@ hochopeper: thanks man, that would be cool, we could probably knock it over in an afternoon or 2 over brewskies, spicy chicken wings and good music =)

[mikje]

Originally Posted by qusp

huh? you read my post right? if you havent already ordered your pcbs and since you only just found the thread i'm guessing you havent; i'm afraid you missed the boat on the GB as there are none left and i'm afraid i'm going to suggest that we also limit the GB to members of the PCB GB so it doesnt start growing too big and ungainly.


it is not aimed to be a kit service, i dont think we will lump any one person with organising and purchasing all the parts, its an expensive build relatively and thats a lot of money and not a small amount of time and the aim is to save money by banding together to buy parts, that is all.

the price has not been determined yet, as stated the contents havent even been decided yet. i also do not want to lock people into a full kit, as many like me will have some of the parts already; so perhaps a suggestion of breaking it up into semis, passives, transformers, heatsinks and extras. the semis and passives can probably be got at the same place so maybe the one person would handle that, but people should be able to choose to get one or the other, or both IMO.

anyway there is a ways to go before the final shape of this thing is decided

Thanks. At least the decision is made for me as to whether I want to build this one. Maybe next time.