"The Wire" Ultra-High Performance Headphone Amplifier - PCB's

[opc]

That's great news Wolfsin!

As a quick update, my giant order of 500 Nichicon FP caps arrived yesterday, and that has been holding up the shipment of all kits. I'll be going full bore this weekend to pack as many as I can, so the vast majority of people who have paid should see their packages ship out on Monday of next week.

Sorry to everyone for the delay, but this one was genuinely out of my control. Just the same, everyone who has paid will still get their stuff before the holidays.

On another note, it's looking a lot like the power amplifier payments and shipments will get pushed out to the new year since I don't foresee myself getting that project far enough along to accept payments and ship everything before the break. I'll see how things go this weekend and update early next week.

Cheers,
Owen

[qusp]

hey Owen, sent you email

[qusp]

Wolfsin, we demand pics!!

[Wolfsin]

Hi Guyz,

The right channel is down this afternoon for rework. My soldering skills are embarrasing. When I look at opc's work all I can think of is getting him to fly in for a ski vacation (complete with four bottomless glasses of microbrews) to teach me how to make solder flow.

The detail surpasses my other LME49600 preamp that uses 49710 rather than 1632. I have not yet taken the time to trim the balance to accomodate my unbalanced hearing but it is readily apparent how wonderful the Bal-Bal sounds.

[IanAS]

Originally Posted by Wolfsin

how to make solder flow.

It's all about the flux.

Unless you're using lead free, which just won't flow all that well.

That's a Jung type ± regulator??

Have you tried the SuperTeddyReg? I heard about it a couple of weeks ago. The circuit details are 'open source' which is nice. Seems to favour lower than ultra low noise over line regulation and a few people said it sounded better to them than the 317/337 and the Jung type.

[opc]

Wow! You work quickly!

I wasn't expecting anyone to have anything built up for at least a few weeks.

Congrats! It looks great.

As for the solder flowing, I'm all about using good solder and avoiding fine tip irons. Get lots of heat in quickly, and get out fast! I also don't worry about solder bridges and rely pretty heavily on solder wick to clean up if I do happen to make a mess. I find I do a much better job when I'm not worried about messing up.

I'm also all about leaded solder... which I strongly encourage in spite of the health related issues. Lead free solder is horrible to work with.

Thanks for getting pics up so quickly, I'm sure it will inspire others!

Cheers,
Owen

[Wolfsin]

Originally Posted by IanAS

That's a Jung type ± regulator??

Honestly don't know. I purchased several pcbs a couple of years ago and have used it in the 15 and 18v configs. It is quite small and uses the case as a heatsink. It goes by many names and there is another DIYaudio thread where the BOM and schematic are posted.

Thanks for the soldering tip. S....Fun is out of stock on their water soluble flux right when I need it :-(

[IanAS]

Originally Posted by opc

...using good leaded solder

Do you have a favourite type and thickness?

I have the thicker Wonder solder and a tiny bit of thin Cardas that came with some Cardas plugs last year. The old wonder solder of years ago seemed to flow a bit more, the last reel I bought seems to oxidise too quickly.

They both flow quite well compared to some other stuff I've seen friends attempt to use. That was awful stuff, seemed to have very little flux in it's core. Now I supply them all with a metre of Wonder solder when they need it and their soldering is now much better. That's really what I meant by flux, a solder with a good amount of it in and make sure to get loads of it onto the joint and not just get dry solder on there. But I have used a flux pen to apply a bit onto an area first and the solder flowed really well. I've not had cause to do it but I saw a short video recommending to pre flux the pads when about to solder a very many pin surface mount chip.

[Wolfsin]

Originally Posted by opc

Wow! You work quickly!

I wasn't expecting anyone to have anything built up for at least a few weeks.

Congrats! It looks great.

Thanks. Being of full retardation age I have the time -- just not the speed. I am also building a JC-80 with help from Mr. JC himself and can hardly wait to compare the best of the old and new. Thanks for the soldering tips in addition to the awsome design.

Originally Posted by IanAS

Have you tried the SuperTeddyReg?

No, but I will check it out. I am considering a Kubota for use as part of the JC-80 project I am working on. Please send a pointer.

[agdr]

Originally Posted by Wolfsin

Please send a pointer.

Here you go.

TeddyPardo

http://www.teddypardo.com/DIY/SuperTeddyReg.html