Point-to-point .... I hope there's a point

[RobPhill33]

Well I decided to wire my BOZ p2p. It is not pretty, that is for sure. My objective was to get the signal path as short as possible and I think I was successful. This is what I have so far;

Power supply - I am trying to seperate the power supply from the 2 channels.


Channels



The only mods were the caps and transformer. I think it was an extra $7 for the larger transformer so I thought why not. There are no fancy components, no source switch and no fuse. I have only hooked up one channel with aligator clips so far and it sounds pretty good. I am just waiting on a 100K alps pot and a chance to go home (I am at university) for a weekend and finish the box. Thought I'd share.

Oh ya, this is the case so far (thanks Peter Daniel for all the tips)

I dont know how I am going to finish it, any suggestions to keep finger prints off?

[Duck-Twacy]

Great work, but far more important....

How do you get multiple pictures in a singe post ????


Thought that wasn't possible here.

[RobPhill33]

thanks

I just used the IMG tags whenever I needed a picture.

[analog_sa]

The effort may not be really justified with the quality of passive components used. Point-to-point makes great sense if you've already optimised everything else.


cheers

peter

[Henrik]

pobhill33

I dont know how I am going to finish it, any suggestions to keep finger prints off?

To keep fingerprints away, just give it some scouring powder and wather with a brush to make the surface raw and homogenious, dry it without touching and then apply some colourless shoecreeme and polish well afterwards. I looks nice, and is more stable than one should expect.

[RobPhill33]

Thanks for the info analog_sa I did not realize that p2p wiring was a finer refinement than "high quality" parts. The truth be known I didn't like the way the PCB turned out and was to cheap to buy another blank board. I have been thinking about making(after using my new BOZ for a while) an entirely new BOZ with HQ parts to really hear if there is a significant difference. Has anyone done this?
Henrik, by scouring powder do you mean any abrasive powder (a cleaner perhaps). Thanks for the help.

[grataku]

Successful?
The signal path is definitely important but to call that a success even the eye must be pleased!
You have the enclosure of legends, half the people in here would give their first born for that, try to match that good looking chassis with a neat, symmetrical layout of the components.
Do a layout on paper first, then fasten all the components, plugs etc that need to be fastened on the chassis in the proper position and then proceed with soldering.

With the enclosure, you have you are poised to get something looking like this:

http://passdiy.com/images/gallery/zenrev-p1-f5.jpg

Please don't waste that opportunity!

PS: Did you sand blast the aluminum? If so there is no way to avoid the finger grease unless you anodize it or powder coat it. You can clear coat it after it's degreased. If you didn't sand blast the Al you can use a white scotch brite with alconox or a similar detergent it will get it nice and shiny before appling any finish.
Be careful about using very abrasive pads. The green scotch brite is too coarse.

[Henrik]

PS: Did you sand blast the aluminum? If so there is no way to avoid the finger grease unless you anodize it or powder coat it.

Oh - there is, I am not joking about the polished shoe creme, I do have a headphone amp made this way, and even my wife likes it, and no fingerprints even after 4 years in use. But of coause anodizeing or powder coating is better seen from a mechanical and commercial point of view, more stable, but the wax on the raw aluminium looks best.

[RobPhill33]

grataku, I didn't sandblast the aluminum I sanded it by hand with 80 grit emery cloth ( works very very well ). I have been told that anodizing is quite dangerous, how does the powder work?(I will search the site for info)
I absolutely agree that the circuity must be pleasing to the eye. I might resolder the channels and PS onto seperate PCB's.
One question on PCB construction. When I use a photo-transparency I ususally get little holes where the light gets through (I ask for the darkest transparency). How can I get darker transparencies (on my printer?). Thanks again.

[grataku]

Rob, the p2p will work just great no need to use a pcb if you don't want to. You just have to be very meticolous and surgical, bend al the leads with pliers etc etc. I do believe audioxpress sells the BOZ PCB if you must. You may as well build the balanced linestage then it's just a better preamp all around.
The powder coating works by appling an electrical potential between the spray gun and the part (that needs to be especialy prepared) so that the powder is attracted the aluminum part. After that you bake the part in the oven. They sell kits to do it. I never tried it mostly because I lack a scrap oven to do the baking.
The finish is basically very similar to anodization and is less chemically involved.

Henrik, shoe polish eh? I'll try it on some scrap Al.