Well I powered up my newly built amplifier last night - the tubes fired up, the transformer hummed softly - it looked as if everything was working as it should be. The only problem was that even with full volume (no input signal yet) there was nothing coming through the speakers. I was expecting a hum or low hiss or something. Anyhow, turned on the CD player in hope and......music. To my uneducated ears it sounds great. No hums hisses or funny noises and plenty of punch. I am absolutely delighted with it.
This has been a 5 month project for me, starting without even a decent soldering iron. The amp is based on a Dynaco ST70 circuit and was built from scratch (you can follow my progress from start to finish by reviewing some of my earlier posts) apart from the caps board which an SDS labs kit.
I would like to thank all the members of this group who offered advice along the way. My steel vs Aluminium post was robustly debated and convinced me to go with an aluminium chassis - a very good decision for me not only because of the potential sound quality advantages but also because I had to drill and ream lots of holes and it would ave been punishing work with steel. Advice concerning the signal ground was also very helpful and spot on as judged by the lack of unwanted noise.
I would especially like to thank Sy and Hollowstate who seem to have been following my progress quite closely and also Jackinnj who provided a circuit diagram for a voltage double to take 6.3 v to 12 to drive my LED switch light. Unfortunately it only provides 11.9 v!
I would also especially like to recommend the guys at Radiodaze (a place I discovered on the net) who were extremely helpful and supplied half of the gear that I used including the nice old cloth covered wire.
Sorry about the ramble. As you can probably tell, I am very pleased with the outcome. I do not get any encouragement at home and my wifes only comment was 'that's nice' - I guess I am going to have to built a robot with AI that cleans the house to impress her!!
Finally to my friends who said I couldn't do it without electrocuting myself, I say once again, it just goes to show that it is better to be lucky than good.
Cheers,
Rob
This has been a 5 month project for me, starting without even a decent soldering iron. The amp is based on a Dynaco ST70 circuit and was built from scratch (you can follow my progress from start to finish by reviewing some of my earlier posts) apart from the caps board which an SDS labs kit.
I would like to thank all the members of this group who offered advice along the way. My steel vs Aluminium post was robustly debated and convinced me to go with an aluminium chassis - a very good decision for me not only because of the potential sound quality advantages but also because I had to drill and ream lots of holes and it would ave been punishing work with steel. Advice concerning the signal ground was also very helpful and spot on as judged by the lack of unwanted noise.
I would especially like to thank Sy and Hollowstate who seem to have been following my progress quite closely and also Jackinnj who provided a circuit diagram for a voltage double to take 6.3 v to 12 to drive my LED switch light. Unfortunately it only provides 11.9 v!
I would also especially like to recommend the guys at Radiodaze (a place I discovered on the net) who were extremely helpful and supplied half of the gear that I used including the nice old cloth covered wire.
Sorry about the ramble. As you can probably tell, I am very pleased with the outcome. I do not get any encouragement at home and my wifes only comment was 'that's nice' - I guess I am going to have to built a robot with AI that cleans the house to impress her!!
Finally to my friends who said I couldn't do it without electrocuting myself, I say once again, it just goes to show that it is better to be lucky than good.
Cheers,
Rob
Attachments
Done.......!!
Congrats Rob, what a lovely looking amp....had you second guessing yourself when she had no hum on power-up Huh?
You are now the proud parent of a.....Got a name/Model # for her?
I understand the wife not really getting into it...same here, but she does like music I assume...and YOUR creation has made that sweet music possible!
______________________________________Rick...........
Congrats Rob, what a lovely looking amp....had you second guessing yourself when she had no hum on power-up Huh?
You are now the proud parent of a.....Got a name/Model # for her?
I understand the wife not really getting into it...same here, but she does like music I assume...and YOUR creation has made that sweet music possible!
______________________________________Rick...........
Since it's night time in Oz, I'll post the thread link which is lower down on this forum.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107832
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107832
RCA's
Thanks for the comments so far. The RCA sockets seem to be causing some problems! I used RCA plugs because I thought that these were the standard speaker connections (I am not an audiophile - although I do like music of course, I just like building things). In future, the RCA sockets are gone. Banished!
Thanks for the comments so far. The RCA sockets seem to be causing some problems! I used RCA plugs because I thought that these were the standard speaker connections (I am not an audiophile - although I do like music of course, I just like building things). In future, the RCA sockets are gone. Banished!
Rob, If you were so inclined, I think you could switch over to 5-way binding posts fairly easily. This would involve drilling a second hole to the side of each RCA jack. Since the sholder on the 5-way a little larger then the hole for the RCA, you're not oversized. If you do modify the apron to accept them, remember that 3/4 inch spacing between them is standard for a dual banana plug should you choose to use that on the speaker wire.
Victor
Victor
Switch
Hi Arnold,
It is a Farnell part and cost about 22 AUD. It is rated at 250v but requires a 12v supply for the LED. I used a voltage doubler/rectifier on the 6.3 v winding.
The part number is as follows -
Manufacturer: BULGIN
Order Code: 1332000
Manufacturer Part No: MP0045/1E2BL012
The posts are a good idea where do you get those?
Cheers,
Rob
Hi Arnold,
It is a Farnell part and cost about 22 AUD. It is rated at 250v but requires a 12v supply for the LED. I used a voltage doubler/rectifier on the 6.3 v winding.
The part number is as follows -
Manufacturer: BULGIN
Order Code: 1332000
Manufacturer Part No: MP0045/1E2BL012
The posts are a good idea where do you get those?
Cheers,
Rob
Hi Rob, thanks for the info.
The CablePods come from where you are
An Australian innovation
http://www.eichmanncables.com/
The CablePods come from where you are
An Australian innovation http://www.eichmanncables.com/
Rob11966 said:
That is a seriously beautiful piece of work. With respect to your wife, I don't know if you're lucky or not. My wife can definitely hear the difference and immediately "appropriates" my projects like a Rottweiler with a bone.
I can do my projects but lose control of them as soon as I finish, especially if they sound good!
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