diyAB Amp The "Honey Badger" build thread

Member
Joined 2005
Paid Member
I tested all the solder joints on both boards using the DMM. Can't find any bad joints. Maybe I should reheat them all to be sure.

I've built 3 boards. The first one had some wrong parts. The 2nd and 3rd both progressed thru the initial test [LEDs on, 10R ~ 0 DCV.] On the second round to bias to 15-20mV both had issues. I wish I'd kept better notes. It might be that -V went wonky of both of them, but I can't be sure. But it's the -V LED is clearly out on the 3rd board.
 

Attachments

  • 3.25.2024.jpg
    3.25.2024.jpg
    276.7 KB · Views: 38
Member
Joined 2022
Paid Member
Hello Forum Members,
I am happy to report that another Honey Badger has been born! I hit the power switch this morning and felt greatly relieved that everything seemed to power up as expected.

I would like to thank @poseidonsvoice, @jwilhelm, and @Chiptech for their suggestions and technical expertise. For me, it's always a team effort.

DC offset at the speaker outputs wandered slightly, but in general stayed below 1.0 mV DC on the left channel and 0.5 mV DC on the right channel. Several minutes of music with a FiiO digital music player confirmed that it actually plays music. The amp was fairly quiet considering the many concerns I had about decisions made during the build.

The large transformer and even larger V3 diy Audio universal power supply used most of the space available. I had a beautiful satin black transformer cover that I wanted to install but I literally could not make it fit. I briefly mounted the PSU to the front panel to free up space, but couldn't get comfortable with the idea of the power capacitors laying horizontally.
My compromise in the spirit of PSU placement and wire dressing was to keep all mains wiring in the center of the amp. The rail and speaker wiring was routed along the lower outside edges, and the signal inputs along the top rear of the amp.

Improvements on the build over my previous build include remote on/off soft start board, the use of wire ferrules and liberal use of shrink wrap to protect wiring.

This is a long post, but the build itself took 4 months so I thought it was worth sharing. I've included some pics of my new Honey Badger.
Respectfully, -Dave M.
 

Attachments

  • 20240328_054021.jpg
    20240328_054021.jpg
    500.4 KB · Views: 6
  • 20240329_045811.jpg
    20240329_045811.jpg
    628.9 KB · Views: 6
  • 20240329_045825.jpg
    20240329_045825.jpg
    553.4 KB · Views: 6
  • 20240329_051645.jpg
    20240329_051645.jpg
    466.9 KB · Views: 6
  • Thank You
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Member
Joined 2022
Paid Member
Hi ThNozzleman,
The transformer is an Avel Lindberg 625 vac with dual 45v secondaries. Funny you should ask, because I've had this transformer laying around for years, it was from a failed project several years ago. That was a build I attempted before I discovered the diy Audio community.
I actually chose the Honey Badger as a project so I could make use of this transformer. It's not the recommended 800 vac but a forum member advised me that it would work if I stuck to 8 ohm speakers. Bottom line, it's not the proper transformer for this amp, but I can get by if I watch my speaker impedence.
Thank you for your interest.
Dave M.
 

Attachments

  • 20231128_044350.jpg
    20231128_044350.jpg
    157.3 KB · Views: 1