Point to point or pcb?

[Vincent77]

I usually combine PCB with P2P: stuff like CCS, relatively complex PSUs, fixed bias, power management, etc., go on small PCB modules. I put ventilation holes under any resistor or heatsink that dissipates more than 0.5W.

Tube sockets and big caps go on chassis or on a sub-chassis, if I want to hide the nuts and bolts...

[freax]

you guys might be interested in this book: Symposium on Solder: Presented at the Fifty-ninth Annual Meeting American ... - American Society for Testing Materials - Google Books

specifically pages 115 and beyond and pages 113 and prior.

[marce]

A 1957 book has little revelance today (apart from some of the joining techniques), if you want to keep up with what is happening with PCBs and electronics assembly I would suggest joining or getting hold of IPC documantation, standards and research or having a look at PCD&F.
The materials and assembly techniques have improved greatly over the years, and today most electronic production is carried out using lead free solder.
If you are realy serious about the quality of your electrical/electronic assemblys the look at IPC-610 and 610 training, this is the most widely used standard in the world for quality of workmanship and joint quality.
Its a nice book from a historical point of view though.

http://pcdandf.com/cms/
http://www.pcb007.com/pages/pcb007.cgi

[freax]

pfft sif, That book covers a whole lot more than just pcb's, but yeah if your not interested in bundles or old solder techniques...

[JRGuitarGuy]

Its pretty subjective and and a multitude of opinions everyone has between the two, but nothing wrong at all with experimenting with both and find out what suits you and if you like it or not.

[JRGuitarGuy]

You are right though PCB construction has been getting better as far better quality copper and thicker boards, yet in the past lots manufactures have really skimped on both of those.

[marce]

They still do skimp on things, for commercial gear, quite often (all the time!) cost is paramount, look at the electronic kit we can buy these days for peanuts! There is also the high reliability, medical, aerospace, military and bespoke elctronics where quality is paramount. One of the equating factors though is SMD, compared to through hole, SMD assembly is cheep in manual labour costs, setting up a line is quite expensive but once set up you can produce thousand of boards 24/7.
Point to point is perfect for one offs and development for analogue and low speed basic digital. High speed digital prototypes require a PCB though as the development has to take in any effects PCB parasitics are goiung to have on the signal. So both have their place, but PCB's do have the advantage for EMC in todays RF rich envoironment, you can engineer EMC solutions into the layout (Henry Ott's tome is the best guide there is on this). And I believe that that is becoming more critical, especialy if you are worried about any influence on sound quality EMC may have.
Personaly I find point to point a PITA, just the hassle of doing it, so I will do myself a PCB, i also have the security of knowing the PCB connectivity matches the shematic exactly.

[marce]

Freax, IPC-610 and other documents cover the same things, it is an interesting book, but with the advances in materials technology and construction techniques, I believe more modern material would be more relevant for todays assmbly methods, though having looked through it, and as I stated, some of the jointing techniques, forming a strong mechanical bond etc are still relevant.
Pfft, rather an onomatopoeic reply for 1st thing on a Saturday

[freax]

Oh thats okay, its 9:39pm on Saturday here so its okay.

point to point terminal strip helps with the headache of working on ptp wiring, which is really just pcb!!!

I just thought of something...

[marce]

LOL
One big advantage of PCB's (though not as relevant for tube designs) is miniturisation, a couple of op-amps and related discretes, next to a 0.1" DIL package...HDI PCB (high density interconnect) design, 0.1mm laser drilled vias.