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I like your build Eric!
What do you mean with LED in the turtle board? I built my metal vegetable a while ago and there weren't any in it.
white little bug near each relay; I added them later, just for fun
with Papa's, every side is right one
Pass DIY Addict
Joined 2000
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In my best Steve Irwin voice: "What a little beauty!"
I cobbled together a naked and semi-dangerous wiring job and gave it a listen today. Wow! First obvious trait is the bass that comes through with transformers in the signal chain. The next obvious trait is the incredible channel separation - this was obvious even with my first test using test speakers yanked from an old TV. Then come the vocals that highlight the holographic imaging. Wow, what a great preamp! Everything is nice and quiet, the only detectable hum was when I switched to an input that didn't have anything connected to it.
My playback chain was my Marantz streamer, the Iron Pumpkin, followed by my dual-mono SissySIT, then my Calpamos speakers. What a great pre and a fun time! Need to get this into a proper chassis now so I don't inadvertently electrocute myself
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Now I need to make up a few more sets of silver ICs. I'm running out of cables lately.
I cobbled together a naked and semi-dangerous wiring job and gave it a listen today. Wow! First obvious trait is the bass that comes through with transformers in the signal chain. The next obvious trait is the incredible channel separation - this was obvious even with my first test using test speakers yanked from an old TV. Then come the vocals that highlight the holographic imaging. Wow, what a great preamp! Everything is nice and quiet, the only detectable hum was when I switched to an input that didn't have anything connected to it.
My playback chain was my Marantz streamer, the Iron Pumpkin, followed by my dual-mono SissySIT, then my Calpamos speakers. What a great pre and a fun time! Need to get this into a proper chassis now so I don't inadvertently electrocute myself
.Now I need to make up a few more sets of silver ICs. I'm running out of cables lately.
These AVC's are next level for sure. To the point that I wished I had found these things a few decades ago.. Yes cost is higher but it's worth it. The $300 Slagle units I'm using in lieu of the stepped attenuator in my preamp have made a significant and very noticeable difference for the better. I haven't experienced ZM's slick creation here but I'm sure it's killer.
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That's part of why I decided to jump on this project now. I've been eyeballing it for a while and putting it off. In the mean time, I've been reading a number of AVC reviews and they all seem to be very effusive with praise. Some of the prices are quite high and a number of those products are just a "transformer in a box" with no buffers, very little in the way of input switching, anything fancy, or anything else at all really.
As I've built more and more pieces of equipment over the years, I've noted that some of it stays in the active rotation longer than others. A few favorites are emerging for sure. The vFet amps and the Iron Pumpkin are clear winners. The Aleph-J sees a lot of action still, too.
Awesome design, Zen! Thank you for making this available to us!
As I've built more and more pieces of equipment over the years, I've noted that some of it stays in the active rotation longer than others. A few favorites are emerging for sure. The vFet amps and the Iron Pumpkin are clear winners. The Aleph-J sees a lot of action still, too.
Awesome design, Zen! Thank you for making this available to us!