Alesis Surge Electronic Drum Kit

Does anyone happen to know the pinout of the 25 way snake socket on an Alesis Surge Electronic Drum Kit? - my old 70's band has got together for another gig, and the drummer has just changed his Alesis DM6 drum module for an Alesis Surge drum module. He only got the module, and is using his DM6 snake lead, which from what I can gather is wired differently to the one for the Surge. I'm doing the PA, so am expected to sort things out! 😀

Basically everything seems to work, other than the Hi-hat Controller, which does absolutely nothing, I've had the controller to pieces, and have just changed the membrane switch inside (just in case - as it's cheaply available from Aliexpress). Unfortunately, I don't have access to the unit, or the lead, to play with - or in particular a Surge so I could test it.

While I say 'everything else' works, all the plugs seem to be plugged in the wrong places, and he's presumably swapped everything over with the controls? - but to be fair, it sounds pretty damn good 😀

Googling finds a bit on info, but none of it sounds very confident, and if I'm going to wire a 25 way plug to socket for an adaptor, I'd like to be confident it's going to work.

Thanks for any helpful suggestions, other than shoot the drummer!!.

MF A1, Kudos to Tim de Paravicini, Ode to my Youth, Babelfishing

Need to get this out of my system ........

When I was a Kido, just barely moving with my first attempts of building amps and preamps from scratch, desperatelly wandering through any available printed sources ( no www yet) in search of/for Holly Grail .... my good friend just acquired specimen of which is later to be one of my all ever favorite amps - Musical Fidelity A1

(what did I knew that I'll have damn long list of my fave amps, not necesarily good ones or special in any tecnical or performance way, but heck - guy can have feelings, liking things just for liking sake :rofl: )

Anyhow - not much time did pass, I had it in pieces, first to figure out schematic, and then maybe to think something clever (hell, yeah :clown: ) to make it better

Not much time after that, I had built my own, by wonder it worked right from the bat, by wonder I did guess right what output transistor are (ignore thing that I really knew just 2N3055 and needed to chase its "complementary" ..... so I had proper beginner's luck guessing right ones - 2N3055 and BDX18)

And - no wonder that I made exactly same mishaps as mishaps being implemented in original - I did use 100VA mains Iron for 80W of juiced juice, and mine also had beautiful thermal arrangement as original, resulting in oh boy!!!!!!!!!! temperature of heatsinks

Later, when we did some head to head comparison between friend's original one and my "Clone", awe was that "Clone" sounded better - simply beause I did made just power amp portion, really not being able to include preamp section in said moment, planning that to add in later time

Speak of beginner's luck, again :clown:

Conclusion - "Clone" did sound better with line level sources, preceded with just 10K pot, than original one having all bells and whistles

Then we did go wild, trying tube stage in front - finding some "modern" solution - ECC88/6DJ8 fed with humongous voltage of 30V ..... it did help some - fact that it was loaded with current source .....

What we did know that MF will follow same easy commercial pats some later, nicely feeding hordes of us ignorant imbeciles ....... in fact - nothing wrong with nice little pleasing boxes, but I later did found following Myths and Legends somewhat disgusting :devily:

Do I need to say that it sounded even better with "tube" stage, however flawed it was?


.......................................... fast rewind to www time, I started chasing Holly Grails in every possible direction, beside other things I did found some few itsybitsies about my (then) still fave amp

If you fancy some reading, see attached pic (schm , few posts down) and visit Mark Hennessy page https://www.markhennessy.co.uk/mf_a1/

M. Hennessy is getting most of facts right ....... and I have impression that he's extremely polite, whenever anything worth commenting he did comment :devilr:


I'm going to be extremmmmmmely polite, not commenting anything about original commercial MF A1, neither first Gen, nor 2nd (just a gimmick, really, having USBandwhatever) nor present - 3rd or, rather, proper 2nd Gen

In last few decades, I had at least a dozen on my workbench for service and improvement, had at least 4 called "mine" ....... where last one of these 4 is still around (serving one of my friends)........... while my described clone is still somewhere around, supposedly still mine but I really need to stretch my gray cells to decipher where it is exactly .............

huh, tired of typing

Let's build adjustable speaker stands!

Given all the speakers I'm currently building, I need adjustable speaker stands so I can quickly put them at the proper height for auditioning. Any ideas regarding material, design, construction methods? Structure damping? Isolate the stands from the speaker only, or speaker and floor? (I currently use sorbothane buttons between my stands and speaker, and ordinary rubber feet between stands and floor). Let's hear your ideas!

Vera-Link TWS Bluetooth Power Amp

I have been developing a new compact stick-on Bluetooth True Wireless Stereo (TWS) amp for passive speakers. It lets you turn any set of passive speakers into an instant streaming solution to have music anywhere in your home, workshop, garage, pool, picnic, etc.
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Each amp just needs a local power outlet from the wall or can be battery powered. The amps connect and are paired to each other wirelessly for stereo left and right with a single Bluetooth connection.
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The wireless connection to your smartphone, tablet, computer, etc. works instantly and easily for frustration-free Bluetooth 5.0 quality sound. Successful connections are confirmed with a quick tone (no annoying voice) and LED blink from the light pipe indicator at the “eye” of the letter “i” in the word “Link”.
d8abcd7a-abca-461d-bb38-21ab3c9eb229.jpeg


Internally, the Bluetooth RF modules are capable of Bluetooth 5.0 standard (345 kbps max bit rate) and has terrific range and reliability. The Class D amps (TPA3116 based) driven by the Bluetooth RF modules are capable of 50W into 4ohms and 25W into 8ohms, and are wired in parallel bridge tied load (PBTL) so can actually handle 2ohm loads. The amps come with dual 24v 3A desktop universal voltage SMPS modules. Optional low profile 12v 2A wallwart style SMPS (in white) are also available for minimal visual footprint when used along side of decorator furnishings and significant-other-sensitive interior spaces. Even at 12v, 83dB sensitive speakers play plenty loud and clean for most home uses. The sound quality is excellent and the simplicity of it all is fantastic.
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Here the Vera-Link is seen attached to the back of the Vanguard speaker:
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Here is a nice clean no mess speaker installation in my upstairs bedroom. The white power cables and wallwart blend in very well. All you need are speakers and some stands. You can drive it from your smartphone (which is how most of us listen to music nowadays in my house):
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Here is the 24v 3A desktop power supply (two are provided with set):
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This is the 12v 2A wallwart power supply (USA and EU plugs available) in white:
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The Vera-Link amp kit will sell for $199 a pair complete with 24v 3A power supplies and high quality gold plated banana plugs. The amps come with hook-loop strips with self adhesive for installation to any speaker. 5 unique Vera-Link amp pair Bluetooth names will be available so that you can have multiple sets in one household without confusion.

An early review by Stereo Times is now online:
https://v2.stereotimes.com/post/vera-link-wireless-amplifiers-by-greg-voth/

Also one on Tone Audio magazine:
https://www.tonepublications.com/audiophile-apartment/vera-link-the-most-fun-you-can-have-for-199/

You can order them here:

https://verafiaudiollc.com/

GK 200mv white background noise

It’s one of those lunchbox size amps, from the 80s. It’s in mint shape with a cover, I played through it with my electric banjo and it sounded awesome. It has multiple inputs and outputs, a graphic EQ and a cool echo/ reverb.

The only problem is, I was testing it outside, so there was a lot of background noise, but if I put my head near it, I could definitely hear white noise. Not hum, or crackling, but smooth, full spectrum background noise- steady volume level with nothing plugged in, pots at any setting.

Once I heard it, I could I notice it from further away. I definitely couldn’t hear it while playing through the amp, but in my quiet apartment, I know it would drive me nutty,

The service manual is linked, but some of the descriptions of the testing I didn’t quite understand. anyway, I’ve replaced capacitors before, even SMD components, and I’m pretty sure I could replace transistors. Only $250, could probably get it for $200

What are the chances I could get that noise floor down, and how?

That’s my question.

here's the service manual/ diagrams, link and pdf.

http://bee.mif.pg.gda.pl/ciasteczko...eger/Gallien-krueger_200MV_Service_Manual.pdf

thanks!

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For Sale 12x TPA3116/8 PBTL bare pcb + IC soldered from Dug's GB

Hello, I have 12x PBTL amplifier boards for sale with TPA3116/8 IC soldered and tested. These are from Dug's GB a while ago. I will include 2x 10uH inductors with each PCB (Sumida CDEP147NP-100MC-125).

The boards are packed already 4 pcs. each, so I would like to keep them that way and would sell 4 boards (incl. 8 inductors) for 45 EUROs plus shipping from Germany.

These have been out of another never finished project.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best regards,
Klaus

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Interesting design that I dubbed "mirror mania"

This schematic came up in a conversation on another forum and it intrigued me so much that I drew it up in LTSpice and took it for a spin. It seems to perform vwell. I'm trying to understand the working principle and I think what look like current mirrors are actually working as common base amplifiers. But why? What's the idea behind a design like this? Anyone familiar with it?
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Asynchronous I2S FIFO project, an ultimate weapon to fight the jitter

People keep talking too much about jitter issues, but did less to make some kind of improvement. I decided trying to do something real – a working asynchronous I2S FIFO.

Before I go any further, I need to make something clear in advance:

1. FIFO is widely believed as one of the final methods to deal with jitter problems. But the asynchronous FIFO itself is just a technology which could provide a logic function to isolate the two clock domain. That means, for an I2S stream, digital audio data could pass through without any modification but the input clock was blocked and replaced with the new one. The new clock is totally independent from the old one except they should have the similar frequency. The FIFO logic itself does not influence the sound quality;

2. What really makes it sound better (or even worse) is the low jitter secondary clock. For example, if we have a new clock after the FIFO which comes with one digit ps jitter(RMS), we should get much better sound quality than before (the jitter level of the master clock from DIR chip usually around 50ps(RMS) level above corner frequency). So, we should pay more attention on the secondary clock and related interface. Everything connected to secondary clock has to be very carefully to deal with; otherwise new additive jitter will be introduced;

3. The size of the FIFO memory should big enough to meet overflow or empty time caused by the worst case of i2s input clock, but still has to be carefully selected to get the balance between the delay time caused by the working depth(usually half full) of the FIFO;

4. FIFO with low jitter secondary clock could only reduce the play back jitter for an audio DAC, but has nothing to do with the sampling jitter. I don’t have any idea if a CD was reordered with poor clock of the ADC.


The main logic functions could be achieved by a FPGA/CPLD chip together with a megabit SRAM. But the clock section has to use specialized clock/timing circuit, because the jitter performance of the output of FPGA/CPLD are far from what we want.

Below is the possible block diagram of this I2S FIFO project:
https://github.com/iancanada/DocumentDownload
https://twitter.com/iancanadaTT

FifoPi Q7 Jan.12,2023 update https://github.com/iancanada/DocumentDownload/blob/master/FifoPi/FifoPiQ7/FifoPiQ7Manual.pdf
FifoPiQ7_0 by Ian, on Flickr

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Tubes4HiFi SP14 really noisy!

Hi,


I ordered the kit without the chassis, as I wanted to build my own - plus I wanted to try to save some $$$’s
Smile


I’m getting a LOT of noise out of this…

All the voltages are as they should be.

B+ is 276vdc
H+/H- is 6.13 and 5.87
Voltage drops from 313 to 276 across D13 (both sides…)
6.43vac on heater from transformer


I have checked, double and triple checked the wires from all RCA inputs/outputs. The ground bus and all the connections to that, the ground to the circuit board from the bus. I’ve gone over the input selector, and all the wires coming and going from that. All the connections from the selector, through to the gain and volume controls. The output from the volume to the board, and ground wire are as outlined in the instructions.

I did not install the tape switch, and ran the wires straight from selector to the gain pots.

There are two things I changed as far as the power supply goes. I used an old school toggle switch in place of the power switch that came with the kit. And I accidentally reversed the red and black primaries to the transformers from a hot/neutral perspective. But I don’t think the transformers care about hot/neutral?

The noise is the same regardless of gain/volume settings. It’s the same in both channels. It gradually comes up in volume as the unit powers up. As soon as it’s powered off, it disappears but music keeps playing until it fades away.

The noise is the same, albeit with different volumes, if I run it into my DIY Hiraga Super 30 Class A SS amp, or my DIYAudio VFet SE SS amp.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this, any help would be greatly appreciated!

P

This is the noise as it presents at the speaker…

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SONY STR-6065 repair and restoration

Hi to all, finally some news regarding this project. I took up working on the amp and brought it back to life, after some extensive fault-searching. It is now up and running, repaired and mostly overhauled. I am waiting only for the three big capacitor cans (C904, 905, 906). Plus some final work 🙂

Thanks to @Mooly for walking me through the repair of a SONY TA-3650 last year, I would not have made this one without your advice. I am happy I could apply my learning this time! I also posted this message over at Audiokarma, where member rswojo scanned the service manual for me (thanks!)

This thread here is the sequel to an older one where I already announced the SONY: https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/sol...0-amp-2sd46-output-devices-2.html#post6665620

This amp is put together very tightly, so work was a bit difficult at times. It is tedious to unscrew a lot of stuff in order to access some parts: if you want to get to the output devices, you need to unscrew a horizontal bar on the upper side of the four individual heatsinks and unscrew each of them from below (two screws). Then you'll find that all the outputs are soldered into the sockets... Three (SONY 2SD88) of four were shot; the fourth (and intact) one was a SONY TX-183S. So somebody already had tried something. Obviously this transistor type (to my knowledge e.g. found in the SONY TA-3200F) seems to be more rugged. All 4 substituted with MJ15024.

Various resistors in both channels in various places were burned. Some small transistors had visibly exploded. The two unobtainable SONY drivers in each channel had miraculously withstood the damage. After pulling the outputs, replacing the burnt resistors, and a lot of testing of the main amp on a DBT (impossible to do this without) and comparing voltages, five other transistors were substituted.

The emitter resistors of one channel were open, which was invisible, so it took me a while to understand that this was why I could not get bias voltage there. After the repairs there was still intermittent distortion in the left channel, which went away when I poked at the bias pot. This also took some time; I found a nearly invisible broken trace close to the solder joint.

After the repair (better get that done first), I started the recap with mostly Panasonic FC which I like a lot. Slightly enhanced capacitance where possible: I went up from 220uF to 330uF (higher voltage) in the emitter feedback caps of the phono and pre amp, and from 470 to 680uF in the main amp for a lower f3. WIMA films for low value coupling and feedback caps.

As the power supply is intensely regulated (it is nearly the same circuit as the 6200F, missing one transistor, but for the rest very similar), I did not up the capacitances very much (for fear of making the transistors smoke). I put in 1800uF/35V FCs instead of 1000uF/10V at C807/808 in the power supply. The main filters will be those blue United Chemicon cans with 50mm diameter and 10000uF/100V which fit exactly in the space of the old ones. C904 will be substituted by a KEMET 1000uF/200V, which will also exactly fit the clamp (25mm).

I put in new dial lamps (8V fuse type). To access them the faceplate needs to be unscrewed, then you can also recap the pre amp which is fixed to the bass/treble pots. The stereo lamp is not fixed yet (stereo works), and I'll unscrew the dial glass again in order to clean the sides from old lacquer and put on new glass stain; the light is very dim and not very green. Maybe I'll then also change the Mylar input cap of the preamp into a bigger polypropylene which I left out for the moment. I'll also change the 4 pots in the main amp to new ones and will substitute the input cap C701/751 from a 0.22 green Mylar to a 0.47 WIMA MKP4, which I also very much like. So still some work ahead indeed.

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For Sale pair Melz 1578 tube (best Russian 6SN7 equivalent)

Hi,
For sale a pair of NOS Melz 1578, otk stamp, 'round holes' plate 1972 and 1973 production dates.

One of the best 6sn7 ever made, one of the best russian tube.

400 euros for pair.

Located in France, shipping within EU prefered, buyer pay shipping costs.
( reason for sale abandonned customer project).
Contact via pm.

Thank you watching.

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For Sale Micro-Audio SMPS600-R2 (+46Vdc) power supply

The Micro-Audio SMPS600-R2 is a high-quality, unregulated 600W switching power supply designed for audio applications. It offers a single-rail output of 46Vdc. SMPS was bought few months ago and it is in perfect working condition. Dimensions are 187x123x50 mm and weight is around 800g.

This SMPS is designed to power various TPA3255 amplifiers, like 3e modules and others. It provides significant sonic upgrade, compare to cheap SMPS.

I paid around 200 EUR (all shipping costs and custom fees included) to import it to Slovenia (EU). My price is 150 EUR + PayPal fee. This price already includes shipping (with tracking) to EU countries. For additional fee, I could ship worldwide.

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For Sale Set of capacitor board for single supply SMPS

I have for sale a set of two additional capacitor boards. They were designed to improve performance of single rail SMPS when powering D class amplifiers (3e, Sylph Audio...). Dimensions of the board are 95x50x40(height with spacers) mm. Each pcb board consist of:

1x Nichicon FW 1000uF 63V
2x Nichicon FW 470uF 100V
1x Nichicon KZ 100uF 100V
1x Mundorf 1uF 250V foil capacitor


Price is 35 EUR (for set of 2) + post costs + PP fee

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JFET-MOSFET headphone amplifier J-Mo 3

There are endless variations of this simple circuit changing the voltage, bias current, and JFET. I'm optimizing here for relatively low Z headphones and overall simplicity.

The gain is 6 dB. Output bias current is 100 mA.

The circuit board is 50mm x 50mm.

Note: the LTSpice output distortion FFT is a little misleading as the JFET and MOSFET 2nd harmonic tend to cancel and how much cancellation depends on the headphone load and output signal. I just happened to hit a minimum at the simulation conditions shown. Typically it's about 0.2 % at -20 dB output.

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For Sale Custom made aluminium enclosure for Class D amplifier

I have for sale custom made aluminium enclosure for D class amplifier. Front plate is made from 10 mm aluminium, side plates from 12 mm aluminium, other plates from 3 mm aluminium. All 10/12 mm plates are CNC machined. Enclosure has extremely fine black power coated finish, so it quite resistant on finger marks. Enclosure comes with blu illuminated LED latching button, set (4x) of quality speaker terminals and main power switch/IEC inlet. Outer dimension are: 380x286x90 mm (feet and speaker terminals included). Inner dimensions are: 333x263x75 mm. Weight is around 4kg. Amplifier enclosure is suitable for 3e amplifiers (holes already drilled) and others too (Purifi Hypex), with some modifications of coarse.

Price is 175 EUR + PP fee + post costs

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Simple, no-math transformer snubber using Quasimodo test-jig

A power transformer snubber is a wonderful thing for reducing or eliminating RFI from rectifier-induced LCR ringing. Unfortunately it's a huge pain to design and optimize a snubber. First you have to measure the transformer's leakage inductance and secondary capacitance, at about 100 kHz, which is not especially easy. Then you have to estimate the capacitance of your rectifier(s), which does not always appear on datasheets. Finally you plug these numbers into a formula that spits out snubber values -- and then you hope it's all correct.

Shown here is a little test jig called "Quasimodo the bell-ringer" which makes this process a great deal simpler. Quasimodo connects an actual snubber across the transformer, smacks the transformer to make it ring, and you observe the ringing on an oscilloscope. Then you adjust a (25 turn) potentiometer on the jig, watching the scope to find the setting which completely damps out all ringing. And you're done! Just use the same snubber values in the end product, as you used on the test-jig, and success is yours. (The 25 turn trimpot is socketed for ease of measuring the final resistance that gave perfect damping).

Attached are some scope waveforms showing a Quasimodo jig driving an Avel Lindberg toroidal transformer (from the Akitika GT-101 power amp). I set the trimpot to 5 different resistance values, and got the 5 traces shown. When the trimpot was removed from its socket (R = infinity), I got the black trace. A setting of Rtrimpot = 109 ohms (red trace) gave "critical damping" with no ringing: see yellow arrowhead.

Quasimodo gave an optimum snubber having critical damping (Greek letter zeta = 1.0), without requiring any calculations and without measuring the transformer's inductance or capacitance. It is a quick procedure, too: set Rtrim to max, observe waveshape on scope while reducing Rtrim, stop when all ringing is completely damped out, remove Rtrim from socket and measure it with an ohmmeter. About 3 minutes from start to finish.

This Avel Lindberg transformer has dual primaries for 115V/230V operation. So I configured the primaries the other way and ran Quasimodo again: figure attached. Not surprisingly, the optimum snubber for 230V operation is (slightly) different than the optimum for 115V operation: 120 ohms versus 109 ohms. Plus or minus the error tolerance of my ohmmeter, of course!

I've also attached a .pdf note that contains more details, schematics, construction tips, user guide, more "Quasimodo in action" scope photos, plus a bit of theory and a list of references.

EDIT 1: I had a small number of extra PCBoards + kits of all parts, which I sold at my cost, in October - December, 2013. They are all gone now, and I have no plans to sell any more. I encourage any energetic and enthusiastic diyAudio member to organize a Group Buy, using the PCB Gerber files and Bills Of Materials I provide in this thread. "CheapoModo" (a low cost version of Quasimodo) kits and PCBs are available in the Vendor's Bazaar, here.

EDIT 2: I have attached the PCB Gerber files and the Bill Of Materials, for both boards (V3_SMD, and V4_thru_hole) right here, to post #1. So now they are very easy to find!

EDIT 3: (April 2022) I just stumbled across this "Yes Math!" application note from Texas Instruments, which calculates RC snubbers to eliminate ringing from switch mode power supplies: (link)

EDIT 4: If you don't yet own an oscilloscope, post #2540 of this thread shows a cheap (USD 40) little scope toy which works for Quasimodo.

EDIT 5: Answers to frequently asked questions:

  1. Build guide for V3 (SMD) is found in post #27
  2. Build guide for V4 (thru hole) is found in post #103
  3. 2 hour build time, quick-and-dirty Quasimodo on solderless protoboard (no PCB!) is found in post #18 and in (the CheapoModo thread)
  4. Substitute parts recommendations are found in the Bill Of Materials
  5. How to choose a MOSFET besides the ones in the BOM, is found in post #175
  6. How to check your own BOM before purchasing components, is found in post #203
  7. diyAudio members who have ordered their own sets of PCBoards from a PCB fab, using the Gerbers provided here, include: gazzagazza, luvdunhill, Borges, stormsonic, cwtim01, normundss, dsolodov, EUVL, kissmurphy, stephengrenfell, Piersma, SyncTronX, yoaudio, andrensairr. You can PM them to find out how easy or difficult it was.
. .

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QUAD 2 Problems

Hi, I'm restoring a couple of Quad 2 monoblocks. The amps worked a long time ago and I have replaced all the rsistors with Kiwames, the main psu caps with F and T 15 + 15uf caps and the other electrolytics with decent quality Nichicons. Coupling caps have also been replaced. On turning on the amps the rectifier and output tubes all flash as if the amp is oscillating wildly. The cathode resistor (5 watt) is getting very hot quickly so the tubes are dissipating much more than they should. Both monoblocks are behaving identically so it cannot be a case of a poor /missed connection. I tried adding two x 22pf caps to the grids of the output tubes which made no difference. So my questions are:

1. Any pointers on the cause given these amps are generally stable?
2. Any pointers on the best way to test given I don't want to have the amp operating with this level of excess dissipation?

Thanks in advance
David

  • Poll Poll
Wired/Wireless DSP-capable DAC

What is your interest in this concept?

  • Cool, I'm Very Interested

    Votes: 8 53.3%
  • A Bit Interested

    Votes: 2 13.3%
  • Maybe, but I Need More Details

    Votes: 4 26.7%
  • No, Because this Already Exists as a Project or Product

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Not Interested

    Votes: 1 6.7%

I am thinking about creating a tutorial for a wireless DSP-capable DAC based on a Pi (3/4/5) and a HiFiBerry HAT. I wanted to get some feedback to see how much interest there would be in this kind of project/tutorial.

The idea is to be able to have a DAC that is fully DSP capable but is not directly connected to another computer. Audio is sent from a computer running Linux or WSL2 under Windows 11 over the LAN (wired or wireless) to the Pi, where any DSP is carried out and then the audio is rendered via the HiFiBerry HAT. Audio is streamed as uncompressed PCM in a fixed rate and format of the user's choosing.

I am currently working up this concept with a DAC8x HAT and I wanted to see how much interest there would be in a tutorial. Other audio HATs for the Pi by HiFiBerry can be used, or even USB audio interfaces, etc. using the same approach and only small modifications to the setup. The audio quality is primarily determined by the DAC itself, and the user is able to change that at will.

Luxman M03 - Issue with left channel VU meter

Hi All,

I have noticed that when the volume is tuned down with no sound that the left Vu meter on my Luxman M03 is showing a reading of (0.01) and the right is (0.00). There are no issue with sound etc and the Vu eventually went back to (0.00) after a short listening period. I have however noticed after starting up again a while after that the left VU is reading (0.01) again.

Any ideas on what could be causing this.

Thanks in advance.

Simplistic NJFET RIAA

Hello people.

I want to make an easy RIAA with NJFETS switchable for mm and mc. I thought of that no feedback simplistic circuit in the attached picture.
I am not asking for very good performance. Just to work and don't sound harsh. Will it work at all?😀

Build guide MC & MM older version
FSP version & report -MC only- hardwired
Official PCB's build guide of MC & MM FSP
How it works (FSP schematic description)

Year 2020 update:
Ultra FSP board with gain switching & new shunt reg

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3D-Printig of transformer bobbins

Hi,

flanged bobbins for winding conventional iron core transformers are becoming increasingly hard to find in the right sizes and implementations. I'd like to examine sliced OPT winding and compare with conventional interleaving. Hence, I need bobbins with three or more chambers. Is fused deposition modeling a viable way to make them, despite the thermoplastic filaments? Which material would be preferred here? Or is stereolithography in general the better way, 'cause the resin doesn't need melting and the component isn't necessarily thermoplastic?

Best regards!

For Sale Gainclone chip amp

For sale is a Gainclone amp I built some years ago and hardly used. It's a little dusty but fully functional except it needs RCA jacks and binding posts. It could also use a better enclosure than the one you see in the picture. Uses the LM3875 chip. Asking $75 OBO including shipping to CONUS only.

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Miro PCM63P with stackable USB-I2S interface

One set of complete and tested Miro PCM63 DAC.
In my opinion, this is the most direct and best combo implementation of the Miro PCM63 DAC.
Sounds wonderful. It is a full, completed DAC, with a pair of Signetics NE5534 op amp for the IV.

You need +5/-5V and +5/-5V (For DAC VA and VD rails) and +/- 10 ~15V for the IV op amp.

All high quality parts are eg. Nichicon gold caps, Wima film caps etc etc... See the pics.
All parts are BRAND NEW including the PCM63P chips. They are installed for the completion and testing to commission the DAC.
Only the op amp ICs are used parts.

Two types of USB-I2S interface can be stacked via the pin headers on the board.
1. JLSounds i2SoverUSB III FIO or older version
2. York + Reclocker

DAC board alone (what you see in the picture in this first post, without USB-I2S interface) + shipping tracked & registered = Singapore dollars 260
I am only ready to accept Paypal Family and Friends as payment.


More information of this DAC here :
https://electrodac.blogspot.com/p/dac-ad1862-almost-tht-i2s-input-nos-r.html
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...s-input-nos-r-2r.354078/page-209#post-7049224
17458282991858163911425479773419.jpg

We are building a first-class RIAA EQ

Dear reader,
I think it's time for you to put your own OREAD-EQ into practice.

Perhaps the original discussion and finding thread has become a bit too long and confusing, so I'm starting a brand new container for all our own builds of this interesting and certainly much underrated MM phono equalizer.

To get you in the mood, here is a PDF document containing all the image files backwards, i.e. up to just before the beginning.

I wish all DIY enthusiasts a lot of fun with OREAD, a daring concept. You will find all the necessary information in the thread itself, the components used are available worldwide and with @catd's circuit boards you can easily and absolutely safely rebuild OREAD.

Other board versions are also very welcome.

All the best to you,
hbt.audio

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Behringer Has a New Measurement Microphone

So I've been on the lookout for an affordable, small diaphragm/body omni mic for room measurements. Something that will be be more omni to a higher frequency than a 1/2" mic body. I've had my eye on the MicW M416 for that purpose for some time, but last month I saw that Behringer sells a new measurement mic that looked like it would fit what I was looking for so I took a chance and ordered one.

It's called the ECM PRO, and it's clearly "inspired" by the DPA 4091, or Neumann MA 1. But as of this writing, it is only about $40. There is a calibration file that you can download for it that is highly suspect. I tested it out against one of my calibrated ECM8000's with a tweeter in a low(ish) diffraction cabinet, IR windowed, and trying to get the diaphragms in close to the same point in space.

Here is on axis ECM PRO uncalibrated and ECM8000 calibrated:
ECM8000 and ECM PRO.jpg

Here is ECM PRO 0 degrees to source and 90 degrees to source:
ECM PRO 0 and 90.jpg

And for comparison, that ECM8000 also at 0 and 90:
ECM8000 0 and 90.jpg

I haven't tested it at low frequency yet, but the ECM PRO is as expected, more omni than a ECM8000. Unexpectedly, however, this particular one needs only minimal calibration.
PXL_20241204_033955230.jpg

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The Rush Cascode: Possible Wiki page

Hi all.

If you don't know about the Rush cascode I suggest you use Google and your other preferred resources to get some background information. Here are some threads and pages where it has been discussed:

http://www.4qdtec.com/pwramp.html

http://www.4qdtec.com/preamp.html

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=61289

First of all, I need to add that I don't have much experience in electronic design. My comprehension and understanding at this point has come entirely from resources such as DIYAudio, Doug Self's site and many other free internet resources. Even though comprehension has come relatively easy for me, everything I know has still come from theoretical sources and not true time-tempered experience.

The Rush Cascode is a manifestation of the differential long-tailed pair. Same concept, different ways to implement it. It was first used by englishman Christopher Rush of THX fame, who is still designing today (info provided by AKSA).

In some posts here on DIYAudio, the Rush cascode has been dismissed quickly after theoretical and mental comparisons to the conventional long-tailed pair (henceforth referred to as the LTP) as an input scheme. I think more thought and work should be put into its understanding.

The Rush cascode can be difficult to get working because of its speed and gain, not to mention DC offset and temperature compensation if one intends to make a DC-coupled amplifier. However, there are things we can do to get around this, which I intend to expand upon.

The rush cascode can be difficult to make stable for the following reasons:

1: High gain.

2: High speed.


The common solutions to this are:

1: A degeneration resistor between the emitters to decrease gain.


Firstly, it seems there is a misconception that like the conventional LTP, the Rush Cascode benefits from using high-gain transistors. In my simulations I have found this to be inaccurate.

I have the following observations to present:

1: The distortion of the Rush Cascode is more dependent on the degeneration resistor than it is the transistors used. A low degeneration resistor will in my experience get lower distortion.

2: Stability decreases with higher-gain transistors.

I have the following suggestions when implementing the Rush Cascode:

1: Use low-gain devices, like the 2N5771/5769, with as small a degeneration resistor as possible.

2: Increase open-loop gain in other parts of the circuit instead of the cascode itself. This will result in better stability and distortion than the other way around.

3: Use both legs, rather than one, to increase OLG and VAS speed.

I believe that the Rush Cascode should have some 'net coverage, which is why I am doing this. More people should know about it.

So I want to make a Wiki page and/or PDF that talks about it along with some example circuits. I also have designed and amp on the sim that has a nifty thermal and DC offset compensation scheme, although it requires some calculations.

I want to see more circuits with it, and I want to see how others get past its shortcomings.

Attached are some ways I have used it in the simulator.

- keantoken

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ROKSAN ROK L2/S1 Pre-and Power Amp - Schematic and PCB Images wanted

For performing any modification steps I want to have the genuine circuit diagrams. Maybe one of the member can upload this.
in post #51 under
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/2sj49-2sk134.1188/page-3
is mentioned, that one of the most used circuits was choice for the power amp.
This URL in German I have found concerning this models
http://www.hifi-forum.de/viewthread-84-24940.html

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Pass Aleph 5 troubleshooting

Hi Everyone,

Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to purchase an original 1996 vintage Aleph 5 amplifier. It was described as being in working condition, but since it was located in another city, I couldn’t test or inspect it in person. I only recently got my hands on it.

When the amp arrived, it was freezing cold, so I knew it wasn’t safe to power it on immediately. In my excitement, I decided to take a peek under the hood, which led me to remove the side heat sinks so I could get the top off. Since I’d already planned to replace the original, aging capacitors, I decided to proceed with the upgrades.

I replaced the original Pani 220uF capacitors with Silmics, adding 1uF Wima bypasses, and I swapped out the four original 33,000uF cans for new 47,000uF ones.

At this stage, I noticed something concerning: the fuse holder showed signs of excessive wear, and instead of the factory-specified 4A slow-blow fuse, a 6A slow-blow fuse was installed. It dawned on me that I might have made a rookie mistake—modifying the amp before confirming that it was actually functioning. With that realization, I reassembled everything, triple-checked all the connections and capacitor orientations, and prepared to test the amp. For what it’s worth, I didn’t see any signs of damaged components or previous repairs inside.

For testing, I powered the amp using a dim bulb tester with a 100W bulb and connected a pair of multimeters to monitor the DC offset at the speaker outputs. I understand that a class A amplifier will typically keep the bulb brighter than a standard amp, making it harder to interpret the results.

On powering up, the bulb initially went bright, briefly dimmed, and then brightened again. The real concern was the multimeters showing large amounts of DC at the outputs, prompting me to immediately shut everything down. I wasn’t able to catch the exact peak DC values because of the quick shutdown, but as the power supply discharged, the meters both showed around 1V DC for an extended period.

This brings me to the part where I’d appreciate some guidance. I’m thinking of disconnecting the output stages from the main board to isolate the issue. This would let me test the power supply voltages and determine whether the front end is feeding DC to the outputs, helping narrow down which section of the amp is causing the problem.

Does this troubleshooting approach sound reasonable? Or is there a chance that my testing process itself was flawed?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Rescuing & Reimagining a Technics SL-100c

Dissected, but far from dead:
Here lies the nerve center of an essentially brand-new Technics SL-100c:

Guts-1.png


So... Where to begin?

Browsing eBay on a recent evening, I ran across a listing to the effect of, " !!PARTS!! Technics SL-100/1500 Tonearm, Platter, Motherboard, Otherboard. "

Okay, uhhh... [clicks mouse]

As advertised, the seller was parting out a "damaged in shipping" 100c that he'd purchased "as a return." After some back-and-forth, a story emerged: Apparently someone bought this $1k+ turntable on Amazon, stripped off the stock cartridge and then returned it in the original box (minus most of the original engineered packaging). As many likely know, there's sort-of a supply chain purgatory where (literally) billions of returned items languish for long periods before being either bundled and resold or trucked off to a landfill. Never did I imagine those items to include things like brand-new turntables with ultra-accurate coreless motors that hifi mags have been raving about.

According to the seller, the unit was basically loose in the box and took a beating in transit: Dustcover destroyed, tonearm badly damaged, chassis cosmetically irredeemable, and... motor working perfectly. Unable to stop myself, I bought the motor, platter and everything you see here for a few hundred bucks.

Why tho?

Well for one thing, I've since confirmed the performance: Assembled with the motor just sitting on my desk, the RPM iphone app shows the platter running at 33.34 +0.03, w/f 0.15% (and even better at 45). That DUSTS the belt-drive deck I spent a mint on five years ago (which frankly leaves me wanting in other ways as well). More than anything, I just want to get my hands into this. I lust after classic broadcast decks, and have long wanted to join the SP-10 club (yes, I've spent a lot of time on The Incredible Thread). But for a lower price-of-entry, and given the specs above, this seems like a pretty cool alternative challenge.

And before anyone asks: Yes, I'm a bit out of my depth. I know this will cost more than I think. I don't yet have all the tools I'll need. There will be massive research and a lot of trial and error. I know there's a lot I don't know, and I'm prepared for this to take a long time.

So all that said, this thread will serve as the build log.

It's getting late, but at some point over the weekend I'll post my progress so far, my overall plan, anticipated next steps, and a few questions for the forum.

Really hoping a few of Technics Heads (and other experienced folks) will vibe with this project, follow and advise.
Cheers!

Help tweaking crossover

Hello all,

I'm in the midst of tweaking my 3-way crossover and I could use some help. My drivers are an Eminence Alpha 15 woofer, a Mark Audio Alpair 12P midrange and a GRS PT2522 planar tweeter. They are in an open baffle. Here is what I have



crossover.jpg


I realize having the resistor in series on the woofer is not ideal.

I only had frd and zma files for the GRS but here's the frequency response graph on x-sim


crossover fr.jpg



and here's the measured in-room response:

IMG_3299.PNG



as you can see, there's a dip in the mid-range.

Things I'm thinking of doing:

changing the 68uF cap to the woofer to 33uF to smooth the spike at 250K. Change the 1.1uF cap on the LP filter section on the midrange to 5uF. Increase the values of the resistors on my tweeter L pad.

I tried an L pad on the woofer and it sounded terrible. I didn't have a bunch of values of resistors available for use however. I tried resistors in the 2-3ohm range. What would you recommend to attenuate the bass?

As is, the speakers sound pretty good but I'd love to get them more balanced

thanks!

Aegis DIY Tube Headphone Amplifier

Hello,

I am releasing a DIY tube amplifier project, the first complete DIY project I've released on this forum. The amplifier is called Aegis.

I started my DIY journey on the headphone forum Head-Fi. I have something of a tube DIY blog there where I catalog all of my ongoing projects. For a short period of time, I was building and selling my designs as a hobby business, but quickly realized I didn't have the time for it working a full time job. I thought I'd work on a DIY amplifier that forum members could build for themselves without my involvement. I've been working on it for the past year or so.

This is a headphone enthusiast's tube amplifier. I say that as I'm sure some will balk at the cost of parts, which is roughly $2,000 USD. Given what some people are willing to pay for commercial tube headphone amplifiers, which are creeping toward five figure prices, it's relatively affordable. I tried to come up with a design that 1) is easy to build, even for a novice DIYer, 2) uses easy to acquire vacuum tubes, 3) is simple and robust with low likelihood of parts failure and easy to troubleshoot, 4) uses a circuit that is not readily available on the commercial market, and 5) sounds good! I do not typically build budget-oriented designs for myself, and I did not do so here. I like to build amplifiers that look like professionally made products. Please abstain from telling me that it is too expensive, a waste of money, etc. You do not have to build it.

I've included download links to the BOM, chassis CAD files, and an exhaustive project document that includes an explanation of the circuit, schematics, recommended equipment, information on acquiring parts, step-by-step instructions with photos, testing procedures, and some basic measurements. Please note the instructions are written for a new DIYer, not one with experience, so they are very detailed. The gerber files to order the PCBs are attached to this post.

Measurements are in the last section of the build document.

You can find some subjective impressions of the amplifier here:
Login to view embedded media
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/aegis-diy-tube-headphone-amplifier.965530/post-17224730
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf-caldera-new-planar-magnetic-from-zmf.964836/post-17553801

Please let me know if you come across any typos or anything seems out of place and I will try to address it.

Link to build document PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C2NSRh8DkC1Blr2GMVC_83XAdM0IUFZA/view?usp=sharing
Link to the Excel BOM: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ouid=113213015624875847507&rtpof=true&sd=true
Link to zipped chassis CAD files: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GXCq11-S97FtTey2lVpv6CgkBul4Uryb/view?usp=sharing

PXL_20230310_231254258.jpg PXL_20230310_233107674.jpg PXL_20230310_233336192.NIGHT.jpg

Attachments

5U4 Warmup Hum

As a kid, I started working with vacuum tube audio in the 1950s' and never really stopped. After all these years, I have a weird 5U4 that baffles me. I seem to have a 5U4 rectifier that puts out a brief hum just as the filament starts to glow, but before any DC is produced. It is a PSVANE classic series 5U4 I bought for the classic look. I have never had a rectifier tube produce a brief hum before any DC output appears. How it gets to the speaker before any tubes conduct baffles me. It is a very low level hum barely audible. If I plug in another 5U4, there is no brief hum before DC output. Both output transformers are three inches away from the power transformer. I doubt there is any inductive coupling going on between the transformers. The 5 volt filament winding does have a center tap from which I pull the DC output. Filter cap at the 5U4 is 33uF at 500V. After a 6HY choke there is a 100uF at 500V cap. After the choke, there are 120 ohm power resistors that feed each channel B+ with a 470uF at 500 volt cap. None of that should matter since I can plug in a different 5U4 and no brief hum. As far as I can tell, the PSVANE 5U4 is doing no harm so I put it back in.

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ELEKIT TU-8900 2A3/300B (Stereophile Review Available NOW - July 2023 Edition)

ELEKIT 2A3/300B SET AMP
Price US$1945.00 (Ll2785C amorphous core OPT)

Stereophile Reveiw : July 2023 Edition

https://www.stereophile.com/category/gramophone-dreams

Stereophile Class A Components​

https://www.stereophile.com/content/recommended-components-fall-2023-edition-integrated-amplifiers




This is our first time to offer Amorphous core OPT. I want to make sure the Lundahl amorphous core is superior than the regular C Core.
This is the sample of Amorphous Core for TU-8900.. Amorphous core requires a longer burn in time..
Is it better??



No Takman for this model - Takman is running out of material to make 2% carbon resistors.

TUBE SET OPTIONS:
COSSOR/Linlai Delux 2A3 + Sylvania 12BH7A $380
COSSOR/Linlai Blackplate 300B +Sylvania 12BH7A $345
COSSOR/Linlai WE300B +Brimar 12AU7 $$695
Western Electric WE300B (5 Years Warranty) + Sylvania 12BH7A


COSSOR/LINLAI Delux metal base 2A3 $285
COSSOR/LINLAI WE2A3 $385
COSSOR/LIMLAI E-2A3 $495
Sylvania 12BH7 $95 (pair)
Brimar 6067/12AU7 $159 (pair)

If you buy TU-8900 with LL2785C and Western Electric 300B, the Cossor/Linlai Delux 2A3 is free

COUPLING CAPS 100nF 450V x 2 (VCAP CuTF $195
Cossor/Linlai WE2A3

46 x Audio Note Tantalum Resistors $5.25 each
4 x Takman 2% (3.3ohm and 8.2 ohm)
2 x AMTRANS 1% AMRG (15 ohm 2W) $9.50 each
2 x Audio Note Silver 0.1 600V $345 each
2 x Acrylic Bracket (to secure the silver caps) Free with Silver Cap










LEFT - TU-8600S (Metal Tube Cover and metal knob), RIGHT - TU-8900 (Plastic Tube Cover, plastic knob) https://www.flickr.com/photos/64593884@N08/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/64593884@ https://www.flickr.com/photos/64593884@N08/


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Matching headphone impedance/volume levels.

You can change the headphone impedance/volume levels by
simply removing the front panel and change the position of a
short pin.



Directly-heated triode tubes like the 300B and 2A3 enjoy an enduring popularity among audiophiles. The 300B with its rich midrange and extended bass- and 2A3 with its delicate expression and gentle tone offer a very special sonic experience. These 2 tubes are similar in appearance but very different in characteristics and can both be used in TU-8900 without any special changes in amplifier settings. Many manufacturers are producing 300B and 2A3 tubes so users can enjoy trying the various versions available from different vendors. *
*NOTE- TUBES ARE NOT INCLUDED WITH THE TU-8900!



Automatic detection of 300B and 2A3 tubes
“300B” and “2A3” tubes look similar but their respective filament voltage and operating parameters are totally different. Their supply voltages need to be adjusted depending on which of these tubes are used in the same amp. In TU-8900, the tubes that are installed are detected automatically and the correct filament voltage and voltage of B-power are automatically set. When 300B tubes are installed- the LEDs on the sides of the volume knob will light up in blue. If 2A3 tubes are installed- the volume knob LEDs will light up in green. Additionally- these LEDs on the right and left side of the volume knob will turn red when there is excessive current due to defective tubes, etc., and the current is shut down to protect the amp. The red LEDs will also diagnose the problematic tube- the right side of the volume knob turns red when excess current occurs in the right channel, and vice versa.




■ Tube-friendly design
Warm-up time for directly-heated tubes and indirectly-heated tubes are different. In most designs, directly-heated tubes warm up faster than indirectly-heated tubes- so often directly heated tubes are often overloaded. With TU-8900, the voltage is gradually raised and reduces the level of overload to the directly-heated tubes.


12BH7A instead of 12AU7
TU-8900 is designed to use 12AU7 as voltage amplifying tubes. However, 12BH7A, with high driving ability, can also be used instead of 12AU7.


Ample space for larger coupling capacitors
Coupling capacitors can have a big effect on the sound quality. For the TU-8900, high quality conductive polymer electrolytic caps and polypropylene film caps are provided. However, exchanging for other coupling capacitors is also possible. The maximum size of the caps that can fit in the space is 22mm in diameter x 44mm in length.

Matching headphone impedance/volume levels
You can change the headphone impedance/volume levels by simply removing the front panel and change the position of a short pin.


Newly designed circuitry
The power transformer has independent windings for the right and left channel to minimize the interference between channels as much as possible. The filament power uses the latest DC-DC converter for extremely low noise and high efficiency. Schottky barrier diodes and fast recovery diodes are used as rectifying diodes that reduces even the most negligible noise spikes. Listeners can enjoy music free from noise even when using a pair of high efficiency headphones. The main circuit of the power unit is unitized per channel as a module.

Easily change the feedback setting to NON-NFB
Many triode tube amps use negative feedback in their design. The TU-8900 has an option for listeners to hear the triode tube sound without negative feedback. In TU-8900, changing the position of a short plug on the PCB can change the setting to NON-NFB. The gain level increases by approx. 8dB when NON-NFB setting.

Updated more reliable tube sockets
After brainstorming with our vendor, we have come up with a more reliable 4-pin sockets for 300B/2A3. Tubes are mounted safely and securely when installed in these sockets.


High heat-resistant polycarbonate tube cage
The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) sets guidelines on thermal limits on materials and parts, such as a chassis and the tube cage. The TU-8900 tube cage top can heat up to 100 degrees C due to the heat from the output tubes. A robust polycarbonate tube cage with high heat resistance is used to meet the IEC standard.

Specifications of TU-8900

●Stock tubes  : 300B (or 2A3) x 2pcs, 12AU7 (or 12BH7A) x 2pcs *Tubes not included
* specifications below are with the 300B+12AU7, with NFB, 8Ω loaded
●Rated output : 8W+8W (300B) / 3.5W+3.5W (2A3) <THD 10%>
●Rated input : 1Vrms (300B) / 650mVrms (2A3)
●Residual noise: 15μV (IHF-A)
●Frequency response: 7Hz-90kHz (with NFB) / 12Hz-45kHz (Without NFB)
●Input impedance : 50kΩ
●Output impedance : 4-6.3Ω, 8-16Ω (SW on backside)
●Input terminal : LINE x 1
●Output terminal : Speaker output terminals (L/R channel):Gold-plated screw type terminal (Banana plug usable)
Headphone terminal :6.3mm headphone jack
●Power voltage : AC110-120V or AC220-240V 50/60Hz (3P inlet)
●Power consumption: 95W (300B) / 65W (2A3)
●Measurement : W356xH214xD320mm (including projections)
●Weight : Approx. 11.4kg (excluding a power cable)
●JAN code : 4952682107941



After 200 hours listening, I am confident to offer the Audio Note upgrade option:​

46 x Audio Note Tantalum Resistors $5.25 each
4 x Takman 2% (3.3ohm and 8.2 ohm)
2 x AMTRANS 1% AMRG (15 ohm 2W) $9.50 each
2 x Audio Note Silver 0.1 600V $345 each
2 x Acrylic Bracket (to secure the silver caps) Free with Silver Cap










Attach files
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For Sale Edfier MR 4 studio monitor (India)

Hi all,
for sale Edifier MR4 studio monitors. As these measured well with respect to linear frequency response, I bought it to check recording quality of hindi film/classical music. The purpose is served and the same are for sale. Pictures were for Indian website so I had to put name and date.

  • Like new condition. Just 2 months old. And not used much. Just tested 35 to 40 titles of Hindi film/classical music cds songs for ~20/30 seconds.
  • Another reason for sale is need funds for a new DIY project.
  • Probably has carry in warranty still left for 9/10 months. (Service center India : LINK )
  • Original Bill, box, cables and literature etc. available.
  • Sound quality is good with just enough bass .
  • Tone controls with neutral position.
  • Headphone, Aux, TRS and RCA inputs.
  • Video of working and sound test available.
  • This will probably be for India sale only. Or if anyone is visiting India.
  • If any question ask.

Price is Indian Rs. 9000/- (significantly lower than original price). Shipping Extra at buyers risk.

copy Edifier 1.jpg


copy Edifier 2.jpg


Copy Edifier 3.jpg


copy Edifier 4.jpg


copy Edifier 5.jpg


Thanks and regards.

Mauthe mechanical clocks

Hello retro fans!

I visited local Red Cross flea market and bought a nice vintage art deco-style Mauthe mantel clock, sold in 1965.

The box's oak veneer coating had some erosion, but Osmo furniture wax fixed them easily. Mechanism is labelled W45 XXVI sno 97199
The mechanism is working and it has three bells but seems to not ring on right hour count. Any ideas before I show it to local watchsmith?

20240116_101557.jpg


20240116_094128.jpg 20240116_185524.jpg

Younger brother of the LM3886 - LM2876 in parallel

Hi all,

Because LM3886 is nowhere to find I got two LM2876s and paralleled them. These are the same Overture series as LM3886 and sound equally good, except not as powerful.

I was able to get 40W 50W into 8ohm and 60W 76W into 4ohm with 24V-0V-24V transformer secondaries.

Updated measurements:

Power supply
24V-0V-24V AC secondaries
33.4V DC at idle

Gain: 25.8dB
SNR: 101.39dB
Sensitivity: 0.835mV

8ohm
19.9Vrms max output
49W into 8 ohms
THD+N: 0.0011% or -98.96dB at 1kHz
THD+N: 0.0023% or -92.58dB at 10kHz
Heatsink barely got hot.

4ohm
17.5 Vrms max output
76W into 4 ohms
THD+N: 0.0024% or -92.4dB at 1kHz
THD+N: 0.0058% or -84.6dB at 10kHz
Heatsink got warm.

4ohm 5W output
THD+N: 0.0013% or -97.61dB at 1kHz

Listening tests:
This board sounds amazing!
Great resolution. Clear highs, warm mids, and powerful low end.
Had no problem playing low sensitivity ELAC speakers.
Very dynamic sound. At max volume got so loud!
I would say this chip sounds 95% of the LM3886.

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OB + IB = Good?

Next project. What to do with the high quality drivers one already owns. Left overs from projects that changed or never was.

Drivers.jpg



Drivers are:

2 x Beyma TPL-150/B: https://www.beyma.com/speakers/Fichas_Tecnicas/beyma-speakers-data-sheet-amt-TPL150B.pdf

4 x Jantzen JA-8008 HMQ: https://jantzen-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/060-0008-1.pdf

2 x Beyma 18PWB1000Fe/S: https://www.beyma.com/speakers/Fich...data-sheet-low-mid-frequency-18PWB1000FeS.pdf

Since I already have Infinite Baffle subs in both my home theater (2 x 18") and my 2 channel setup (4 x 21") in the living room, why not also have it in the upstairs office?
Also, I've always been curious in finding out more about Open Baffle. All the superlatives I read about OB seem to fit my ideas of how music could sound in a room.

The idea:

Room is W3,1 x D4,6 x H2,4 m (ab. 10 x 15 x 8 ft) with slanted ceilings in the width direction. Wall height below is 1,2 m (4 ft).

Put the 18's in thick panels, one left & one right, and attach them to the studs (cc 0,6 m (2 ft)) on the 1,2 m wall. Wall panels are too flimsy to be used as is.
There's a space behind the wall that is big enough for the IB to work. Use them up to 100 Hz.

Build smallish (?) baffles for the 8" and AMT's in a D'Appolito and hang them from the ceiling about 1,5 m (5 ft) in front of the wall where the 18's are mounted.
Open the AMT's back and play dipole. X-over 1500 - 1800 Hz.

Use a MiniDSP Flex8 to do the crossovers, DSP and Dirac. (Already have this also)

Buy some class D amps to power each channel.
Maybe IcePower: https://www.soundimports.eu/en/icep...OlLo3S6XKRe-XzumApw7YwO4ijBXg34UaAkgAEALw_wcB
With power supply: https://www.soundimports.eu/en/icep...OlLo3S6XKRe-XzumApw7YwO4ijBXg34UaAkgAEALw_wcB

Maybe a Wiim as source to play music from Tidal: https://www.wiimhome.com/wiimultra/overview

Questions:

- Is my small room suitable for this idea?

- What width should the baffle be to be able to get output down towards 100 Hz from the 8's?

- Do I maybe have to buy some bigger drivers also to help the 8's to get down to 100 Hz, in a WMTMW?

- If I raise X-over to 150 hz, maybe that will help? Or is that too high for the IB?

These are my thoughts so far and now I would like to hear from you, the people with much more experience in OB. I'm a noob.
Is this idea at all feasible?
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Hello from Bilambil, Australia

I have been an audiophile since my youth. First good diy speakers were Wharfedale Unit 5 three ways. Great with my Lenco L78 and Goodmans 110 receiver. Progressed through various speaker builds. A nice one was a Proac R2.5 clone but my favourite so far is a Falcon kit for my T27/B110 Kefs from the seventies with a matched to serial numbers crossover. Also done some amp building , SunAudio 300B and SunAudio pre amp, as well as OTLs from Bruce Rozenblit.
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Help pick a 1.4" compression driver

ok so i need some direction as to a 1.4" compression driver. I am looking for a 1.4" compression driver for a 800Hz horn. Budget is $400 each. So far I have looked at:

Beyma CP755/Nd (a little over budget)
Faital Pro HF140 or HF146/r line
RCF ND940
SB Audience 65CDN-T
Beyma TPL150 - Not a compression driver but could look at as I would save $ not building a 800Hz horn
B&C 980TN
B&C 1090TN

I probably have missed a bunch also.

This is for a hi-fi speaker not a P.A. system. For now its just a 2-way with a 15" but may add a supertweeter at a later date.

Thanks for any help!
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Chassis hunt

Hi,

Looking for chassis that are similar to what's being sold here in the store. Mostly interested in 4U and 5U and compatible with F4, F5, F5T, F6, Aleph J...

I'm in Canada (Toronto) so preferably something that can be ordered from a Canadian vendor to avoid import duties and costly shipping.

Any clue where to look for these? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks! Cheers!

Zenductor 2 Amp Camp '24 version

A visual guide to the Rothacher/Pass Zenductor 2

The Zenductor 2 is a mono block, single-ended, zero-feedback, Class-A audio amplifier. You need two for stereo.


Nelson’s article can be found here - https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/burning-amp-2024.414636/post-7820909

All photos in this guide will show one amplifier being built.

tempImagevmNurc.gif


Parts for one amplifier.

Let's look a little closer at al the various bits -

tempImagem9qvOE.gif


The circuit board everything attaches to.

tempImagexEeVyX.gif


Zenductor 2 is powered by a 16v 4.5A brick-style Power Supply.

tempImageDbWgkf.gif


Here's the magic... the big device is the choke (inductor) that loads the output stage. The darling little transformer is used for voltage gain.

tempImageRgE0MA.gif


Please note the little circular notch in the plastic closest to the camera, this denotes pin 1.

tempImageqgZ4oK.gif


L to R, RCA input jack, DC power connector, power switch

tempImageH6MR5E.gif


Capacitors. there are 2 different values that look quite similar. The physically bigger can is 4700uF 25V, the smaller is 6800uF 10V. Make sure you have the right one when stuffing the PCB.

tempImageURMC8e.gif


Electrolytic capacitors are polarized. It matters which way they are installed. The long lead is positive (+). The can has negative (-) marked on the heatshrink.
This photo show the 4700uF 25v

tempImageHUti2I.gif


1000uF 25v

tempImageCKWM0s.gif


10uF 35v SILMIC input capacitor.

tempImage5vkPla.gif


This is a small value poly capacitor used in the notch network, it's not polarized and can be inserted any way.

tempImagemsQUsw.gif


Speaker jacks.

tempImagecVqFmL.gif


Nifty rectangular LED

tempImagefZ8T6J.gif


The input section uses an array of 8 matched Jfet.

tempImageF88xGh.gif


Output section is comprised of these two matched Mosfet.

tempImageq8OG6m.gif


Mosfet heatsinks.

tempImagewD1nYO.gif


M3 hardware for heatsinks.

tempImageG3p0UH.gif


Assembly will look like this.

shaddart = shad dart, A mysterious fishing lure

Greetings I am a new member. I am very interested in repairing electronics. I’ve done a lot of it by myself already. I am 59 years old, and I have enjoyed taking things apart and trying to fix them pretty much my whole life, often using using online schematics and service manuals. It’s very gratifying. I am also a musician currently experimenting with electronic banjo. I chose a name for my last musical project, Shad Dart, because it is a fishing lure for catching shad. Where I live by the Delaware River, they swim up river to spawn . The interesting thing is when they’re coming up river they are not eating anything, but for some reason they can’t resist biting on the shad dart. The predominant theory is that the little prickly tail of the lure tickles their nose as they are swimming upstream, and it annoys them or maybe they bite it out of curiosity. Anyway, I feel like it describes my interest in music and electronics and repairing things, something just gets in my face, and I can’t help myself I have to bite on it

Paul

Thermal measurements for Modushop Galaxy 1GX388 2U chassis

I am planning to use a Modushop Galaxy 1GX388 2U 330 mm by 280 mm by 80 mm chassis for a pair of Zenductor 2 amplifiers. To find out whether the 10 mm thick corrugated sidewall profiles are sufficient as heatsinks for 15 W to 25 W dissipated power per side, I did thermal measurements with a DC power supply, a 100 W 8 Ohm power resistor, and a thermal camera built into my cell phone.
The answer is that the chassis should work as is, i.e. without replacing the side walls with real heatsinks.

I attached the power resistor with a pair of spare M3 screws and nuts (supplied with the chassis) to the center region of the flat middle section of the 2-channel side of the Galaxy sidewall profile, and ran tests at about 18 W and 39 W, both with the wall free standing and as part of the assembled chassis (with the rear panel partially slid in, to leave an opening for the resistor power cables, and the remaining opening mostly blocked against air movement).
Temperatures stabilized after 20-30 minutes, and were lower than expected. From the measured temperature rises, and correcting for the heat loss directly from the resistor body to ambient, I compute a thermal resistance of about 1.4 K/W or °C/W.

Graph of four measurements (two power levels, freestanding and chassis-integrated heatsink):
Galaxy Heatsink Temperature.png


Ambient temperature (the zero level of the graph above) was about 22°C. Interestingly, the equilibrium temperatures for the heatsink (corrugated 10 mm sidewall) were lower in the chassis than free standing. The increase in effective convection surface, from bolting on the other four panels of the chassis) must outweigh the shielding effect of the case.
Between the second and third measurement series, I installed (slid, with the screws and nuts already in place) the sidewall into the chassis.

Also interesting (to me) is that radiation losses are not negligible. A sidewall (448 cm^2, counting both surfaces, but not the corrugations) at 40°C radiates about 5 W more power into a 22°C room than it absorbs. I chose NOT to correct for radiation, since the effect will be of similar magnitude in the real application of the chassis.
As mentioned, I did correct for the direct convective losses from the power resistor, by measuring the resistor equilibrium temperature of 120 °C (!) at 9.68 W, with convection shielded from the resistor mounting surface (sitting on an insulating surface), giving a thermal resistance of 10.2 K/W.

The thermal resistance from the resistor case to the heatsink computed as about 0.5 K/W, which should be similar to achievable case-to-heatsink resistances for transistors. No thermal compound was used.

Example of a thermal image (equilibrium image for 18 W power, resistor mounted to side wall inside the chassis):
flir_20250428T214452 - Copy.jpg


The resistor mounting position 'shines through' to the outside surface; I used the maximum, center temperature as heatsink temperature for my calculations. This choice should give correct results for the estimated case temperature of the device to be cooled. The average heatsink (side wall) temperature will be lower than computed from the effective thermal resistance of 1.4 K/W.

Resistor mounting position:
IMG_20250428_225215 - Copy.jpg
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Strange MacMini audio output

Since my miniDSP SHD has been such a turd as a streamer I thought I would move my 2020 Mac M1 Mini to streamer duties (panic bought an M4 Mini and decked it out for my main computer). I had been using a 13 year old MacBook Pro but I liked the ability to tuck the Mini away.

Anyway, the MacBook pro was fine. I've done lots of measurements with it over the years using a UMik and REW. I've more recently been using a Microsoft Surface since the MBP wasn't capable of running the most recent versions of REW. Annoyingly, the Mini no longer supports optical so I switched over to USB between the computer and the SHD.

Sorry for the long build up, but here's where things get strange. I could easily tell that songs played via the Mini lacked bass. So I broke out the UMik and did some measurements with the Mini. Sure enough, looks like there's a 50hz high pass filter. I hooked up an external sound card that has optical out and I got the same result.

Just to be clear, I was running REW from the Mini. USB to the SHD or an external USB sound card with optional to the SHD both appear to have a 50hz HP high pass. The external sound card is good. The UMik is good. And the SHD (while a crummy streamer) is good.

I then broke out the Surface again and measured and things were back to normal; 50hz down to my high pass protection for the horn sub was back. The difference is clearly audible (I have a Lil Mike horn sub).

Any idea what's going on?

DIY DSP via PC Questions (4~8 channels)

Hi all,

I'm very green to the idea of a PC based DSP. I currently run a MiniDSP HD2x4 but if you've seen what they're doing due to tariffs, it's crazy priced now to the point of extinction. Most other commercial options don't seem to come clone to this, REW importing, filtering to 10hz, etc. All this is pretty big for me as I use this for a large subwoofer network (16 of them). I'm looking to expand and instead getting more MiniDSP I'm looking to see if I can just do it myself with a PC instead. I've searched a bit, seeing Hifiberry, CamillaDSP, etc. But I'm not sure what would be ideal for my purpose. I went to YouTube thinking there would be videos on these to showcase their use, but sadly, didn't see much.

I'm looking to do a PC based DSP that is fairly easy to setup with the context of just doing typical delay, phase, EQ with several channels of subwoofers. Ideally able to filter down to 10hz or lower. I really appreciate features like importing REW, infrasonic filters and a good compressor or limiter. Those are most important to me. I've never built one or know what all goes into it. I'm happy to build a PC for it, or get a little PC or Pi or whatever. It's mostly to explore DIY and have something modular that I can scale to larger amounts of outputs.

Any suggestions for hardware and software for this is greatly appreciated!

Very best,

Compact, low cost, active 3-way speaker

This is an idea which has been noodling about in my head for some time. A small portable active speaker, of modest cost. Something I can easily build multiple copies of, something I can give as a gift if I choose. I have friends who are decent woodworkers who have inquired about making a copy of one of my existing speakers, but they have balked at the expensive drivers and electronics I use… so this is something I can point to and say “you can copy this…”

I also like the idea of an expandable speaker where a second woofer cabinet can be added to extend the bass response and give higher SPL capability. I got this idea from the Barefoot Sound, where several of their very fine monitor speakers are expandable in this way.

========== =============

Primary Goals

The finished system shall be a compact, active, 3-way with 8” woofer, with a total internal volume of 16-24 liters, with sealed box bass alignment. Update: 10" woofer in a 25 liter volume.

Performance Goals

  • Bass response F3 = 40 Hz.
  • On axis within target response +/- 1.5 dB from 100 hz – 16 kHz.
  • Directivity Index within target response +/- 1.5 dB from 500 Hz – 10 kHz
  • No specific max SPL goal or harmonic distortion goal, other than these performance attributes shall be optimized to the extent possible given the drivers selected and the other requirements.
Secondary Goals

  • Low driver cost and low electronics cost. At this point, “low cost” is not really defined, but low driver costs would be in comparison to Scanspeak Revelator, Satori, Bliesma, Purifi, etc. I was thinking on the order of $250 of drivers per side, but this is flexible. In terms of electronics, “low cost” means significantly less than a Hypex FA-123 ($550 per side).
  • Easily replicable. This means easily built with readily available parts. I may want to make multiple copies to give as gifts.
  • Simple cabinet finishing that does not require weeks of shaping, sanding, veneering, sanding, varnishing, polishing, etc.
  • Easily portable.
  • A modular design which would allow me to design/fabricate a second bass driver/cabinet later. This would extend the bass response and expand the SPL capability. Update: Modular design is no longer needed with the change from 8" to 10" woofer.
  • An opportunity to try new techniques and learn new skills which can be applied to my future high end projects.
  • An opportunity to discover new information which would be of use to other DIY speaker builders and developers.
What are the electronics options? One option I have been curious about is the line of equipment from MiniDSP. The Flex and Flex-8 are both serious high performance gear. I might use the Flex-8 on a future project. The cost of the Flex-8 (or a pair of Flex’s) pushes the cost into the same range as Hypex Fusion, so this is not appropriate for this project. However, a good stepping stone into the world of MiniDSP software/hardware is the 2x4HD. It has lower performance than the Flex, which is also a 2-in/4-out device at double the cost. But the 2x4HD is good enough for this project. Another compelling reason for me to work with the MiniDSP 2x4HD is that it would be a good development tool for any future project, allowing me to have a DSP in the loop when I develop prototypes.

A single 2x4HD shared between two speakers will not provide the necessary 6 channels of signal required by a pair of 3-way speakers. But a single 2x4HD could be used in an active/passive speaker. This is something that has interested me for some time. A passive crossover from tweeter to mid, then active crossover from mid to woofer. There would be 2 amplifier channels required. I find the challenge of this architecture intriguing.

The interesting thing about this approach is that the passive crossover does not need to perform any EQ of the drivers within their individual pass band, nor does it need to manage the overall EQ or voicing of the speaker. This can all be done by DSP. The DSP can also provide BSC for the woofer channel and the mid/tweeter channel. The DSP can tailor the bass response of the woofer. The passive network will need to provide a high-pass and low-pass function for each driver, and relative level matching between tweeter and mid. The passive network will manage the relative magnitude and phase of the drivers through the crossover, and as a result of this, it will manage the directivity index.

The passive network will also manage any out-of-passband EQ. The most likely need for this would be a notch filter on the woofer or midrange at a frequency above the low-pass filter. For example, if the midrange passively crosses to the tweeter at 3k, but the mid has a + 9 dB breakup peak at 8k, the DSP will not be useful in managing that peak. Any EQ at 8k would affect the tweeter response, which would be quite unfortunate. Thus the passive network will need to handle that.

So at this point, I believe this is how I will proceed. There are a lot of amplifier options which offer low cost and acceptable performance, so this remains an open decision.

j.

================== Update 2/01/2024 =================

Index to important posts or milestones
post numbers are included with links

Decision to use a 10” woofer 119
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7447588

Process of defining cabinet dimensions 132
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7449092

Simulating flat face tweeter vs tweeter with waveguide 124 135 164
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7448383
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7449284
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7450834

Concept sketch 197 236
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7452598
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7455272

Decision to use SB15NBAC 236
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7455272

Electronics block diagram 280
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7457445

Prototype testing of tweeters 289 314
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7457716
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7472903
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7471898

Simulations with prototype data to define mid/tweeter spacing 344 351
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7482295
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7482756

Cabinet construction photos 413 452
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7514053
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7522584

Structural bracing and damping strategy 429 439 442
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7517669
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7518089
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7518208

Cutting tapered bevels 466 467
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7526218

Cabinet assessment – looking for resonances 503
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7539527

Driver polar responses measured in finished cabinet 506
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7539853

Final passive crossover design, and system level polar response and Power&DI 583 605
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7558072
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7567335

Frequency response of Class D amplifiers 613 627 634
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7570120
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7570523
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7575669

Documentation
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/compact-low-cost-active-3-way-speaker.402812/post-7586028
1702247956139.png

New here - owner of two Dynaco ST35 s...one just developed an issue...I need help

I have an original ST-35 from the 1960s and a Dynakit version I built in 2012. All was going well. The old one is in storage and the Dynakit is the daily use. Upon power up the Dynakit one went quiet. I could see one tube was out. I decided to check out the reason (besides 13 year old tubes). Upon opening it up I see a burnt resistor. I was an early adopter of the EFB modification. I made my own board for it, but I no longer have those plans. The 100 Ohm resistor used across the tube pins 8 and 9 was fried for the dead tube. By the way, I have the 2012 version of the Audio Regenesis PC-13 boards in the amp. This is basically my issue - I can't find the original plans covering the EFB mod, the resistor was fried. I don't remember how to check this thing out or how to set the EFB bias pot.

I bought some new 100 Ohm 0.5W 1% resistors to replace the four used in the original EFB mod at each tube. I turned it back on and the tube is still toast (dimly lit and no heat generation). No sound comes out of either side. I also have a matched set of replacement tubes, but I do not want to put them in if I have another issue. Everything else looks fine visually.

A couple of observations:

I see on the one schematic I found of the old EFB mod that there is a 5 Ohm resistor between pins 3 of the tubes on each side. I see TP on either side of those resistors. I suspect that the bias is to be measured there and then adjusted. I do not have 5 Ohm resistors there, just a wire connecting the two pin 3s. Were the 5 Ohm resistors a temporary install to set bias or were they to remain?

Where else should I troubleshoot? Any help is greatly appreciated - I miss the sound. I am using the 1960s one now, but am a little concerned by its age and lack of use.

For Sale Miro AD1862 (USB-I2S Stackable Board version)

SOLD
One set of complete and tested Miro AD1862 DAC with York + Reclock board (USB-I2S interface)
In my opinion, this is the most direct and best combo for the gem, AD1862.
Sounds wonderful. It is a full, completed DAC kit, equipped with a pair of AD1862N DAC chips and a pair of Signetics NE5534 op amp is included on board the IV stage.
Play with your own op amp to choose your flavor after that, although i can say that the NE5534 is an enjoyable result.

You need the following PSU:
1. +5/-5V (VD),
2. +12/-12V (VA) directly to the DAC board

The York board's 'dirty side' is configured to be powered by the USB Bus ie. drawing +5V from your USB source. This can be changed to be powered from a PSU of your choice if you wish. Can be done very easily by opening a solder bridge on the York board as instructed by the user guide, and then soldering two wires from pads available on the DAC board out to the PSU. The XO and reclock circuit of the York is drawing +5V (digital supply) from the DAC board when you stacked and isolation from the USB 'dirty side' is achieved. Very neat and clean design. The York's reclocker board has been upgraded with AS318B Accusilicon XO.

With the exception of the op amps which are old and used, all others parts used are bought brand new, including the AD1862N chips, for the purpose of putting up the DAC.
All caps are high quality ones including Nichicon gold, Elna Tonerex, Panasonic FM etc.

I am asking Singdollars 430 (approximately USD$330) for this DAC , and i will cover the worldwide registered shipping with tracking available.
I am only ready to accept Paypal Family and Friends as payment.
I have shipped 60+ packages to US, UK , asia and Europe, not a single glitch so far.

More information of this DAC here :
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/dac-ad1862-almost-tht-i2s-input-nos-r-2r.354078/
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...s-input-nos-r-2r.354078/page-128#post-6836256

Troubleshooting excessive port noise in diy Subwoofer

Hi everyone.

As I mentioned in my introduction post, I recently built two wireless speakers. Both sound great overall, but there's one major issue: port noise, especially from the subwoofer.
I built the subwoofer using a GRS 8SW-4HE-8 8" driver. I settled on a box volume of 40L, excluding port and woofer displacement. I chose a tuning frequency of 26Hz. The transfer function magnitude and SPL curve for this particular configuration looked quite good:

1745354456490.png


1745354824012.png


For the port, I went with a 12 by 5 centimeter rectangular port. At a tuning frequency of 26Hz, this port has to be 60cm long. To accomplish this, I had to bend the port once inside of the enclosure. I also added an angle to turn the 90° bend into two 45° ones. Here's a rough sketch of how it looks like from the side:

1745354621692.png

I accounted for all wood thicknesses during construction to make sure the port length was accurate. The internal length of the port came out to be exactly 60cm, just as planned.

In WinISD, the simulated peak port velocity looked perfectly acceptable for this size and power level. At 90W input, the velocity peaks at around 18.5 m/s at 24Hz, which is already below the tuning frequency of 26Hz, so I didn’t expect any major issues with port noise.

1745354725616.png


Despite the promising results in WinISD, there are two major issues in practice:
  1. It doesn't seem to produce much sound at 26Hz. Audible output really starts around 32–34Hz when sitting directly in front of it, not the 26Hz I was aiming for.
  2. Port chuffing is excessive. From ~25Hz to ~40Hz, the port noise becomes very noticeable. At times, it seems louder than the speaker itself.

    I’ve attached a video showing the port noise when playing a 28Hz sine wave for reference.




Now my questions are:
Where did I go wrong?
Do I have to simply flare the port?
Why else is there so much port noise?

1000VA Isolation Transformer and Bulb Filament Current Limiter Build

Over the years of Tube Amp repairs, and old instrumentation restorations, I have always relied on an incandescent bulb current limiter, in conjunction with a Variac. I finally decided to build a piece of kit to make this cleaner, and add a much needed isolation transformer.

It consists of two circuit boards, a Relay controller (no software, just good old logic), and a Lamp board. It contains a large 1000VA toroidal isolation transformer for isolation. There are three duplex AC receptacles on the rear panel that are not isolated, one being a 20A GFCI. The other two are switched on/off by the front panel. There are two ground isolated duplex AC Receptacles on the front panel. One is directly connected to the Isolation secondary, the other is bulb filament current limited by selectable incandescent bulbs controlled by relays. The bulbs are visible through the front panel making it easy to see if any current limiting is taking place. There is an input and output for connecting a Variac to use in conjunction with the current limiting section. The Variac input and output is also isolated from the mains.

Since the transformer had low voltage windings, I rectified and filtered them to provide fixed DC of around ±24V. I just hate wasting windings. The variac is also connected to a pair of Banana Jacks in case I need an variable AC source.

There is a Chinese made Power meter that monitors the isolated outputs.

The build was fairly flawless. I handplaced the SMD parts using a solderpaste stencil, and reflowed them in a modified toaster oven. Everything soldered fine, but I had a couple of bridges on a TSSOP part that I had to clear. The LEDs are too bright at only 5mA, so I might go back and change all the LED resistors. I used RGB LEDs for all of them, and pinned out all three LEDs. I could make any color based on which resistors I placed. I mixed some colors by using more than 1 resistor on them. The LEDs are Right Angle Light Piped to the front panel.

The Lamp Board uses E17 sockets for the incandescent bulbs. I designed this with 20W and 40W E17 bulbs which will not be discontinued as they are oven light bulbs which are exempt from being discontinued. I did discover that a 40W bulb really only draws 32W bulb at 120V which kind of threw my nomenclature into error. However, I was able to kludge in "Calibration" bulbs to get it closer to the desired levels. You can see the kludged bulbs on the back of the lamp board in the open top picture attached. I added a 40W (really 32W) to the 160W bank which then totaled actually 160W. I added a 15W E17 to the 80W bank (two "40"W bulbs) which then actually totaled 79W. I'm going to live with the 40W setting being 32W. The 20W actually was darn close when I used a 25W bulb there. I should have anticipated that 40W bulbs are 20% low. This is consistant no matter what brand I tried. I think I will make a modification to allow an external lamp to be put in parallel for higher powered applications, but so far, it has plenty of power for what I'm doing.

The final build had a lot of wiring to hook up. Mostly wired with 14AWG Elastomeric Insulated hookup wire. I used ferrules in all the terminal block wiring. I used lever Terminal Blocks from WAGO. The picture showing the open top was before I dressed the wiring up neater. There is a lot of wiring in there!

The enclosure panels were supplied by the excellent SENDCUTSEND company and were laser cut. Front, top, and bottom panels are 100mil Aluminum, and the rear panel is 70mil aluminum (because some of the press-fit connectors I used on the back would not work in 100mils). The Front panel is powder coated, also by SENDCUTSEND. I brushed the other panels. The side panels are heat sinks provided by HeatSinksUSA. They are extrusions that are thick enough at their base to drill and tap all the holes that hold the whole thing together. I didn't really need heat sinks, but they were readily available in the size I needed. The price for doing all the aluminum was surprisingly low, and far more accurate than I could manage with drill press, not to mention I have no good way of cutting thick aluminum panels.

The labeling on the front and rear panels is Vinyl originally designed for transfers to things like cups or fabric. But it allows full color, quite detailed nomenclature. I'm really happy how that turned out and it seems quite durable. The labeling was made by Ninjatransfers with their UV DTF Gang Sheet product. I suppied art from Adobe Illustrator.

I have spare circuit boards. If anyone wants to make one (for private use only), I am willing to share all the files for the enclosures, and I have left over raw PCBs.
ISO_CL Front Panel.jpeg
ISO_CL Back View.jpeg
ISO_CL Interior Top View.jpeg
ISO_CL Schematic.jpeg

Thoughts on this schematic/design?

Im looking at building this Class AB1 cathode biased amplifier based on this design here.
I have most of the components on hand, including a suitable power transformer and pair of OT's.
I am making a few changes, I am using an EF37A/6J7G instead of an EF86 and using 807 tubes instead of 6L6.

Few questions, is the 750pF capacitor across the CT to anode on the tube to remove oscillations? I find its odd only one half has this, ive never seen this before on such a schematic.
There is also an 820pf cap going across for the NFB loop, how critical are the values for these capacitors?
I have quite a bunch of silver mica caps on hand but nothing quite exact, ive got a few 680pF and 1000pF on hand if they will suffice.

Here is the schematic and a rough layout ive drawn of the turret board.
Another issue im unsure will be a problem is i mirrored the layout, so have to cross some wires over, not too sure if this is a worry, you will see what I mean with the channel on the left of the image.
The phase inverter was not too big of a deal, as i just swapped over each triode section.
Im unsure about the path of the heater wiring, but its just rough, I will probably move the tube sockets around some more and I have not included the power supply yet, but all the transformers will sit behind the 807 tubes at the bottom of the image. The filter choke im hoping will fit under the chassis.
2011617235948782.gif

power amp V2.png

Antique gear

Why is there a perception (particularly on social media) that antique equipment sounds better than modern audio gear?

I see countless posts from self-proclaimed audiophiles showing a stack of separates that were designed and manufactured in the 70s, like that somehow proves their audiophile credentials. Tubes and vinyl? Really? It's almost 2025!

In my view, even the cheapest Chi-Fi equipment from the current era sounds superior by orders of magnitude to dusty, out-of-date gear from the ancient past.

What is this trend that older is better? The test of time? Visual bias? Vintage chic?

1000292548.jpg


I don't get it 😅

3-Way Studio Monitor System

Hello,

I would like to show you a project I'm just working on. It started with an idea for bass improvement and eventually turned into a design of an entire system.
The subs are already made but not tested for possible improvements. Firstly I have to build the monitor units which contain the amps (Hypex FA 253).
The monitor driver will be Sica 5.5 C 1.5 CP. The sub driver is Peerless by Tymphany SLS-P830669

The concept aims to improve my current monitoring capabilities in my studio of 5x5 meter in near field range by moderate room level.
Usually I use monitors on stands with a distance of 1m to the front wall. So I will build the speakers into stands. The stand will also contain the amp, which makes a free positioning of the subwoofers more convenient. The subwoofers can also stand within the bottom area of the stand for listening in midfield and to blend into the design of pseudo single speaker.
Bild 13.04.25 um 23.20.JPG

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For Sale R-OHM-Hiraga-LePréPré

The history repeats itself, and especially so in the world of sound reproduction. Tubes and simple amplifying stages are hot these days.

I offer these extremely low Rbe transistors from R-OHM to be used like such.

The 2SB737 in particular is well suited for Hiragas MC stage.

I can supply a Hfe matched quad for €40, shipping to the EU included.

Let the pictures show that I have both types, the 2SB737 and the 2SD786. They are both S.

Price each sold separately is €6.

Shipping at cost.

R

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Reference DAC Module - Discrete R-2R Sign Magnitude 24 bit 384 KHz

I have been working on a little side project, now it's time to present it for everybody here....

It's a DAC module based on a discrete R-2R sign magnitude DAC design, with FPGA based reclocking and custom digital filters, < 1 ps jitter clock generator, with 28 bit resolution so there is headroom, oversampling up to maybe 3.072 Mhz. Up to 24 bit / 384 Khz input from SPDIF, I2S and USB (via USB to I2S interface board), with isolation on the I2S interface. The board will be very flexible, with digital volume control and filter parameters that can be downloaded, a possibility is also to add digital crossover filters, but that will probably not be ready for first production lots, although the board is firmware upgradable over a simple serial connection.

The basis R-2R network has an output voltage of 1.4V RMS and output impedance of 625 ohm and can therefore drive a lot of things directly.... There is also onboard balanced output drivers that can drive high impedance (>= 300 ohm) headphones directly. The power supply is also onboard, just add a 5W toroid transformer.

It is a small mostly surface mount PCB, and yes, I have working prototypes, see below.... But it's not really something for home assembly, with the FPGA in BGA package and 600 pcs SMT parts.... So yes, if there is enough interest it will go into real production, with sales though two existing online shops in US and EU.

Performance of first prototypes using 0.05% resistors is better than expected, see 1 Khz -1 db and -60 db FFT plots. I believe that the sound quality will be the absolute best, better than any Delta Sigma DAC, in class with discrete DAC's from totaldac and msb technology. And for way way less cost 🙂

----

Update on Apr 26, 2021:

dam1021 rev 7 is now released, see post# 10146, Reference DAC Module - Discrete R-2R Sign Magnitude 24 bit 384 Khz for details.

Update on Apr 29, 2018:

Vers. 1.19 firmware with with filters now available on Soekris Engineering ApS, R-2R Sign Magnitude Audio DAC
The dam1021 have been shipping as rev 5 for a while, but no major updates, just production related updates.

Update on Oct 14,2016:

The dam1021-12 and -05 are in stock again, still rev 4.

Update on May 27, 2016:

Vers. 1.06 firmware with DSD support now available on Soekris Engineering ApS, R-2R Sign Magnitude Audio DAC

Boards from next production run will be rev 4 and are now in stock, that batch will only be the 0.05% and 0.01%/0.02% resistor version, which will be the only two dam1021 versions available long term. The only other change from rev3 to rev4 is a change in the output buffers, the LME49710/LME49724 is replaced with OPA1602.

Pricing for board rev 4 is:

dam1021-12: USD 295 / EUR 266 (0.01%/0.02% resistor version, in stock)
dam1021-05: USD 195 / EUR 176 (0.05% resistor version, in stock)

Pricing for board rev 3 is:

dam1021-02: USD 265 / EUR 238 (0.02% resistor version, very low stock)
dam1021-05: USD 195 / EUR 176 (0.05% resistor version, sold out)


Shipping cost and any sales tax and/or other local taxes to be added.

They are available to order though two existing webshop:

404 Not Found for American and Asia markets.
Soekris Europe » for EU and European markets.

The main Soekris Engineering ApS (Denmark) website for product and technical information is:

Soekris Engineering ApS, R-2R Sign Magnitude Audio DAC Please don't email soekris.com or soekris.eu with technical questions....

See also post #901 http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vend...-magnitude-24-bit-384-khz-91.html#post4197094 for a quick drawing with connections.
And post #1108 http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vend...magnitude-24-bit-384-khz-111.html#post4202602 for SPDIF interface drawing.
And great info here https://hifiduino.wordpress.com/2015/01/30/building-soekris-r-2r-dac/
Post #1486 http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vend...magnitude-24-bit-384-khz-149.html#post4216998 with filter tools.
Post #3276 http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vend...magnitude-24-bit-384-khz-328.html#post4421518 Firmware revision 0.99 update
Post #3295 http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vend...magnitude-24-bit-384-khz-330.html#post4421780 more info on 0.99
Post #3108 http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vend...magnitude-24-bit-384-khz-311.html#post4392832 Official vref modification
Post #3362 http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vend...magnitude-24-bit-384-khz-337.html#post4425324 More info on vref mods

Anybody can now order the dam1021 R-2R DAC board from the two webshops.

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My personal interpretation of the Baby Huey with EL34

Hi, after the request of @OldHector , I post here my own version of the Baby Huey with EL34 (that fits well with KT77 and other tubes).
I will also post some guidelines for other tubes like 6550 (I would avoid KT88 because the original pcbs have the sockets too close for KT88).

Let's start with a bit of hystory: this kind of amps have ultralinear and Schade feedback combined.

Schade original feedback (1938) can be found here:
https://www.dos4ever.com/uTracer3/Schade.pdf

Crowhurst reposted that kind of anote-anode feedback in 1952 here:
http://www.tubebooks.org/Books/Crowhurst - Audio Handbook No2 - Feedback 1952.pdf

Yves Monmagnon posted the PP Schade feedback (and phase inverter supply) in pentode configuration plus conventional gnfb here:
http://www.dissident-audio.com/PP_ECL86/Page.html

The EL84 development has been done in 2006 by @gingertube here using 40%UL and Schade feedback:

The EL34 version has been started by bandol (RIP) in 2018 here with 40% UL and Schade feedback:

Here I posted a similar thread with noted on the EL84 version:

Here I will report my takes on the EL34 version, but before a small introduction on Schade feedback:
Numerous tests have been done during the last 90 years, but just to report real measurements, I link some sources:

One is Broskie in 2001:
1745763407639.png

https://www.tubecad.com/march2001/


One is Bertola with his plts on Schade feedback only.
in 2013 he has tested on the curve tracer the 807a ( https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/136/3/307A.pdf ) showing how Schade alone can triodify the curves:
1745763307846.png

source: https://www.bartola.co.uk/valves/2013/03/16/307a-dht-in-triode-and-schade-feedback/#more-1331

Some italians have done tests on the curve tracers too in 2021:
1745763757346.png

source: https://www.sb-lab.eu/schadeode-alternativa-ultralineare-triodi-virtuali/

There are many others curve tracer plots, but I will only report the ones above.

How to protect a speaker with a large Xmax

I fear that I may have created a problem for myself 🙂


I'm building a speaker using a BMS 12S305 (12", linear Xmax 11mm).
Using the formulas used by some manufacturers the calculated Xmax is around 14mm.
The design critieria, that has resulted in this choice is a compact, luggable cabinet and a decent output down to 40Hz (decent as in 110++ dB)



Given my need for transporting the speaker around I really need to have some kind of grille in front of the speaker to protect against physical damage.
Usually I use the standard round grilles that fits just over the speaker, but on examination it looks as if the membrane will hit the grille when pushing the speaker near its maximum extension.


I am not fan of the speaker wide nets (they seem to flimpsy to provide any real protection).


So: are there other options for protecting the membrane from physical harm or does anyone know of a method to provide more space between the membrane and the grille?


Regards
Martin



PS: This may not be the correct forum, but I guess it is here most experience with high Xmax-speakers is found

ZOUDIO AIO4CH: 4-channel amplifier with DSP and Bluetooth

I want to introduce a new product I have been working on for the past years.
It's now available for pre-ordering, which will be shipped in the end of februari, in order of payment.

ZOUDIO AIO4CH: 4-channel amplifier with DSP and Bluetooth



Features:
-4x45W class D amplifier (can also be configured as 2.1 or 2.0)
-Bluetooth V4.2 APT-X with True Wireless Stereo
-Configurable DSP
-Easy to use Windows configuration tool
-Small format with high efficiency

Screenshot configuration tool:
Inteface3.jpg


As can be seen, a lot of the settings can easily be changed, such as:
-Start and maximum volume
-Battery protection voltages
-Input (left/right/mono) and output (4.0/2.1/2.0) configuration
-13 general filters (equalizers) en 5 filters per channel (crossovers)
-2 equalizers which can be enabled with a button (e.g. indoor/outdoor, bass-boost)
-Volume dependant (dynamic) equalizer
-Delay per channel

This thread can be used for questions about specifications and how to use the products. Remarks and suggestions for improvement are also welcome for this and future products.

Productpage (datasheet, configuration tool download, ordering): click here

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Low Rp tube for line stage - ideas?

What would be a good sounding low Rp triode for a line stage? Requirements - Rp under 2K and low gain, like under mu=10.

Possibilities include:
7233 - 230 ohms
A2293 - 380 ohms
6S19 - 420 ohms
12B4 - 1K
6CK4 - 1.2K
6AH4 - 1.8K

6BX7 - 1.3K (double triode)

4P1L - 1.5K (in triode) DHT (needs 25mA or more)
71A - 1.7K DHT (getting rarer and more expensive)

There are also all the 6AS7/6080 type tubes and bigger DHTs like 2a3/6B4G/6C4C but that would be overkill.

High impedance mic preamp design

Long time builder, inexperienced designer. Attempting to make a simple low noise mic pre, with a high impedance input suited for dynamics & ribbons. Came across this circuit by Bob Cordell, dual jfet LSK489 with presumably an impedance in the many many mega-ohms. Anyone built one of these or something similar?

IMG_1782.jpeg


https://www.cordellaudio.com/JFETs/LSK489appnote.pdf page 11/12


I’m mainly trying to figure out the line driver, be nice to use both halves of the 4562 or I could just whack a THAT1606 on the end. Or use a 1646 instead of the 4562 entirely but it might be too hungry coming straight off the transistors without an opamp buffer? Or of course simply do an impedance matched driver after the existing buffer like so

IMG_1784.gif


The other thing is this pre apparently provides 60dB, it’d be nice to bring that up to 70. I’m not sure if that’s better squeezed out of the transistors at the front end or done at the end with an opamp?

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance

Philips CDB630 transport mods

Hi all,
I'm looking at using the transport from my CDB630 and rebuilding/modifying to improve performance. Seems to the the floppy clamp/holder could be improved along with other mods to reduce vibration. Read someplace about a magnetic clamp or some other design? Maybe move it into a better chassis (thick aluminum w/vibration damping)? I added damping to the top cover, 1lb brass weight on top and sorbo iso-feet under chassis, which all made an improvement. I still like the DAC (crown S2) out to a tube stage, but might want to try a different DAC just to compare?
Or maybe someone has a Cambridge, Sony, Teac, etc transport for sale?
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