question: didn't I read somewhere standoffs are now nylon? those in my kits are brass
Some kits have nylon standoffs, some brass. There are pros and cons for either: nylon insulates but it's arguably easier to damage the thread. Brass is "sturdy". It's a subjective personal preference if you prefer one or the other so consider whatever you got in your kit as a learning experience with that type. You can use either, but I think we'll go back to "sturdy" brass.
HI Xapu0,
That is a very neat build, congratulations.
I like the simplified wiring using the chassis as 0 volt/GND.
One thing I would change though, I would have separate wires from the red terminals to either the GND (or +OUT). That way the 24 volt supply currents and output currents do no use the same path and interfere. That is after all what you have done for the input sockets.
Alan
That is a very neat build, congratulations.
I like the simplified wiring using the chassis as 0 volt/GND.
One thing I would change though, I would have separate wires from the red terminals to either the GND (or +OUT). That way the 24 volt supply currents and output currents do no use the same path and interfere. That is after all what you have done for the input sockets.
Alan
Attachments
Hi all.
I finished my ACA 1.6 two weeks ago and are very happy with it. I have ordered two ACA 1.6 and the last one will arrive when they start to send out the 2.nd batch. The reason for ordering two ACA is I want to run them as mono - one for each channel using the XLR connector. But I do have a questions regarding the switch on the back.... right now I am running the ACA as stereo ( only got one for now ) and flipping the switch do not give any change when playing music. Is that switch only to be used when running two ACA 1.6 as mono using the XLR connectors? if so, how about the switch position? Up or down if wired according to the 6L6 gallery of V1.6 photos?
Sorry for asking but this is my first build and it is a complete new world for me!!
I finished my ACA 1.6 two weeks ago and are very happy with it. I have ordered two ACA 1.6 and the last one will arrive when they start to send out the 2.nd batch. The reason for ordering two ACA is I want to run them as mono - one for each channel using the XLR connector. But I do have a questions regarding the switch on the back.... right now I am running the ACA as stereo ( only got one for now ) and flipping the switch do not give any change when playing music. Is that switch only to be used when running two ACA 1.6 as mono using the XLR connectors? if so, how about the switch position? Up or down if wired according to the 6L6 gallery of V1.6 photos?
Sorry for asking but this is my first build and it is a complete new world for me!!
AJL, the ACA 1.6 is, by default, wired to allow either stereo operation via the RCA connectors or mono balanced operation via the XLR connector.
The switch, if built as per 6L6 1.6 photos and videos, is to make the AMP a mono RCA amp, where the output of channel A is fed into the channel B. If wired as the instructions, the up position will be for mono RCA and the down position will be for stereo RCA / mono XLR.
So, for XLR mono, you should put the switch down and use a regular XLR balanced connector (hooked to a balanced signal, of course!).
For testing the effect of the switch, you will need to plug just one RCA (in the instructions the Left channel) and take the speaker outputs from both black terminals.
Hope this helps,
best regards,
Rafa.
The switch, if built as per 6L6 1.6 photos and videos, is to make the AMP a mono RCA amp, where the output of channel A is fed into the channel B. If wired as the instructions, the up position will be for mono RCA and the down position will be for stereo RCA / mono XLR.
So, for XLR mono, you should put the switch down and use a regular XLR balanced connector (hooked to a balanced signal, of course!).
For testing the effect of the switch, you will need to plug just one RCA (in the instructions the Left channel) and take the speaker outputs from both black terminals.
Hope this helps,
best regards,
Rafa.
Last edited:
Bypass Caps?
Hi Xapu0, I'm Curious I see you bypassed the Caps on the board, what values did you use? Beautiful work
Moto.
Hi Xapu0, I'm Curious I see you bypassed the Caps on the board, what values did you use? Beautiful work
Moto.
Just completed my v1.6 ACA and wanted to share some details. From a build standpoint, soldering the PCB's was super easy. It took me a bit longer to do the wiring, but I don't have ideal tools for wire stripping and I had to spend a bit of time visually studying the wiring here: aca16
I would note, everything came well packaged, but the top/bottom plates of the ACA had scratches, a minor paint chip or two and areas where the black finish looks like it may have been slightly burnt (this was visible thru the undamaged plastic shrinkwrap). I'm not disappointed though, the faceplate came in flawless condition - this is probably the only part of the amp I'll routinely look at. I purchased the complete kit so it came with the 24v Meanwell power supply. I set initial bias, and after half an hour heat sinks reached almost 50C, and checked again. Bias remained in 11.9-12.1v range.
Now for listening: Initially I hooked up as follows: Lenovo Laptop -> Audioquest Dragonfly Black 1.5 -> ACA -> Wharfedale Diamond 8.2's (6 ohm, 86db). There was some distortion, though it seemed to potentially be coming from the DAC (more on that later). I swapped out the Dragonfly for my cheapo Samsung Galaxy J3 smartphone and there was no audible distortion. Total listening time about an hour.
Since nothing seemed to blow up in my bedroom rig, I brought the ACA downstairs for my main setup. I wired the setup as follows: Dell Desktop -> Cambridge Audio DacMagic -> Analysis Plus Silver RCA -> ACA -> Analysis Plus Oval 9 -> Focal 716V's (8 ohm, 91.5db). (As an aside: before someone correctly observes that the most expensive components in my setup are the innerconnects + speaker wire, note that I received these for free years ago from a friend in industry - I too acknowledge it seems ludicrous to have them as part of my basic system) Turning the DAC then ACA on there was some high pitch noise that remained constant whether playing music or not. Interestingly, when I turned the DAC off, but left the ACA on the high pitch pervaded and I could hear a faint Christian gospel radio station - almost as if something about the DAC/Interconnects was tuning a AM/FM station?
I swapped out the DacMagic/Analysis Plus RCA for the Dragonfly Black with Audioquest innerconnect and had the same observations as before: Music seemed to play okay at low levels, but even by mid low levels the music was randomly cutting out at moments. I swapped out the Dragonfly for my smartphone and.... everything was perfect again. I listened blissfully for at least an hour at moderate to moderately loud volume, and remained amazed at all the new details I was hearing in familiar music. Some initial impressions: high frequency details are very sharp, low frequencies surprisingly powerful. The ACA seems to provide plenty of power to the Wharfedales or Focals, without any audible clipping. Overall very favorable, especially considering the lower quality smartphone source. For comparison, normally I drive these with: Marantz 2215b (recently professionally refurbished) -> Wharfedale and 41hz Amp 5 -> Focal. While the ACA was a clear improvement over the older Marantz 2215b, the ACA + smartphone compared very favorably vs the Amp 5 + DacMagic.
Overall comments: I haven't been pleased with the Audioquest Dragonfly. I've run into similar though less severe issues with distortion and the 2215b. Beyond that, the DAC is way overpowered - its almost impossible to listen to IEMs, and I have to turn the volume way down even with my Sennheiser HD580's. That it doesn't seem to play nice with the ACA is just another mark against the Dragonfly. I am a little disappointed the DacMagic and ACA don't pair well together, the DacMagic/Amp 5 - which was my last DIY project from years ago - continue to be an awesome pair. The Samsung J3? Who knew this would work so well? Testing with many different headphones, this phone has plenty of sonic limitations. I'm genuinely delighted at the result of this paired with the ACA.
I would note, everything came well packaged, but the top/bottom plates of the ACA had scratches, a minor paint chip or two and areas where the black finish looks like it may have been slightly burnt (this was visible thru the undamaged plastic shrinkwrap). I'm not disappointed though, the faceplate came in flawless condition - this is probably the only part of the amp I'll routinely look at. I purchased the complete kit so it came with the 24v Meanwell power supply. I set initial bias, and after half an hour heat sinks reached almost 50C, and checked again. Bias remained in 11.9-12.1v range.
Now for listening: Initially I hooked up as follows: Lenovo Laptop -> Audioquest Dragonfly Black 1.5 -> ACA -> Wharfedale Diamond 8.2's (6 ohm, 86db). There was some distortion, though it seemed to potentially be coming from the DAC (more on that later). I swapped out the Dragonfly for my cheapo Samsung Galaxy J3 smartphone and there was no audible distortion. Total listening time about an hour.
Since nothing seemed to blow up in my bedroom rig, I brought the ACA downstairs for my main setup. I wired the setup as follows: Dell Desktop -> Cambridge Audio DacMagic -> Analysis Plus Silver RCA -> ACA -> Analysis Plus Oval 9 -> Focal 716V's (8 ohm, 91.5db). (As an aside: before someone correctly observes that the most expensive components in my setup are the innerconnects + speaker wire, note that I received these for free years ago from a friend in industry - I too acknowledge it seems ludicrous to have them as part of my basic system) Turning the DAC then ACA on there was some high pitch noise that remained constant whether playing music or not. Interestingly, when I turned the DAC off, but left the ACA on the high pitch pervaded and I could hear a faint Christian gospel radio station - almost as if something about the DAC/Interconnects was tuning a AM/FM station?
I swapped out the DacMagic/Analysis Plus RCA for the Dragonfly Black with Audioquest innerconnect and had the same observations as before: Music seemed to play okay at low levels, but even by mid low levels the music was randomly cutting out at moments. I swapped out the Dragonfly for my smartphone and.... everything was perfect again. I listened blissfully for at least an hour at moderate to moderately loud volume, and remained amazed at all the new details I was hearing in familiar music. Some initial impressions: high frequency details are very sharp, low frequencies surprisingly powerful. The ACA seems to provide plenty of power to the Wharfedales or Focals, without any audible clipping. Overall very favorable, especially considering the lower quality smartphone source. For comparison, normally I drive these with: Marantz 2215b (recently professionally refurbished) -> Wharfedale and 41hz Amp 5 -> Focal. While the ACA was a clear improvement over the older Marantz 2215b, the ACA + smartphone compared very favorably vs the Amp 5 + DacMagic.
Overall comments: I haven't been pleased with the Audioquest Dragonfly. I've run into similar though less severe issues with distortion and the 2215b. Beyond that, the DAC is way overpowered - its almost impossible to listen to IEMs, and I have to turn the volume way down even with my Sennheiser HD580's. That it doesn't seem to play nice with the ACA is just another mark against the Dragonfly. I am a little disappointed the DacMagic and ACA don't pair well together, the DacMagic/Amp 5 - which was my last DIY project from years ago - continue to be an awesome pair. The Samsung J3? Who knew this would work so well? Testing with many different headphones, this phone has plenty of sonic limitations. I'm genuinely delighted at the result of this paired with the ACA.
Nice
All chassis parts have an "aesthetic" side that is kept pristine and should face the exterior, and a "working" side which may have minor scratches. The working side is what makes contact with surfaces during working. After the finishing processes, parts are stacked using foam sheeting between them to ensure the "aesthetic" side doesn't get scratched. Additionally the heatsinks (on the inside) will have some lines on them from where they hang in solution during the anodization process.
That all said, if you have any panels with blemishes on them on the "aesthetic" side that you are not happy with, we will replace them free of charge. Just email photos to contact@diyaudiostore.com and we'll take it from there.
Last edited:
Thanks Jason, I'm sure others will be happy to hear of the replacement policy, but as for me these were minor so I'm fine with the condition.
I am curious if anyone has thoughts about the DacMagic/Dragonfly not playing well with the ACA. I remembered from years ago I had a Little Dot tube headphone amp that was noisy, it ended up being a minor thing with grounding and was resolved with a cheater plug. I tried a cheater plug on the ACA, but same observations I had earlier. Because the performance with the smartphone is excellent (barring limitations of the quality of the smartphone itself) it doesn't seem that I've made any obvious errors in my construction? What other dacs/preamps are others using to have good results? Apologies in advance if I don't reply before next weekend, work has been such lately that I've had very few hours during the week outside of being at work/commuting.
I am curious if anyone has thoughts about the DacMagic/Dragonfly not playing well with the ACA. I remembered from years ago I had a Little Dot tube headphone amp that was noisy, it ended up being a minor thing with grounding and was resolved with a cheater plug. I tried a cheater plug on the ACA, but same observations I had earlier. Because the performance with the smartphone is excellent (barring limitations of the quality of the smartphone itself) it doesn't seem that I've made any obvious errors in my construction? What other dacs/preamps are others using to have good results? Apologies in advance if I don't reply before next weekend, work has been such lately that I've had very few hours during the week outside of being at work/commuting.
Last edited:
Stymied on V 1.6 at back panel
Building my first kit (RCA monoblocks, no power switch) and while the 1.5 directions sufficed for the boards and the chassis, I'm finding the back panel layout and wiring so different, I decided to take a break and write for help.
I have the photos from the upcoming 1.6 guide release, and they help a lot, but I still don't think I'm clear on wiring the stereo mono switch, and exactly how to do the wiring for the no power switch option. There seem to be comments interspersed all around various threads, but it would help to have them all in one place, since many seem to be outdated, or superseded. While there are some comments pertinent to 1.6 in the 1.5 guide, they seem to disappear at the end of the guide when the back panel wiring steps come around. I can try to just wire by copying the 1.6 photos, but I'm not really comfortable with no narrative.
Maybe there's a later 1.5 guide with more info for 1.6?
Also - there are two sets of leds so we can choose color? or am I missing something.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Building my first kit (RCA monoblocks, no power switch) and while the 1.5 directions sufficed for the boards and the chassis, I'm finding the back panel layout and wiring so different, I decided to take a break and write for help.
I have the photos from the upcoming 1.6 guide release, and they help a lot, but I still don't think I'm clear on wiring the stereo mono switch, and exactly how to do the wiring for the no power switch option. There seem to be comments interspersed all around various threads, but it would help to have them all in one place, since many seem to be outdated, or superseded. While there are some comments pertinent to 1.6 in the 1.5 guide, they seem to disappear at the end of the guide when the back panel wiring steps come around. I can try to just wire by copying the 1.6 photos, but I'm not really comfortable with no narrative.
Maybe there's a later 1.5 guide with more info for 1.6?
Also - there are two sets of leds so we can choose color? or am I missing something.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Nothing is wrong with your ACA I think (just make sure all your solder joints are conspicuously clean and shiny, and that all your connectors are fastened well and that your connectors are well isolated from the chassis itself). You might have some RFI in your neighborhood with the radio station playing...and shielded cables may help.
I don’t see a problem with the DAC Magic or DragonFly either since they both share the same issue you are observing, i.e. music cutting out/distortion.
I would look at your digital sources/software you are using on your laptops imho...notice how your smartphone doesn’t have this issue.
Best,
Anand.
I don’t see a problem with the DAC Magic or DragonFly either since they both share the same issue you are observing, i.e. music cutting out/distortion.
I would look at your digital sources/software you are using on your laptops imho...notice how your smartphone doesn’t have this issue.
Best,
Anand.
Stymied on V 1.6 build at back panel
Building my first kit (RCA monoblocks, no power switch) and while the 1.5 directions sufficed for the boards and the chassis, I'm finding the back panel layout and wiring so different, I decided to take a break and write for help.
I have the photos from the upcoming 1.6 guide release, and they help a lot, but I still don't think I'm clear on wiring the stereo mono switch, and exactly how to do the wiring for the no power switch option. There seem to be comments interspersed all around various threads, but it would help to have them all in one place, since many seem to be outdated, or superseded. While there are some comments pertinent to 1.6 in the 1.5 guide, they seem to disappear at the end of the guide when the back panel wiring steps come around. I can try to just wire by copying the 1.6 photos, but I'm not really comfortable with no narrative.
Maybe there's a later 1.5 guide with more info for 1.6?
Also - there are two sets of leds so we can choose color? or am I missing something.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Building my first kit (RCA monoblocks, no power switch) and while the 1.5 directions sufficed for the boards and the chassis, I'm finding the back panel layout and wiring so different, I decided to take a break and write for help.
I have the photos from the upcoming 1.6 guide release, and they help a lot, but I still don't think I'm clear on wiring the stereo mono switch, and exactly how to do the wiring for the no power switch option. There seem to be comments interspersed all around various threads, but it would help to have them all in one place, since many seem to be outdated, or superseded. While there are some comments pertinent to 1.6 in the 1.5 guide, they seem to disappear at the end of the guide when the back panel wiring steps come around. I can try to just wire by copying the 1.6 photos, but I'm not really comfortable with no narrative.
Maybe there's a later 1.5 guide with more info for 1.6?
Also - there are two sets of leds so we can choose color? or am I missing something.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Need to read this.
Hi, Just go back to the original order page and read the updated introduction, all your answers are here:
Amp Camp Amp V1.5 Build Guide - diyAudio Guides
Hi, Just go back to the original order page and read the updated introduction, all your answers are here:
Amp Camp Amp V1.5 Build Guide - diyAudio Guides
Hey Panoff. I think that, at some point, there's going to be a very clear set of 1.6 instructions for both front switch and no switch.
Right now, the available 1.6 photos are mostly for front switch versions. If you bought without the switch, your best approach (in my humble opinion) is to follow the 1.5 guides.
Everything will be more similar to your setup. The one difference is the PSU chassis connector, which now has only two pins: the center one is +V, the other is ground, so you won't need to bridge the two outer rings.
The other important thing to note is that, in your case, it makes more sense to have the back switch actually be an on / off switch, instead of the RCA mono / stereo switch. For that particular functionality, you can default to the external wire from the speaker output to he RCA input, just as in te 1.5 instructions.
Does this make any sense and you feel confortable with this overview, or would you need further insight into the specifics of the assembly?
Best regards,
Rafa.