Thanks, everyone, for these great suggestions. We'll be compiling thoughts and posting a draft post on tools soon.
I like the idea of offering "best/decent/cheap" options, but the goal of our guide will be supporting the near-noob who just wants to build the Aleph J, rather than equipping a bench for multiple builds. Of course, if cost is no object, no harm in offering the upscale options, too.
As for me, I've made do so far with a 35w soldering station that cost me ~$40. I'm pretty sure it will be enough for me to finish the Aleph J. So far, my (limited) building experience suggests that getting the right size tip is maybe the most important thing. Any thoughts on this 65w station for $40? It's got 5 tips and is the sort of thing I would be leaning toward if I was buying new today:
65W Tilswall Solder Station Welding Iron with Smart Temperature Control (392°F-896°F), Extra 5pcs Soldering Tips
What size tips do you all use? 1.6D or 2.4D?
I like the idea of offering "best/decent/cheap" options, but the goal of our guide will be supporting the near-noob who just wants to build the Aleph J, rather than equipping a bench for multiple builds. Of course, if cost is no object, no harm in offering the upscale options, too.
As for me, I've made do so far with a 35w soldering station that cost me ~$40. I'm pretty sure it will be enough for me to finish the Aleph J. So far, my (limited) building experience suggests that getting the right size tip is maybe the most important thing. Any thoughts on this 65w station for $40? It's got 5 tips and is the sort of thing I would be leaning toward if I was buying new today:
65W Tilswall Solder Station Welding Iron with Smart Temperature Control (392°F-896°F), Extra 5pcs Soldering Tips
What size tips do you all use? 1.6D or 2.4D?
Does the digital temp adjustment annoy you? I like the analog dial for ease-of-adjustment, but I haven't found that exact temp is a priority in my building so far. I'm guessing for a basic Aleph J build, you might never need to adjust temp at all? Well, maybe once or twice for the big speaker binding post solders?
We're planning on recommending ordering all transistors from DIYAudioStore and all transformers from Antec. On those assumptions, do you think any of these additional tools would be necessary for an Aleph J build?
And thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom!
You can find versions of the Mega328 on that auction site for about $10 to $15.
It's not for matching your big output mosfets, but rather for some
measuring and identification of parts. For example, it's great for things like identifying
the type and pin-outs of a transistor.
It's a fun and useful tool to have. I personally would suggest getting an
inexpensive one, but arguably it is not a necessity.
I'm with Dennis.
Live the dream of the thread. Keep things simple. The parts offered by the store enable a noob to get building. You can do the job with a DMM and a dim bulb tester for the electronic equipment.
That's what I used building my Aleph J and I'm not than happy with how it sounds. All thanks to its original designer.
Live the dream of the thread. Keep things simple. The parts offered by the store enable a noob to get building. You can do the job with a DMM and a dim bulb tester for the electronic equipment.
That's what I used building my Aleph J and I'm not than happy with how it sounds. All thanks to its original designer.
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@ flohmann
Regarding digital soldering temp. 2 things I like about it. As a heavy metal fan, I can set it to 666 degrees. I'm listening to Judas Priest as I type this... Maiden and Dio era Sabbath are queued up.
The main thing I like about the digital rig is when I turn it on I can watch it come up to temp. I know when it's ready to go, no guesswork.
Regarding the rest of the tools - You need at least one DMM. I haven't played with the AJ in a while. I forget if it's ideal to have 1, 2, 3, or 4 DMM's. Others can weigh in.
The 'scope, signal generator, and Quasimodo can wait as a noob moves on to more building.
Get the transistors from the store. Matching is not a noob exercise. I was about a dozen amps in before doing matching, and that was for a F5 turbo project I built for a friend.
For this project, I like the concept of Keep it simple. If you can do a BOM with a minimum of vendors you're in good shape. Something like Chassis, Boards, Transistors from DIY Audio store. Antek for transformer. And a BOM for digikey and/or mouser for the other bits. This simplifies the process. Of course the little bits (wire, heat shrink, etc.) can be a home depot run. If you can figure every last little bit and maximize the Digikey/Mouser order it will make life easy for folks.
If you pick a specific Antek transformer I'm sure someone can give you values and part numbers for the snubber caps and resistors. This way you can avoid needing the scope and quasimodo jig, but get the benefit of the snubbers in the power supply. The universal power supply board from the DIY Audio store is set up to take the parts, you just need the right values for the transformer. Standardized the tranny, and you can set the values. Deviate from the standard tranny, then someone needs to measure again. Long story short on the snubbers - some will debate the best rectifiers for the job. Don't sweat that. Decent rectifiers with snubbers >> best rectifiers without snubbers. So spend a couple extra bucks on 4 little caps and 2 resistors, and rest easy knowing your PSU is top notch.
Another thought - can you assemble a crew of people embarking on the project? Have one or 2 do the first build. Work the kinks out updating the BOM spreadsheet / minimize vendors, etc. Lean on 6L6's guide, the info in the thread(s), etc. Consolidate Lessons learned, make note of the tricky points, and then update BOM/blog/pix. Set the next builder or 2 loose. Consolidate next wave of lessons learned, how to make directions clearer, etc. Rinse & repeat. After a couple rounds it should be really easy to follow.
For me, I found the ACA build guide to be a gem for beginners. It was detailed step by step. Paint by the numbers. Extremely well done. I think with an iterative approach you could get to a similar level for the Aleph J.
Regarding digital soldering temp. 2 things I like about it. As a heavy metal fan, I can set it to 666 degrees. I'm listening to Judas Priest as I type this... Maiden and Dio era Sabbath are queued up.
The main thing I like about the digital rig is when I turn it on I can watch it come up to temp. I know when it's ready to go, no guesswork.
Regarding the rest of the tools - You need at least one DMM. I haven't played with the AJ in a while. I forget if it's ideal to have 1, 2, 3, or 4 DMM's. Others can weigh in.
The 'scope, signal generator, and Quasimodo can wait as a noob moves on to more building.
Get the transistors from the store. Matching is not a noob exercise. I was about a dozen amps in before doing matching, and that was for a F5 turbo project I built for a friend.
For this project, I like the concept of Keep it simple. If you can do a BOM with a minimum of vendors you're in good shape. Something like Chassis, Boards, Transistors from DIY Audio store. Antek for transformer. And a BOM for digikey and/or mouser for the other bits. This simplifies the process. Of course the little bits (wire, heat shrink, etc.) can be a home depot run. If you can figure every last little bit and maximize the Digikey/Mouser order it will make life easy for folks.
If you pick a specific Antek transformer I'm sure someone can give you values and part numbers for the snubber caps and resistors. This way you can avoid needing the scope and quasimodo jig, but get the benefit of the snubbers in the power supply. The universal power supply board from the DIY Audio store is set up to take the parts, you just need the right values for the transformer. Standardized the tranny, and you can set the values. Deviate from the standard tranny, then someone needs to measure again. Long story short on the snubbers - some will debate the best rectifiers for the job. Don't sweat that. Decent rectifiers with snubbers >> best rectifiers without snubbers. So spend a couple extra bucks on 4 little caps and 2 resistors, and rest easy knowing your PSU is top notch.
Another thought - can you assemble a crew of people embarking on the project? Have one or 2 do the first build. Work the kinks out updating the BOM spreadsheet / minimize vendors, etc. Lean on 6L6's guide, the info in the thread(s), etc. Consolidate Lessons learned, make note of the tricky points, and then update BOM/blog/pix. Set the next builder or 2 loose. Consolidate next wave of lessons learned, how to make directions clearer, etc. Rinse & repeat. After a couple rounds it should be really easy to follow.
For me, I found the ACA build guide to be a gem for beginners. It was detailed step by step. Paint by the numbers. Extremely well done. I think with an iterative approach you could get to a similar level for the Aleph J.
One more thing. Make sure the bench has some crappy / sacrificial speakers for testing. I imagine all builders will have some nice speakers in their main rig they don't want to destroy when testing an amp.
Old garage sale specials, computer speakers, or similar will do a fine job for this purpose. They need to help you test: Does the amp make music in both channels? Is there major noise/hum? If you don't release magic smoke from the amp and the amp makes music on the crappy speakers, THEN you can go to the main rig.
Also, have something to generate tunes when doing this final test. It could be a cable that plugs into your phone and has RCA's. Or an old portable CD player with volume knob and similar cable for phone. spare preamp and cd player? I use a Sonos Connect direct into the amp. There are 1000's of possible solutions.
But back the main point. Don't risk expensive speakers when testing...
Old garage sale specials, computer speakers, or similar will do a fine job for this purpose. They need to help you test: Does the amp make music in both channels? Is there major noise/hum? If you don't release magic smoke from the amp and the amp makes music on the crappy speakers, THEN you can go to the main rig.
Also, have something to generate tunes when doing this final test. It could be a cable that plugs into your phone and has RCA's. Or an old portable CD player with volume knob and similar cable for phone. spare preamp and cd player? I use a Sonos Connect direct into the amp. There are 1000's of possible solutions.
But back the main point. Don't risk expensive speakers when testing...
Great advice. I have an old pair of speakers that I found on top of the kitchen cabinets when I moved in. Perfect for testing.
You win.
OK, I hope this isn't a controversial question, but are snubbers really necessary for the Aleph J? I was hoping to just use the monolythic rectifiers and remove some complexity...
Snubbers aren't necessary. For rectification you have a few options.
If you go with DIY Audio Universal PSU board it has 4 quadrants. 2 for rectification (could be snapped off and replaced with 2 bridges), and 2 sections of CRC for positive and negative rails.
If you snap off the rectifier sections of the boards and use bridges the project will work just fine. It's the lower cost option. Simple, straightforward, gets the job done.
If you use the rectifier boards on the universal PSU board, you spend more on separate rectifiers, heatsinks, hardware (screws, washers, nuts, insulator pads) and snubbers if you wish. It's a bigger footprint, a bit more money, and a bit of an improvement. How much of an improvement? Good question.
Both get the job done. Git'r'dun vs. spend a little extra and use nice DIY Audio boards for their full potential.
I'm thinking the difference is about $9 for a couple diode bridges vs. $20-25 for the on-board/discrete/snubberized option. Up to you to weigh if it is worth the price and additional solder points difference. Some may like populating the board because it's more paint by numbers. Others may say, snap off those sections, screw in the bridges, and wire it up. You really can't go wrong either way.
If you go with DIY Audio Universal PSU board it has 4 quadrants. 2 for rectification (could be snapped off and replaced with 2 bridges), and 2 sections of CRC for positive and negative rails.
If you snap off the rectifier sections of the boards and use bridges the project will work just fine. It's the lower cost option. Simple, straightforward, gets the job done.
If you use the rectifier boards on the universal PSU board, you spend more on separate rectifiers, heatsinks, hardware (screws, washers, nuts, insulator pads) and snubbers if you wish. It's a bigger footprint, a bit more money, and a bit of an improvement. How much of an improvement? Good question.
Both get the job done. Git'r'dun vs. spend a little extra and use nice DIY Audio boards for their full potential.
I'm thinking the difference is about $9 for a couple diode bridges vs. $20-25 for the on-board/discrete/snubberized option. Up to you to weigh if it is worth the price and additional solder points difference. Some may like populating the board because it's more paint by numbers. Others may say, snap off those sections, screw in the bridges, and wire it up. You really can't go wrong either way.
Snubbers may not be strictly necessary, but they are a nice little add-on for peace of mind. The basic is a simple 0.01 uF film cap across each secondary winding at the input of the bridge rectifier. I also usually add a 2.2 uF film cap across the DC output of each bridge rectifier to handle higher frequency switching noise that may not be adequately filtered by the large bulk caps, as they tend to have an inductive component due to their physical size.
I don't like the usual GBPC35xx series block rectifiers due to the amount of voltage that is lost with these. I've tried a number of rectifiers over various amp builds, and like the idea of having simple block components that support sturdy wire connections. I'm going to try a set of VBE60-06A rectifiers in my Singing Bush, replacing a set of FEP30 diodes that were soldered into the break-off rectifier portion of the store PSU boards. The VBE parts are supplied with a set of terminal mounting screws, which make them very convenient to use.
I'll blame Mr picoDumbs if it goes horribly wrong
I don't like the usual GBPC35xx series block rectifiers due to the amount of voltage that is lost with these. I've tried a number of rectifiers over various amp builds, and like the idea of having simple block components that support sturdy wire connections. I'm going to try a set of VBE60-06A rectifiers in my Singing Bush, replacing a set of FEP30 diodes that were soldered into the break-off rectifier portion of the store PSU boards. The VBE parts are supplied with a set of terminal mounting screws, which make them very convenient to use.
I'll blame Mr picoDumbs if it goes horribly wrong
While on the subject of power supplies, the deluxe chassis that is being recommended for its pre-drilled and tapped mounting holes on the heatsinks, is too shallow to support anything other than a vertical mounting method for the power transformer(s). Yes, I like dual-mono, and I recognize that the first build for relative newbies my be simpler with a shared PSU. However, a dual-mono power supply is a wonderful thing with the Aleph J.
If the build documentation is to focus on a vertical mounting scheme for the transformers, then it needs to discuss how to avoid a shorted turn around the outside of the transformer. This is a real hazard. I actually use 5/16" or 3/8" Nylon mounting bolts for my transformers, or mount the transformers onto a slab of acrylic which is then bolted onto the baseplate.
My preference is a 400mm deep chassis which gives a lot more room for the transformers and bulk capacitor boards. This way the transformers may be mounted flat onto the base plate, using rubber stoppers to dampen any potential mechanical vibration. I have printed a copy of the UMS hole spacing to locate the mounting hole positions and use a drill press to make the holes in the heatsinks. The M3 screws need a #40 drill bit.
If the build documentation is to focus on a vertical mounting scheme for the transformers, then it needs to discuss how to avoid a shorted turn around the outside of the transformer. This is a real hazard. I actually use 5/16" or 3/8" Nylon mounting bolts for my transformers, or mount the transformers onto a slab of acrylic which is then bolted onto the baseplate.
My preference is a 400mm deep chassis which gives a lot more room for the transformers and bulk capacitor boards. This way the transformers may be mounted flat onto the base plate, using rubber stoppers to dampen any potential mechanical vibration. I have printed a copy of the UMS hole spacing to locate the mounting hole positions and use a drill press to make the holes in the heatsinks. The M3 screws need a #40 drill bit.
I have an old LG DVD BlueRay player that we never use for video anymore. It has a half-decent audio section for playing CDs via RCA outputs so makes a good test bench source. I'll bet lots of DIYers here have DVD players gathering dust, so zero investment.
Guys - I would put equipment like the Hakko in the "deluxe" category. Its a great soldering station but over $100.
I think the whole idea here is to lower the barrier to entry into the hobby, and that includes startup costs. The Stahl is more in the range, but there are perfectly good temperature-controlled "starter" irons under $20, like the Sparkfun iron which can be bought from them or Digikey.
I like to think like a cheapskate DIYer
I guess it depends which "barrier" you are trying to over.
I follow the basic rule with tools, cry once and buy the best you can. Cheap tools present themselves everytime they are used.
In my early days, I had a basic pen type solder I r on from radio shack. It got the job done, but when I got the first decent solder station I couldn't believe how much easier it was. Day and night.
We are building amps that retail at least 3 to 4 grand. Do yourself a favor (if you are going to continue) and as soon as funds are available, get one. It will save much grief, trashed circuit boards, over cooked components.
This is anything but a cheap hobby. Save money and build first chassis, use those funds for the basic tools that are clearly needed. Good solder set is essential to doing a good job.
Been there, done that. Meters? I bought a Fluke as my first meter. Others are Tenma, Tenna or something like that. You can get more features for less money, and they are excellent. The fluke is the only meter I have had issues with. It has worked for over 10 years, but it has touch sensitive switching that you have to press button multiple times to get function.
Also have several cheaper ones for extras during fire up and adjustment.
Russellc