Bigbottle Phonostage Builders thread.

[Bigman80]

Hm.. I tried that and neither of them light up now. I wonder if that pad goes to another point.. It's hard to tell on the other side of the PCB. Do you have any close ups of that circle pad on both sides where you can see the traces?

Is there any way I could see just that portion of the schematic? I know we can't see the whole thing, but maybe just that part?

I will see if Alan will drop in and comment.

 

[Vivant]

Yes the Led cathode goes directly to ground.
Anode is to the relay.

Suggestion: fit some thin wires and attach the LED remotely until sure it is the right way round and lights up.

 

[StevenCrook]

Noob question. I went to Watford Valves site to order my valves and found they can be matched - at a price. I had no clue. So did some googling and sort of understand what's being matched, but still have no idea if it's relevant, advisable, essential for BigBottle or not.

Help!

 

[thehoj]

Yes the Led cathode goes directly to ground.
Anode is to the relay.

Suggestion: fit some thin wires and attach the LED remotely until sure it is the right way round and lights up.

Okay, well I figured out what was going on.. My fricking LED's don't seem to have the same polarity indicators.. The attached image is how I had them wired. The larger plate inside connected to ground..
Turns out in my LED's the smaller plate is cathode and the larger one is anode. Why on earth would LED manufacturers differ in this manner? Super frustrating.


And just as a follow up, everything seems to be working well now. Voltages all where they should be. Next step, time for a listen.

 

[thehoj]

And a brief listening follow up.. It sounds glorious! Soooo good! Awesome work guys.
I'm using some Philips 6DJ8 tubes, and an RCA (I think) 12ax7.

My amp is an 845 power amp driven by #56 -> 843 tubes.

Listing to Avishai Cohen / Big Vicious - Midnight Sonata)
Bigbottle - YouTube

Wow.. Copyright claim immediately. that sucks.. I'll try a different platform for sharing the video.
20200901_103154.mp4 - Google Drive

 

[Bigman80]

Try changing you r "usage" of the video in the permissions section...usually, that works.

I wanted to see that lol.

Great that it's now working...well done!

Philips 6DJ8?

HAve you changed the heater voltage, as the V1 and V2 position are for 7DJ8 on the BOM

 

[Bigman80]

Noob question. I went to Watford Valves site to order my valves and found they can be matched - at a price. I had no clue. So did some googling and sort of understand what's being matched, but still have no idea if it's relevant, advisable, essential for BigBottle or not.

Help!

Hi Steven,

Yes, you want them to be matched.

 

[thehoj]

Try changing you r "usage" of the video in the permissions section...usually, that works.

I wanted to see that lol.

Great that it's now working...well done!

Philips 6DJ8?

HAve you changed the heater voltage, as the V1 and V2 position are for 7DJ8 on the BOM

Check the new link I just shared via my google drive.
20200901_103154.mp4 - Google Drive

Yes I used the two 1n4148's in reverse polarity, and wire jumpered those other two spots (can't remember the locations at the moment) but it was as was instructed. I get 6.4V for the 6DJ8's.

 

[Bigman80]

Check the new link I just shared via my google drive.
20200901_103154.mp4 - Google Drive

Yes I used the two 1n4148's in reverse polarity, and wire jumpered those other two spots (can't remember the locations at the moment) but it was as was instructed. I get 6.4V for the 6DJ8's.

Ah, that's cool..

 

[thehoj]

Ah, that's cool..

Now to get a chassis. I plan to order a custom CNC cut one from landfall chassis.

 

[Bigman80]

Check the new link I just shared via my google drive.
20200901_103154.mp4 - Google Drive

Yes I used the two 1n4148's in reverse polarity, and wire jumpered those other two spots (can't remember the locations at the moment) but it was as was instructed. I get 6.4V for the 6DJ8's.

Sounds alright!!!!! Haha,

Thats some very tidy glassware you have there....lovely stuff.

If you arent using Mudorf Supreme oil or Clarity Cap CMR on the 2.2uf coupling caps, give them a go....BIG uplift in SQ

Enjoy the phonostage and share some pics of it cased up.

Well Done!

 

[thehoj]

Sounds alright!!!!! Haha,

Thats some very tidy glassware you have there....lovely stuff.

If you arent using Mudorf Supreme oil or Clarity Cap CMR on the 2.2uf coupling caps, give them a go....BIG uplift in SQ

Enjoy the phonostage and share some pics of it cased up.

Well Done!

Thanks!
I saw your recommendation earlier in one of the threads about the Clarity caps. I ended up going with the cheaper Clarity CSA caps which so far seem nice.

Maybe one day I'll try swapping them out.

 

[Bigman80]

Thanks!

I saw your recommendation earlier in one of the threads about the Clarity caps. I ended up going with the cheaper Clarity CSA caps which so far seem nice.



Maybe one day I'll try swapping them out.

No, they are absolutely fine. Good choice.

 

[thehoj]

thehoj, fit a 1.5M ohm resistor across C5P and then re-measure your voltages.

It does seem rather high on V1 cathodes, I guess you have red Led's?

Hey, so just double checking a few things, and though I don't think I quite understand how using a resistor over C5P lowers the B+ in this circuit, I was wondering if I wanted to lower even a slight bit more would I use a smaller resistor? LIke 1.2M? Or what do you think about doing that?

 

[Vivant]

Yes that's absolutely fine. It's acting like a potential divider for the capacitance multiplier/filter.

 

[Bigman80]

***ATTENTION***

Dear BB3 builders,


It looks as thought the BF861B is now "end of life" and is already no longer manufactured.


What would be really helpful, is if anyone can recommend a Low Noise-High Gain alternative SOT-23 package N-Channel FET, that we could try in the MultiFET boards as an alternative going forward.


If you haven't bought the JFETs for your own build, I suggest you get them snapped up ASAP.


Thanks,


Oliver

 

[thehoj]

I've been going through my tube stash, and came upon a single Philips/Miniwatt SQ E88CC/6922 (SQ = Special Quality), which seems to be a very nice tube. A more robust version of the 6DJ8/ECC88. I just have one though, and got wondering about which location - V1 or V3 - might take better advantage of this rare tube that I am not likely to use for anything else.

Or are these two tube locations better suited for more of a matched pair of tubes?

DISCLAIMER: I have wired my Bigbottle phono stage for ECC88 use instead of PCC88. In case anyone is confused by my use of these tubes.

 

[Bigman80]

I've been going through my tube stash, and came upon a single Philips/Miniwatt SQ E88CC/6922 (SQ = Special Quality), which seems to be a very nice tube. A more robust version of the 6DJ8/ECC88. I just have one though, and got wondering about which location - V1 or V3 - might take better advantage of this rare tube that I am not likely to use for anything else.

Or are these two tube locations better suited for more of a matched pair of tubes?

DISCLAIMER: I have wired my Bigbottle phono stage for ECC88 use instead of PCC88. In case anyone is confused by my use of these tubes.

V1....that's the best place for it.

 

[thehoj]

V1....that's the best place for it.

Okay thanks for the input.. Though as it turns out it's a bust.. That tube is really noisy, constant hissing and crackling. That sucks.

Besides that one I've got a pair of Telefunkens, and what appear to be Philips branded Amperex Holland 6DJ8's. I'll have to play around and see which ones I like better.

 

[Bigman80]

Okay thanks for the input.. Though as it turns out it's a bust.. That tube is really noisy, constant hissing and crackling. That sucks.



Besides that one I've got a pair of Telefunkens, and what appear to be Philips branded Amperex Holland 6DJ8's. I'll have to play around and see which ones I like better.

Nice choice to have to make,!