If that´s the case, my bet would be: Return it to your friend and carefully suggest, that it is in his best interrest to
return the "device" and get his money back. There should be legal rules for selling "Sxxx" like that 🙂
I just sent him a message asking if there was any sort of guarantee.
He bought it direct from Thailand though...
It sounded great aside from the hum apparently. Guy has an a nice AudioNote phono stage and he says it sounds as good.
It uses 354A thyratrons as diodes to rectify B+. Wired with grids as anodes. In that configuration the anode top cap is live and should not be touched. Maybe make sure the owner is aware of that. And when he/she is ok with it offer to put a piece of shrink wrap an the top cap.
Fixing anything means it was working properly and then broke.
Your job is to find broken parts and replace them, to restore functionality to original state.
Everybody happy.
Not here.
That build is an amateurish mess, it´s not "broken" (which is fixable) but a no clue build.
Nothing to "fix".
Charge a basic bench fee and send it back.
Your friend/customer was conned out of U$5000, period, nothing you can do about it.
PS: my eyes hurt just by looking at that build mess.
And .... couldn´t they get a chassis to build it?
Just a flat metal sheet screwed to 4 wooden slates?
SERIOUS???
EDIT: just checked "Soundaries" site.
Some things you can´t unsee.
Clearly belonging to a peculiar "look Ma, no chassis" group, he brags about a certain "Lenco Heaven" group meeting, he proudly shows some colleagues.
http://soundaries.com/2018/08/lenco-heaven-meeting-2018-audio.html/
Incredibly dangerous fully exposed high voltage builds:
Build covered in "Danger High Voltage" stickers!!!!!
As if that were enough to make it "safe"
More of the flat sheet screwed to wooden sides builds.
A "Reference Turntable" complete with compressed air installation , manometer included 😱 , mystery liquid bottles on top, plus a custom made mystery brush.
I guess before playing each record, they soak it with one liquid, brush softened dust off, then soak it in yet another liquid, play it while blowing air onto and around the stylus tip for a very clean reproduction 😱
What else can be deduced from this picture?
Your job is to find broken parts and replace them, to restore functionality to original state.
Everybody happy.
Not here.
That build is an amateurish mess, it´s not "broken" (which is fixable) but a no clue build.
Nothing to "fix".
Charge a basic bench fee and send it back.
Your friend/customer was conned out of U$5000, period, nothing you can do about it.
PS: my eyes hurt just by looking at that build mess.
And .... couldn´t they get a chassis to build it?
Just a flat metal sheet screwed to 4 wooden slates?
SERIOUS???
EDIT: just checked "Soundaries" site.
Some things you can´t unsee.
Clearly belonging to a peculiar "look Ma, no chassis" group, he brags about a certain "Lenco Heaven" group meeting, he proudly shows some colleagues.
http://soundaries.com/2018/08/lenco-heaven-meeting-2018-audio.html/
Incredibly dangerous fully exposed high voltage builds:
Build covered in "Danger High Voltage" stickers!!!!!
As if that were enough to make it "safe"
More of the flat sheet screwed to wooden sides builds.
A "Reference Turntable" complete with compressed air installation , manometer included 😱 , mystery liquid bottles on top, plus a custom made mystery brush.
I guess before playing each record, they soak it with one liquid, brush softened dust off, then soak it in yet another liquid, play it while blowing air onto and around the stylus tip for a very clean reproduction 😱
What else can be deduced from this picture?
Hello, if you are still inclined to fix it, here are some tricks that worked for me:
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...ier-acceptable-s-n-ratio.369284/#post-6580635
I'm taking the advice given in this thread and not getting involved in this on
I feel bad for the guy, but it isn't my problem. Best to keep it not my problem by getting involved in this job.
I definitely noticed the lack of chassis. If I was going to tackle this I'd probably try to shield the sides with copper tape. Like how I'd shield a guitar electronics cavity.
YES, I'd really like to see an example of neat p2p phono tube stage the experts (especially those who said something about a mess) approve.
Not into Hi Fi Boutique preamps, so all I can contribute is a humble commercial Guitar one.
Even so, it might stand comparison to the U$5000 "boutique" one 🙄
Notice parts orientation, wiring layout, twisted and separated from Audio path filament wires, etc.
MILES above that amateurish mess.
Enlarge image and enjoy. 🙂
Of course others will certainly contribute gorgeous examples of well built Hi Fi types.
I checked out that site.
It's just another website taking up space on the internet with a bunch of "eye candy" builds of rediculous nature.
Likely just a group of self-proclaimed artistic-minded eccentrics that learned to solder by watching internet videos.
I mention artistic-minded because all those systems are dreamed-up in their human minds as some visually impressive system(s) designed to, well, impress.
They may even sound decent, I don't know, and don't care... they're bizarre.
The rooms, decor, are just as unusual, a sure sign of odd living behavior.
Mind you, I don't expect everybody to decorate a home as I do, I believe in individual freedoms.
But a lot about a person is told in how they live, right?
Indra1's comment likely refers to us, (use of the term "mess") and I suspect it's due to the solidarity of the asian community.
Several here are knocking a sloppy mess that clearly has major issues.
And no, I don't have the interest to provide "good build" information, there's plenty of that on the internet already.
I do know as a long-term experienced technician how things work, and proper electrical build procedures.
And any sensitive low-level audio, or even video circuitry should have proper shielding, which this mess does not have.
Very nice indeed! What is the purpose of the blue paint / enamel on components and solder joints? To indicate if someone else works on (i.e. messes with) the circuit?
I guess so.
It does not forbid or block you from independent/own servicing, but then you can´t claim "it was working fine and suddenly stopped working, I did nothing to it, it´s still Factory original" 😉
It is literally written on the device as a "Professional Record Cleaner by Loricraft Audio." They've been around and quite commonly seen by vinylphiles. And the Lenco meeting was a gathering of experimenters, including inventive tonearm designer Frank Schroeder who's a member of this forum, showing their prototypes and experiments NOT as commercial products. Plus, all the attendees are industry people and engineers, etc... I'm not defending Soundaries sloppy build of OP's phono preamp but, to be fair, that Lenco Heaven meeting page was simply a visual report of the event. I personally enjoy looking and reading that type of coverage.
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