I finished putting my Sonic Impact digital amp into a new case a few days ago. My main motivations for doing this were to be able to use standard RCA inputs and to be able to connect two sources.
I used an aluminum case from Fry's. It is only about 3 inches by 6 inches by 2 inches high and is probably twice as large as needed but it gives room to work inside. Power comes from a 12VDC, 1A wall wart.
Overall I think it sounds better than the original but it is hard to say since I obviously can't do any A/B listening. If it does sound better it is likely due to the higher quality connectors and volume control.
Here is the front.
I used an aluminum case from Fry's. It is only about 3 inches by 6 inches by 2 inches high and is probably twice as large as needed but it gives room to work inside. Power comes from a 12VDC, 1A wall wart.
Overall I think it sounds better than the original but it is hard to say since I obviously can't do any A/B listening. If it does sound better it is likely due to the higher quality connectors and volume control.
Here is the front.
Attachments
And the Guts
Here is the inside. The board is currently just hanging in there. With the wires soldered it doesn't move and I've put a piece of foam on the bottom to prevent shorts.
I'm planning on using nylon bolts and nuts to attach the board inside through holes I've drilled in the bottom but I don't have any nylon bolts in the bin so I'll have to go pick some up. For now it is fine.
Here is the inside. The board is currently just hanging in there. With the wires soldered it doesn't move and I've put a piece of foam on the bottom to prevent shorts.
I'm planning on using nylon bolts and nuts to attach the board inside through holes I've drilled in the bottom but I don't have any nylon bolts in the bin so I'll have to go pick some up. For now it is fine.
Attachments
Nice!
I plan on reboxing one of mine also. Originally I thought about using a 9.5 AH sealed lead battery lifted from my daughter's Power Wheel motorcycle.
My speakers draw very little power, and I also have purchased a 13.5 volt 1 amp power suppply from RS. This was much easier.
The amp is a little louder than when running off the standard AA batteries. But it has an edge or glare. I suspect it requires a smoother power supply than these wallwarts.
I even suspect a little ringing is going on. May be power supply related noise getting outputted. With the batteres it is very smooth and warm.
I have ordered a 13.5 volt, 1700 ma power supply from PartsExpress. It will get some additional filtering also. Hope it sounds more like the batteries.
I will report on the difference in sonics once the new PS arrives.
George
I plan on reboxing one of mine also. Originally I thought about using a 9.5 AH sealed lead battery lifted from my daughter's Power Wheel motorcycle.
My speakers draw very little power, and I also have purchased a 13.5 volt 1 amp power suppply from RS. This was much easier.
The amp is a little louder than when running off the standard AA batteries. But it has an edge or glare. I suspect it requires a smoother power supply than these wallwarts.
I even suspect a little ringing is going on. May be power supply related noise getting outputted. With the batteres it is very smooth and warm.
I have ordered a 13.5 volt, 1700 ma power supply from PartsExpress. It will get some additional filtering also. Hope it sounds more like the batteries.
I will report on the difference in sonics once the new PS arrives.
George
Fry's Box
Sherman - thanks for the lead on the casing... Can you tell me how much that box was from Fry's? Is it an all metal enclosure?
Thanks in advance, it's a long way to the closest Fry's from here in New Mexico, but I'll be in Dallas shortly and can pick one up.
I'll be moving my sonic impact to a similar case, plus switching to the SLA battery.... I've got two SI's so I can do A/B comparison.
Travis
Sherman - thanks for the lead on the casing... Can you tell me how much that box was from Fry's? Is it an all metal enclosure?
Thanks in advance, it's a long way to the closest Fry's from here in New Mexico, but I'll be in Dallas shortly and can pick one up.
I'll be moving my sonic impact to a similar case, plus switching to the SLA battery.... I've got two SI's so I can do A/B comparison.
Travis
The case is from context engineering in Santa Clara California. Distributed through frys. It is all aluminum. About 10-20 dollars. I used one from them for my chipamp. you can see it here.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=17896
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=17896
Re: Volume?
The case was $14.95 IIRC. The case is all aluminum in four parts. The top and bottom halves and the front and rear panels. The panels are identical but the top and bottom halves are made to mate, the left and right mating edges are different so they only go together correctly one way. Pretty nice little case and they have them in anodized black and other sizes as well.
The volume pot was part of a group of 10 or 15 pots I picked up as surplus a few months ago. I think I paid $2 each (maybe less). Nothing special but it does seem much better made than the original. I put each pot in my multimeter and measured both channels and wrote the values on a piece of tape I then stuck on the pots. When I use them I just pick the one in the bin with the closest match between channels. As I do more projects the values get worse! 😉
I don't remember exactly where I got them but it might have been from Electronics Goldmine. They are PC mount but it is easy to solder wires to them.
tleonard said:
tleonard said:
Variac said:
The case was $14.95 IIRC. The case is all aluminum in four parts. The top and bottom halves and the front and rear panels. The panels are identical but the top and bottom halves are made to mate, the left and right mating edges are different so they only go together correctly one way. Pretty nice little case and they have them in anodized black and other sizes as well.
The volume pot was part of a group of 10 or 15 pots I picked up as surplus a few months ago. I think I paid $2 each (maybe less). Nothing special but it does seem much better made than the original. I put each pot in my multimeter and measured both channels and wrote the values on a piece of tape I then stuck on the pots. When I use them I just pick the one in the bin with the closest match between channels. As I do more projects the values get worse! 😉
I don't remember exactly where I got them but it might have been from Electronics Goldmine. They are PC mount but it is easy to solder wires to them.
Cheap Knob
BTW, the knob on the volume control is a cheapie from Radio Shack. It looks pretty decent though.
BTW, the knob on the volume control is a cheapie from Radio Shack. It looks pretty decent though.
Re: Nice!
I would be very interested in your results. I know others have said it sounds better on batteries than when using a trafo but I honestly didn't hear a noticeable difference between eight AA batteries, a 12V motorcycle battery and this 1A wall wart.
My "new" scope should arrive today so from now on I'll actually be able to do some objective testing.
Panelhead said:
I would be very interested in your results. I know others have said it sounds better on batteries than when using a trafo but I honestly didn't hear a noticeable difference between eight AA batteries, a 12V motorcycle battery and this 1A wall wart.
My "new" scope should arrive today so from now on I'll actually be able to do some objective testing.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.