Babelfish M25, SissySIT - general building tips and tricks

I have limited experience with such builds and after seeing some lovely build of many FMs including Zen Mod I'd like to confirm/ask a few (rather basic) questions regarding wiring and mounting for the SissySIT and get some insights from the pros.

1. It is preferable to have static and magnetic screen on the Toroid.

2. Mains -> Fuse -> Transformer
My guess is we go by 10 Amps max and voltage? So 20AWG? Stranded will be more flexible?

2. PSU -> PCB and PSU caps (power wires)
24/22 AWG? Stranded? UL1007?

3. Signal wires e.g RCA terminals -> PCB
- Gauge: 24 e.g twisted pair CAT5 wire or UL1007 24AWG?

- Shielded or not: Unshielded twisted pair fine for short runs? Shielded if you are paranoid?

- Stranded vs Solid: Matter of preference. Solid keeps shape but stranded more flexible.

- PVC vs PTFE : PTFE tolerates heat better for soldering but stiffer and difficult to deal with. Matter of preference?

4. Other wires (e.g SIT to PCB)
Same as PSU -> PCB?

5. PCB -> Speaker binding posts.
18-20 AWG?

6. Any other wires I'm missing (hidden below base plate)?

7. Are the PSU->PCB and PCB->Speaker terminals soldered on the PCB end or connected via male-female connectors? In some pics it appears as if there are connectors.

8. Can the PCB be mounted using either 10mm/5mm standoff?

In ZM's post #671 (page 8) he seems to have used same black wires here and to power the boards and for the speakers and also in this beautiful build on his blog https://www.zenmod.in.rs/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_20190603_200707-1024x509.jpg but the wiring to PSU caps looks thinner.
 
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8. The standoffs for the SissySIT board should be the same height as the Mosfet thickness as the Mosfet is mounted between the heatsink and the board. This keeps the board from being bent and stressed.

Be sure to check that the component leads and wires are clipped short so that they do not short against the heatsink.
 
Thanks plasnu. May be it is ok to use 22AWG since it seems rated at 7A.

Thanks for that critical info Ben. The datasheet indicates thickness of 4.58mm-5.31mm. I saw ZMs pic of the MOSFET sandwiched between the PCB and the heat sink. So with the keratherm I guess 8mm standoff might give that snug fit.
 
I finally finished my SissySIT after it was put on hold because COVID and being in California for almost 5 months. Back in February I had the amp completed and was on the last adjustment and could not get R7 on the left channel to make any changes. I did some troubleshooting and it appeared that the resistor was bad. I ordered a new one and never got a chance to swap it out until yesterday.

After swapping the resistor I was able to get the amp dialed in and it played music. I only have a couple of hours on it, but is sounds really good to my ears and I could not be happier with it.

ZM thank you for a great design and making it available to all of us.
 

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Rush,

I used the Modushop steel Dissipante 4U 400mm.

I believe they are about 24V each. the amp is dual mono and I'm using 2 Antek 18V 300VA with the CRC Power Supply (Class A amplifier) and a pair of 50uF film caps per supply.

I don't remember the temp, but it is a little warmer than the M2C, but not so hot you can't touch it.
 
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I lent my 2nd SissySIT to a friend, and he was thrilled with the sound. "Best sound in his system". He's been running F5 Turbo V3's, Aleph J's, F5, or Bryston 7BST's. He was loving it until the left channel went quiet. He said nothing went boom, no magic smoke, no smell. I just got the amp back. PSU voltage is good. Ammeter on negative wire to each channel looks similar. Nothing looks burnt. No loose wires. Jumper looked OK, but I swapped one anyway. Sound of the channel is very quiet and crackly. I'll need to dig in and do some more poking around when I get free time - maybe this weekend. Any ideas?