Finally, I've tried S&B TX102 TVC with a GC amp

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#22
Jerry T. said:
You're a sick man, Peter !


What do you do with all the clones you've built?
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You are probably right about the sickness, but so far I didn't find a cure😉 I don't have too many GC at home. Just 2 pairs of monoblocks and 3 stereo amps. I'm using 3 sets constantly.


grataku said:
Peter,
we are witnessing an amazing transformation in your designs.
Design-wise it's something in between the Shanling tubeSACD, a CHORD and an Hovland.

What is the blue gasket between the trafos and the chassis?
Does your wife have anything to say about you putting spikey things on her good table? 😉
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The unit indeed reminds Shanling, but was not influenced by it in any way. It's just another form follows function approach and frankly I don't think it could be done any easier. I woke up last Sunday morning with quite a hangover and I wanted to complete that project in one day. I had an idea of how I'm gonna build it from a previous week (when I was thinking about it) but when I started putting pieces together some elements had to be changed for better looks. For instance, the angles originally supposed to run across whole length (front and back) but it appeared that this gives sort of boring look, so I decided only on half way between the transformers. Accordingly, a top plate piece was added to conceal wiring and provide shielding as well as spacing between acrylic and the angles was added. I still think that the back is too much crowded with RCAs and front shouldn't be as high. But if you noticed I used only 4 screws to put everything together (not counting the spikes). The blue neoprene padding was used to keep the transformers in place as the size of transformers is 2 3/8 and I only had 2 1/2 hole-saw at my disposal. But it adds more accents and actually decouples transformers from the base.

I remember you had some problems with good pictures in the other thread so here's my advice. Whenever I want to make them really nice, I use daylight, put the camera on a tripod and never use a flash. Longer exposures, using remote triggering, gives best results. And I always do it when my wife is not at home😉


tom1356 said:
Peter
You made good use of that schematic I see.
Nice job!
Congratulations your pre search is over.
I have the silver version and will never own anything else.
Keep up the good work.
When are you planning a tube amp project?
Tom
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I was wondering what would be the difference between copper and silver, as definitely I'll built one more preamp, this time more serious.

And indeed, I think that whoever tries that thing, the search for a perfect preamp for him is over. To me, it's not like a straight wire with attenuation or gain (as basically a perfect preamp is described). It is an interface between source and the amp, an interface that 'adds this "human" feel, this cohesiveness to most systems and most recordings and a wider dynamic range' . I don't know how it happens, but this is how it feels and I don't know if I could go back to a regular preamplifier anymore.😉
 
#24
Peter,
thanks for the photo advice, unfortunately, I am at work during the day and it's always rainy on the weekends so no good lighting there either. 😉

One thing that would look good here IMO would be to polish the acrylic surfaces on both the outside and in the holes. I have no idea how to get it done. The machine shop guy at work knows all this stuff. I'll ask him
 
#26
grataku said:
Peter,
thanks for the photo advice, unfortunately, I am at work during the day and it's always rainy on the weekends so no good lighting there either. 😉

One thing that would look good here IMO would be to polish the acrylic surfaces on both the outside and in the holes. I have no idea how to get it done. The machine shop guy at work knows all this stuff. I'll ask him
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I like the rough look of the acrylic on the sides. I think that it more complexity, which is good IMO. I think that if it was all polished, it would be too transparent looking, and you could see the wires from the sides, which are now obscured by the rough sides. Maybe the roughness could be made a bit more uniform though. Peter, what kind of saw/blade combo did you use to cut the acrylic?

As for night time photos without a flash. I have gotten good results even in low light with shutter times greater then 1 sec with my digital camera.
 
#28
Peter Daniel said:


I was wondering what would be the difference between copper and silver, as definitely I'll built one more preamp, this time more serious.
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Peter,
Go to the Bent Audio section, at audiocircle.

I am pretty sure there is something there on silver versus copper.

Else, you can go look at harmonicdiscord, at their Bent section, it might be over there.

If you can't find anything, you can always ask.

BTW, I have the copper 102's, and I also really like them.

Randy
 
#36
Re: Finally I tried S&B TX102 TVC too

Peter Daniel said:
Being motivated by some posts here, from members building and using those transformers for volume control, I decided to try them myself.

The knob is from original ML preamp😉
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Hi
Peter

Nice work as usual

Perhaps I can motivate you to try a chip amp of the valve buffered variety.If possible I return the same should I manage to track down a set of S&B's either cheap or a lone (hint KYW)

Regards
Peter
 

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#37
Great looking preamp Peter

I think Gain Clones generally sound much better with good preamp.Every since I've built GC I'm using it with my DIY Aleph P.

As I remember You built Aleph P 1.7
Is this transformer preamp much better?

Also I've noticed Thorsten is using some capacitors at his.
Do You know the purpose of those?

Bartek
 

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#40
As you see, I'm moving in a new direction 😉

Working with smaller designs seems to offer more creativity and sometimes really cute looks.

As to the sound, my current setup offers the most satisfaction I got so far from the music (this is accompanied by TDA1543 non-oversampling DAC).

I also will be trying analog front end, as recently I traded one of my amps for Koetsu cartridge.

If anybody considers using those transformers, I'd say go for it. They are worth every penny.
 
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