Re: Finally, thanks!
FYI, the 6 Moons photos of the innards of the Gaincard proper (i.e. not the Power Humpty) were supplied by Yoshi Segoshi of Sakura Systems.
se
peranders said:
FYI, the 6 Moons photos of the innards of the Gaincard proper (i.e. not the Power Humpty) were supplied by Yoshi Segoshi of Sakura Systems.
se
The caps are probably the cheapest they can get without affecting the sound.
I tried this once with power supply caps and some really cheapo ones (pennies) did sound awful, Maplins ones sounded OK, then trying some really expensive 'Audio Grade' ones made no difference at all.
Such is life.
Jem
I tried this once with power supply caps and some really cheapo ones (pennies) did sound awful, Maplins ones sounded OK, then trying some really expensive 'Audio Grade' ones made no difference at all.
Such is life.
Jem
Dave,
Yes, the toggles just switch the speaker outputs on and off. According to the owner's manual, this allows the swapping of interconnects and speaker cables with no ill effects to the speakers.
Otherwise there's no power switch on the GC. I find this to be fine, at least on the 25watt version which doesn't get hot at all, since the Gaincard seems to be terrribly, terribly sensitive to warm-up. I generally keep mine on all the time with absolutely no probelm.
Best,
KT
Yes, the toggles just switch the speaker outputs on and off. According to the owner's manual, this allows the swapping of interconnects and speaker cables with no ill effects to the speakers.
Otherwise there's no power switch on the GC. I find this to be fine, at least on the 25watt version which doesn't get hot at all, since the Gaincard seems to be terrribly, terribly sensitive to warm-up. I generally keep mine on all the time with absolutely no probelm.
Best,
KT
Jaime said:
Hi Jaime,
Well, I have 5 or 6 of the Brian GT kits, but I haven't put together a full Gainclone yet! I wanted to get a nice case for it, and I needed to order the transformers, and... well, you know - it wasn't enough of a priority for me to finish it up.
I'm actually curious, myself. I recall only one or two posts from people who have compared the two, and that was a while ago when I saw it. Can't wait until Srajan posts the comparison on 6Moons, though.
Yoshi and Junji (I've met Yoshi a few times - a really thoughtful and decent guy) must have real confidence in the design to invite such a comparison.
I'm also curious about this circuit modification that they're building into the very latest Gaincards. The website claims it provides an "...even more open sound with a touch of sweetness in it."
If someone finds out what it is, I'd consider performing the surgery myself. The $200 + shipping they're charging for the upgrade goes a long way in this age of Gainclone and T-amp kits.
Best,
KT
Re: Re: Finally, thanks!
that would explain why the open gaincard does not match the one in rest of the photos -- it has engraved logos.
it would be nice to see the inside of the actual review gaincard, since they are going into such a 'show everything' showdown with the patek.
am i expecting surprises? not really. but the distributors claiming that the original photos were fakes does bug me a bit, though i quite like what kimura himself has done. i guess i'm feeling once bitten, twice shy.
btw, what are the dots below the RCAs on the back? they look like silicone inserts.
Steve Eddy said:
that would explain why the open gaincard does not match the one in rest of the photos -- it has engraved logos.
it would be nice to see the inside of the actual review gaincard, since they are going into such a 'show everything' showdown with the patek.
am i expecting surprises? not really. but the distributors claiming that the original photos were fakes does bug me a bit, though i quite like what kimura himself has done. i guess i'm feeling once bitten, twice shy.
btw, what are the dots below the RCAs on the back? they look like silicone inserts.
ofb said:
ofb,
I'm not sure exactly what that stuff in the photo is, but did you know that Junji Kimura's last name breaks down into "Ki" and "Mura," which means purple and yellow? Also, that the numbers 4 and 7 in "47 Labs" correspond to the colors purple and yellow on the color wheel? I think that's pretty cool. Kind of a cosmic confluence - very elegant and wholistic
.When I got my Gaincard, I noticed that the allen-head bolts that held back plate to the Power Humpty - 4 of them - all had wax poured over the tops of them. Two of them were covered in purple wax and two of them in yellow. The wax was poured into the little recessed holes that the screws sat in, so they looked like little slightly dimpled colorful-but-muted waxy buttons around the back edge of the Power Humpty that sat just below the surface. I thought it was a nice touch that added some of that hand-crafted cachet to the whole thing, sort of in the way a letter with sealing wax feels more "special" that one without it.
I'm sure they did it to discourage folks from opening up the unit - sort of a tamper seal - it was a very nice touch, none-the-less. I have a feeling that they only did this on the earlier amps - I didn't see it on the demo amp at the stereo shop I worked at or in any of the press photos floating around, but I could be wrong.
The stuff in the photo does look like silicone, but it just reminded me of the purple and yellow wax that came with my Power Humpty.
BTW, the picture doesn't communicate it well, but the transfomer in the Power Humpy is very substantial - BIG and heavy.
Best,
KT
the colour accent would be a nice touch compared to most tamper seals.
the 'silicone' is likely something similar. it looks like they line up with the brass rods. the inner-more screws would be to hold the RCA blocks. i guess these and the outside back bar are isolation material.
the tx photos actually do look like what i'd imagined from your prior description. that's a husky piece of kit.
i wouldn't want to modify an original, but i'd also be very interested to know if it would sound different with dual bridges of the same diodes, or with the attenuators wired shunt instead of series.
in all, kimura has made a wonderful curiousity. it's the sort of thing that should be signed.
the 'silicone' is likely something similar. it looks like they line up with the brass rods. the inner-more screws would be to hold the RCA blocks. i guess these and the outside back bar are isolation material.
the tx photos actually do look like what i'd imagined from your prior description. that's a husky piece of kit.
i wouldn't want to modify an original, but i'd also be very interested to know if it would sound different with dual bridges of the same diodes, or with the attenuators wired shunt instead of series.
in all, kimura has made a wonderful curiousity. it's the sort of thing that should be signed.
Jaime said:
But it isn't, really. And as much as I otherwise like the Gaincard, that's been one of my main criticisms. Yeah, it's simple to cobble together a circuit based on an IC power opamp, but the actual circuit is hardly what one would call simple.
And to claim only "9 parts per channel" when one of those parts is made up of dozens of components is stretching things rather too far in my opinion.
If we're going to do things like that, I could take a discrete monobloc amplifier, fill it up with potting compound and claim "1 part per channel."
se
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