I really like the SpeakON. Also they were much less expensive than the binding posts I bought a few years ago, and work better IMO.
What I really like is that you can get colored gaskets (not required), but they match the D Size Neutrik XLR, so you can make them all match.
Now I wish I would had black screws on hand, see photo. The zinc colored screws are look out of place,... Don't get me started on that
What I really like is that you can get colored gaskets (not required), but they match the D Size Neutrik XLR, so you can make them all match.
Now I wish I would had black screws on hand, see photo. The zinc colored screws are look out of place,... Don't get me started on that
Attachments
I'll keep my ideas to myself. Don't want to appear as stupid. Maybe I'll try Wi-Fi...only kidding???
Henry, your ideas are not are not really the problem. It's just that you keep pushing down the wrong path despite many peoples attempts to steer you in the right direction. There is a LOT of experience on this forum. I've spent 29 years working as an RF/uWave technician in the aerospace industry and have been actively engaged in DIY audio and running an audio business on the side for more years than that. There are others who have been around much longer than I. It would pay you to listen, they have a lot to teach. I'll never try to tell you the best way to tap holes or set up a lathe.
Peace and all the best with your current project.
Peace and all the best with your current project.
For speaker terminals, my absolute favorites are the oversize, 12ga compatible spring clips, sold by Monster for too much and Parts Express for about 60 cents.
Benefits include strong, nonstop clamping pressure of dual contact points.
Compare: Most speaker terminals don't offer strong, nonstop clamping pressure.
Consider: If it is down behind the back of the thing, in the dark, I personally really, truly, did the oversize spring clips, for when good contact is needed, in normal situations. That's just exactly the situation when I didn't intend to play idiot for testing purposes--it was real and binding post won't ever do.
Well, that's the news of what I Needed for making good contact. And, it isn't expensive.
Although great news on the large signal end, I really would like some "never fail" suggestions on making contact "thoroughly in all conditions" on the small signal end? Any thoughts? Saltwater corrosion and Vietnam mold proof?
Benefits include strong, nonstop clamping pressure of dual contact points.
Compare: Most speaker terminals don't offer strong, nonstop clamping pressure.
Consider: If it is down behind the back of the thing, in the dark, I personally really, truly, did the oversize spring clips, for when good contact is needed, in normal situations. That's just exactly the situation when I didn't intend to play idiot for testing purposes--it was real and binding post won't ever do.
Well, that's the news of what I Needed for making good contact. And, it isn't expensive.
Although great news on the large signal end, I really would like some "never fail" suggestions on making contact "thoroughly in all conditions" on the small signal end? Any thoughts? Saltwater corrosion and Vietnam mold proof?
Last edited:
Well, it is these: Two Conductor Speaker Wire Spring Terminal
One clue is: "Accepts up to 12 gauge wire"
The other clue is that these are over twice as large as expected for spring terminals. For just two contacts, they're over two inches. They're very huge.
I had bought little sack of them, so then the price was 58 cents each. Next time they're in stock, I'm going to buy a bigger size sack of them so that'll be 52 cents each. 😀
Parts Express is out of stock. If you're in a hurry, Monster has them gold plated for about five bucks each. Problem is that better would cost more than that.
It is effective to contact Parts Express for restock consideration. They're very interested in what customers want, but they're even more interested in what customers need.
Parts Express is prone to misfile, such as the Tang Band 6-1/2 15 watt unit as a home woofer, when it is better used as a prosound midrange (with 4 ohms padding resistor series). And, then there's these speaker clips not at all convenient for a speaker (air leak sealing), but just the very thing for an amplifier (users/reviewers/customers make excellent contact Every time, with the least effort). Category misfile also risks discontinuance.
I won't yet nor ever will do an amplifier with binding posts. That's because binding posts are only momentarily appropriate at good contact, and I'd rather have quality for longer than that.
P.S.
Darned embarrassing that the things are out of stock. Edit: I emailed Parts Express management on the out of stock issue and category/usage.
Last edited:
You can buy black painted, or black passivated countersunk posidrive screws for that fitting.
Most are drilled for 3mm screws.
I've had an excellent run with everything Neutrik, the are very well engineered and last a lifetime in very harsh environments.
I have found the Z-type connectors to be about as good as it gets - not the easiest, mind you but ....
4mm BANANA PLUGS BERYLLIUM Copper Gold Plated Z-type Hollow Audio - they come from a 'petern2010' on eBay.uk - some similar from HK but not used them
4mm BANANA PLUGS BERYLLIUM Copper Gold Plated Z-type Hollow Audio - they come from a 'petern2010' on eBay.uk - some similar from HK but not used them
I agree about Neutrik. I've used their XLRs and think they are excellent. I also like switchcraft cable mounted XLRs. They seem very well made.
I'm now looking into using Neutrik speakon connectors for the back panel of the amp and for termination of one end of the speaker cables. All my speakers have 5 way binding posts and there I use bare wire.
A 5-way binding post will usually accept banana plugs. There're some pretty nice banana plugs out there for the purpose. In your situation, I'd go with a speakON on the amp and banana plugs to the speaker.
Now for my own speakers (LXmini) I used a 4-pole speakON (Neutrik P/N a few posts back). Easy and foolproof.
Tom
Now for my own speakers (LXmini) I used a 4-pole speakON (Neutrik P/N a few posts back). Easy and foolproof.
Tom
13 Parallel-86 boards left of the group buy. Right now I have the bare boards (no parts) in stock. Next week, I'll order a tube of LM4780 ICs to go with the boards that remain and sell the board+IC combo. You can order the bare boards or place a backorder for the board+IC combo here: Parallel-86 (Last Chance to Buy)
Tom
Tom
I think I read a few posts that some folks are making wooden amp cases. Sounds like a good Idea.
One can buy fully ventilated aluminum top and bottom covers from modushop. One could also buy just a back panel made to a drawing one would supply. That is an intriguing option.
I'm starting to think I may buy just the top and bottom covers and use wood for the sides, front and back. Pretty inexpensive and fewer panels needing grounding. I also like exotic woods. Spalted Tamarind or Paduk would be spectacular. Anyone see any downsides?.
One can buy fully ventilated aluminum top and bottom covers from modushop. One could also buy just a back panel made to a drawing one would supply. That is an intriguing option.
I'm starting to think I may buy just the top and bottom covers and use wood for the sides, front and back. Pretty inexpensive and fewer panels needing grounding. I also like exotic woods. Spalted Tamarind or Paduk would be spectacular. Anyone see any downsides?.
I like the beauty of the top plate being wood too. It does make sense to me to do the bottom and rear in aluminum plate though. I just got some tin-snips and cut aluminum sheet metal, attached it to the wood peices inside, connected to protective earth.
Not sure if you'll need wood on the sides, or what your construction method will be, but if your heat sinks are internal, then you'll have to think about ventilation perhaps. The heat sink will perform differently if it's enclosed inside a box which has a higher ambient temperature than what you calculated for.
I attached a picture so you can see how I did it,.. I just tapped some holes in my heat sinks, and used some corner brackets to attach bottom, front and back. The bottom plate does NOT run under the finns of the heat sink, they're just hanging over the edge. Some 1" dowel rods for feet allow airflow freely under the finns
Back to the point of your question, potential downsides: wood and metal will usually expand and contract at different rates, so if you have a joint where wood and metal meet, it could cause the wood to crack one day. You could accommodate for this in your design, perhaps with fasteners that have rubber grommets that will absorb said expansion for example. I made no such accommodation in my chassis design, but my heat sinks are so huge that they get only lukewarm after a few solid hours of crankin the volume up. I guess I'll see how long it lasts! I'll be surprised if it fails.
Another point is that if you live in an environment with strong radio waves, metal on all sides, connected to ground can help to keep unwanted signals out of your amp. That being said, I think that Toms circuit is especially resilient to such things, and I'm not worried about it.
Not sure if you'll need wood on the sides, or what your construction method will be, but if your heat sinks are internal, then you'll have to think about ventilation perhaps. The heat sink will perform differently if it's enclosed inside a box which has a higher ambient temperature than what you calculated for.
I attached a picture so you can see how I did it,.. I just tapped some holes in my heat sinks, and used some corner brackets to attach bottom, front and back. The bottom plate does NOT run under the finns of the heat sink, they're just hanging over the edge. Some 1" dowel rods for feet allow airflow freely under the finns
Back to the point of your question, potential downsides: wood and metal will usually expand and contract at different rates, so if you have a joint where wood and metal meet, it could cause the wood to crack one day. You could accommodate for this in your design, perhaps with fasteners that have rubber grommets that will absorb said expansion for example. I made no such accommodation in my chassis design, but my heat sinks are so huge that they get only lukewarm after a few solid hours of crankin the volume up. I guess I'll see how long it lasts! I'll be surprised if it fails.
Another point is that if you live in an environment with strong radio waves, metal on all sides, connected to ground can help to keep unwanted signals out of your amp. That being said, I think that Toms circuit is especially resilient to such things, and I'm not worried about it.
Attachments
Last edited:
My heatsinks, for the Parallel86, will be inside the case. That is why I thought the fully ventilated top and bottom covers would be appropriate. I used them in my Mod86 build with an all aluminum case.
The difference in expansion/contract, between the wood and aluminum, I believe can be addressed by how the top and bottom covers are attached to the wood sides, front and back panels. I wouldn't think everything needs to be tight like a vault. I don't envision wood panels and metal top and bottom covers rattling against each other.
The difference in expansion/contract, between the wood and aluminum, I believe can be addressed by how the top and bottom covers are attached to the wood sides, front and back panels. I wouldn't think everything needs to be tight like a vault. I don't envision wood panels and metal top and bottom covers rattling against each other.
Last edited:
Nothing wrong with a wood chassis. That's commonly done on tube amp builds. In fact, you can get tons of inspiration in the Photo Gallery thread. Just make sure that any exposed metal that can be touched by the end user is grounded.
Some choose to line the insides of the box with copper foil, which is grounded. This provides some electromagnetic shielding of RF fields. Copper mesh (available at arts & crafts stores) works as well.
For ventilation, I've used perforated aluminum plate. That works really well. The alloy used for perf plate is usually pretty soft - like 3003H14, 2024 or similar.
Tom
Some choose to line the insides of the box with copper foil, which is grounded. This provides some electromagnetic shielding of RF fields. Copper mesh (available at arts & crafts stores) works as well.
For ventilation, I've used perforated aluminum plate. That works really well. The alloy used for perf plate is usually pretty soft - like 3003H14, 2024 or similar.
Tom
Mine are exactly like that, and haven't rattled yet.
Cool air in at the bottom, hot air out at/near the top.
That is a great head start, for the vents.
Metal to wood thermal interface does require huge surface area and goodly thermal glue for it. In my efforts, it has worked expediently and efficiently. In other words, it wasn't difficult.
In practical usage, the worst concern I had for it is that documentation for that approach was not readily available.
However, the first go is still in service, eight years later. In the language of circa 2016, it is Chillaxin.
Mind the glue! And metal to wood is a very big size thermal interface. There's a lot of metal and thermal glue involved.
Aluminum on walnut. Perf plate bottom. The perf plate is held in place by four aluminum angle brackets threaded for M3x0.5. The top plate is attached in a similar fashion, though, I added some wood cleats to support the weight of the transformer.
I use the amp for hours several times a week. I don't notice any thermal expansion as it heats up, but do notice the cracks and pops as it cools down. The wood is definitely alive. Then again, a tube amp develops a lot more heat than a solid state amp - at least at normal listening levels.
There's an inside view about half way down on this page.
Tom
I use the amp for hours several times a week. I don't notice any thermal expansion as it heats up, but do notice the cracks and pops as it cools down. The wood is definitely alive. Then again, a tube amp develops a lot more heat than a solid state amp - at least at normal listening levels.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
There's an inside view about half way down on this page.
Tom
That is when a reconnoiter as to why, can be fun.
At this very moment I'm going to go use mine, which looks like a business card has failed, which makes it even more curious as to why I enjoy using that. It certainly isn't as visually attractive as yours. The signal and why we do it--now, that's the relevant fascination.