Yeah. That has value too.
I wonder if you could mount the MOD86 board to the brackets (with some modification) and then just bolt the bracket to the heat sink. Options, options...
Tom
My Modulus 86 is here! Any suggestions for hook-up cable... multistrand or mono or doesn't matter.
I recommend using microphone cable. Two conductors, one shield. Star quad is nice too if you can find it.
See my approach in Post #6152 just a few posts back. And see Post #6147 for the connections to the XLR jack.
Tom
See my approach in Post #6152 just a few posts back. And see Post #6147 for the connections to the XLR jack.
Tom
Well, it works. Sounds great, crystal clear. And none of the issues of the last one! yay! Really happy.
Congratulations on your next build of the Modulus series. Of course it works - it’s a Tom Christiansen design!
A suggestion: Given the criminally low levels of distortion that the Modulus-86 Rev 3.0 produces, I would advise an equally adept speaker protect board, i.e. the current fully built SMD based Guardian-86 😉 .
In my experience, the dominant distortion producing elements are before and after a Modulus amplifier…the Modulus itself is innocent in that regard.
Best,
Anand.
A suggestion: Given the criminally low levels of distortion that the Modulus-86 Rev 3.0 produces, I would advise an equally adept speaker protect board, i.e. the current fully built SMD based Guardian-86 😉 .
In my experience, the dominant distortion producing elements are before and after a Modulus amplifier…the Modulus itself is innocent in that regard.
Best,
Anand.
Anything that gets into the input will be amplified by the amplifier ... because that's what amplifiers do. Anything that gets into the output circuit will a) have a really hard time getting in because the impedance there is extremely low and b) be attenuated by the feedback loop. So keep the transformer, rectifier, and the wiring to them away from the input.in the quad 405 layout, i am thinking about a bigger departure from what the standard 405 layout for all the inputs/output ports. i was thinking of putting all the outputs on the right side(picture for refernce here)
on the right side is all the outputs, then i and move the transformer away (and hopefully more wiring) away from the outputs. Ill change the left side to the inputs instead of the center posts. i read a few times that its more important to isolate any noise from the outputs instead of the input as the reasoning behind this.
Tom
So I'm joining the modulus 86 club 🙂 Still waiting for the transformer.
Need to do a clean up of the cables but so far everything is soldered (hope it works).
As per other posts, big thanks to Tom in answering my idiot questions!
I snuck a power 686 in there for future upgrade-itis.
Any opinions if I should use some cable sheath I have lying around in funky colours or just go with zip-ties
Need to do a clean up of the cables but so far everything is soldered (hope it works).
As per other posts, big thanks to Tom in answering my idiot questions!
I snuck a power 686 in there for future upgrade-itis.
Any opinions if I should use some cable sheath I have lying around in funky colours or just go with zip-ties
Attachments
I use zip ties and that does get boring, so be orIginal with your colourful cable sheaths in combination with zip ties.
Best,
Anand.
Best,
Anand.
TechFlex is always fun as long as you can cut it cleanly. I've often sealed the ends with heat shrink that has adhesive in it. That makes it look tight and prevents the TechFlex from unravelling.
I'd add some adhesive wire anchors to the heat sinks to hold the microphone cable. Just to limit the strain on the cable at the input connectors. I'll see if I can dig out a Mouser p/n for this.
Tom
I'd add some adhesive wire anchors to the heat sinks to hold the microphone cable. Just to limit the strain on the cable at the input connectors. I'll see if I can dig out a Mouser p/n for this.
Tom
Look what just landed on my lab bench (pardon the crappy colour balance in the picture). Thanks Sami!
This is the real deal! It certainly presents itself as a professionally made product. I'm looking forward to testing it.
Supposedly it'll deliver 400 W continuously. It also features power factor correction. Oh, and Sami also verifies the EMC compliance to EN55032 Class B and electrical safety to EN62368-1. I'm pretty stoked about this. I hope that the supply performs as well as it looks. If it does I might consider buying a stack of them and have them for sale in my store.
Tom
This is the real deal! It certainly presents itself as a professionally made product. I'm looking forward to testing it.
Supposedly it'll deliver 400 W continuously. It also features power factor correction. Oh, and Sami also verifies the EMC compliance to EN55032 Class B and electrical safety to EN62368-1. I'm pretty stoked about this. I hope that the supply performs as well as it looks. If it does I might consider buying a stack of them and have them for sale in my store.
Tom
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So I have had a chance to pair my Modulus-86 amp with two pair of speakers so far: Elac Debut Reference and Emotiva B2+
Emotiva is clear winner. The amp-speaker synergy is just sooo goooood!
Now I’m curious what speakers other people pair the amp with? Any recommendations to try in the future? Thanks
Emotiva is clear winner. The amp-speaker synergy is just sooo goooood!
Now I’m curious what speakers other people pair the amp with? Any recommendations to try in the future? Thanks
Sami runs Micro-Audio in Jordan. He makes some pretty nice looking power supplies. He's been around for a while and quite a few here have reported good experiences with his products. He doesn't have much of a presence on the web so I'm a bit curious how people find him. If the products are good I would love to help him promote them more.
The supply is CE marked.
Tom
The supply is CE marked.
Tom
That PSU looks very good! It looks similar to the SMPS420-L on the micro-audio.com site, but constructed in a much nicer way. The SMPS420-L is also 400 watt and does ±32V to ±35V.
Is the output voltage on this one similar? I guess you could this voltage for Mod-86 (maybe not on 4 ohm?) and Mod-286. Possibly even two of those PSU's in a Mod-686?
I soldered a pair of Mod-86 rev 2.4 boards last week, that I bought in 2021. This week I also received my parts for a Mod-86 rev 3. I got two Connex SMPS300REh for the Mod-86's (one ±30V for the rev 2.4 and one ±36V for the rev 3.0). The Connex PSU's are probably fine, but the terminals came loose the first time when trying to remove a connector. I will fix it with some extra solder, it's not too hard. I don't really fancy soldering on finished SMPS PSU products that I bought new though. I'd like to use something with higher production quality. Mean Well is nice but I don't know of a good model for Mod-86, especially if you want to run at ±36V.
I'll use Modushop cases with the inner plate so it should be easy enough to swap in a new PSU later. I'm interested in two of those new Micro Audio PSU's if the test results are decent enough. The Mod-86 rev 3 manual mentions the highest PSU load is with a sine wave at 4 ohm on ±30V. I wonder if the Micro Audio PSU with another extra 100 watt (as compared to the Connex models) will allow for a bit more performance with sine wave testing.
Is the output voltage on this one similar? I guess you could this voltage for Mod-86 (maybe not on 4 ohm?) and Mod-286. Possibly even two of those PSU's in a Mod-686?
I soldered a pair of Mod-86 rev 2.4 boards last week, that I bought in 2021. This week I also received my parts for a Mod-86 rev 3. I got two Connex SMPS300REh for the Mod-86's (one ±30V for the rev 2.4 and one ±36V for the rev 3.0). The Connex PSU's are probably fine, but the terminals came loose the first time when trying to remove a connector. I will fix it with some extra solder, it's not too hard. I don't really fancy soldering on finished SMPS PSU products that I bought new though. I'd like to use something with higher production quality. Mean Well is nice but I don't know of a good model for Mod-86, especially if you want to run at ±36V.
I'll use Modushop cases with the inner plate so it should be easy enough to swap in a new PSU later. I'm interested in two of those new Micro Audio PSU's if the test results are decent enough. The Mod-86 rev 3 manual mentions the highest PSU load is with a sine wave at 4 ohm on ±30V. I wonder if the Micro Audio PSU with another extra 100 watt (as compared to the Connex models) will allow for a bit more performance with sine wave testing.
I've had the same experience with the Connex and am equally annoyed. Products bought fully assembled should not require repair before the first use.
For whatever reason Connex trims all the component leads so they're flush with the PCB before the PCB goes through wave soldering. That means the spades on the output don't get hot enough to form a good bond with the solder, so you get a connection that fails on the first use. It's easy enough to fix ... but it's something that shouldn't require fixing in the first place.
That said, they're still hard to beat on price and Connex does have a ±36 V option.
Yeah. ±36 V is tough, especially if you also want high output power. The Mean Well RPS-400-36 has a tendency to whine audibly at light load, but it's only about half of them that do this. There's a 500 W version now, the RPS-500-36. I don't know if it is as whiny.
Tom
Actually, it's an extra 300 W. The Connex supplies are rated in "music power", i.e. assuming a crest factor of 10 dB. So the SMPS300REh is only able to deliver 100-125 W continuously. The supply from Micro-Audio that I have is supposed to be able to handle 400 W continuously. That's certainly more than enough for the Modulus-86 and -286. It's probably enough for the Modulus-686, assuming music reproduction.
Tom
Maybe it's just my computer, but when I go to micro-audio.com, I get a largely empty page with a picture that cycles through several images, some of which look like Ethernet patch panels and others that look like close-ups of power supply PCBs. Also, there's an email address. That's all. ?????
@BrianL I just checked it out. I only ever entered the site via Google which gets you straight to the store page: https://micro-audio.com/store/
If you just type the URL you get the page you describe, with no link to the store apparently.
If you just type the URL you get the page you describe, with no link to the store apparently.
The supply I have has no markings that would indicate a model number. It could be a further development of the SMPS420-L. It provides just shy of ±32 V at the low end of the output voltage adjustment range and just shy of ±38 V at the high end.
±32 V is higher than I recommend for the Modulus-86 or any other single-LM3886 amp. It would be excellent for the Modulus-286 or -686, though.
Marketing does not appear to be Sami's strong suit. I didn't find the Store website until jwdevos pointed it out above either. Now I get a HTTP 504 error when I try to view it.
Tom
±32 V is higher than I recommend for the Modulus-86 or any other single-LM3886 amp. It would be excellent for the Modulus-286 or -686, though.
Marketing does not appear to be Sami's strong suit. I didn't find the Store website until jwdevos pointed it out above either. Now I get a HTTP 504 error when I try to view it.
Tom