So, what did it cost?
I spent about:
Amp boards: $140
PSUs: $150
Protection: $50
Heatsinks: $50 (2nd hand salvage)
Meters: $40
Power transformers: Free (salvaged)
Epoxy: $150
Signal Wiring: Free (salvaged)
Wire Dressing: $10
Power switch: Free (salvaged)
IEC/Fuse/EMI filters: $10
Mains Wiring: Free (salvaged)
Steel: $100
Rivet Nuts: $10
Fasteners: $50
Primer: $20
Paint: $60
Mahogany: $5
Danish Oil: $10
Clear Coat: $10
Total: $880
This is all in New Zealand dollars of course.
Probably somethings like $450 in USD/Euro.
Pretty darn good considering what monoblocks go for in the commerical space.
Without the meters and epoxy I would have saved a lot but they wouldn't be quite as cool either.
These are all estimates/guesstimates. I can't be bothered working things out exactly but its probably an over estimate.
Of course the extreme cost savings come at the cost of a lot of time. But time is something I have and spare money is something I don't.
Being in the early stages of family and mortgage, a shoestring budget is the only way I can afford to build.
I was lucky with some things:
The mosfets which I got for $3 each (NZD) on clearance from our local brick and mortar store Jaycar electronics.
The heatsinks were 1 giant heatsink I cut down that just happened to come up cheap on Facebook marketplace. Otherwise heatsinks are expensive in New Zealand as nobody sells anything of any decent size locally.
I get access to lots of heavy duty wiring and switches for power supplies from old coffee machines through my work.
Small signal wiring I have a liking for cutting up old network cables.
Internal speaker wiring I simply cut down my actual speaker cables a bit since they are far longer than they need to be. Some good quality audioquest stuff I got many years back.
Power transformers, I just happened to have a pair of matching transformers salvaged from different model pioneer home theatre amps I collect second hand whenever I see them for next to nothing.
The mahogany was from a nice chunk I got for $20 second hand from some kind of wood salvage guy.
Most of the time was spent on metal working but I ended up with exactly what I want. A pair of modushop mono block chassis would cost me more than the whole build albeit with much nicer machining than I am capable of right now.
With all this practice, my metal working skills keep getting better. I am making less mistakes and this being my 2nd iteration of this modular chassis design, I made less design errors this time round. That's not to say I didn't give myself some issues to work around.....
All this design experience and metal work practice will come in really handy when I get around to my next batch of monos: Most likely single ended Class A however I do have a set of wolverine boards to build one day.
I spent about:
Amp boards: $140
PSUs: $150
Protection: $50
Heatsinks: $50 (2nd hand salvage)
Meters: $40
Power transformers: Free (salvaged)
Epoxy: $150
Signal Wiring: Free (salvaged)
Wire Dressing: $10
Power switch: Free (salvaged)
IEC/Fuse/EMI filters: $10
Mains Wiring: Free (salvaged)
Steel: $100
Rivet Nuts: $10
Fasteners: $50
Primer: $20
Paint: $60
Mahogany: $5
Danish Oil: $10
Clear Coat: $10
Total: $880
This is all in New Zealand dollars of course.
Probably somethings like $450 in USD/Euro.
Pretty darn good considering what monoblocks go for in the commerical space.
Without the meters and epoxy I would have saved a lot but they wouldn't be quite as cool either.
These are all estimates/guesstimates. I can't be bothered working things out exactly but its probably an over estimate.
Of course the extreme cost savings come at the cost of a lot of time. But time is something I have and spare money is something I don't.
Being in the early stages of family and mortgage, a shoestring budget is the only way I can afford to build.
I was lucky with some things:
The mosfets which I got for $3 each (NZD) on clearance from our local brick and mortar store Jaycar electronics.
The heatsinks were 1 giant heatsink I cut down that just happened to come up cheap on Facebook marketplace. Otherwise heatsinks are expensive in New Zealand as nobody sells anything of any decent size locally.
I get access to lots of heavy duty wiring and switches for power supplies from old coffee machines through my work.
Small signal wiring I have a liking for cutting up old network cables.
Internal speaker wiring I simply cut down my actual speaker cables a bit since they are far longer than they need to be. Some good quality audioquest stuff I got many years back.
Power transformers, I just happened to have a pair of matching transformers salvaged from different model pioneer home theatre amps I collect second hand whenever I see them for next to nothing.
The mahogany was from a nice chunk I got for $20 second hand from some kind of wood salvage guy.
Most of the time was spent on metal working but I ended up with exactly what I want. A pair of modushop mono block chassis would cost me more than the whole build albeit with much nicer machining than I am capable of right now.
With all this practice, my metal working skills keep getting better. I am making less mistakes and this being my 2nd iteration of this modular chassis design, I made less design errors this time round. That's not to say I didn't give myself some issues to work around.....
All this design experience and metal work practice will come in really handy when I get around to my next batch of monos: Most likely single ended Class A however I do have a set of wolverine boards to build one day.
Well done!
"heatsinks are expensive in New Zealand" yes...salvage salvage salvage. Great to see you have access to reusing parts. Especially like the 'coffee machine' bits and bobs!
"heatsinks are expensive in New Zealand" yes...salvage salvage salvage. Great to see you have access to reusing parts. Especially like the 'coffee machine' bits and bobs!
