My_Ref Fremen Edition - Build thread and tutorial

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#204
heat sinking question

Hi,
My two monoblocks are running fine on the bench and I'm now planning the enclosure build. The LM3886 mounted on a massive heatsink are cold. R3 without heatsink is not warm at all, but the LM317 are. Is it safe to omit R3 heatsink, and is it safe to let the LM317 running without ?
Thanks,
 
#205
C13 Cap Options

SoIL4x4 said:
Has anyone had any experience with jantzen z-silver caps?
Click to expand...

Will,

No experience with the "z-silver" but Mr. HumbleHiFi thought they were more detailed with more emphasis on treble.

I just finished evaluating the "superior-z" Jantzens as C13 on the FE. In my system, the superior-z caps were thin in the mid-range. They seemed to emphasize the hi-mid and treble area but didn't have as much sparkle or detail as other caps on an FE. The soundstage was collapsed to between the speakers and instrument location was not very defined. They might be a good choice for a piece of equipment that needed help in treble, but I would still be tempted to bypass them for better imaging.

In direct contrast, the K71-4 of the budget FE BOM is far better in my system. The K71-4 has better detail, a wider and more defined soundstage and a warmer, fuller mid-range. That is saying something given the K71 is considered a bit cool in its presentation compared to other caps.

Going back to the z-silver, if the differences described in HumbleHiFi hold true, they would seem to be directionally wrong for the FE, at least in my system.

I will keep the superior-z caps for a time when I need to emphasize the treble.

Now it is on to breaking in the Audyn Plus caps.

Jac
 
#206
bismuth said:
My two monoblocks are running fine on the bench
Click to expand...

Fine!

Pics, please 😉

bismuth said:
The LM3886 mounted on a massive heatsink are cold. R3 without heatsink is not warm at all, but the LM317 are. Is it safe to omit R3 heatsink, and is it safe to let the LM317 running without ?
Click to expand...

R3 has an heatink for safety, just in case someone plays 20Hz sine wave on low sensistivity speakers... 😉

LM317s will never give anything more than the designed current (faults apart) so it will never get hotter than what it runs now, wich is perfectly safe for the part.

At least according my calculation. 😉
 
#207
Jac, I have been listening to the audyn plus caps that Bob sent me for about a week and I really like them. I had been using the K71-4s for all my previous listening. I have a few impressions of the plus caps, but I need to swap back to the k71s to be sure they are accurate. Having said that, I need a faster way to swap c13. Dario has eluded to his ideas for mounting the caps together with the potentiometer and I think I am going to try somthing similar. I have been throwing some ideas around for the last week or so and have come up with a simple solution. I am going to make a board that will integrate the potentiometer, c13 caps, RCAs and a location for bypass caps. Essentially just another passive pre. For now I am going to build this on perf board with jumpers, fastons for the caps, etc. If this seems like it is worth the time, and I have the time, I will make an atempt at making real artwork to etch a proper board. I have been doing a little research on eagle and diptrace, but this is a ways off. A proper board that could accept multiple brands of potentiometer (alps and tkd) and many different size caps would be convienient, and swapping caps could take seconds. I will post a pic when I get some time to impliment this.
 
#208
:up:

I've often joked about having a switch that would allow swapping caps to match different music styles... but maybe you can pull off something similar for real. I think it could be useful if implemented without adding artifacts. Some classical music really sounds good with the Munforf ZNs.
 
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#209
SoIL4x4 said:
Jac, I have been listening to the audyn plus caps that Bob sent me for about a week and I really like them. I had been using the K71-4s for all my previous listening. I have a few impressions of the plus caps, but I need to swap back to the k71s to be sure they are accurate.
Click to expand...

Will,

I am in a similar place with the Audyn Plus. I haven't done a comparison yet, but I like them and think that they may be on a similar level to the K71s, that is very nice. Since K71s won't be available forever and can be more expensive (depending on shipping cost), these may be a good addition for a budget BOM. I look forward to some comparisons.

I like your idea for a easy swap mini-pre. I'm sure the point to point will work just fine. Glad you are having fun.

Jac
 
#211
I put an order with audiophonics fr, among the items were 2 toroids. Week after order they got in touch with message: sorry, but our database was wrong , we do not have toroids in stock. Ok, I ask them for discount now on delivery for wasting my time.
I was going to order from selectronics (again, famous for their customer service) r cores but found one company which sells inexpensive ones. Has anybody clue who are they and if it is ok to order traffos ?
 
#213
That is the thing, Dario !
Cheap does not mean quality...
It just p@@ed me off how well established business can waste time ( I mean audiophonics).

This monday backorder is coming from mouser and I am almost done, only traffo, enclosure, hook up wire (up occ I think) and some other bits...

Reading the grounding now...
 
#215
The info I collected suggests that filtering may be benificial with receivers, but not necessary and possibly detrimental with power amps. I have used both and nothing jumps out as a big difference with either. Maybe someday I pay more attention with a strict comparison. I haven't experienced any noise with the plain inlet.

Someone with a scope/lab may be able to give a better report.
 
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