Coming back to this, whilst I haven’t (yet) tried an off board Saligny rectifier, I’m not sure if it’s inclusion would be worth it now - I’ve ‘upgraded’ speaker cables (Audioquest), interconnects (got 3 actually AQ, Ramm and also cardas) and power cable. Cables really do matter and you can hone the amp really nicely.
I have a soundstage which has the height, width and depth of my best tube amps. One of the only differences is that the soundstage doesn’t extend out, as far into the room, so it more bound between the speakers rather than the “walk in” type of soundstage that can be achieved with tube amps (all other equipment remaining the same).
Likely not an easy question, multifaceted, but any thoughts on pushing the soundstage to encompass the listener?
I use a Directstream DAC and Wyred4sound STP-SE Stage 2 preamp. Audyn copper cap in the MyRef.
Still loving my build Dario. Beautiful sounding amp..I really didn't see any big major changes. Something about a capacitor orientation ?
Cheers, Pete
I'm happy to hear it
No new recommendations, apart I'm happily settled for Clarity Caps (CSA, CMR and most of all PUR) as input capacitors.
No, apart the usual recommendation to check it for the input caps, usually not indicated.
It would be useful if you share which parts, audiophile ones in particular, you used.
Also, did you take into account part orientation?
Hi Clave - the build is not the best, I bought it second hand of the classifieds here. I have to use some Mu Meta sound the transformers because they where poorly sited. I would be aiming to build another one myself, all singing and dancing version.
You seem to allude to the fact that this ‘walk in soundstage” may be possible with MyRef? So far the only solid state amplifier that has done this for me has been they Aleph3.
It seems I've messed up something with permissions... check now, it should be visible again.
Post some pictures of the boards so that we can see parts used.
It could but it depends from a number of things, let us know the parts used posting some pics.
Dario, or any builder of V1.8 boards, does anything get placed in the spot that I've circled in blue or is that used if one wants to implement the resistor placement Joseph K was addressing in Post# 4959? I'm using ADA4627 as my opamp for information sake so a 5pF cap will be placed in C33 while R43andC34 will not be placed.
Cheers, Pete
Cheers, Pete
Attachments
Turion, the trace circled in blue for me is the trace which connects the opamp output pin to the local feedback capacitor (5pF as you named it). It should be left as it is.
For the rest, may I ask your intention? Do You wish to implement the series resistor (1k) tweak? Then the cut should be executed on the opposite layer, on a different trace(not on your pic)...
For the rest, may I ask your intention? Do You wish to implement the series resistor (1k) tweak? Then the cut should be executed on the opposite layer, on a different trace(not on your pic)...
Thank you Joseph....I'm not going to implement the 1K tweak. I had tried it before (see #5010 and slightly beyond for discussion about my results) but I did it on v1.72 boards and wondered whether the circled blue area was put in place (on v1.8 boards) to avoid the tract cutting that was necessary.
So, nothing is placed in the blue circled area, correct? I was just wondering why it was placed on the v1.8 boards.
Cheers, Pete
So, nothing is placed in the blue circled area, correct? I was just wondering why it was placed on the v1.8 boards.
Cheers, Pete
Hi, long time no posting on this thread. I have just have a complete L Knee replacement and have a lot of down time as a result. I don't have any current projects that could keep me amused but my mind went back to the My Ref C build and the hand wound inductors for each board. Somewhat late in the day It has occurred to me that I used non-lacquered wire when I wound them which I assume would mean that they do not work as they should and be shorted out and present as a single piece of wire?
The amp sounds great but I assume this mistake should be rectified.
The amp sounds great but I assume this mistake should be rectified.
May I ask... are we shure it's the appropriate thread..🧐 afaik.. no onboard inductors or coils in this design.. 🤔
@Joseph K. Sincere apologies. I think the strong painkillers I have been taking have affected my mind! Of course there are no inductors in this amp! Very sorry for talking rubbish. it must be another amp I built and this time I will actually look at the boards to make sure I am talking about the right amp!
Well, finally got around to building up my boards from the 14th GB (v1.8) and wanted to show folks what to expect if you planned on trying PUR ClarityCaps (as suggested as a possible upgrade by Dario). All the three voltage variations are 45mm long so they don't fit in the space provided on the pcb (~35mm long) so you'll either have to off board them or use creative orientations. Since I'm using ADA4627 opamps I had the C9 position free so I adjusted in that direction. The wire leads on the PUR caps will have to be thinned out a bit (to fit the openings on the pcb) or you can, like I did, use Mill-Max 0490 receptacles (which still had to have their diameter filed down a bit to fit the holes) and just solder the leads into their openings.
My Z-foils, from Texas Components, should arrive today so I can finally finish them up & test them out. Will try both Mundorf MResist Ultras & Isabellenhuttes out in position R3.
Cheers folks
My Z-foils, from Texas Components, should arrive today so I can finally finish them up & test them out. Will try both Mundorf MResist Ultras & Isabellenhuttes out in position R3.
Cheers folks
Attachments
Hi guys, it's been a while. I've been doing a bit of room treatment instead of playing with amps.
I hesitate to bring this up but I know there are a few of you who enjoy playing with caps. The hesitation is because I haven't tried them in the Fremen Edition amp, I haven't compared them to the Clarity Pur caps, and they are a discontinued cap. In spite of those big caveats, I did try them in the tube output stage of my Sonic Frontiers SFD-1 dac and am excited enough that I thought it worth a mention for our most adventurous builders. I would not try them if I was a first time Fremen builder. The caps are the V-cap OIMP, 1 uF 250V and as of this writing they are available at vhaudio.com for $38.99US. Note that this is a 50% off price so these were expensive little caps. The OIMP is a oil impregnated, metalized polypropylene.
The only useful comparison I can make is to the Auricap XO. The OIMP is similarly neutral to the XO but the OIMP opens up inner detail and sounds liquid and smooth without losing treble sparkle. The background is quieter and soundstage gained depth and instrument separation. Bass is tight and deep. The thing that impressed me the most was the layered sound. In the same way that a good soundstage separates individual instruments in location, the layered sound seemed to separate loud and soft sounds so that the singer taking a breath had it's own inner dynamics and clarity as did the louder passage of a guitar. It's something I hadn't heard before.
Would the cap do the same in input cap position on the Fremen Edition amp? I don't know. It could be that the magic I heard came from the vintage Rocket tubes in the output stage of my dac and the OIMP just let it through. And even though it's doing the same job as a high pass filter to remove DC in both circuits, the rest of the circuit is completely different between the dac and the amp. All I can tell you is that I liked them and have bought a pair to try in my Fremen amp. I just can't say when I will have time to try them.
Jac
I hesitate to bring this up but I know there are a few of you who enjoy playing with caps. The hesitation is because I haven't tried them in the Fremen Edition amp, I haven't compared them to the Clarity Pur caps, and they are a discontinued cap. In spite of those big caveats, I did try them in the tube output stage of my Sonic Frontiers SFD-1 dac and am excited enough that I thought it worth a mention for our most adventurous builders. I would not try them if I was a first time Fremen builder. The caps are the V-cap OIMP, 1 uF 250V and as of this writing they are available at vhaudio.com for $38.99US. Note that this is a 50% off price so these were expensive little caps. The OIMP is a oil impregnated, metalized polypropylene.
The only useful comparison I can make is to the Auricap XO. The OIMP is similarly neutral to the XO but the OIMP opens up inner detail and sounds liquid and smooth without losing treble sparkle. The background is quieter and soundstage gained depth and instrument separation. Bass is tight and deep. The thing that impressed me the most was the layered sound. In the same way that a good soundstage separates individual instruments in location, the layered sound seemed to separate loud and soft sounds so that the singer taking a breath had it's own inner dynamics and clarity as did the louder passage of a guitar. It's something I hadn't heard before.
Would the cap do the same in input cap position on the Fremen Edition amp? I don't know. It could be that the magic I heard came from the vintage Rocket tubes in the output stage of my dac and the OIMP just let it through. And even though it's doing the same job as a high pass filter to remove DC in both circuits, the rest of the circuit is completely different between the dac and the amp. All I can tell you is that I liked them and have bought a pair to try in my Fremen amp. I just can't say when I will have time to try them.
Jac
Hello everybody , this is going to be my second chapter to fix my amp, was waiting for the LM3886 to be on stock .
Ok here I go, have one channel working and sounding very good.
Changed R11, new LM3886, LM318, Lm317(both), T101 and T201, D101 and D105 .Also measured voltage between PGND and output(- 16.5 vdc) and PGND to pin 6 just got resistant of 7ohms. Do I have to change again LM318? Thanks in advance.
Good morning, I forgot to post that all the voltages on the back board are fine. Thanks in advance.