It's done. She's a beauty. But it's too late o'clock, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to fire her up. A great man once said "Check everything twice, once in the evening and once in the morning.", and that's what I'll do. I don't wanna to let out that magic VFET smoke due to some silly wiring mistake tired me couldn't spot
hi rodeodave
that's a nice looking amp
, may i ask you about the size of the case, looks like 430*310 cm but how high is this case? i wounder if i can go with a 12cm high case for the vfet amp.
Thanks for bringing this up. I forgot about the exorbitant brokerage fees often charged by FedEx on imported goods.
Welcome to my world. Here the pursuit of DIY Audio can leave you with a hole in the stomach in more ways than one. Taxes and brokerage fees alone for my VFET kit was R880 ($66 US). And I have not even started getting the heavy stuff.
Unfortunately RS locally do not have a 22V transformer in their lineup, so I either have to source from Plitron, Amplimo or Antek. And I have tried a locally made one before, but the result was terrible with numerous winding crossing each other.
In my case it was UPS International in a sequence of events that was extremely aggravating. They know the brokerage fees are not fair and really upsetting to the package recipients, but they insist in charging it because they can. I expected the package to be sitting at my front door when I got home. Instead I found a note from UPS instructing me to write them a check for the brokerage fees. When I called them back to obtain an explanation, they told me to talk to UPS International. I called them, was directed to a call center offshore, and the person on the other end only gave me answers read directly from a script, even when they did not really match my questions.
I refused to pay and instructed them to return the package to Plitron. A few weeks later I received a call from Plitron. They wanted to know what had happened and I explained that after paying a high cost for the transformers and about 34% of their cost in shipping charges, I refused to pay any additional fees.
That bad experience made me avoid, ever since, dealing with Plitron or UPS International.
When the incident happened I had never heard of UPS charging brokerage fees in the U.S. I started a thread to maybe learn from other people's experience, but never received any replies, which reinforced the notion that is was either something new or at least unusual.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/everything-else/260795-brokerage-fees.html
I hold in high regard companies which are hobbyist friendly, so I did not want to rant here in the forum about Plitron's failure to notify in their checkout screen that brokerage fees would be charged. But I did discuss that with the representative who called me to learn about the problems I had with the delivery. I suggested that, since UPS charges brokerage fees based on the invoice total, Plitron should at least point that out during checkout at their e-shop. I have not purchased from them since, so I am not aware if they have added that notice.
Anyway, I am happy with Antek transformers and they make more sense for me since their cost delivered to my door is more compatible with my budget.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/everything-else/260795-brokerage-fees.html
I hold in high regard companies which are hobbyist friendly, so I did not want to rant here in the forum about Plitron's failure to notify in their checkout screen that brokerage fees would be charged. But I did discuss that with the representative who called me to learn about the problems I had with the delivery. I suggested that, since UPS charges brokerage fees based on the invoice total, Plitron should at least point that out during checkout at their e-shop. I have not purchased from them since, so I am not aware if they have added that notice.
Anyway, I am happy with Antek transformers and they make more sense for me since their cost delivered to my door is more compatible with my budget.
Hi Grimberg,
I've had horrible experience with UPS, FedEx and DHL charging ridiculous brokerage
fees for packages coming into Canada. However, I've not heard of folks in the US
having such problem so I was surprised by your experience with UPS.
For folks in the US, Antek's decent quality, selection, price and inexpensive
shipping charge make for a very compelling option.
I've ordered from them before with shipping via USPS. With USPS, I only
paid the sales tax on the item and a minimal handling fees to the post office.
None of this brokerage gouging. Unfortunately they only offer the USPS
flat rate service so I can only order one 400VA and one 300VA transformer
per package. Anything more and it's UPS time.
Speaking of Antek, I've been having trouble with their site the last couple
of days with chrome complaining the "connection is not private".
Has anyone encountered this?
Cheers,
Dennis
I've had horrible experience with UPS, FedEx and DHL charging ridiculous brokerage
fees for packages coming into Canada. However, I've not heard of folks in the US
having such problem so I was surprised by your experience with UPS.
For folks in the US, Antek's decent quality, selection, price and inexpensive
shipping charge make for a very compelling option.
I've ordered from them before with shipping via USPS. With USPS, I only
paid the sales tax on the item and a minimal handling fees to the post office.
None of this brokerage gouging. Unfortunately they only offer the USPS
flat rate service so I can only order one 400VA and one 300VA transformer
per package. Anything more and it's UPS time.
Speaking of Antek, I've been having trouble with their site the last couple
of days with chrome complaining the "connection is not private".
Has anyone encountered this?
Cheers,
Dennis
I'm on their site now with (2) AS-4222 - 400VA 22V Transformers in the cart and I get the "https" indication that it is secure.
I am using Firefox however.
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At the time of the incident UPS International pointed me to their Brokerage Fees web page, which stated that Value for Duty of $250 and above would incur brokerage fees, regardless of whether the product was exempt, which is the case for transformers. I have just visited the same page and it seems as if that threshold value is now $800.
https://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs/fees.html?srch_pos=1&srch_phr=brokerage+fees
Now I need to know if UPS have come up with other creative ways of charging fees for lower value packages. To me the whole drama created by UPS was bad enough that I am not willing to take the risk. Long live Antek and USPS Priority Mail!!!
https://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs/fees.html?srch_pos=1&srch_phr=brokerage+fees
Now I need to know if UPS have come up with other creative ways of charging fees for lower value packages. To me the whole drama created by UPS was bad enough that I am not willing to take the risk. Long live Antek and USPS Priority Mail!!!
hi rodeodave
that's a nice looking amp
I've built a 24V version of the amp, since (some day) it will be employed as a tweeter amp. Currently it's a mid/woofer amp for my bi-amped 2-way speakers though. With 1A bias per device the total dissipation is thus just below 50W per side. A full blown 28V version would likely run too hot in the summer (with the lid on).
The enclosure is a BZ4312 type ordered via aliexpress with the following specs (quote from the product description):
"External dimensions: width 430mm Height 120mm Depth 120mm
Internal dimensions: Width 330mm Height 112mm Depth 297mm
The front panel thickness 10 mm, the rear panel 3 mm, bottom cover 3 mm thickness"
I put the amp into use yesterday evening, paired with my newly built Mini Aleph J. My first impression is that they're a great match. Incredibly sweet sound, great detail, smooth decay.
10/10, would build again
Attachments
thanks rodeodave
good to see your amp is running fine. that is the case that i looked at, good to know that i would fit with 24v. was my impression that with 28v it could be tricky with these heatsinks, have the same case at hand with 15cm from aliexpress so i will use that. thanks for your feedback.
good to see your amp is running fine
. that is the case that i looked at, good to know that i would fit with 24v. was my impression that with 28v it could be tricky with these heatsinks, have the same case at hand with 15cm from aliexpress so i will use that. thanks for your feedback.Interestin Vinyl collection.
Are you using Mini Aleph for high and VFET for low? Power limitation reason?
Yup, VFET for the mid/low frequency driver (Seas Prestige U18RNX/P) and mAJ for the high frequency driver (Morel ST728 Supreme Tweeter). The source signal is split by a line level DCB1XO with a crossover frequency of 2100Hz, and consequently fed into the respective amp. The VFET amp has a gain of about 16dB and an output impedance of 0.18Ohms. The mAJ has a gain of 20dB and a considerably higher output impedance compared to the VFET amp, which is why the VFET is on woofer duty. The high pass leg the XO is attenuated to match the amplifiers' gains and the drivers' sensitivities. I have to tweak the level matching, but the sound is already very pleasing.
The leftmost vinyl stack is mostly Baroque, the one in the middle orchestral and the rightmost is modern stuff. It's slowly taking over the living room...
The leftmost vinyl stack is mostly Baroque, the one in the middle orchestral and the rightmost is modern stuff. It's slowly taking over the living room...
Hi,
So i have followed the build instructions (last famous words...)
so my humble questions is, are there any obvious reasons for this, i have tried to be thorough reading NP paper and 6L6 build instructions, used the kit from diyaudio, but must be missing something. any input would be appreciated.
Regards
Anders
So i have followed the build instructions (last famous words...)
- added resistors first, checked values according to chart, everything looks fine
- added rest except vfet , started to raise voltage via bench supply BUT, as soon as i get to about 15V R5 and R6 starts to smoke.....
so my humble questions is, are there any obvious reasons for this, i have tried to be thorough reading NP paper and 6L6 build instructions, used the kit from diyaudio, but must be missing something. any input would be appreciated.
Regards
Anders
