pburke said:
i was going to suggest the avel's until i saw your last sentance... any reason why?
well, here is what happened to me. my transformers were 45v and they worked fine. i had dual 45v secondaries, wired into two bridge rectifiers, and when all was wired up, i got +-59vdc out of the supply. with the UCD400 attached, i get +-57v rails. that is just idling with the amp on, not necessarily playing anything. so, that is within range.
unless you have severe power fluctuations, it shouldnt be an issue.
pburke said:
Don't fall for their "audio" line. Just get the basic toroids, I screwed up and paid them an extra 50% + just to have static screening and magnetic shielding. But it is dead quiet and I can move the wires as close to it as I like without noise induced.
I dont' think is a required feature though, if you use a good layout. That will get you more selection from them.
pburke said:
if i remember correctly, custom winding isnt that much more. i would get a quote first. the UCD modules will cost you a few hundred more, plus the supplies, etc. so, even if the transformer cost is DOUBLE, its still cheaper than doing the UCD700's. but, it wont be. i thought i remember some people in this forum getting custom wounds for a little more than the off the shelf ones.
cowanrg said:
Actually Plitron are full of ****. First off they don't do "custom" unless you go in with a big wallet for a min. order of 10. They'll do a "custom" addition like static shielding or screening, for an additional cost of 50%+, to cover allllll that paper work, since they don't have any stock for it to be considered "off the shelf", but even though you've paid them that rip off price of 50%+, you still can't get an extra winding or specifiy the primary option you prefer, because why? That wouldn't be off the shelf anymore. Made no sense to me anyway, reaks of greed. At least it's hum free, but if I had the option I wouldn't deal with them again.
pburke,
im not sure what you are looking at, but in their standard range, they make them from 15va up to 1500va with 40 or 45v secondaries.
it looks like you are looking at the low noise. wow, thats some money. a LOT of money.
im not sure what you are looking at, but in their standard range, they make them from 15va up to 1500va with 40 or 45v secondaries.
it looks like you are looking at the low noise. wow, thats some money. a LOT of money.
cowanrg said:
I have some of these in my current amps, which were upgraded from regular toroids to the Plitron Audio line - amazing difference, although it could be due to a few other factors. Still, not just my own expereince tells me that these are among the best transformers you can get. Maybe their audio line is not worth the extra cash as suggested above, but I am pretty decided to go wtih a Plitron toroid. Their regular line does offer 40V, so that may be an alternative. Add some mu metal from Percy and put it on some Sorbothane and it may be just as good.
Peter
59V from 45V secondaries? Ah, you're running 2 bridge rectifiers.
With the Hypex PS after their custom 500VA (2*42+2*12) I get 59.8 or something with the modules idle. Of course they only use 4 diodes.
If the rails are under 60V I think it's safe.
With the Hypex PS after their custom 500VA (2*42+2*12) I get 59.8 or something with the modules idle. Of course they only use 4 diodes.
If the rails are under 60V I think it's safe.
pburke said:
can you go into details about what the amazing difference is? im curious. its a lot of extra cash, but if its worth it, its worth it...
Yves Smolders said:
yeah, dual rectifiers. i have a wholesale account through parts express so they were only a dollar or so each. so, i just got 4.
i worked on the amps until about 2am finishing up everything. i still need to connect a few wires (maybe an hour or so of work) and they will be ready for listening.
ive been thinking about the soft start situation. i dont really want to build something just for testing. i would rather just run them without a soft-start just for listening. BUT, who would i get them on? well, i had an idea. its not the most elegant solution, but it should work. ill connect my light bulb power cord, turn them on, then turn them off, switch to a regular power cord, and power them back on. they should still be charged enough that the surge wont be that much. then i can just leave the PSU charged, and just turn on/off the actual UCD module.
You also could ask your significant other to keep the circuit breaker in the on position as you turn on the amps 😀
I love the smell of melting AC cables in the morning 😀
I love the smell of melting AC cables in the morning 😀
Yves Smolders said:
being that i dont have a significant other, that would probably be a LOT more work (and money) than building a circuit 🙂 dating, courting is expensive.
...and the question would be, which solution is more reliable 
Anyway, I'll leave this thread back to topic 😀
Anyway, I'll leave this thread back to topic 😀
cowanrg said:
ok - we're talking about Odyssey Mono blocks that were upgraded to the "Extreme" edition, which among some caps upgrades and a revised board also included the swap of the regular transformers for the nice Plitron Shielded units. I think they are custom made, about 750VA.
I use these amps on Magnepan 3.5R speakers. Before the upgrade, I regularly blew fuses, even a tweeter once. After, no such issues (fuses are now removed completely) and the overall performance of the amps has gone to what I would call "effortless" - Magnepan speakers love current, and these amp deliver. The old version got hot, the upgraded version runs luke warm at best when being pushed. It was this upgrade that had me wait for almost 2 years now before I finally decided to move ahead and go for biamping. I actually am still keeping the option open to just add a second pair of the Odyssey Mono Extremes and be done with it, but I do like to build stuff, and 4 of these monsters would be a nice space heater in the summer.
Bottom line on the transformers: I know they work, why stray from the parts that are highly regarded and you know from personal experience do the job well. Clearly, there's a cost limit to this (I love Blackgates, but I am not going to laod up a UCD amp with $1000 in caps each - diminishing returns, I guess).
If it is really correct that the Audio ine of the Plitrons is the same as regular just in a shielded enclosure, then I am all set with 40V outputs on their regular line. The rest can be added in the shape of some ERS paper and Mu metal that can easily be sourced for a lot less than their premium pricing on the audio transformer line.
Peter
hehe. well, it is only a temporary solution. i would probably get rid of the wife after i bought the LC audio soft-starts...
i would put the reliability of those well above that of a wife. plus, less nagging.
ill see how my light-bulb power cord swapping idea works out. if i can disconnect and reconnect quick enough, it should work ok. then ill just leave the PSU "on" all the time for testing.
i would put the reliability of those well above that of a wife. plus, less nagging.
ill see how my light-bulb power cord swapping idea works out. if i can disconnect and reconnect quick enough, it should work ok. then ill just leave the PSU "on" all the time for testing.
hum, i wonder how much of that difference was due to the caps and board upgrades. plus, if you started with a smaller VA rated transformer, and moved up to a 750VA, that could have done it, regardless of the quality of the transformer. a LOT of variables in there, like you said.
in an hour or so, i get to play the UCD400;s on my maggies for the first time. (tympani 1D's, yikes). i have high hopes for them.
my transformers are mcintosh surplus, so they should be ok.
in an hour or so, i get to play the UCD400;s on my maggies for the first time. (tympani 1D's, yikes). i have high hopes for them.
my transformers are mcintosh surplus, so they should be ok.
cowanrg said:
a broom stick wedged against the wall and the breaker at the right angle will do the job without complaining 🙂
Any reason why the LC audio soft starts over the UCD version? They are cheaper, but I saw a few cool features in the data sheet of the UCD softstart that sounded like a good addition to the project, like the low voltage switch control, LEDs, etc. I didn't read up on the details over at LCa udio.
What about the CD filter? I don't see it in the basic UCD builds, but the HG supply offers it and there's some talk about it in the endless UCD400 thread.
Peter
for me, it was price only. im doing monoblocks, so i would need two. they are around $60 plus shipping, which Hypex likes to overcharge on... i paid around $40 for shipping, and it only cost them $10 to ship, it made me a little mad, but im over it.
so, the soft-starts would be around $150 probably for two, and the lc audios would be probably $70 or so shipped. i dont need the extra features really, just something that wont trip the breakers when i turn it on.
im just adding custom windings for my LED's, and will have a relay that kicks on and off to turn them on and off with the amp.
so, the soft-starts would be around $150 probably for two, and the lc audios would be probably $70 or so shipped. i dont need the extra features really, just something that wont trip the breakers when i turn it on.
im just adding custom windings for my LED's, and will have a relay that kicks on and off to turn them on and off with the amp.
A small remark....:
In general we don't make a profit of the shipping cost, somtimes we win sometimes we loose.. Shipping from Europe to the US is very costly, for sure by a courier. Quite often we do some purchasing by Digikey or Mouser, and they charge really low shipping cost. I would love if we could have the same price the other way around...😉
And if you combine the orders the percentage of the shipping cost compared with the total order amount will go down.
My two cents....
Jan-Peter
We talked about this "cheap soft start" on another UCD thread.
I built mine with 2*220R/14W in parallel, paralleled to the mains cable. Each AC path has its own switch and I do "1, 2, 3" (R path, mains path, UCD module ON pin, respectivelly), counting 8 seconds between 1 and 2 steps.
It has worked flawleslly until now 😎
Maybe safer than light bulb.
Regards
Mauricio.
PS: we are all expecting your listening impressions 😉
it was a bad comment on my part, i apologize. but, the shipping label on the box did say $10 (well, not in dollars), and i paid around $40. its a small thing really, but maybe something to take note of.
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