Watch out with 45V secondaries - i remember from the UcD400 thread that the older modules sometimes went in protection mode because the voltage is so close the the maximum. A spike on the mains, or a bit too high mains voltage, and they shut down.
Maybe the new modules can handle a bit more, I'm not sure.
I hope you get them soon, your test enclosures look very industrial and dramatic 😀
Maybe the new modules can handle a bit more, I'm not sure.
I hope you get them soon, your test enclosures look very industrial and dramatic 😀
yes, the voltage will be close. by my voltage does NOT fluctuate here. plus, i run dual power conditioners by furman that smooth everything out and get rid of spiking. its very stable.
the cases serve their purpose 🙂 they are just the stripped down case thats in my avatar. its just minus the sides, top, and front. it will be pretty empty, but whatever.
the cases serve their purpose 🙂 they are just the stripped down case thats in my avatar. its just minus the sides, top, and front. it will be pretty empty, but whatever.
Well ok, you're obviously a much more experienced DIY'er than I am, I don't need to tell you what to be careful of!
I'm just wondering if you'll like the modules!
PS. I've listened to a pair of B&W 802D last weekend... 😱 😱 😱
Amazing speakers...
I'm just wondering if you'll like the modules!
PS. I've listened to a pair of B&W 802D last weekend... 😱 😱 😱
Amazing speakers...
yeah, the 802D's can be pretty amazing speakers, if they have the right equipment with them. they have great potential.
i have 2 pairs of 803D's right now. i worked at a place that sold b&w and they gave us a good deal when the new diamond series came out, so i bought a couple pairs. they are just taking up space right now... im not a big enough b&w fan to keep them.
HOPEFULLY these modules will show up this week. counting saturdays (the post office moves mail on saturdays), its been 14 days now 🙁 so, jan said 8-15 days, and its definately at the longer end of that.
i have 2 pairs of 803D's right now. i worked at a place that sold b&w and they gave us a good deal when the new diamond series came out, so i bought a couple pairs. they are just taking up space right now... im not a big enough b&w fan to keep them.
HOPEFULLY these modules will show up this week. counting saturdays (the post office moves mail on saturdays), its been 14 days now 🙁 so, jan said 8-15 days, and its definately at the longer end of that.
Yeah, the 802 is a large speaker and yet it sounds like it's "not there" at all.
I'm so jealous 😀 - B&W 800 series is my kind of speaker.
If they are in your way, I'll happily pay the transport fees to send them over to me :Angel: 😉 That's what... $20.000 just sitting there! :wow:
What do you think about the 803D? Some people think it outperforms the "old" N802.
I have a couple of "old" N804's and N805's, and the HTM2 centre... Been thinking to upgrade these to 804S, but it seems not worth it... I'm happy with the sound, right now i'm looking into a new receiver to run as pre/pro, I'll use the money there.
Strangely enough, Nautilus speaker still remain at a good price on ebay and such. About 15-20% off the list price, which is what I paid for them in the first place.
Some people forget that the "oldies" still are excellent value for money 😀
Must... fight... upgraditis...
I'm so jealous 😀 - B&W 800 series is my kind of speaker.
If they are in your way, I'll happily pay the transport fees to send them over to me :Angel: 😉 That's what... $20.000 just sitting there! :wow:
What do you think about the 803D? Some people think it outperforms the "old" N802.
I have a couple of "old" N804's and N805's, and the HTM2 centre... Been thinking to upgrade these to 804S, but it seems not worth it... I'm happy with the sound, right now i'm looking into a new receiver to run as pre/pro, I'll use the money there.
Strangely enough, Nautilus speaker still remain at a good price on ebay and such. About 15-20% off the list price, which is what I paid for them in the first place.
Some people forget that the "oldies" still are excellent value for money 😀
Must... fight... upgraditis...
IMO, the 803D's are pretty similar to the old 802's, with slightly better power handling, and a cleaner top end.
ok, so today i got my UCD modules, woohoo. i eagerly opened up to the box and everything appeared to be there.
since i had the test rig all built and the power supply running and tested, it was pretty easy to get music playing out of these things. right now, i only have one up and running. it makes music, and thats about as far as i got in regards to quality. i will have to let it burn in for a little while and do more testing before it gets played on anything decent. right now, it only gets played on crappy speakers or a dummy load.
well, here comes the bad news. it plays music, but there is a nasty little hum/buzz coming out of it. its pretty small, but still unacceptable to be in my main system. i need to track it down. i saw some threads on here talking about it. i havent really tried a whole lot yet. i have attached a picture showing the setup. the wires are messy, i know.
basically, i have a pretty standard linear supply. nuetral and hot lines come from the inlet, go into the transformer (thanks guys for helping me figure out the wiring), then out with the primaries to the rectifier bridges, then to cap bank. from here, i have tried two things. ground directly to a star ground on case (as seen), and i have also tried directly to the amp. it was worse without the star ground. the RCA hack ground goes to the board and so does the ground for the binding posts.
there is LOUD noise if i get my hands anywhere near the power wires or the input wires... if i get my hand within a foot or more of the input wires, there is a LOUD buzz... is this normal for these types of amps? i have read a LOT on these, but i didnt read anyone specifically say if theirs was dead quiet or not. most people expect a slight buzz or hiss, but i like my stuff to sound the same with no signal as it does when its off. i like a black background. is this possible with these, or is there just too much noise?
or maybe im doing something wrong in the hookup. see atached picture for any suggestions. i did move the transformer like a foot farther away with no chance in noise. the noise increases when i start getting my hand closer, touch the heat spreader, touch the case, or get my hands close to any wires. also, the hum is VERY loud when nothing is connected...
(p.s. - i dont have the heatsink attached to anything right now. im running it for less than a minute at a time or so, and with VERY low signals. it will have a heatsink)
ok, so today i got my UCD modules, woohoo. i eagerly opened up to the box and everything appeared to be there.
since i had the test rig all built and the power supply running and tested, it was pretty easy to get music playing out of these things. right now, i only have one up and running. it makes music, and thats about as far as i got in regards to quality. i will have to let it burn in for a little while and do more testing before it gets played on anything decent. right now, it only gets played on crappy speakers or a dummy load.
well, here comes the bad news. it plays music, but there is a nasty little hum/buzz coming out of it. its pretty small, but still unacceptable to be in my main system. i need to track it down. i saw some threads on here talking about it. i havent really tried a whole lot yet. i have attached a picture showing the setup. the wires are messy, i know.
basically, i have a pretty standard linear supply. nuetral and hot lines come from the inlet, go into the transformer (thanks guys for helping me figure out the wiring), then out with the primaries to the rectifier bridges, then to cap bank. from here, i have tried two things. ground directly to a star ground on case (as seen), and i have also tried directly to the amp. it was worse without the star ground. the RCA hack ground goes to the board and so does the ground for the binding posts.
there is LOUD noise if i get my hands anywhere near the power wires or the input wires... if i get my hand within a foot or more of the input wires, there is a LOUD buzz... is this normal for these types of amps? i have read a LOT on these, but i didnt read anyone specifically say if theirs was dead quiet or not. most people expect a slight buzz or hiss, but i like my stuff to sound the same with no signal as it does when its off. i like a black background. is this possible with these, or is there just too much noise?
or maybe im doing something wrong in the hookup. see atached picture for any suggestions. i did move the transformer like a foot farther away with no chance in noise. the noise increases when i start getting my hand closer, touch the heat spreader, touch the case, or get my hands close to any wires. also, the hum is VERY loud when nothing is connected...
(p.s. - i dont have the heatsink attached to anything right now. im running it for less than a minute at a time or so, and with VERY low signals. it will have a heatsink)
Attachments
cowanrg said:
I have 3 UcD modules in each of my two chassis and have zero noise/buzzing problems. I suspect that you may have a ground loop with your wiring scheme. You appear to be using single-ended inputs. Did you tie input pins 2 & 3 together? Also, make sure your outputs are isolated from the chassis.
mac said:
as SOON as i saw this post, (i was researching possibilities), i JUST thought about the single-ended thing. i DIDNT tie 2+3 together. ill try that right now and see if that does it...
thanks!
uh oh...
i connected the signal ground to the -signal (J3), and NOTHING changed. it was the exact same buzz, maybe louder. i even took the RCA jack off the back panel completely to make sure it wasnt touching (it wasnt), and that didnt change anything.
one thought, i dont have the earth ground connected on the IEC inlet. could that help? i usually lift it to solve any potential ground issues.
i connected the signal ground to the -signal (J3), and NOTHING changed. it was the exact same buzz, maybe louder. i even took the RCA jack off the back panel completely to make sure it wasnt touching (it wasnt), and that didnt change anything.
one thought, i dont have the earth ground connected on the IEC inlet. could that help? i usually lift it to solve any potential ground issues.
Don't know if this slightly blurry photo might help. Pins 2 & 3 both go to input signal ground (not tied to chassis ground). Pin 1 goes to input positive. I have supply ground tied to a star ground point on my chassis and also have the AC receptacle ground tied to the same point.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The other thing you may want to try is shorting the input to your UcD module. If the noise goes away you have a ground loop with your source component.
well, i tried a few things. i modified the star ground to now include the earth ground on the IEC inlet.
that did nothing...
BUT, i tried what you said about shorting the input to ground, and now its silent... there is NO noise coming out of it at all. but, its really really noisy if nothing is connected. i made a cable awhile ago that is an RCA interconnect that is shorted out at one end, just for this purpose. and when i disconnect it, the amp hums again. when its plugged in, it stops humming and is silent. is that normal?
thanks for the help!
edit:
i re-read what you said about having a ground loop at the source component... im not quite sure i understand how to fix this. i had the earth ground lifted before and that didnt do anything. how else could i have a ground loop issue? also, the humming/buzzing happens with NOTHING connected, just a bare amplifier without an input. even if i just disconnect all the input wires to the jumpers, it still buzzes.
that did nothing...
BUT, i tried what you said about shorting the input to ground, and now its silent... there is NO noise coming out of it at all. but, its really really noisy if nothing is connected. i made a cable awhile ago that is an RCA interconnect that is shorted out at one end, just for this purpose. and when i disconnect it, the amp hums again. when its plugged in, it stops humming and is silent. is that normal?
thanks for the help!
edit:
i re-read what you said about having a ground loop at the source component... im not quite sure i understand how to fix this. i had the earth ground lifted before and that didnt do anything. how else could i have a ground loop issue? also, the humming/buzzing happens with NOTHING connected, just a bare amplifier without an input. even if i just disconnect all the input wires to the jumpers, it still buzzes.
....hm, your setup is wrong;
- remove the star ground.
- ground the circuit ONLY at the cinch gnd tab to the chassis ground.
- use a screended wire, or at least twist the wires.
- when you like to use an asymmetrical connection connect -symmetrical to gnd.
Better to use;
- use symmetrical screened wires.
- use a symmetrical input XLR, whereby pin#1 is connected to chassis.
- make an asymmetrical to symmetrical cable whereby at the side of the cinch the screen is connected to -symmetrical, and then to the GND of the cinch.
When proper wiring you will have NO hum and NO noise.
Jan-Peter
- remove the star ground.
- ground the circuit ONLY at the cinch gnd tab to the chassis ground.
- use a screended wire, or at least twist the wires.
- when you like to use an asymmetrical connection connect -symmetrical to gnd.
Better to use;
- use symmetrical screened wires.
- use a symmetrical input XLR, whereby pin#1 is connected to chassis.
- make an asymmetrical to symmetrical cable whereby at the side of the cinch the screen is connected to -symmetrical, and then to the GND of the cinch.
When proper wiring you will have NO hum and NO noise.
Jan-Peter
Looks like you've got JP to help out. I'm sure he'll be able to get you up and running. Good luck.
Jan-Peter said:
done.
this confuses me a bit... by "cinch" tab, i assume you mean the quick-disconnect tab on the UCD module itself? that connects to chassis ground? where is chassis ground? doesnt that imply i would have a star ground?
by "screened" i assume you mean shielded. where do i need to use shielded wires? everywhere, or just on the signal wires?
i got that part. i connected pin 2 to pin 3 at the RCA input jack. i dont use balanced connections (my processor doesnt have them), so i will never need an XLR jack.
see above. ill just keep 2 and 3 connected.
you kinda lost me there. im still not sure what you mean by "cinch". but i am guessing you mean a shielded cable, where the shield is connected at one end (the UCD module end) with the shield connected to - input, and ground to ground, and signal to +input. right?
I can only hope so!
but i am still confused as to what my grounding scheme should be... i have covered the asymetrical (XLR, single-ended, whatever you want to call it) issue. i have grounded (or connected) pins 2 and 3 together at the RCA jack ground tab.
but im still confused about how to ground the actual module and the chassis ground thing. i am using dual primaries and dual rectifiers. should i connect the 0V taps together and just use a single rectifier? how should i go about wiring this thing up.
mac said:
i sure hope so! thanks anyways.
Cinch is RCA.
The best is to connect chassis ground at the input RCA connector. In you picture you can solder a small wire from RCA GND to the nearest screw. In this cas you have ground the amplifier at the input side. Twist the signal wires, and connect at the UcD180 the -symmetrical to GND of the UcD180.
Jan-Peter
The best is to connect chassis ground at the input RCA connector. In you picture you can solder a small wire from RCA GND to the nearest screw. In this cas you have ground the amplifier at the input side. Twist the signal wires, and connect at the UcD180 the -symmetrical to GND of the UcD180.
Jan-Peter
ok. i understand that. if im only grounding the amp here, i would just float the ground thats connected to the supply?
- Status
- Not open for further replies.