It has been a learning experience, I'll say that. My only previous diy audio was with the two ACA amps, where you're handed everything on a platter. For example, I never imagined a fuse holder would have two different parts I needed to order. Or that there were as many flavors of power switches as there are.
It's the beauty of the kits. They hunt all the parts down and just send them to you in a box.
I built a tube preamp 20 years ago from the schematic. By the time I ordered the parts and got it all together in an old preamp chassis it became obvious I should have just gotten the kit. It would have saved days of work.
They seem to do a good job of part selection on their kits, too. All the parts are high value even if they aren't super duper expensive. Somebody who knows what they are doing has made intelligent choices. Not having to choose each part also makes things easier, too.
I'll probably end up ordering a case for the Whammy when it's available. My metal working skills aren't good and a pre drilled chassis will make it look like a real product.
All that said, there are some folks on this forum that do some amazing work from scratch. A lot of projects shown here are beautiful electronics work and beautiful metal and wood work. Very inspiring.
Ha! Probably so. I sent Mouser an email when I got my “half a fuse holder.” But I had to admit I got exactly what I ordered. So I ordered the other half along with some other odd pieces I still needed. It’s the select switch that’s been the toughest. Balanced circuits are not the easiest to source parts for. Maybe I just need to go with a relay, but that means more work on the front panel for LEDs and room for another PCB inside the chassis.
Can't speak from experience for the Oppo but you can find some thoughts of others out there on the interweb. Here's what my fingers turned up:
Oppo BDP105 as a pre amp - Media Servers & Source Units - StereoNET
According to Schiit website, the Saga has a gain of 1 whether you opt for tube function or not. All the intel I've gathered for selecting a pre- for the ACA is that gain helps. I've got a Schiit Freya running max gain possible (2.5) via its tube buffer and that works a treat for me (speakers are rated at ca. 92dB/W@1m).
If your speakers are really sensitive, using a passive pre- will be less of an issue. Depends on what you've got and what sort of room you're trying to fill with sound ... as far as I know ...
Was this 'secret' you mentioned a few weeks ago the recently released B1 Buffer with Korg triode? (B1 with Korg Triode)
I'm really interested in some either objective or subjective pros/cons between the Whammy and the B1 Preamp for the ACA.
With a 50K pot, the B1 has a 16dB gain, the Whammy a 14dB so they are pretty similar in terms of matching. Other than the obvious "you get an additional heaphone amp", merely as a preamp, how would they compare in terms of audio quality?
Obviously the easy answer is: build both and test!. That is the most fun as well... alas, knowing a little bit beforehand would help a lot!
Thanks for all this, its so incredible to have stopped spending in off-the-shelf equipment to actually have so many options for the DIYer. Thanks!
Best regards,
Rafa.
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