Great looking front panel and knobs. Congratulations!
When its so quiet through the power amp on efficient large speakers I doubt it will give you any trouble on headphones which are an inside loop. It should be correctly grounded for all outputs already. In any case let us know.
I don't know of a new secret tube preamp. I only know my 6V6 one never got an official form that many asked me for through the years. I may do that eventually in a handy way.
Maybe he is hinting.. LOL
My DCG3 is at Henry's currently getting repackaged into a very, very nice hand built chassis. Missing it badly.
I listened to the headphone amplifier in the DAC last night and it just sounds lacking. All of the background detail, nuance and imaging are completely missing. Hard to believe in retrospect that I lived with that headphone amplifier for almost a year until I got the DCG3, no going back.
I will post photographs upon its return.
My DCG3 is at Henry's currently getting repackaged into a very, very nice hand built chassis. Missing it badly.
I listened to the headphone amplifier in the DAC last night and it just sounds lacking. All of the background detail, nuance and imaging are completely missing. Hard to believe in retrospect that I lived with that headphone amplifier for almost a year until I got the DCG3, no going back.
I will post photographs upon its return.
Forgot to ask, what are those two preamp looking boxes (a black and a white one) in the DCG3 picture's background?
You are in fantastic company!
Top one is Wayne's BA18 pre.
Bottom is Zen Mod's Iron Pre.
(comparison's withheld
Sorta.)
[M2X/Norwood monoblocks, and the PSU for FSUltra—little box on left of amps.]
Actually I've learned a ton. I think dual-mono has actual real-life listening meaning. And I think Muses is a thing too. Both audible and real—in my humble estimation. I will draw some similarities between DCG3 and Wayne's in terms of clarity and definition—and both are fantastic HPAs (DCG3 is absolutely silent in the phones BTW.) It's just the 3D holography tricks with DCG3—power arrangement or circuit IDK—but it's real (delicious bass too).
Top one is Wayne's BA18 pre.
Bottom is Zen Mod's Iron Pre.
(comparison's withheld
Sorta.)[M2X/Norwood monoblocks, and the PSU for FSUltra—little box on left of amps.]
Actually I've learned a ton. I think dual-mono has actual real-life listening meaning. And I think Muses is a thing too. Both audible and real—in my humble estimation. I will draw some similarities between DCG3 and Wayne's in terms of clarity and definition—and both are fantastic HPAs (DCG3 is absolutely silent in the phones BTW.) It's just the 3D holography tricks with DCG3—power arrangement or circuit IDK—but it's real (delicious bass too).
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I delivered the amplifier to Kevin this evening. I'm leaving it to him to make a top cover.
I made some improvements this time around. I used MakerBeams instead of solid rails. They're super-cool and save a lot of building time. I moved the PC boards to the rear and reoriented the attenuators so the back cover latches are accessible. This will allow the contacts to be serviced. I installed a dedicated transformer for the relay board and, per Kevin's request, I put in an industrial-strength 3.5mm audio jack and left out the selector switch. Overall, I tried to do a cleaner and more precise job on the construction.
-Henry
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I'm thrilled Henry built this for me, I listen to music almost every evening and the DCG3 he built for me was a huge step forward from the amplifier in the DAC which is unlistenable since the DCG3 arrived on the scene.
It's very compact and fits into the limited space I have available and looks awesome doing it.
It is at a level of build quality that I would not be able to match. The entire chassis was designed and hand built from scratch, and to a very high level of quality, it is solid and non-resonant. It also has the industrial chic that I groove to.
It's very compact and fits into the limited space I have available and looks awesome doing it.
It is at a level of build quality that I would not be able to match. The entire chassis was designed and hand built from scratch, and to a very high level of quality, it is solid and non-resonant. It also has the industrial chic that I groove to.
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Immaculate build. Great looking casework. What are those two pots bulging out?
My graphical call to spill the beans was fueled with hope, that there is some secret information about upcoming new Salas design. Alas, no beans, but I'm sure many would have been interested regardless if they needed another preamp. As Salas touch = Midas touch.
My graphical call to spill the beans was fueled with hope, that there is some secret information about upcoming new Salas design. Alas, no beans, but I'm sure many would have been interested regardless if they needed another preamp.
As Salas touch = Midas touch.
Henry—fantastic work!—thanks for the tip about Makerbeams—didn't know such a thing existed! I've been doing something similar but with bar stock (lots of tapping). I also want to try the Pass Labs setup with big brass corner blocks.
Since building chassis from scratch, the biggest "hurdle" I've found is really surface finish on the panels—I'm working with raw aluminum—putting whatever finish on it I want—level of brushed-ness—and waxing it in the end—it's not easy—are you working with pre-anodized sheets? Or anodizing? The material looks to be a gunmetal color. Printing on the front? Thanks!
The attenuators are vintage Daven units that I modified using a custom PC board and SMD resistors. I had a few of these in the closet -- two are in a friend's tube preamp now and four are in the two DCGs I built. There is pressed-in pin holding the rotor to the shaft that is almost impossible to remove. A friend of a friend found a way to remove the pins, but were I to get more of these -- they are becoming rarer and much more expensive -- I would have to find another machinist to help, or invent a tool to press out the pins. Also, on one of the units in the last batch the contact spacing was slightly off, making it hard to press on the board. This, in turn, skewed the contacts and I had resurface them to get the wiper to slide smoothly. In the future, I think I will need to find a different kind of switch.
The dots on the front panel are just little pits I made with a drill, filled with acrylic paint. I used Rustoleum self-etching primer and flat metallic paint for the finish.
In the past (e.g., my first DCG3) I've used 3/8" square stock, drilled and tapped. MakerBeam is easier, though the little sliding nuts aren't cheap. This time around, I used 1/16" angle stock and self-clinching nuts for the front and rear rails, which was also a time and cost saver.
I'm getting tired of building the same box, need to come up with something new to challenge me. My machine shop consists of a cheap table saw with a non-ferrous metal blade, a drill press, and a file. Decades ago, I worked for a company with a shop that had a bandsaw, a belt sander, and most important, a Bridgeport mill. That was fantastic, and I also enjoyed being young and better looking.
-Henry
The dots on the front panel are just little pits I made with a drill, filled with acrylic paint. I used Rustoleum self-etching primer and flat metallic paint for the finish.
In the past (e.g., my first DCG3) I've used 3/8" square stock, drilled and tapped. MakerBeam is easier, though the little sliding nuts aren't cheap. This time around, I used 1/16" angle stock and self-clinching nuts for the front and rear rails, which was also a time and cost saver.
I'm getting tired of building the same box, need to come up with something new to challenge me. My machine shop consists of a cheap table saw with a non-ferrous metal blade, a drill press, and a file. Decades ago, I worked for a company with a shop that had a bandsaw, a belt sander, and most important, a Bridgeport mill. That was fantastic, and I also enjoyed being young and better looking.
-Henry
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I would like to build a hybrid tube headphone amplifier with a solid-state output stage for my next project. I want it to be direct-coupled if possible. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to be absolutely protected against damaging DC offsets at the output at power-up and power-down, or if the tube fails...
-Henry
-Henry
This is the v2.0 of this fantastic amp. I was pleased with my first build, in fact so much so that I build an ”all in” version.
Ubibs and 2SK170 (4x9.16 mA) and so on. This is so good now. Dynamics is better, bass is punchy and extended and the biggest thing: highs are like silk but still sharp.
Im very, very impressed!
Thank you again salas!
P.s This is my fourth build ever and Im beginning to enjoy the diy journey
Ubibs and 2SK170 (4x9.16 mA) and so on. This is so good now. Dynamics is better, bass is punchy and extended and the biggest thing: highs are like silk but still sharp.
Im very, very impressed!
Thank you again salas!
P.s This is my fourth build ever and Im beginning to enjoy the diy journey
Attachments
I used 25VA transformers in both of my builds. In the first one I chose 18-0-18V units; for the second 15-0-15V. This dropped my raw DC from about +-27V to +-23V, so the transformers and the regulators run cooler.
The small toroid is a 12-0-12V 1.6VA unit that runs the muting relay and pilot lamp. I decided when I designed my boards to keep the relay circuitry separate. I did this for aesthetic reasons, to give me flexibility if I ever want to use, say, a microprocessor-based controller, and to avoid added load on the main power supply. In retrospect, this turned out to be a nuisance.
-Henry
The small toroid is a 12-0-12V 1.6VA unit that runs the muting relay and pilot lamp. I decided when I designed my boards to keep the relay circuitry separate. I did this for aesthetic reasons, to give me flexibility if I ever want to use, say, a microprocessor-based controller, and to avoid added load on the main power supply. In retrospect, this turned out to be a nuisance.
-Henry
@antsav - Very nice job. I love the Toroidy transformers. I'm using one in my DCG3 build and also used them in my latest monoblock amps.
@hpastarnack - that front panel is impressive work. Inspiring.
Now that Teabag is close to completing the latest group buy on the UBibs, I have to get my act together and start getting everything else done for my build.
@hpastarnack - that front panel is impressive work. Inspiring.
Now that Teabag is close to completing the latest group buy on the UBibs, I have to get my act together and start getting everything else done for my build.
This is the v2.0 of this fantastic amp. I was pleased with my first build, in fact so much so that I build an ”all in” version.
Ubibs and 2SK170 (4x9.16 mA) and so on. This is so good now. Dynamics is better, bass is punchy and extended and the biggest thing: highs are like silk but still sharp.
Im very, very impressed!
Thank you again salas!
P.s This is my fourth build ever and Im beginning to enjoy the diy journey
You are welcome. A very nice fully kitted out build. That spiral "shield" signal cabling technique I have seldomly seen only from some UK technicians. Interesting to see it in your builds.