Modulus-86 build thread

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matt_garman

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Joined 2008
Paid Member
I've long had the Mod86 on my "want to build" list. But I also used to have more amps than any sane person needs, so I couldn't justify having yet another amp. Note the emphasis on used to have... I boxed up four of my amps to have them measured by Amir at AudioScienceReview, and FedEx lost them. Completely lost, now I'm working on the claim process. We'll see how that goes.

The silver lining is, I can no longer claim "too many amps" as my excuse for not building the Mod86. I've ordered all the parts except the case. I skimmed through this whole thread, looking at all the pics for chassis and layout inspiration. While doing that, I kept track of all the pics in this thread. Here's the list I came up with, I thought others might find this useful. Apologies for any omissions, typos, and/or bad links.

 
P

Panelhead

Member
Joined 2002
Good luck

matt_garman said:
I've long had the Mod86 on my "want to build" list. But I also used to have more amps than any sane person needs, so I couldn't justify having yet another amp. Note the emphasis on used to have... I boxed up four of my amps to have them measured by Amir at AudioScienceReview, and FedEx lost them. Completely lost, now I'm working on the claim process. We'll see how that goes.

The silver lining is, I can no longer claim "too many amps" as my excuse for not building the Mod86. I've ordered all the parts except the case. I skimmed through this whole thread, looking at all the pics for chassis and layout inspiration. While doing that, I kept track of all the pics in this thread. Here's the list I came up with, I thought others might find this useful. Apologies for any omissions, typos, and/or bad links.

Click to expand...


Good luck on your claim. I got bar-b-qued on a set of cheap speakers. Sold them, sent insured. Speakers were 200.00 and shipping 125.00.
Buyer emailed about 30 minutes after delivery saying both tweeters were damaged in shipping. Contacted Fedex and they wanted a repair estimate. Buyer said he wanted to ship to original manufacturer for repair. That is 250 round trip shipping.
After a week of squawking about damaged tweeters I purchased a pair and had them direct shipped. On arrival buyer said he was not capable of replacing them. Wanted to ship them together to original manufacturer for installation.
I decided enough was enough. He requested refund. I refunded money, ate shipping, ate unneeded tweeters and shipping.
He ended up with my speakers, new set of tweeters. For free.
I know two working tweeters did not die in shipping in factory double boxes.
Never selling over the internet again. 2nd time a crooked buyer skinned me.
Insurance was useless. I assume they get skinned by dishonest claims hourly on fake claims.
 
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matt_garman

Member
Joined 2008
Paid Member
@Panelhead - that stinks, sorry to hear that. I'm cynical about the claim too, but in this case, FedEx completely lost the package (as opposed to damaged or dealing with a sketchy recipient). They said they made a delivery attempt (but not actually delivered), then it sat in exception status for over two weeks. I called several times over the course of three days. On the last call, they finally admitted that the packages are lost. According to them, 10 days without a scan constitutes being lost. To substantiate my claim, I had to produce receipts/invoices. Since these were all DIY amps, I had to dig out years' worth of various part orders. That alone took several hours. If they don't pay up, I feel like small claims court will be my next stop, as they admitted to the loss. He said/she said situations are always problematic, but I feel like this particular situation is pretty straightforward.
 
R

Reddo

Member
Joined 2015
matt_garman said:
I've long had the Mod86 on my "want to build" list. But I also used to have more amps than any sane person needs, so I couldn't justify having yet another amp. Note the emphasis on used to have... I boxed up four of my amps to have them measured by Amir at AudioScienceReview, and FedEx lost them. Completely lost, now I'm working on the claim process. We'll see how that goes.

The silver lining is, I can no longer claim "too many amps" as my excuse for not building the Mod86. I've ordered all the parts except the case. I skimmed through this whole thread, looking at all the pics for chassis and layout inspiration. While doing that, I kept track of all the pics in this thread. Here's the list I came up with, I thought others might find this useful. Apologies for any omissions, typos, and/or bad links.

[/list]
Click to expand...

That was a bit of work ! Nice overview ! And FYI, I'm still very happy with the Mod86 and the case I got.
 
M

matt_garman

Member
Joined 2008
Paid Member
tomchr said:
That's devastating. If you need my help in establishing the cost of the board + components, just toss me an email.
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Thank you for the offer Tom, but the four amps that were lost were not your designs. :) One was Folsom's TDA7297 amp, two were TI tpa3251 class-d amps, and the last was my own tda8932 design. I was planning to sell the Folsom anyway. The tpa3251 amps were simple builds, just wired up a power supply and put them in a chassis. But I put a lot of time into that tda8932 and was particularly interesting in seeing how it measured (if I got close to datasheet performance I'd be thrilled).

At any rate, it took a while, but I found my receipts/invoices for all the major components for all those amps. I didn't count small stuff like hook-up wire, IECs, status LEDs, etc. Nor did I count my time. But major component cost alone came to over $1100 for the four amps.

Here's to hoping FedEx doesn't feed my cynicism. :)
 
V

Vtshopdog

Member
Joined 2015
I ran a retail business for decades and did my share of insurance claims. For shipping companies the process generally seems designed to be frustrating enough to make many claimants simply not bother thus reducing their costs. (OTOH, they probably get many, many fraudulent claims as well). For a shipping claim they will absolutely not pay you more than the declared value you entered at posting -sorry.

Some general rules that I adopted when making insurance claims of all types:
Take the time to fully understand everything the adjuster needs to process your claim and if you don’t fully understand confer with them.
Gather and organize all documents - these folks live on documentation and they need to be able to show their boss that any settlement tendered is valid
DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!! They hate, hate, hate revisions & additions and doing so may cast you under cloud of additional scrutiny. Overdocument if in doubt, send a cataloged spreadsheet master list if warranted.

Good luck.
 
zgtc

zgtc

Member
Joined 2016
matt_garman said:
I've long had the Mod86 on my "want to build" list. But I also used to have more amps than any sane person needs, so I couldn't justify having yet another amp. Note the emphasis on used to have... I boxed up four of my amps to have them measured by Amir at AudioScienceReview, and FedEx lost them. Completely lost, now I'm working on the claim process. We'll see how that goes.
Click to expand...
So sorry to hear this Matt, I really hope you get some decent compensation.

matt_garman said:
The silver lining is, I can no longer claim "too many amps" as my excuse for not building the Mod86. I've ordered all the parts except the case. I skimmed through this whole thread, looking at all the pics for chassis and layout inspiration. While doing that, I kept track of all the pics in this thread. Here's the list I came up with, I thought others might find this useful. Apologies for any omissions, typos, and/or bad links.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for taking the time to create the list. I went through it and there are some very nice builds.
 
M

MrKettle

Member
Joined 2018
Bit of a blast from the past, but I have picked up and remade a Parallel-86 amp. The original was in a slightly silly case with RCA inputs, this has been remade with XLRs as my World Designs Pre 3 has the option of wiring the outputs as balanced. As an aside from this, mini XLRs are horrible to use...
bc9df0b6f7e028743492923a9a8b8db627023410_2_1332x1000.jpeg

The case is a 3U/400 and each channel has a 300VA transformer and a Ringnot board, as with heatsinks and PSUs nothing exceeds like excess.

I have also added an soft start board, with the switch at the back as I have a toddler.
 
J

Johnny2Bad

Member
Joined 2010
Vtshopdog said:
I ran a retail business for decades and did my share of insurance claims.
... {snip} ...
For a shipping claim they will absolutely not pay you more than the declared value you entered at posting -sorry.
... {snip} ...
Click to expand...


I would like to add that the declared value (or the default insurance, depending on the carrier) is the absolute maximum they will pay, and you need to prove to their satisfaction the loss, which can be less than the declared value / default insurance, especially with DIY stuff.


I do wonder, however, if you could dig up some industry standard values of parts cost / retail price, would need documented evidence, not just heresay or posts in a web site, but the industry press might offer it. Worth looking up at least to justify a proper (for you) value of an assembled, working unit. Some insurance offers *replacement value* which is another avenue to explore.


The worst that could happen is they say no.


Just back today from a six week hospital stay. Yes, I spent Xmas in a hospital bed. This health stuff is getting old, and cuts into my DIY budget and time. But I am still plugging along.
 
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matt_garman

Member
Joined 2008
Paid Member
For those using the Modushop/diyAudio Store chassis (e.g. Mini Dissipante) with the baseplate: do you know how tall the baseplate is? I.e., how much height does the baseplate add to the bottom of the chassis? Maybe stated another way: how much internal height does the baseplate remove? I am designing the rear panel cutouts, and want to make sure I don't go too low and end up interfering with the baseplate.

Thanks!
 
tomchr

tomchr

Member
Joined 2009
neurochrome.com
Paid Member
MrKettle said:
Bit of a blast from the past, but I have picked up and remade a Parallel-86 amp.
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"Blast from the past" I like it... :) That's a very nice amp and nice build. Enjoy. Thank you for sharing.

One thing, though: I suggest supporting the side of the amp boards that's away from the heat sink (i.e. the side with the input connector). One way to do this would be to use a tall standoff between the bottom of the chassis and the PCB. Preventing the board from being a cantilever off of the heat sink will increase reliability. If you have a transfer punch, it should be trivial to get the holes in the right spots. Just a suggestion.

Tom
 
M

MrKettle

Member
Joined 2018
tomchr said:
"Blast from the past" I like it... :) That's a very nice amp and nice build. Enjoy. Thank you for sharing.

One thing, though: I suggest supporting the side of the amp boards that's away from the heat sink (i.e. the side with the input connector). One way to do this would be to use a tall standoff between the bottom of the chassis and the PCB. Preventing the board from being a cantilever off of the heat sink will increase reliability. If you have a transfer punch, it should be trivial to get the holes in the right spots. Just a suggestion.

Tom
Click to expand...

Slight issue there is that the boards are slightly slanted so that the mountings are in the gaps between fins (when the little hex spacers are used). Broken too many M3 taps recently...
 
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