Hello All,
I completed my Elekit TU-8600. I opted for all of the optional upgrades through Victor. Here is a summary of my experience.
This build was a bit more involved than the 8200, but not much. The board layouts were superb and made a lot of sense.
It was a bit slow going in the beginning when I had so many open slots to populate; as the main board began to fill up the pace picked up because I had less searching to do to locate the next spaces for placement.
I needed Victor's help on this one (not on the 8200). He was amazing. I felt that I made a friend. He calls and emails promptly. His passion for the hobby shines right through.
My left channel was not working upon completion. I had to go back through each and every solder because I could not locate the issue. I reheated each solder on the left channel. I also went at the solders that were close together and cleaned up the space between them (regardless of whether I could see much if any solder) to eliminate any shorts. I also took the main board out completely and flipped it and checked each and every through hole placement, etc. After about 4 hours of this I set everything back up and voila!-music out of both channels.
The amp sounded great out of the gate, yet a running in of 90 hours this week (night and day playing) has improved things more.
I have two issues to address. First, I'm getting a ever-so-small static crackle when I move the volume knob at higher volumes. I'm thinking that I need some insulation/gasket between the Alps pot body and the knob spindle to reduce static electricity. My Alps 100k didn't come with any nut or locking washer. Maybe that will help?
The second issue is paint color. I think that I will paint the unit for living room display in the future--maybe an automotive finish in a vintage color.
This amp is amazing. As Victor says, it places vocals front and center. I love, love love it with jazz. I have a pretty substantial main tube based stereo (~$20k). The 8600 sounds different in a good way. It draws me in much more and has even less listening fatigue (keep in mind my main system is all tube based and is of great quality making it low fatigue to begin with).
Last night I listened to some pretty popular albums--Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas and Muddy Waters (Buddy guy on lead guitar) Folk Singer. The sound was intoxicating.
I cannot find any fault with this kit or the end result. The only thing I would like to see is a second input so I can run a turntable/phono pre and a digital input.
If I can build this anyone can! Go slow and enjoy the process. It's a zen-like thing to build one of these.
Special thanks to Victor for all his help and sharing in the passion! Victor, you are the man!
I completed my Elekit TU-8600. I opted for all of the optional upgrades through Victor. Here is a summary of my experience.
This build was a bit more involved than the 8200, but not much. The board layouts were superb and made a lot of sense.
It was a bit slow going in the beginning when I had so many open slots to populate; as the main board began to fill up the pace picked up because I had less searching to do to locate the next spaces for placement.
I needed Victor's help on this one (not on the 8200). He was amazing. I felt that I made a friend. He calls and emails promptly. His passion for the hobby shines right through.
My left channel was not working upon completion. I had to go back through each and every solder because I could not locate the issue. I reheated each solder on the left channel. I also went at the solders that were close together and cleaned up the space between them (regardless of whether I could see much if any solder) to eliminate any shorts. I also took the main board out completely and flipped it and checked each and every through hole placement, etc. After about 4 hours of this I set everything back up and voila!-music out of both channels.
The amp sounded great out of the gate, yet a running in of 90 hours this week (night and day playing) has improved things more.
I have two issues to address. First, I'm getting a ever-so-small static crackle when I move the volume knob at higher volumes. I'm thinking that I need some insulation/gasket between the Alps pot body and the knob spindle to reduce static electricity. My Alps 100k didn't come with any nut or locking washer. Maybe that will help?
The second issue is paint color. I think that I will paint the unit for living room display in the future--maybe an automotive finish in a vintage color.
This amp is amazing. As Victor says, it places vocals front and center. I love, love love it with jazz. I have a pretty substantial main tube based stereo (~$20k). The 8600 sounds different in a good way. It draws me in much more and has even less listening fatigue (keep in mind my main system is all tube based and is of great quality making it low fatigue to begin with).
Last night I listened to some pretty popular albums--Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas and Muddy Waters (Buddy guy on lead guitar) Folk Singer. The sound was intoxicating.
I cannot find any fault with this kit or the end result. The only thing I would like to see is a second input so I can run a turntable/phono pre and a digital input.
If I can build this anyone can! Go slow and enjoy the process. It's a zen-like thing to build one of these.
Special thanks to Victor for all his help and sharing in the passion! Victor, you are the man!
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