Yes I went for the Lundahl version from Victor I was lucky he only had a couple left I believe.
I've not unpacked properly as yet only opened the boxes looked for the Vcaps closed it back up and then quickly soldered them in my other amp before my kids arrived home from school. There would be to many helping hands to risk unpacking or building otherwise.
I've not unpacked properly as yet only opened the boxes looked for the Vcaps closed it back up and then quickly soldered them in my other amp before my kids arrived home from school. There would be to many helping hands to risk unpacking or building otherwise.
I've made good progress on my build today the instruction manual has been clear and easy to follow.
Following the build order next on the list next is to start stuffing the main board with resistors etc.
If I'm lucky I might get to have another hour or two at it tonight depending if my little ones are cooperative and ho to bed early.
Victor did a excellent packing job on my kit for shipping I was very impressed.
Had a few deep searches and head scratching moments for a few hard to locate plastic parts but after a email to Victor I found them packed in with the tube cage which I had not opened thinking it was just the cage on its own.
Apologies for the early email Victor I have contacts in Toronto I speak with regularly in the morning (my afternoon) and it completely slipped my mind you are in a different time zone.
Following the build order next on the list next is to start stuffing the main board with resistors etc.
If I'm lucky I might get to have another hour or two at it tonight depending if my little ones are cooperative and ho to bed early.
Victor did a excellent packing job on my kit for shipping I was very impressed.
Had a few deep searches and head scratching moments for a few hard to locate plastic parts but after a email to Victor I found them packed in with the tube cage which I had not opened thinking it was just the cage on its own.
Apologies for the early email Victor I have contacts in Toronto I speak with regularly in the morning (my afternoon) and it completely slipped my mind you are in a different time zone.
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An enjoyable second day has gone well I've only spent a few hours today but have the main board all stuffed and daughter boards assembled.
I didn't rush ohmed out the resistors prior to mounting and limited myself to only mounting and soldering four items at a time. This for me makes it easier to tick off the parts accurately as they are mounted and then keep track of what's been soldered.
I'm going to resist the temptation to rush on today and get up and running and will leave that for tomorrow fingers crossed.
Good things come to those who wait....
I didn't rush ohmed out the resistors prior to mounting and limited myself to only mounting and soldering four items at a time. This for me makes it easier to tick off the parts accurately as they are mounted and then keep track of what's been soldered.
I'm going to resist the temptation to rush on today and get up and running and will leave that for tomorrow fingers crossed.
Good things come to those who wait....
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Those are Elite 2a3 Globes. Been using them for a few months on my amp, wanted to try them to compare to the Acme 2a3, which i have used long term ... like daily driving 24/7 during the entire pandemic. I thought they would sound different given a very different construction, but they are quite similar.
I think the Acme are more neutral, airy, faster and the Elite are thiccr, wetter a little bit more traditional romantic and emphasized in the mids. Very similar though. I like them both depending on the time of day and mood. Neither IMO would hold this amp back; they have an extremely high potential.
I thought it might put more hours on the Vcaps before flipping them around. My cap turrets are "socketed" on dsub pins. I put in a little effort to make that possible before soldering it permanently. I actually didn't know they provided the foil direction so i will try it the other way and pick based on what sounds best. Would be nice to test the theory
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V-CAP Installation Notes.. Please check your vcap installation
The green lead indicates the outermost foil, and should be connected to the lowest impedance path to ground.
ACME 2A3 was designed by a team of engineers now this group of design team has their own company called LInLai. Bascally the LINLai E-series is similar/same to ACME, with higher reliability rate.
The green lead indicates the outermost foil, and should be connected to the lowest impedance path to ground.
ACME 2A3 was designed by a team of engineers now this group of design team has their own company called LInLai. Bascally the LINLai E-series is similar/same to ACME, with higher reliability rate.
Contact Victor at VKMusic.
VKMusic.ca Home page
The site seems to be down right now. Try again in a bit.
VKMusic.ca Home page
The site seems to be down right now. Try again in a bit.
Ok, so it look to me that the input stage is actually SingleEnded. While using Balanced source such as DAC with XLR out can be used with cables that does XLR to RCA is possible, it should only be possible with the DAC that has differential stages within itself. That means despite the fact that it is using XLR out, the signals really is just being sent as SingleEnded.
Then, in order to really utilize the Balanced output of any DAC and Source while preserving the integrity. There needs to be a Balanced input stage, possibly dual input transformers and wire directly into the PCB
please correct me if I am wrong. Eletek makes everything easier by not providing schematic. (NOT*)
Then, in order to really utilize the Balanced output of any DAC and Source while preserving the integrity. There needs to be a Balanced input stage, possibly dual input transformers and wire directly into the PCB
please correct me if I am wrong. Eletek makes everything easier by not providing schematic. (NOT*)
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For me, I can’t see justifying the expense or potential sonic impact of adding input transformers. Sure my dac’s balanced output is superior to its se output, so I use Cardas XLR to RCA adapters. I actually don’t use them on the Elekit but I have used them for 25’ interconnect runs to some of my headphone amps.
I agreed, it is just different boats for different folks. All of my sources are true balanced out with Dual DAC Chips or Quad Chips etc… I definitely want to use it to the fullest potentials. Especially for the Eletek, which is very high end in the build and the design
Operation checks and voltage check point readings passed.
No troubleshooting required.
It's alive....I have tunes
Congratulations! What speakers/headphones are you using? I can't wait to hear your impressions.
Thanks my speakers are a DIY Frankenstein build of the Bastanis Mandala's. Each channel comprises of two 12" Bastanis Crystal free range drivers running without crossovees augmented by a non Bastanis 1" tweeter and a 15" bass driver with crossovers all mounted on 48" X 18" open baffles.
Sensitivity is approximately 100dB. Two watts is enough to drive them to uncomfortable listening levels in my room.
Source Chord Dave, Roon Rock or Thorens TT
Main headphones are the senn HD800 with the SDR mod and the Hifiman HE6 which I'm really looking forward to trying out but the HE6 will be off the speaker taps via a adapter.
Tube amps require some load. Connecting headphones with impedance up to about 30 Ohms to the speaker taps is fine, but you should add a parallel resistor with high impedance phones. If you use the headphone output, it will be done automatically.