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This is obviously work in progress, but which DIY project is not in progress?
It has been a while since I had my original active three way system, that was based on Behringer DCX2496. Now I decided to change almost everything. To start from the end... Speakers - are RAALs Eternity on the top. Bass is Lambda 15" Enclosures are just made for the measurements and tests. The final ones will be made on CNC curved and hopefully beautiful. Eternity tops are naked in the shoot, they have covers and foams that are there to help with dispersion. Those are RAAL's omni speakers with 18 small mid drivers and 15 ribbons. Bass is positioned in the center of the column in order to maintain perfect time alignment, and since it is cut at 200 - 200Hz there are no ill effect on voicing because of the angle. So far I am very happy how they sound. Cannot wait to complete final boxes.
Amps - Nelson's X 600s are driving bass, cases are my execution, and Babelfish J2 is in the Nelson's test case, I was lucky to receive from Mr.Pass. That Amp has a holly character for me, since it is the case Nelson used, and amp is based on his J2, modified and designed by Zen Mod, playing on Alex's speakers
So in my room I have work of three guys I am fortunate to call friends - Nelson, Choky and Alex. I feel like three of them are constantly singing to me.
B2J works on Eternity and it sounds immaculate. It is just an exceptional amp. I loved that amp from the moment I first time heard it at Nelson's place and I believe that Choky's execution brings it even one step up. Originally I drove it with 2 x 400VA Plitrons with 2 x 130uF PS, but since I am limited with the case size and also because I am driving only mids and highs, I was comfortable shrinking PS in half.
The main changes to my system are going to happen in digital domain. I will be using asynchronous USB to I2S converter 332/384 8 channel output device with two (or three) Sabre based ESS 9012 DACs. Analog portion will be Twisted Pear's Legato, with Choky's designed 6 channel Lundahl transformers and balanced jFet buffers. Balanced from beginning to the end without a single cap in the path.
I am just working on the digital portion, assembling it, at the same time I am finishing speakers and amp installations. A lots of work, but that is what I enjoy the most. I have to say, I am really fortunate to be in the position to play with such a outstanding equipment, but more than anything, I am fortunate to know these exceptional people whose work I admire so much.
This is obviously work in progress, but which DIY project is not in progress?
It has been a while since I had my original active three way system, that was based on Behringer DCX2496. Now I decided to change almost everything. To start from the end... Speakers - are RAALs Eternity on the top. Bass is Lambda 15" Enclosures are just made for the measurements and tests. The final ones will be made on CNC curved and hopefully beautiful. Eternity tops are naked in the shoot, they have covers and foams that are there to help with dispersion. Those are RAAL's omni speakers with 18 small mid drivers and 15 ribbons. Bass is positioned in the center of the column in order to maintain perfect time alignment, and since it is cut at 200 - 200Hz there are no ill effect on voicing because of the angle. So far I am very happy how they sound. Cannot wait to complete final boxes.
Amps - Nelson's X 600s are driving bass, cases are my execution, and Babelfish J2 is in the Nelson's test case, I was lucky to receive from Mr.Pass. That Amp has a holly character for me, since it is the case Nelson used, and amp is based on his J2, modified and designed by Zen Mod, playing on Alex's speakers
So in my room I have work of three guys I am fortunate to call friends - Nelson, Choky and Alex. I feel like three of them are constantly singing to me.
B2J works on Eternity and it sounds immaculate. It is just an exceptional amp. I loved that amp from the moment I first time heard it at Nelson's place and I believe that Choky's execution brings it even one step up. Originally I drove it with 2 x 400VA Plitrons with 2 x 130uF PS, but since I am limited with the case size and also because I am driving only mids and highs, I was comfortable shrinking PS in half.
The main changes to my system are going to happen in digital domain. I will be using asynchronous USB to I2S converter 332/384 8 channel output device with two (or three) Sabre based ESS 9012 DACs. Analog portion will be Twisted Pear's Legato, with Choky's designed 6 channel Lundahl transformers and balanced jFet buffers. Balanced from beginning to the end without a single cap in the path.
I am just working on the digital portion, assembling it, at the same time I am finishing speakers and amp installations. A lots of work, but that is what I enjoy the most. I have to say, I am really fortunate to be in the position to play with such a outstanding equipment, but more than anything, I am fortunate to know these exceptional people whose work I admire so much.
further demonstrations of brute force - by Mighty Master Burner - AR2
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This unit is meant for voltage out DACs. It is balanced and it has 6 channels. At the input signal goes from Lundahl transformers, through balanced jFet buffer, that Zen Mod designed based on Mr. Pass's B1, but this version is balanced and without caps in the signal path. Circuit board was designed by Cviller. After buffer, signal goes through Apox volume control, again 6 channels balanced. I do not know what happened to those two guys that made Apox volume controls, unfortunately they stopped making them. This one is last 5 -6 years with me and it works great. Too bad they are not doing it any more. PS is based on stacked regulators and buffer is heavily fortified with cap multipliers.
Case is my old case that I modified with carbon fibre and additional Al for the front panel. Knobs are big and heavy and they needed an extra support, so that is where ball bearings come into the play. The rest is obvious, sound is immaculate, and the whole thing is extremely quiet.
Case is my old case that I modified with carbon fibre and additional Al for the front panel. Knobs are big and heavy and they needed an extra support, so that is where ball bearings come into the play. The rest is obvious, sound is immaculate, and the whole thing is extremely quiet.
It just happen that knob is millimeter standard, and bearing I got is inch standard, which makes bearing just tiny, tiny larger than knob. That works perfect, because knob essentially rest on the bottom of the bearing and that is where it rolls. This is not situation where I would press fit knob into the bearing so like this bearing still keeps knob straight and the rotation is smooth. The difference in diameter is less than 1 mm.
nice work!!!, looking forward to seeing what you do with the ackodac etc digital montage, as its a challenging and satisfying build that rewards creative thinking for layout. I also love the bearing idea, i might just steal it depending on how well the encoder shafts hold up on my dac since i'm using 50mm x 45mm solid titanium knobs i had made. titanium is light for its strength and this strength allows you to go much thinner with constructing designs; therefor the result is light, but solid titanium is not light. i just need to finish off the outside finish with electrolysis ala Guggenheim.
whats happening with all this? way i see it a lot of this will be going the way of the dodo when you have finished the dac
whats happening with all this? way i see it a lot of this will be going the way of the dodo when you have finished the dac
Quisp, I am glad you like it. This project was originally planned for AKM4396 DACs but will be most likely used after Legato boards to eliminate caps in the signal. I am also aware that Legato 3 will be without caps, so I am curious to see. And yes, I just received parts from DigyKey to populate Acko's boards, that are exceptional! My system will have Acko'sDacs and Legato3 in the output. Based on results from Legato3 once I receive it, I will determine the whole concept. I already have a good idea of what to do in order to minimize I2S lines as well as clock lines, since I will try to implement master clock distributed circuit, for all involved parts.
You are more than welcome to try ball bearing, I love it. I will also like to try titanium, although I am sure that takes some time for machining. Thank you for the tip!
Vinyl?.... Poooh yak..... hahahaha
No this is a real twill wave composite. Here is a link:
Carbon Fiber Veneer
Really beautiful material and I think exceptional for DIY. Cut with the scissors, self adhesive backing, super high gloss finish, strong as steel and some more, what else to ask. 3D effect is just astonishing and mated with anodized mans sized Al looks just right.
You know, now that you mentioned, I have been exploring the possibility of using carbon fibre for various purposes. To start with making speakers, but it is very expensive proposal to do it in the thickness needed. Maybe if it is just reinforcing something else, but that defets the purpose ... I was also thinking of making the full sheet for the front plate, but I was worried how it is going to work with my milling tools. It is also too expensive to play with... so since I already had Al plate, this came out great that is in the form of veneer. All in all I am using it for looks, I am not that type that is trying to minimize resonance of the case to lower vibration of the solid state preamp... hahaha It worked great applied to the aluminum and than openings were milled. Than I follow with the file, and that took care since the cut is not as clean as on Aluminum. You could feel particular treads under the finger, but filing them to be straight solved that problem.
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