Sleep easy, the little fellow (jfet) is rated at 40 volts (50 on the graphs?) so worst yours got was 32-ish volts (R9 took the other 4 or so volts).
The only component under any stress would have been C4 (25 volts rating) but if it did not blow off the board it will be fine too...
Go and enjoy it now. Alan
Sleep easy, the little fellow (jfet) is rated at 40 volts (50 on the graphs?) so worst yours got was 32-ish volts (R9 took the other 4 or so volts).
The only component under any stress would have been C4 (25 volts rating) but if it did not blow off the board it will be fine too...
Go and enjoy it now. Alan
And suddenly my new little amp sounds even better!
Thanks for the encouraging words.
BTW, I just turned it off after listening to it for about 3 hours. It really does sound very good.
so... here's my first one (next week I'll build the second mono block)
took longer than expected 'cause I changed my mind when I saw the new build guide, and ordered two front panels *with* hole for the switch (thankfully HiFi 2000 is local to me
)
here it is, connected to an LPS I assembled in July, during first bias adjust
it's the first time ever I solder stuff (practised a bit in August) and... no smoke or funny smells, so this already is more than I expected
must confess... what i do really hate, and i'm no good at all at (always have to try/redo many times), is soldering wires to connectors
(you might spot some awful blobs there
)
tomorrow I'll re-check bias, close top and bottom panes and... see if any sound comes out of it
took longer than expected 'cause I changed my mind when I saw the new build guide, and ordered two front panels *with* hole for the switch (thankfully HiFi 2000 is local to me
)here it is, connected to an LPS I assembled in July, during first bias adjust
it's the first time ever I solder stuff (practised a bit in August) and... no smoke or funny smells, so this already is more than I expected
must confess... what i do really hate, and i'm no good at all at (always have to try/redo many times), is soldering wires to connectors
(you might spot some awful blobs there
)tomorrow I'll re-check bias, close top and bottom panes and... see if any sound comes out of it
Attachments
connected as stereo SE to an Auralic Vega DAC and to a pair of Cornwall III speakers... OMG: it does not just work, it plays beautifully!
dead silent, super “clean”, stunning mids and highs, gorgeous voices, lots of fine detail. not as “warm sounding” as the J2 and not as much bass goodness. everything is there but... with the J2 (or a 2A3 tubes amplifier) and these 15” woofers you don’t just hear the bass: you also feel it
we’ll see if/how much this changes when the second ACA is ready and I will connected both as XLR mono blocks
extremely happy so far and... thank you very much indeed Mr. Pass and everyone involved in making all this become real
dead silent, super “clean”, stunning mids and highs, gorgeous voices, lots of fine detail. not as “warm sounding” as the J2 and not as much bass goodness. everything is there but... with the J2 (or a 2A3 tubes amplifier) and these 15” woofers you don’t just hear the bass: you also feel it
we’ll see if/how much this changes when the second ACA is ready and I will connected both as XLR mono blocks
extremely happy so far and... thank you very much indeed Mr. Pass and everyone involved in making all this become real
Camp amp kit v1.6
Hi Everyone.. I have a monoblock question. I have successfully built two 1.6 amps and tested them in stereo. They both work and sound fantastic.
Here’s my question: I do not have a balanced preamp. I have a Schitt Saga or an Elekit TU 8500 preamp as my choices to hookup using the rca method. Before attempt this I am wondering if this is safe? Or could I damage equipment?
I am a complete monoblock newbie! Advice please
Much appreciated!
K
Hi Everyone.. I have a monoblock question. I have successfully built two 1.6 amps and tested them in stereo. They both work and sound fantastic.
Here’s my question: I do not have a balanced preamp. I have a Schitt Saga or an Elekit TU 8500 preamp as my choices to hookup using the rca method. Before attempt this I am wondering if this is safe? Or could I damage equipment?
I am a complete monoblock newbie! Advice please
Much appreciated!
K
If you built the 1.6 with front on / off switch and the back panel with RCA mono / stereo switch as per the build guide, you should be fine!
You would need to set the back switch to the "mono" position (usually up if you followed the instructions). Connect just the left channel RCA connector (left connector when looking from the front of the unit). You would need to get the speaker outputs from both BLACK speaker terminals.
You would need to do this on both amps, not mirroring them. It not like on the other one you are going to hook it to the right RCA channel. You still need to use the left channel. So don't mirror the setup, replicate it identically.
If your switch is wired correctly, you should hear sound form both speakers. If you have wired it reversed, you most likely won't hear anything, but no damage would occur.
With this design, all that is happening is that you are feeding the output of the left channel to the input of the right, taking advantage of the inverting nature of the AMP. Since the signal is already amplified,you are passing it through a resistor to attenuate it again.
To make sure all is OK, try it one at a time. First the left, then the right.
As long as there is a single RCA in each amp, if you are hearing music, you know it worked!
Hope this helps,
Rafa.
You would need to set the back switch to the "mono" position (usually up if you followed the instructions). Connect just the left channel RCA connector (left connector when looking from the front of the unit). You would need to get the speaker outputs from both BLACK speaker terminals.
You would need to do this on both amps, not mirroring them. It not like on the other one you are going to hook it to the right RCA channel. You still need to use the left channel. So don't mirror the setup, replicate it identically.
If your switch is wired correctly, you should hear sound form both speakers. If you have wired it reversed, you most likely won't hear anything, but no damage would occur.
With this design, all that is happening is that you are feeding the output of the left channel to the input of the right, taking advantage of the inverting nature of the AMP. Since the signal is already amplified,you are passing it through a resistor to attenuate it again.
To make sure all is OK, try it one at a time. First the left, then the right.
As long as there is a single RCA in each amp, if you are hearing music, you know it worked!
Hope this helps,
Rafa.
Hi Everyone.. I have a monoblock question. I have successfully built two 1.6 amps and tested them in stereo. They both work and sound fantastic.
Here’s my question: I do not have a balanced preamp. I have a Schitt Saga or an Elekit TU 8500 preamp as my choices to hookup using the rca method. Before attempt this I am wondering if this is safe? Or could I damage equipment?
I am a complete monoblock newbie! Advice please
Much appreciated!
K
Well done, welcome to ACA build success.
Do it as Rafa says. You will not harm to any equipment. Picture (from step 53) bellow.
If you have used the rear switch for On / Off instead of 'Monoblock Bridge Mode', come back to us and we will explain another method for you. Alan
Attachments
Black or green?
Hi,
building ACA 1.6 as first timer. Also new to electronics wiring like this.
https://d17kynu4zpq5hy.cloudfront.net/igi/diyaudio/QQjPnBAxHbVrfbCY.huge shows 2 lengths of BLACK single strand wires to connect the ground buss to later connect to the power GND on the PCBs. The kit does not have this. There is red, green and white as single strand. There is red and black thick multi-strand, but they appear too thick for this purpose. Use the green single strand?
Hi,
building ACA 1.6 as first timer. Also new to electronics wiring like this.
https://d17kynu4zpq5hy.cloudfront.net/igi/diyaudio/QQjPnBAxHbVrfbCY.huge shows 2 lengths of BLACK single strand wires to connect the ground buss to later connect to the power GND on the PCBs. The kit does not have this. There is red, green and white as single strand. There is red and black thick multi-strand, but they appear too thick for this purpose. Use the green single strand?
Perfect! Thank you both for the replies. I did wire for the front power switch. I hooked the amps as shown and... TA DA!!! I now listening to working monoblocks kick out some sweet Allman Brothers sound I did as you suggested and tried one channel only first to see if I got sound before adding the second amp live. Here’s something of note that may be of interest to all builders:
Both of these amps made the little turn on charging sound at power up when in stereo & hooked alone... but when hooked up as monoblocks that noise didn’t happen on start up.. curious eh? Everything is working properly for 10 min now so I don’t think there are issues as monoblocks.. (both amps have already run in as a stereo setup for a couple hours previously)
Thanks again!
Enjoy the tunes!!!
Cheers
K
I did as you suggested and tried one channel only first to see if I got sound before adding the second amp live. Here’s something of note that may be of interest to all builders:Both of these amps made the little turn on charging sound at power up when in stereo & hooked alone... but when hooked up as monoblocks that noise didn’t happen on start up.. curious eh? Everything is working properly for 10 min now so I don’t think there are issues as monoblocks.. (both amps have already run in as a stereo setup for a couple hours previously)
Thanks again!
Enjoy the tunes!!!
Cheers
K
Hi Sesquipedalio,
Sorry only just noticed your post. There should be a length of black solid core in the kit.
If it is missing maybe there is enough left after completing the other connections, then use that. It will not matter if it is thicker or what colour.
If you do not have enough you will need to find or buy a length of wire. (You might find something suitable from a 'dead' phone charger or USB cable for instance.) It will not matter if it is flexible rather than solid core for this connection.
Alan
Completely normal with bridged operation.
On power up the speaker is not seeing a difference from ground to output as the capacitor charges, instead it only sees the capacitors on the output of the amp, which are coming up fairly evenly.
Perfect! Thank you both for the replies. I did wire for the front power switch. I hooked the amps as shown and... TA DA!!! I now listening to working monoblocks kick out some sweet Allman Brothers sound
Both of these amps made the little turn on charging sound at power up when in stereo & hooked alone... but when hooked up as monoblocks that noise didn’t happen on start up.. curious eh? Everything is working properly for 10 min now so I don’t think there are issues as monoblocks.. (both amps have already run in as a stereo setup for a couple hours previously)
Thanks again!
Enjoy the tunes!!!
Cheers
K
I finished my second amp a few days ago and what I also noteced was no noise when powering up the to amps as mono / XLR. It is a little more clear using the XLR, but less tube sound.... I think.
Regards
Alex
Pre amp for Amp Camp 1.6
Hello,
The ACA 1.6 mounting was finished and tested promptly by using an available variable tuner output.
The result is astonishing it can drive easily the Celestion Ditton 66.
The sound is crystal clear on the whole spectra whatever the source Jazz, Classical or Hip Hop.
I made one mistake the R35 was soldered one side only as a consequence the bias current was 0.98 Amp only. Easy fix.
I am now wondering if there is an available preamp kit that will fit this amp.
Thanks a lot for the feedback
Alain
Hello,
The ACA 1.6 mounting was finished and tested promptly by using an available variable tuner output.
The result is astonishing it can drive easily the Celestion Ditton 66.
The sound is crystal clear on the whole spectra whatever the source Jazz, Classical or Hip Hop.
I made one mistake the R35 was soldered one side only as a consequence the bias current was 0.98 Amp only. Easy fix.
I am now wondering if there is an available preamp kit that will fit this amp.
Thanks a lot for the feedback
Alain
MarcAlain,
The WHAMMY headphone amp can be used as a preamp for this. Check the buildguide for the WHAMMY, there are a number of posts regarding using it as a preamp. I'm looking into building one, for that purpose. The BA-3 gain stage can also be used as a preamp. If you check the pages in the store for both of those PCB's you'll find links to the guides for building them and subsequent discussion in the forums.
Cheers, Jim
The WHAMMY headphone amp can be used as a preamp for this. Check the buildguide for the WHAMMY, there are a number of posts regarding using it as a preamp. I'm looking into building one, for that purpose. The BA-3 gain stage can also be used as a preamp. If you check the pages in the store for both of those PCB's you'll find links to the guides for building them and subsequent discussion in the forums.
Cheers, Jim
New Question; I purchased two 1.6 kits with the Meanwell 24 VDC power supply. The 3 Watt resistors for R1, R2 are listed a 0.47 ohm and the resistors for R3, R4 are listed a 0.68 in the build guide, yet the resistors that I received were 0.68 and 0.82 ohm. Is this correct and should I use the 0.68 are R1, R2 and the 0.82 for R3, R4??