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"The Wire" Official Boards for All Projects Available Here! BAL-BAL, SE-SE, LPUHP

opc

Member
Joined 2004
Paid Member
"The Wire" Official Boards for All Projects Available Here! BAL-BAL, SE-SE, LPUHP

Hi Gentlemen,

Well, it has been a long wait (a very long wait for some of you) but all of my PCB’s from “The Wire” series have been updated and will be offered on a full time basis rather than on a limited run basis as they have been in the past.

This thread is going to cover the transition period between now (another Google Spreadsheet based order system) and the eventual launch of the website that will have a store where these can be purchased.

Over the next two weeks I’d like to get an idea of demand for each of the boards so I can place an order and panelize it accordingly. I will then place the board orders which will take 3 weeks to arrive at my doorstep. After that, I will need a week for testing, and then I will ship the first wave out and start taking real-time orders from then on while hopefully maintaining a proper stock of boards. Hopefully the website will be up and running not too long after I start taking real-time orders.

Please use the following Google Spreadsheet to place your orders:

the wire pcb order form - Google Sheets

What follows is the description and pricing for each of the boards that will be on offer. Pricing is slightly higher than before, but you’ll be getting better boards (modified to take advantage of all 4 layers) and ENIG immersion gold plating with tented vias for better solderability. Pricing is also more in-line with the actual surface area of the board, so smaller boards will see almost no price increase, while larger boards will see more of a price increase.

Without further ado:

“The Wire” BAL-BAL Headphone Amp ($17 for a single stereo board)
- Design altered slightly to include a 4th layer GND plane.
- 4 Layer PCB – 1oz copper – immersion gold plated – tented vias – white soldermask
- Improved headphone connection points
- Overall same size as predecessor
- Same schematic and BOM as predecessor
- See project thread here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/head...igh-performance-headphone-amplifier-pcbs.html
- See project wiki here: The Wire - All Boards and Kits Explained Here!

“The Wire” SE-SE Headphone Amp ($15 for a single stereo board)
- Design altered slightly to include a 4th layer GND plane.
- 4 Layer PCB – 1oz copper – immersion gold plated – tented vias – white soldermask
- Floating GND connection fixed
- Overall same size as predecessor
- Same schematic and BOM as predecessor
- See project thread here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/head...igh-performance-headphone-amplifier-pcbs.html
- See project wiki here: The Wire - All Boards and Kits Explained Here!

“The Wire” PSU for Headphone Amps ($15 for a single PSU board)
- 4 Layer PCB – 1oz copper – immersion gold plated – tented vias – white soldermask
- Slightly wider than predecessor
- Completely redesigned using dual TPS7A3301 (TO-220) ultra-low noise regulators.
- Now requires a transformer with dual secondaries. Centre tapped transformers will not work.
- Significant performance improvement from previous LM317/337 regulators.
- See new BOM here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnMLwB9mdXl2dDN6V05FanpQN1BFR2xRcENORVFSNXc&usp=sharing
- See new schematic here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3MLwB9mdXl2Z3N4WWh4MU93SW8/edit?usp=sharing
- See project wiki here: The Wire - All Boards and Kits Explained Here!

“The Wire” LPUHP Amplifier ($28 for a single channel board)
- Design altered to include a 4th layer.
- Thermal vias added to allow simple heatsinking from bottom of PCB.
- 4 Layer PCB – 1oz copper – immersion gold plated – tented vias – white soldermask
- Transformer moved off-board for lower noise and compatibility with 120V/230V
- Regulator sections changed to use dual LT1185 low noise regulators.
- Measurable improvement in performance – noise floor is nearly 10dB better.
- See project thread here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/soli...gh-perfromance-lpuhp-16w-power-amplifier.html
- See new BOM here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnMLwB9mdXl2dDVuTjh6WnZmQ1VxYm1FVW9zRzRaMUE&usp=sharing
- See new schematic here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3MLwB9mdXl2TnQ0Wjd2UUFMcDQ/edit?usp=sharing
- See project wiki here: The Wire - All Boards and Kits Explained Here!

“The Wire” LME49830 Lateral FET Power Amplifier ($17 for a single channel board)
- Design altered to include a 4th layer.
- 4 Layer PCB – 1oz copper – immersion gold plated – tented vias – white soldermask
- Identical to predecessor
- See project thread here: "The Wire AMP" Class A/AB Power Amplifier based on the LME49830 with Lateral Mosfets
- See assembly manual here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3MLwB9mdXl2NVEwS1pwNVV0OG8/edit?usp=sharing
- See project wiki here: The Wire - All Boards and Kits Explained Here!

NTD1 PCB V3 - ($35 for a single stereo board with full PSU)
- 2 Layer PCB – 1oz copper – immersion gold plated – tented vias – white soldermask
- Designed to be used with BII, BIII and ACKO ESS9018 based DAC boards.
- Upgraded TPS7A3301 regulator section – Improved noise floor
- Same dimensions and mounting points as V2
- See project thread here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/154866-new-take-classic-pass-labs-d1-ess-dac.html
- See project wiki here: The Wire - All Boards and Kits Explained Here!

Upcoming Boards:
- Behringer DCX2496 Upgrade Board - Digital, Analog, Clock and PSU sections.
- UHPSR - Ultra High Performance Shunt Regulator - Adjustable 1.1V to 5V
- HiFiduino all in one PCB – Arduino based controller and all peripherals on one PCB
- TPS7A4700 / TPS7A3301 Regulator PCB – LM fixed reg drop-in replacement

More info to follow, and the spreadsheet link will be posted in a few hours!

Cheers,
Owen
 
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BTW Owen, I'm emailing a few guys from Aus who're interested in LPUHP boards, maybe the BAL-BAL would even suit them, got to do the sums on that yet. A few people have built synergy horns so they don't need much power :) they do want low noise though for something with that sort of efficiency!
 
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opc

Member
Joined 2004
Paid Member
Link to the spreadsheet is now posted in the first post!

Very interesting indeed. Now there is a real alternative to the imitations and average-joe variants on some of your designs!


One thing though Owen, I do wonder if this thread would be better in the commercial section of the forum. Just a thought.

I'll send a note to one of the moderators and see how to proceed with that.

BTW Owen, I'm emailing a few guys from Aus who're interested in LPUHP boards, maybe the BAL-BAL would even suit them, got to do the sums on that yet. A few people have built synergy horns so they don't need much power :) they do want low noise though for something with that sort of efficiency!

Perfect!

Cheers,
Owen
 
Excellent news... Think I'll go for a couple of LPUHP boards and 3 x LME49830 boards... I was gutted first time round that I only got 2 of the LME, can now make a 5 channel HT amp :)

Getting to like the Behringer's offerings, so will be interested in any upgrade parts...

Paul
 
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Would these have enough grunt to power some passive satellite speakers in a surround sound system, say something like a ScanSpeak 29xx tweeter and a 18Wxx? Being surround they wouldn't need to be massively powerful.

LPUHP: possibly, however it would depend on overall speaker sensitivity, size of the room and required SPL. IMHO, at listening levels of about 80-85dB, in a small to medium sized room with fairly sensitive speakers, the LPUHP will do the job.

Medium to large rooms with higher SPL requirement's, I'd go with the LME49830 amps... could even bi-amp with a LPUHP for the tweeter & LME for the mid/bass...

Paul