DIY amp and such build gallery

[n_maher]

This is shortly before the final signal path wiring began...



I'll be taking a bunch of (hopefully) better pictures this weekend. It was getting late that night and I just wanted to post something and get some sleep!

And while I can't provide any comparisons to the Dyna series of amps (I've never heard them) I can say that so far this amp impresses me more than my M³ or PPA did. It has more detail yet has never seemed as harsh as the PPA could be with some material and is just plain more refined sounding compared to the M³. I've only recently moved the amp into my main stack so I really need to spend more time with it but even just based on listening to it air-wired and fed by my Ipod I had several moments.

[tkam]

Looks really nice Nate, congrats on what I'm sure is a great sounding amp.

[n_maher]

Thanks, it was really fun having a bunch of folks check it out at the recent NYC meet. It seemed to garner decent praise, especially when we moved it over to bozebutton's rig and fed it some good source material. Of course the downer of that is that I now have to figure out how to get a new source. I should start construction of my new transport this weekend but when it comes to DAC's the ever-expanding field is daunting...

[pabbi1]

Pimping the ride... and even more when the tube holder plates come in...

[deepak]

Looks good Pabbi

[postjack]

Nice! Very attractive!

[n_maher]

I never really updated this thread with more pictures after getting my beta22 built. This was for a couple reasons, one it sounded too damn good to take back apart and two when I started using Grados with it I realized that I had a bit of trafo hum that I wanted to correct. The hum is mostly gone now and on top of that I finally installed the speaker outputs so that this thing will now officially drive anything! But enough of me rambing, bring on the pron!

Topless (prior to installing of binding posts tonight)


God I love the RK40


Front Angle

Back Panel

[Salt Peanuts]

Damn, Nate, the amp looks awesome! Must resist the temptation to make hasty decision...

[Nanoha]

Originally Posted by n_maher

I never really updated this thread with more pictures after getting my beta22 built. This was for a couple reasons, one it sounded too damn good to take back apart and two when I started using Grados with it I realized that I had a bit of trafo hum that I wanted to correct. The hum is mostly gone now and on top of that I finally installed the speaker outputs so that this thing will now officially drive anything! But enough of me rambing, bring on the pron!

Once again, awesome amp. I really love the look of that case too.
What was the source of your hum problem?

[n_maher]

Originally Posted by Nanoha

Once again, awesome amp. I really love the look of that case too.

Thanks very much, overall I'm pretty pleased with how it all came together. I must be crazy for actually thinking of selling it...

What was the source of your hum problem?

The transformer, it's simply too close to the signal wires and has nowhere to go. Moving it 6" outside the chassis cured the problem completely. For now I've got it encased in mu metal banding and a steel box which has the hum to a level that it is only really able to be heard on my Ety ER4Ps. I'm not done fighting it yet but at least it's to the point where I can listen and enjoy all my cans with it.

[thrice]

Looks great Nate...glad the hum issue is under control!

[Salt Peanuts]

Originally Posted by n_maher

Thanks very much, overall I'm pretty pleased with how it all came together. I must be crazy for actually thinking of selling it...

Why? Planning on making a balanced one?

[n_maher]

Originally Posted by Salt Peanuts

Why? Planning on making a balanced one?

Yup!

The DAC that I'm building is balanced so it seems like a shame to only have single ended amps. My wallet is not impressed with my current line of thinking. Regardless it'll be sticking around for a while as it's actually the only home amp that I've got running right now. The Millett is finally getting cased up and the HA-2 is under the doctor's knife to replace a failed cap and install a few upgrades. I should have more fun pictures for this thread soon.

[Nanoha]

Nate, I had a few questions I was wondering if you could answer. Let's see, I'll just put them in a list. Hopefully that is okay.

1. Seriously, that enclosure looks great. Mind me asking where you bought it? I'm clueless as where to buy enclosures (other than Hammonds, haha.) Also, where did you get that power button? It looks pretty good too.
2. If I wanted to have multiple headphone outs, how is it done? Do I just basically wire the two headphone jacks in parallel, or do I have to make any modifications? What about if I wanted two sets of balanced outputs? Same thing (wire everything in parallel)?

Thanks so much!

[n_maher]

Originally Posted by Nanoha

Nate, I had a few questions I was wondering if you could answer. Let's see, I'll just put them in a list. Hopefully that is okay.

Lists are fine with me and make it easy to answer things directly.

1. Seriously, that enclosure looks great. Mind me asking where you bought it? I'm clueless as where to buy enclosures (other than Hammonds, haha.) Also, where did you get that power button? It looks pretty good too.

Thanks, it's just a stock Par Metals 20 series enclosure. I added a custom hammered black paint job to the body and it did wonders for making it look less bland. I ordered it from Par's ebay store (antek, IIRC) so that I could get it cheaper and a little more quickly than ordering from them directly. The power switch is an NKK lighted pushbutton, I got it from Mouser and modified it to use a diffused lens instead of clear.

2. If I wanted to have multiple headphone outs, how is it done? Do I just basically wire the two headphone jacks in parallel, or do I have to make any modifications? What about if I wanted two sets of balanced outputs? Same thing (wire everything in parallel)?

I've never done multiple outputs because I just don't see the point. My rudimentary understanding of it is that you're almost certainly hurting the performance of the amp with two outputs but this really is something that should be confirmed with our more technically inclined members. That said the way that you've described it so far is in line with how I've been told it should be done (outputs in parallel).

[Nanoha]

Nate, thanks so much for the quick response! All right, cool, time to look into ordering some parts.

Thanks again!

[Mister X]

Since I still had the image in my clipbard I figured wtf....





(it's one of the Mini 3 V2 proto-types)

I dunno if I like the clear panel or not....

Original pics:

[Nanoha]

Originally Posted by Mister X

Since I still had the image in my clipbard I figured wtf....
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...e/IMG_1588.jpg
(it's one of the Mini 3 V2 proto-types)
I dunno if I like the clear panel or not....
Original pics:
http://photo.head-fi.org/data/500/IMG_1344.JPG
http://photo.head-fi.org/data/500/IMG_1333.JPG

Clear panels are weird.

Skull screws?!

[JBLoudG20]

I finished my VanTOTL yesterday, this time a single-ended version, in a Hammond 1455. I styled it just like that of my SOHA, and my M^3 will be the same way.

I have a bit of power supply hum coming through teh DC line, because I need more capacitance. I have an order placed, and hopefully will kill the hum this week. It's still pretty nice to listen to. I haven't spent too much time with it yet, as during the summer I almost exclusively use my speakers, and I want to fix the bit of hum before I go any further.

Here are the pics:

[EdipisReks]

that looks great! how much did the VanTOTL cost to build?