Do It Yourself

well the stax mafia has been fairly busy the last few days. So a person over there was asking about a specific amplifier that they thought was WAY overpriced, and significantly under performing. Helped out by the fact that a certain moderator over there was shilling the hell out of it and doing his typical hatchet job on various posts etc. Well that's enough to get us involved. Combined with a picture of high enough resolution posted on the 6 moons website. Guys, seriously talk about giving away the farm. Well... http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/alostudio6.pdf What a massive piece of crap this is. If you really want to build one, its trivially e…

I noticed a channel imbalance in my Pearl phono. It appeared out of the blue, was working fine up until a few days ago. Anyone have any suggestions where to begin trouble shooting? Does anyone still have the schematic/build PDF? Pass DIY site only has the Pearl 2. It is the phono, I've isolated every other component including the cartridge. And I'm getting perfect channel balance with another stand alone phono.

Interesting read..... http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

For those interested in another solid state circuit; http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/248112-pass-stat-headphone-amplifier-concept.html#post3753546

So a couple of people have asked for a discussion of the design elements of the T2, and any observations and improvements that are possible. So as not to polute the T2 build thread, which is already seriously poluted, the discussion of T2 design elements, including kerry's dynamic amp should go here. doug wadsworth (wadia) should be stopping by soon Actually, a moderator change the thread title to discussion of the T2, and other circuitry as we see fit including but not limited to my other designs and shunt regulators and stuff like that etc...

I ran across a weird problem the other night when using my Dynalo (headamp V2 board). I have an amb e22 DC offset protection circuit on the output, and when I have a set of headphones plugged in (T50rp fostex) and the volume turned all the way down, the protect circuit activates (cycles). Once I turn the volume up a little it stops doing that and works normally. Before I dig into it to try to figure out why, I just thought I'd ask here to see if this might just be normal? EDIT: answered that. My work dynalo does not do this, and it also has an e22 on it. Same phones (not the same pair) as well.

For fun and experience (and because the KSC75 cable is too short), I would like to recable the KSC75 in my Frankenstein HD580/KSC75. I've seen Mogami and Canare minis recommended. I was looking at Mogami W2799 and W2893 since people claim Mogami is more flexible than Canare. Is one of these better than the other for flexibility? Anything else I should consider.

I recently bought a Stax SRM-T1W and in speaking with others online, have heard that the PSU caps might be "dried up" and it's recommended that they be changed by default. Reportedly, the unit sounds/functions fine and is in "like new" shape cosmetically, but I'd like to do the most basic of these changes if I end up keeping the unit as a nearly two decade old bit of electronics is still a nearly two decades old bit of electronics, no matter how it might look. So I'm considering this project my (re)introduction to Stax and so am intrigued/excited about working through a few minor mods, mostly in regards to extending longevity. Can anyone here recommend the PSU cap…

I bought this Audio Note Kits HE-6 headphone amp and had it built by a well known Audio Note kit builder, digitalpete. The amp sounds great with planar headphones but I have a problem I need help with. The volume control has a terrible scratch noise when adjusting the volume while music is playing. It will also produce the scratchy noise when the volume control is even touched while music is playing. When nothing is playing the sound is there but barely audible. I emailed digitalpete and he wants me to ship the amp back to put in a new volume pot. In looking at the khozmo volume pot it looks like there are only 11 connections to solder and all are easily accessible so…

Not sure if this is the place, but I need knowleadgable people abou the subject so here we go: I study design and I'm thinking about building a hybrid headphone/computer speaker, and was thinking about the difficulties of this. I'm uncertain if it's at all possible, because I'd have to meet the sensitivity and dB output of both a regular speaker and a headphone speaker. And I can't actually design one (I'll only design the prototype around it), so I'd have to use something that's already out there. Sound quality is not really a concern, it just needs to be acceptable. One thing I considered was to have a regular driver (sort of those used in laptops) with some kin…

I have a spare cable for the Omega 2, which had broken close to an end to the phone, and I would like to make an extension cable with it. I also have a spare Pro bias female connector, which I had taken out of my SRM-727A when adding a normal bias out on it. I was wondering, how difficult would it be to use such connector on the spare cable, to make the extension cable I need? Should I use any particular care (with solder, for example) on it? Will it supposedly sound as good as the Stax 'official' one? Thank you!

I'm looking to give my headphone cables a more professional look like this http://redsecta.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/650cable.jpg I want to find splitters like this guy used

Anyone have a minijack (3.5mm stereo, panel mountable) that they like? I am having problems with a flaky Switchcraft 35RAP whatever they are, and need to replace. I have some Kobicon that I have used with no problems so far, but looking for any other suggestions.

I have a 30" Monitor that is awesome, but the Video Controller chip has issues with the Lead Free solder joints going cold and causing Video issues. The fix is for the board to be re-balled with Leaded Solder. Anybody know someone who could do this? Here's pix of the board: It's the Altera chip with the issue

I'm building a pair of the rev2 dynahi boards and a pair of Sigma22's and I wanted everyone's opinion on weather or not boutique capacitors make a difference in those boards. Since there's no electrolytics in the signal path (correct me if I'm wrong) I'm not so sure they would make a difference. And I think I remember somewhere that the boutique capacitors often have a negative effect when placed in those positions. My other option would be just to use Panasonic FC's

So I don't make mistakes in my latest build I was wondering what is reccomended most. Should I twist the AC power leads on a torroid being used in a DAC? Should I twist the DC power hookup wire that will go from the PSU to the DAC board? I'm assuming I should always twist the signal wires...

Has anyone used a Khozmo Attenuator? They look extremely well built. I wonder how it sounds compared to a goldpoint or a dact

Looks like a DIY ESL? Best regards Moray James.

Just got a chance to pull apart a pair of beyer T1 - a bit scary but pretty straight forward apart from the fact that the cable does not seem to be removable - had to cut it inside the cup to get it out. Here is a vid - may be handy if you are thinking of recabling or just fancy a peek inside Any questions - just ask http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC72mCFOIWo

I happened to be reading the Head-Fi DIY forum today for the first time in probably a month or more and came across a thread that pointed at Par-Metals site. The short of it is there appears to have been a semi-catestrophic fire at Par-Metals office/warehouse at the end of January which has currently halted all production of enclosures. I checked Antec's site (the one I actually care about) and they are very limited in what they have as of 2/4 but are saying that they'll be restocked in one to two months. Anyway, just figured I'd give folks a heads up. I can work around the delay on for my project so it's no big deal.

Since I discovered electrostatic headphones two years ago, I have been wanting to build a Blue Hawaii. Thanks to the generosity of Head-Casers Nattonrice and Wink, I've got my chance. They supplied the board sets FOR FREE! I am so stoked, I cant thank you guys enough. For whatever reason, I enjoy doing quirky builds. Aesthetics have never been my thing. (prolly because I'm a cheap bastard) I like to instill some sentimental value in my creations along the way. This KGBH isnt going to win any "best of show" awards. It will fulfill three of my objectives: 1) Be totally encased / covered. My listening space, the living room is also shared by two rowdy teenagers …

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Corvette

Hi All, I have an abundance of 6sn7 family tubes and I wish to make a headphone amplifier using ONLY the 6sn7 throughout. I have been looking but cant find anything - Either OTL or TX output, I dont mind, I would think that the 6sn7, especially in parallel would have enough juice to supply my Sennheiser HD650. Please, any suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks to anyone who cares to answer! DerrO

Didn't see a thread topic relegated specifically to automated machinery specifically so I thought I'd make one. I'm working with another person in starting up a company that offers consulting services to optimize parts and layout production efficiencies, which includes a machine shop of our own. We're starting with conventional subtractive machining, but are looking to expand later with plasma/lasers, casting, plating, PCB layout and fabrication, etc. Currently we have a (cam operated) B&S screw machine with an old Bridgeport CNC coming in soon. We'll be looking to retrofit them both with open source CNC software and the proper motor drive modules pretty soon. Current…