Do It Yourself

Hello, this is my first post here. I have Stax SR-303/SRM-313 combo. It works well with my vinyl player but with cd it is cold and boring. Cd (Audio aero prima) is fine with my speakersystem, so I?m not going to change it. I got an idea of DIY tube amp with SR-303. Having read many threads here and the other, now malfunctioning forum, I have found this Gilmores schema: http://headwize.com/projects/gilmore_prj.htm Is this a good schema? What else would you recommend? I won?t make this myself, have to make it by an experienced amp maker, so it can be a relatively complicated amp like that of Gilmores.

I have a powered USB hub that I'd like to get up and running. However I don't have the wallwart for it. The input is marked DC 7.5V 2.1A. If I can't located the original wall wart, what rating range would be acceptable to use with this thing? Or does it have to be specifically 7.5V 2.1A?

Has anyone here built a line-filter/power-conditioner kind of thing using RFI suppression capacitors? K Works makes something like that, the K Works Silencers, but I discovered that they don't use X2/Y2 rated safety capacitors, which you need if you don't want to kill someone via electric shock or fire. I want to build my own using safety capacitors. For "across the line" capacitors you need X2 class. This will not catch fire and generally will just trip a fuse if they fail. For "hot to ground" and "neutral to ground" you need Y2 class. These are guaranteed not to short. They are self-healing and will open if they completely fail. One might like to use a…

Hello Board Im working on a shitty little amp that assuming the stars and plannets are in alignment will be at canjam. at the moment, not 1 part has been soldered but the casework is done and being painted.... Now that I have cursed my project by admitting that it exists: The case (a cheap "BUD box") that I am painting with hammer-tone paint, because it will (hopefully) mask some of my horrific screwups with the drill and could not ever look even close to as bad as a naked BUD box. I painted one corner of the top a little thicker than the rest, should I worry? Im going back for coat #2 in about 45 min... Thanks Ari

Hi all, I've been more and more interested in building my own amp after having built a relatively simple Elekit amp. I've been reading through the KGSSHV and KGSSHV Carbon build threads and I think I've found the google drives for the schematics and various documents, but it's still a bit confusing where to begin, and I'm not entirely sure I should jump right into trying to build a KGSSHV Carbon. I'm also unclear where one sources the PCBs for any of those builds - seems like various members hold extras and there are some floating around on eBay of dubious origin. Anyway, I'm not exactly certain what build would be good to start out with, or what the differences are …

I can't seem to find it as google returns no results from possible matches from this site, but I do remember somebody (think Kevin himself) discussing and posting a schematic of an updated mod to the SRM-323S to increase the output power to 450v, would be great if somebody or Kevin himself chimed in with the pdf and what needs to be removed and added in place in the 323S for MOAR powah. I've got a spare 323S lying around so want to give it a go. cheers

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

Hi, my name is Miguel and I have been lurking in this forum for a while. Finally joined a couple of weeks ago and this is my first post. I am not knowledgeable in electronics and I would appreciate your help since I would like to use the JJ ECC99 tube in a Singlepower MPX3 as an output tube. Yes I know, Mikhail has made some horrible amps and has stolen a lot of money from many. However I already own the amp (bought it from Tyrion) and w/ Dr. Gilmore's help I replaced the diodes, verified the transformer is acceptable, and installed a couple of resistors to bleed the large power caps. I first came across the JJ ECC99 tube in a headphone amp by Dr. Lloyd of Mapletr…

So, I had a bit of fun last night and experimented with stacking a small (valued) cap with a large valued cap to get extra WVDC capacity from the two caps in series. Works like a champ and it looks that my little psu scales up quite nicely. Of course, now I see where the danger lies, in that the sleeve of one capacitor can be near lethal to touch. Also, unequal values seemed to work better than a pair of equal values, which kinda makes sense. So, I started thinking... Would just strapping a pair of HV supplies, say two 400v supplies to make a single 800v supply be a better approach (or four 400v supplies to make a +- 800v supply, etc.) This way I can use 500v caps and …

will there be another run of the dynahi and psu boards? im in the market for a bablanced set

Not sure which forum is the most appropriate place to post this topic. since it's technical in nature I chose this DIY forum. My question is - which Stax amps can one safely use the KT77 in place of the EL34 output tubes and why. Judging by the KT77 spec as stated on the datasheet, it should be compatible to the EL34 in terms of plate voltage and dissipation, etc.. But it has been stated by many that the KT77 should not be used in the BHSE. Can someone explain the technical reasons behind it? Also, what about using the KT77 in the Grounded Grid, Megatron and the DIY T2 and why. For me, it's both a learning exercise as well as a practical question - I've use…

I have a pair of "Cheap" helping hands with magnifier. These things you have to have but are never quite right. I also have a Panavise that I use them in conjunction with. They end up breaking and the hinges and clamps for the clips are dodgy at best. Are there any "Good" or "excellent" ones out there? I have to have the magnifier. I can't pay $300 for a set, but I would be willing to invest more than the $5.95 you pay now to get junk.

Last year I built a pair of balanced cables to go between my Theta Pre and Classe amp. After they broke in, I was really surprised how good they sounded. I used DH Labs Pro Studio and a set of Neutrik connectors. The ground is connected at both ends. I've read that sometimes floating the ground is not a bad idea. I now realize that I could probably live with this cable for a while. Yeah, I like it! I also need to move my gear from it's current location (in between the speakers) to it's new home, in a rack along the wall and off of the damned floor. New rack is in the works. Anyway, I ordered a nice 50 foot section of DH Labs Pro Studio from Parts Connexi…

I recently sold my Stello DP200 to laxx, and upon taking delivery, he told me that there is a problem: the headphone jack does not work. He tells me that he feels no physical resistance when plugging the headphones in, and there is no volume. The Stello is supposed to mute the pre-amp outs when headphones are plugged in, but laxx tells me that even with phones plugged in, the pre-amps still work. My first thought is that in the shipping process, the headphone jack became dislodged from the chassis such that it no longer grips the headphone plug completely. Does this sound plausible?

Dear HC crew, I'm getting desperate and could really use some input on troubleshooting... First off I've been plugging away at this old thing for a while now, was always afraid to post up here for various reasons but at this point I don't have much to lose anymore. I do recognize I am still relatively new to DIY but I've been doing what I can with what I've got. I have a long winding thread with chronicle of the madness while it was working great; more than happy to remove the link if the admins do mind. There are links somewhere in there to the original schematic but it won't be of much help. http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/melos-s…

My dad just produced a stax sr-3 and srd-5, it looks to be in good condition but I'd like to hear it and the L and R speaker inputs have this strange plug on them. Does anyone know if the female equivalent is still sold or the name of this peculiar plug ? I'm thinking of making an adapter cable and trying to feeding the srd-5 from my beta22's XLR outputs (once it returns from repair). thanks for any help

Bought a piece of Rosewood and churned out a couple of woodies. It is an amazing specimen as far as wood goes and I hope to use it again in the future; it had a brilliant graining that shines up pretty nicely if I do say so myself. The cups on the left are a commissioned SR225 woody, and the big 'un on the right is my D2000 that some of you might have seen over on the other site. Hope to try out Cocobolo for my next project, just not looking forward to the cost :/.

I'm looking for something that adds basic control functionality to a computer IDE drive (pause, previous track etc). The front buttons are just eject and play/next track. Is there a simple solution for this?

We have lots of info on good parts, but I can't seem to find good tools. I don't mean multimeters and soldering irons, I mean the guys that do the hard work but go unnoticed, like helping hands and wire strippers. In my experience, the standard helping hands thing from PartsExpress is a little flimsier than I'd like, and I don't know how to determine a good wire stripper since I only have the one from a group buy with not enough sizes. Feel free to throw in whatever cool tools you like too, because what is a man without his tools?

Recently I obtained a circa 1977 Technics SU-7300 integrated amp. The unit has several fuses (4), of which I have not been able to find the following: 3 Amp 125 Volt (Size 1.25" by 0.25") - need one 3.3 Amp 125 Volt (Size 1.25" by 0.25") - need two The closest I have found are: 3A 3AG FUSE | AllElectronics.com Would it work two replace the 3.3 amp fuse? Thanks.

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

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

So as most people know, the Qualia 010 Medium-sized headband is actually too big for most people. I have the M-sized headband myself and have been struggling to get a nice fit with it. At first I was using a folded-up linen to close up the space between the headband and the top of my head but it always felt ridiculous (and looked ridiculous too) so the other day I began looking for a better solution and one day while doing some routine cleaning, I realized I could use a sponge! Yes, a sponge, and it ended up being perfect - just the right amount of leverage and comfortable too. There was only one last issue, how to attach the sponge to the headband without causing any dam…

I just finished making the Wenge trim piece to overlay the damaged plinth on the Mitsubishi LT-30 that I bought a few months back. I'm happy with the way it turned out. There is a very slight lip that I milled that covers the top edge of the plinth where there were a few chips. Most of the damage had been at the corner of the plinth where something had struck it and crumpled the MDF. Here's a couple before and some afters...

I would like to build my new balanced rig properly. Should a source have male or female XLR terminals, and again what should the amp have?