Do It Yourself

Wasn't sure about putting this in the DIY or speaker forum, I suspect that nobody much minds anyway. I'm keen to put together a pair of big silly horns to go with my big silly stats. The obvious go-to options are the J-Low and the Kleinhorn, but tragically the Kleinhorn is a couple of inches too tall to fit in my room (and nothing like as simple to glue together). The standard J-Low is *small* enough to be built and then moved into the room through the door in one piece. But! I'm tempted by the notion of scaling the build up bigger and assembling it in the room (full height of an MDF sheet is 8 feet and my ceiling is about 9.5). Back of the envelope maths tells me that…

To all the owners of a transistor amplifier V3.0 from http://www.high-amp.de out there in the world. Here is a support how to update your amplifier to the version 4.0 that will be coming out soon. The items below are refered to the following schematic: http://high-amp.de/html/transistor_v3_schematics.html - replace the four resistors R07x and R08x with 51K/1W resistors to increase the current in the second stage to 4mA - replace the two resistors R11x with 200 ohm resistors to increase the current in the last stage to 15mA - replace the resistors R56, R57 by a constant voltage source as shown below (one per chanel) - If you are using the 2SC5466 in the last stage r…

Hi guys Just finished my Bijou. It's only got about 20 minutes on it so far, but this thing sounds great. I'm currently listening to Fiday Night in SF with my K701 - very sweet. I'm not so great at describing the sound, but this amp certainly delivers - to me at least. Cheers Oh, I've temporarily mounted it on a piece of board so it looks pretty ghetto, so I won't post pics.

Hi all, I`d like some advice on the helpfulness or futility of wearing gloves while soldering (some suggestions of gloves to get, if useful would also help). Also are there any practical solutions for newbie burn prevention while learning to solder ? My head will be behind a thick lense when soldering so goggles aren`t a concern and there will be a strong flow of air to remove fumes from my vicinity. The most likely soldering station I`ll buy is a Xytronic 369 the same apparent model is labeled as a 379 in America. Rapid Electronics - Auto-temp 369 soldering station

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…

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

Does anybody here have any experience with hot air rework station soldering? Anything to look for or avoid? And, how does this compare to flood and suck or toaster oven soldering? I was looking at this one as being in my price range and having generally good Amazon reviews.

I'm finally going to get back to some DIY projects. One that's been boxed away is the Bijou. Part of the reason is I want to get a case design going in my head before I get too far on the soldering. And the problem with this is I really am not seeing the kind of case I was hoping for. Oh well. Onward. My last ditch effort will be to use a fairly boxy-shaped HiFi2000 case. It is 12.20 x 11.02 x 3.14. My main concern, and the question for y'all: with this layout, am I going to pick up any RF with the transformer so close to the two amp boards at the front of the case? They will be about 6" away from a Hammond 370DAX . Here's a pic of the case size. Thanks! …

Received this kit a few weeks ago and after working with it on and off i have the board populated. before i actually start the casework, if anyone has any comments/concerns/suggestions regarding just the soldering portion or anything else for that matter please feel free to post them. i have very unsteady hands so some of the pictures might be out of focus. my apologies. anyhow here are some pictures. the output transformers are allegedly custom wound for decware. thats about all i know about them. no clue as to the output impedance and what not. el cheapo el 84's from leeds radio in nyc. didnt want to use any expensive stuff while the amp is still in the testing stag…

Just grabbed a pair of 207, almost new, cost $400... Gonna wanna diy an amp for it, better under $3,000... is kgss seriously overkill? Just wanna have a taste at the famous stax, no interested in the superior models, yet.

so this has been kicking around for a while, decided to publish. take my ubaltobal converter, cut it in half, and then take the top piece, replace the input transistor with a tube... high impedance input... DC coupled, no negative feedback, less than .01% thd, 10db gain... just add a high power bipolar output buffer, and cheap tube hybrid with lots of plankton. work in progress http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/tubehybrid.pdf 100 volt power supply real simple with TI TL783 high voltage regulator +/-30 supplies with lm317/lm337 with boosters cheap!

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'd appreciate some advice here. My mini-dacs' xlr output volume is too high for comfortable listening. I intend to make use of attenuators/voltage dividers of type U (shown below) to manage the volume to a comfortable level. That I've seen here I've done some testing and the value of resistance that works best for me is an attenuation of 30dB (68K ohm on both pin 2 and 3 (the R1 positions)). The value of resistance I measure between pin 2 and 3 on my mini-dac when it's unpowered is 4450 ohm. I am presuming this is the source impedance and should be matched by the shunt resistance (shown as R2). My 4-channel rockhopper beta22 is fitted with two dact CT2 atten…

Hey guys, I'm building a desktop system in a custom rack, more on that later, but I need a few cables that I can't find commercially. First, I need a 2' cable with 4 right angle banana plugs on one end, and a rear panel mounted female 4 pin XLR connector on the other. It needs to be somewhat flexible, as it will bend 90 degrees in the middle of the cable. It would be nice if each banana could be marked in some way, as to L+, L-, R+, R- (for K1000 pinout). Next, I need two very short pairs of analog RCA interconnects. They need to be 6" ea. and of good quality wire and connectors. Last, I need a 6" 75 ohm RCA digital interconnect. I'll of coarse pay well, but d…

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…

I wanted to re-terminate an HD650 cable to 4pin XLR. What is the best way to strip off the black sleeve without cutting one of the tiny wires? I was trying to carefully clip it with small wire cutters but I keep snipping one of the little wires. I also tried a wire stripper and that was worse. Will it make much difference if one of the wires is not connected (as long as the majority are)? Also, I see that the HD650 cable doesn't have shielding so I assume one doesn't anything to the 5th metal connector.

First, sincere thanks to everyone who contributed in the forum.I cannot start the project without resources from here. Recently I have finished my KGBH build but it isn't working.The observable problems are the two LEDs connecting 2sa1968 and the one connecting 2sc3675 do not light up as well as those 1968s not heating.Curiously, the amp works for a second every time after i turn the power off,right after the extinguish of the leds connecting the + and - 15v supply. The PSU unit is measured of giving the right voltage. I once thought of giving up the project but before that I try my luck to see anyone who once encounter the same problem or know anything about it. Th…

Some of you will remember my first turning on my new lathe that Vicki affectionately dubbed the Peppermill. Well the Peppermill has been repurposed, or should I say purposed. It's now part of a headphone stand for a Head-Fier that wanted a 4 phone stand. It's not finished yet, it still needs a few more coats of lacquer. I thought I'd post it though because it's rather unique looking.

Any progress?

I recently picked up a wireless charger for my phone that works well aside from the annoying inductor whine. I was thinking of dropping some hot glue on it to dampen the noise, but thought maybe folks here might have a better suggestion of what to use. Any suggestions on a better damping material than hot glue? Thanks

Hi guys, I've recently been thinking about having a DIY DAC built, but the only one I know is the Alien USB DAC (or Guzzler's for that matter). What other DIY USB DACs are around? And secondly, how good is the Alien DAC? Cheers, Nanoha

So some parts are rolling in. I'm excited to finally get the solder iron up and running again. I'll jump on the balanced connections in a week or so, but I bought some extra wire and RCA connectors to build a pair of interconnects. I'll be using: DH Labs Pro Studio for the wire. Twisted pair inside with a shield outside (pretty standard) DH Labs RCA-3 connector. Now, the RCA-3 connector is a little different than what I have used in the past. It looks like this: It looks very much like these would be great for a digital cable (and they are 75 ohm as well). For audio, though, I have a twisted pair inside the cable with the shield outside. I'm fairly sure…

I have 6 pcs 6088 tube, with this spec : I want to build tube Amps with 2x9v battery. Anyone has headphone amps schematic with this tube

I find myself in need of a sub - not room shaking high level bass but responsive low end. I have seen a few really good options about but they are all big cubes which have zero aesthetic acceptance from my better half. I thought of placing a low profile unit below the media rack and found a 3 inch long throw ( xmax still limited at 5.5mm ) and a horn loaded design which in theory should produce decent bass 25-100Hz. Anyone have any experience with subwoofers? My instinct tells me I need max surface area with large excursion to reliably produce decent low end but with the trend of things getting smaller in the modern world, I am open to accept that technology has succ…

Anybody seen these yet? Pretty damn sexy, really. Hopefully they are easy to get hold of...... Walnut Chassis with Aluminum Top Panel Steel Chassis & Bottom Plates with Walnut Side Panels Aluminum Chassis & Bottom Plates with Walnut Side Panels Example: