Do It Yourself

Anyone got a black neutrix 4-pin xlr NCMX they can spare to send me? Cheers Pete

So...Black Gate, no more, alas. I noticed in the current issue of AudioXpress that ModWright now has their own line of caps (pdf download). And there were, of course, others -- ClarityCap, Jantzen, Mundorf, Authenticaps (askjanfirst.com?), Auricap (of course). Are any of these any good? Considering how highly ModWright is thought of in the modded source market, I was wondering if anyone has tried their caps yet? I've had vintage gear modified, and happened to have chosen black gates for it, and was quite happy with the results. Were I to do it again (and I probably will), what should be on my short list of caps to try? There is also the old stand-bys -- Panason…

ok, I need a quick sanity check. Amplifier input impedance is somewhat arbitrary for the Pass F4, but let's assume 47k, which is the default. Output impedance of my preamp is 100k, with coupling capacitor. My soon-to-be speakers have a f3 of 40 Hz and the driver I'm going to use in my future-to-be speakers has a fs of 48 Hz (it's a 15 cm driver), f3 undecided. I'm considering a 3uF capacitor with a small bypass, maybe 10nF. So, I'm getting 1/(pi*47k||100k*3uF), or fc = 1.66Hz. Opinions?

I'm looking for those connectors that sony and AT use with the 3.5mm plug with a screw on 1/4" adapter. Does anyone know if they're available?

I'm considering getting a few Pass Pearl phono PCBs made up. Is there any interest here?

Of course it's not an exact clone due to several changes, but I was wondering what opinions of the project might be. Check it out here/. I'm considering taking that and doing some mods to it or taking the Buffalo and building a DAC around that, or maybe even the PCM1794 or PCM1704. I'm just throwing this out here to see what kind of opinion I get.

A really good article by Nelson Pass on class A, A/B and B operation... http://passlabs.com/pdf/articles/leaving_class_a.pdf

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

Just fyi: RadioShack Recalls Power Supplies Due to Electrocution and Fire Hazards

Saw this stuff for sale on diyaudio and thought of you guys... would this be the proper stuff for making electrostatic headphone membranes? diyAudio Forums - ESL films any interest?

This one is for all you speaker guys. I figured that most of you don't venture over the Headwize very often and honestly, this thing is so freakin' over the top that I just had to post it here. This amp will debut at the Norcal meet this weekend and holy heck I wish I could be there to see it. Project Development Thread: Click Here And hopefully Ti won't mind if I link to just a few of his images in this thread. Honestly, it's one of the most impressive builds that I've ever seen. Front Back Internal

BASS CAPACITOR Ok, someone explain what a digital capacitor is? Thanks.

I have a couple of DIY questions: This one is pretty basic. I need an easy to use, lead-free solder. I'm guessing a lead-free eutectic solder is what I'm looking for. Is this correct and do you have any recommendations. Also, please recommend a source for it. Not that I'll be needing this information in the near future, but I have a question about Magnequest. I see a lot of other brands talked about here and almost no mention of this one. Are Magnequest not great transformers? Or maybe there is some other problem with them or the company? Or lastly, maybe nobody here uses them due to habit? I'm just curious as I know that Bottlehead likes and uses them.

Where to buy a stax 5 pin female plug?

Ok, Not exactly a huge mod but it's made a huge change to how they sound and they sound ferkin' awesome. I imagine it's somewhere between the SR-Lambda and SR-Sigma and definately has many of the Sigma qualities I've read about with, seemingly, none of the drawbacks. Deeper well rounded bass, smoother highs and a very nice midsection. The soundstage now rivals the K1000 at the angle I normally listen at. Despite the extra distance from the ears there's very little drop in volume and they go really loud in a spectacularly full way. I lined the inside with felt to dampen reflections and used very strong, pliable mounting tape to fix the wedges in place. The seal is perf…

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...

Does anyone have these issues in PDF format by any chance (I've read a few great articles but they were only pieces)? Thanks

Hi all, Well silly me purchased a Dac Ah a year ago after reading some of the reviews over on HeadFi. http://www.pacificvalve.us/LTDACAH2.html I sent the DAC over to Reference Audio Mods for their full gundie mods and the experience has been less than satisfactory to say the least. The modded Dac Ah sat in my home office system and never got any serious play until recently and basically IT SUCKS! Any piano like Bill Evans or Monk sound very shrill, there is a noticeable suck out in the upper mids and bass is muddied. As I complained to another Head Caser it is as if the soundboard in the piano was replaced with ceramic tiles. Is there anyone out there who is willing …

I got my Buffalo DAC yesterday. I'm having a few problems with the IVY stage, but when I've had it working correctly it sounds flippin' sweet. I do wonder, though, if I can do better for an output stage. Of course, there's the zapfilter, but I imagine using some nice transformers for the I/V conversion or maybe some autoformers would be pretty tops. Anyone have any experience on best sounding method for I/V conversion? Tubes? Opamps? Transformers? Simple resistor (and differences between resistor brands)?

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 …

I managed to pick up a pair of vintage RS-1 (wooden box, brown leather headband, no serial number). However there's no sound out coming out of the right driver. I'm able to unscrew the 1/4 plug and the wires seem okay. Looking into the grill, again the wires seem fine. I'll check the wires against ground with a multimeter when I get home. However, in case worse comes to worse, is there a knack to getting access to the drivers? I've read about sharp screwdrivers, hot water and hair dryer and even spoons ( http://www.headwize.com/projects/showfile.php?file=grado_prj.htm ) though it seems to have been done mostly on plastic or metal-bodied Grados and not wooden o…

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.

I got a set Sony ECR-500 Electrets from Fungi recently and decided to have a play Insides of ECR. Stripped and cleaned. Getting ready to whittle Whittled! Testing for fit. Parts for assembly. Cable in and felt lining. All assembled. Last shot. Fun little project for the weekend and sounds great.

Ok don't start.. It's the only place nearby that stocks them. So anyone tried any of their crap? I see they have numerous irons from pistol grip 40W to Pencil 15W and adjustable butane 25-50W. Any recommendations on power/type etc for phone wires and circuit DIY work?

The "super power caps" that Nissan is going to be using in their upcoming hybrid electric diesel cars that they'll be using instead of batteries.