Do It Yourself

So I am just about to start building an M3. I have several questions and was hoping to clear them up here. If these questions have already been answered feel free to point me to another site/thread. I think M3, M^3 and MMM are too short search terms but I got nada in thread titles. My plan is to build an M3 using the AD8610s, with adjustable gain. I would like to use switch-controlled digital potentiometers for both the gain and the volume, but I haven't finished designing that circuit yet (and I also haven't found a readout LCD w/ microcontroller mini board suitable yet) so in the meantime I am going with an RK27 for volume and a gain of 8. I only have low impeda…

"Description (Gerbers) copper/pcb thicknes": Everything is one channel, and two will be needed for stereo. As for the KGSShv PSU, only the Single Right Skinny is offered: containing one High Voltage rail and a BIAS supply. Those who needs a full supply will need two of those + the Golden Reference Low Voltage. Überamp (Uber1 + Uber2) 4oz/2mm Unbal2bal (Uber3) 3oz/1.6mm Golden Reference Low Voltage (GoldenReference6) 3oz/1.6mm Transconductance Amp (CurrentSourceAmp2) 1.6mm/3oz KGSShv PSU (kgsshvpssicfetsinglenewright), 1.6mm/3oz KGSShv Carbon Amp (Carbonv6), 1.6mm/3oz Grounded Grid (.........) , 1.6mm/3oz (as requested by JoeHpj …

Just curious if any of our excellent DIY gang are planning on building one of these? I have no immediate plans for one, but I'd love to see the build in progress if anyone is heading down that path.

Schematics and photos attached! I got my belated Christmas present from Justin the other day, a lovely KGSS amp. Finally I got to hear my new Stax 007 Mk2 (Omega 2) in all their glory. Knowing that I was going to install my own Goldpoint 1 dB/step attenuators, and a Left to mono switch (to check headphone balance), I asked Justin to agree to construct a KGSS without wiring the input connections to the back panel or installing a volume control (yes, he did test and burn in the board). Leaving me with some fun to do on my own! The first thing I discovered is that the KGSS is extremely sensitive. I judged it has at least 15 dB too much extra gain, even with consumer (nomi…

I'm looking to build a DIY tube amplifier (for low impedance cans) for about $500 (excluding enclosure and tubes) that can match or beat the performance of my PPX3 SLAM 6SN7. Any ideas?

So a Nugget B22 that I recently bought from penger died at a local meet yesterday - I walked up to the amp while someone else was listening (more likely trying to listen) and noticed that the amp was off, which seemed odd. The power switch did nothing and re-plugging the cord did nothing either. One day later the amp still doesn't power on so it wasn't temporary either. I verified this amp as working before the meet, and it worked when I set it up at the meet too, as I listened to some music for awhile on it. I hear absolutely no internal noises when depressing the power button and have no idea what caused this and no idea how to fix it either. (Edit: the power button …

Lil knight among others have asked for an updated dynahi board. Here it is. http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/dynahi8.zip changes, remove 2sk389,2sj109, add lsk389,lsj109 2sk170,2sj74 you can use opa445 instead of op27 and then you don't need the 7815 and 7915. 2sa1349,2sc3381 can be replaced with the single versions. I need to check this a few more times. unbalanced input, balanced output version coming soon.

Well OK this one may be tamed, but it is indeed beautiful to behold. Naaman's casework (and all around attention to detail) sets him apart, along with a handful of amazing builders we have in our group. But this one in particular really hit a chord with me. Simple but eye catching at the same time. I've had my sights set on this DAC for some time now, as it seemed a natural progression from the Epic Opus ( Opus DAC w/Zapfilter output stage) I had from the Twisted Pear line. And this DAC had a surprise for me. Naaman built in a Mini³ amp into the case, so that it could be used as a stand alone system if wanted. That would be nice for desktop use, meets and for me a reason…

I'm sorta intrigued by this unit: anyone know much about it? Also, anyone heard the AVC TVC units from Diy HiFi (i.e. Django, etc.) 50/50% Permalloy Core Autoformer 28 step (Pair) | Diy HiFi Supply Of course there is the S&B, Sowter, and Jensen (and probably Lundahl) .. any others to consider? This would be used in conjunction with an active preamp. What is the general consensus of TVC used in this type of situation?

So this is the time of the year from thanksgiving to new years where i have the time to do extraordinary projects. This year is no exception. So i delivered the hydrogen torch preamp prototype to a person in chicago that happens to own a ctc blowtorch with great success. (hearafter just refered to as just hydrogen)(a hydrogen torch is at least twice the temperature of a blowtorch) But this year i wanted to do something extremely over the top just for me. And while it is not done yet, enough of it is done for a couple of pictures. So I hereby present the $5000 hammer. (in fact its going to cost way more than that) http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/hammer1…

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 …

So, I'm working on a pair of monoblocks. swt61 has seen these monster heat sinks. 12.2" wide x 12" tall with 2.925" fins and 0.326" base, weight is 13 pounds... and I got four. I've done some thermal plots of 6 devices per heatsink on a small PCB. Each device is dissipating 14.8W x 6 devices x 4 channels ~ 350W. I'm wondering how much further I can push the devices. The sim data is very close to actual temperatures and since I don't want to drill holes under the devices for thermal probes, the simulator will be gospel. I don't really want to move the devices apart anymore, as I have a PCB in mind I'd like to accommodate, plus a design of my own. Datasheets for devices:…

Crossposted from diyaudio: http://www.onsemi.com/pub/docs/pcn/PD20685.pdf On-semi are discontinuing all of their TO-92 products because of a disagreement with a subcontractor. List includes all the MPSWs.... //UFN

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

Hi: I am organizing a mini group buy of HGSSHV PCB boards. I intend to move very fast so please read this post carefully if you are interested. I'll be using the kgsshvampv16mini.zip for the amp boards and kgsshvpsminifinalstn9360.zip for the PSU boards. The amp boards are the one-board-per-channel, off-board heatsink version. Both amp and PSU boards have provisions for current production parts. See here for the Gerber files and the KGSSHV thread for more information. I plan to use SeeedStudio to fabricate the PCB boards. The boards will be 2 layer, 1.6mm thickness, 2oz copper, HASL surface finish and standard green color PCB. Each set of the boards includes …

After a few weeks burn-in period of this little beast, I found it's very relaxing to listen to. I can hear more juices coming out and the STAX 009 just doesn't have that analytical sounding cliché to my ears. It also enhances the soundstage and life-like of Focal Utopia makes it way more enjoyable to hear. This is a push-pull design tube Headphone Amplifier/Preamplifier attempting to achieve the true high-performance of headphones from Dynamic, Planar Magnetic to Electrostatic models. I've gotten a few PM's asking about the schematics and stuff so I decided to open a thread to discuss more here. …

This is probably going to seem like a go-to-Head-Fi thread, but I'm in a bit of a DIY and audio equipment rut, and I really trust Head-Case a whole lot more to get me out of it...... I've built myself DACs for home (Buffalo) and office (y2). I've got an M3 at the office with Audio Technica ESW9's and AD900's, I have the Exstata with SR-Lambdas at home, and I've built and sold a couple of Millett Hybrids. I'm pretty chuffed with all of this equipment, but feel that I'm still a long distance from my audio end-game and really want to keep doing more DIY. So where do I go now? I'd really like to challenge myself with something new to further my electronics skills, and keep…

For the dynahi I am building (in the builds thread), I would like to use one of the vandal switches (like a Bulgin) in blue ring. What would you recommend, and if it needs anything to run it (SS relay, E24 board or whatever) note any recommendations there also. Not sure I want to mess with another transformer/PCB, but will if it is worth it. Case is a hifi2000 Pessante Dis. I have both silver and black faceplates, but was leaning towards black for this one. I will have the faceplate done by either FPE or the other place on the east coast (if I can figure their S/W out Thanks for any thoughts.

Has anyone ever reterminated a Cardas Sennheiser cable for the HD650? I'm thinking of buying the Fat Pipe version that HF sells in a 10ft length terminated with 1/4" TRS and then cutting that into a 5ft cable and re-terminating it in a 4 pin XLR. I want to know if the cable is laquered inside and if I have to melt the insulation off of it to solder the wires. Then I would make an extension cable and 4 pin XLR to 1/4" TRS SE adaptor with the rest

Hello My little amplifier for my Stax headphones. First stage is based on ECC82. One triode per channel as cathodyne phase inverter. The second stage is 6N1P-EW with CCS, and power stage is with E80CC with CCS too. It was designed to work with my PC to drive Lambda Pro. So output voltage is not so big 308 V peak-peak, but it is enough for Lambda Pro.

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)?

I was chatting to justin and cetoole last night, asking for a solution to produce low volumes of sound, max -40dB down into the -80`s and below. Comfortably loud for me with my rs-1`s is up to -52dBu with pro mastered (+4dBu) material, using my donuts (yh-100`s) comfortably loud rises up to -44 dBu. The suggestion that came up, apart from a vinyl source was to I know very little about what is required to drive electrostatics so will really need a builder to construct this for me. A pre-built stuffed Stax bias supply PCB is available from spritzer. I`d really like to try this with my SR-3`s. Anyone willing to construct this for me please let me know. I ha…

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've decided to create a new division of HeadAmp dedicated to offering DIY parts (both in-house made as well as reselling such as transistors). It's just less stressful and overall more enjoyable dealing with DIYers (of course, this is just in addition to selling the HeadAmp made amps/DACs) I'll have to come up with a list of items. So this is a "Wanted" thread. Current items: - Custom machined Teflon Stax Jacks (pro or normal bias)

So I was thinking of building a linear psu for a new PC. I came across this kit on ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/LPS200-Linear-Power-supply-kit-board-LPS-DC5V-9V-12V-15V-19V-24V-28V-L164-5/111964387845?hash=item1a1198fa05:m:m3fiLyO2CiBO8ZWg77rtjeQ Anyone ever use something like this kit? The Teradak products are really cool but pricey