Leaderboard

Don't miss the prequel.

I call bullshit as well until a more reputable source corroborates.

Not saying it’s not possible, but there is a lot he is getting wrong about Panama City and SF units. Super secret yet all these people talk? 🤷‍♂️

Jacob's Ladder Brad Mehldau 2022 https://album.link/i/1606023157 Example: Been in my queue for too long (in this case almost a year since it's release). A pretty cool batch of covers by Brad and team. I liked this one from Gentle Giant, along with a pile of Ruch tunes as well. Always need more Brad.

Scratch that. Did not pay attention and bought the 10 1/4” blade. Also, improvement for Dust Collection at the CNC is massive. So much better than the standalone 750CFM Dust Right that used to sit next to it. So much more suction that the flexible hose whipped up to the ceiling and took out all the magnets on the bandsaw next to the CNC.

Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All no commercial release in the US – broadcast on NBC on August 21, 1982 https://archive.org/details/flash-gordon-the-greatest-adventure-of-all-1979

Finally have it on wrist. It’s a stunner. I’m not looking forward to my first scratch. It’s even thinner than the Drive extra flat, but you can definitely feel it on the wrist more.

I guess I'm planning on going to canjam on Saturday but one day will be plenty. Claire and I just got tickets to see John Zorn Masada Quartet at the Village Vanguard at 3:00pm on Sunday 2/26. Julian Lage is playing guitar for this gig. We had a pretty big Head-case contingent for a Zorn show in SF years ago, and most people doubled down for the second set. This is just a Sunday matinee, but does anyone else want to join? Tickets available here: https://villagevanguard.squadup.com/2022.html Figuring on brunch or lunch with the crew beforehand. Claire and I are having dinner at some friends that night, just FYI.

You know. That famous amp designer - HiFi CO KR And as always, Thanks for J.C. {our amp and saviour}

That is fucking impressive. The 4” hose will knock a house off its foundation if you don’t watch where you swing it. I assumed I could connect train cars with the fucking 6”. No idea how that could even happen, but I will be watching for the flashing red light.

Here the latest T2 psus, I have modified the layout to provide more space around the rather hot R11 3W resistor and added vent holes to the pcb. The pcbs, transformers etc still fit inside a 400mm deep case without issue. I noticed that the R11 equivalent resistor on the + and - 500V rails runs considerably hotter than the equivalent resistor on the other rails (which also run quite hot).... doing some quick maths, R11 is approximately 1000ohms * the value of the zener serial train /1.818 on all the psus rails except for the +and -500V... Using this formula gives 300Kohms for the + and - 500V rails but in the original gerbers I worked from only have 240K there. This results in higher current flow through the resistor and more power dissipation and hence the higher temperature. EDIT: thank you Joamat for suggesting the current through R11 should be 1.1mA or more. The R11 values here on all rails are based around 1.4mA with values available in the PR03 Vishay range or 3W resistors. Resulting in lower power dissipation on all rails and especially the +-500V The gerbers with the vents have been used to make functioning psus and can be considered tested. This pcb is 220mm wide by 137mm deep and contains the -260V, -560V and +250V rails t2 kgsshv 250v -260v -560v corrected.zip ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This pcb is 220mm wide by 148.5mm deep and contains the low voltage rails, delay and the +-500V rails with the adjusted 3W resistor t2 kgsshv +-500v, lv, bias and delay corrected.zip

I found this video worth the watch. In case anyone is considering a grinder and/or you want some post purchase satisfaction or regret... HS

Chorizo con Huevos

@morphsci and @naamanf Did you guys book tickets yet?

here you go cfp3largeT.ZIP

It's Joamat who is the brains behind the substitutions, not me. They seem to work fine though. I don't have a scope at hand so can't verify performance on any detailed level, but I'm listening to a T2 with tta/ttc004 replacements right now (no other modifications) and it does sound very good. Have some problems with a buzzing HV trafo that needs sorting, but the amp boards themselves seem stable so far.

Built a Megatron. Seems to be the perfect amp to build during the seemingly unending shortage of 10m90s. I used up my final few pieces of 10m90s and C2M1000170D for this simple build, and it gave me some mild anxiety and regret for not hoarding up those sands. However, the build experience and result are worth it. Build process and after thoughts I started off with a pair of generic chassis from Taobao. 32cm wide, 8cm tall, 35cm deep. Silver and black anodised aluminium. They weren't available in other finishes but this looks clean enough to me. They do have some minor scratches and dents if you look hard enough though. The casework was done by a laser etching service provider I found on Taobao. The end result was a clean and modern appearance. Inside the PSU are a pair of +/-450V GRHV, +/- 15V GRLV, delay board and a 270VA toroidal transformer. The idea was to create a PSU that can be used by both the Megatron and the Grounded Grid amp units. These components fit the chassis nicely with little room for a third GRHV board for the 300v rail for Megatron. Outputs are split into AC and DC outputs. Transformer specs: The heatsinks for the amp unit were probably redundant since most of the heat comes off from the top. The amp board could probably fit into a smaller and lighter chassis, but I chose the same chassis as the PSU just so that they can stack. The amp build was straight forward and relatively easy compared to a Carbon build or any of the KG dynamic amp builds, due to the low component count. I did not use any boutique components in this build. The coupling caps are Wima, and the voltage rail decoupling caps are Siemens. Volume pot is an EIZZ-style stepped attenuator, internal signal wirings are pure copper. Special care was taken when routing the heater filament wires to avoid hum. Amp testing and adjustment was simple. Just ensure the all the rails are as spec'ed and that's about it. The voltage offset settles automatically after power on. No need to fiddle with any potentiometer when the amp is powered on, so it is much safer to test than the Carbon or the T2 family. Sound I used the Megatron with ES-1A, and here is my impression of the Megatron after comparing it with GG (on the same PSU), Carbon (450V GRHV 15V GRLV) and Mini T2 (triple GRHV). Currently I am using the Megatron with a quad of Mullard XF2 and PSVane EL34PH. The front end tubes are all Valvos. The sound of the Megatron is warm, slightly thick in the mids, and non fatiguing and airy in the treble. It sounds very natural and the imaging is holographic with good recordings. While it is very detailed, it does not ruin joy if the recordings are of poorer quality. Older or poorly mixed recordings have a smooth timbre and organic vibe when heard from the Megatron. While the Megatron's treble is not as extended as the Carbon's, it complements the overall signature to create a very complete soundstage and convincing sense of separation and space. What makes the Megatron standout from crowd lies in its low end - it is an amp for bassheads. It has by far the most THICC bass compared to my other amps, even more than the Carbon. The bass extends as deep as the Carbon, but the Megatron has a nice lift in the mid bass that makes my ES 1a slam extra hard. Listening to EDMs and fast pop tracks on E-Stats is finally satisfying, and I can finally stash away my planars. Carbon is like an antithesis to the Megatron. Carbon is like a clean cutting razor with little tolerance for inaccuracies where as Megatron adds a lot of joy and flavour into the listening experience. Carbon also sounds a little linear. Although the stage is wide, it is not as deep as the Megatron's. GG sounds more organic than Carbon in general. The GG's signature is quite dependent on the tubes. With the XF2s, GG is warm and clean, but doesn't deviate far from the Carbon sound. The bass isn't as tight and fast, and treble could sound stiff and slightly shrill with the wrong tubes - such as the re-issue Mullard EL34. Mini T2 sounds slightly leaner and cleaner than the Megatron, and has a much smaller bass. It is as enjoyable a listening experience for me, but the Mini T2 was much harder to build - by sheer component count. Tube placement and choices Placing the EL34s in this manner shown below allows one to use two matched quads of EL34 if matched octets are unavailable. Initially I used cheap Linlai tubes for the front end and had issues with sound imbalance and hum - turned out that the tubes were the culprits. Switched to some cheap NOS and the issues were gone. So my advice would be to use well built tubes from reputable makers. The 12AU7s affect the sound significantly. The option to roll tubes makes Megatron extra fun to use. More photos of the internals and the back of the amp coming up soon, when I am more free. I would say that the Megatron is my favourite amp - until I build the T2.

you are going to need a pile of floating filament transformers. although now that SumR has finally produced transformers that are the right voltage and run cool this is easy. this one has regulated 300v and RCLCC high voltage supplies each with tube diodes. that is 2 more transformers. This one is 211 watts. A standard T2 is about 250 watts. replacing the current sources with tubes will add another 80 watts. and lots more physical space. and more filament transformers This modified to fit amplifier board will not be published and would be useless to everyone. The standard amp board should be used. The 300v regulated tube board with the tube hv diodes would be publishable once i put all the tube sockets back on standard distances. The hv power supply board would be publishable if people are interested. both of these would only be released to people who promise not to let them fall into the hands of FUCKING INCOMPETENT MORONS.

RIP Burt Bacharach at 94 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/feb/09/burt-bacharach-