headinclouds

That's great, thanks Birgir.

Update on the board group buy I was pretty surprised by the response; the pm inbox was coming up constantly for a few days. Requests stand at 72 amp channels and 45 PS boards. Price is around £19/set. There should be some interesting discussions on here when we get going. Now a slight pause – Birgir is building a KGST with the new PS board and it would be wise to hold off ordering till he gives it the all-clear for production. This will be a few weeks.

How can one resist since you put it like that! I'll pm you

"If 20 sets were ordered it would be around £34 delivered to US" Plenty of interest already. Update on group buy pcb price: We're at about 24 sets now and the price/set is £20. delivery to US about £13 if I can believe Royal Mail price finder. And a bit for paypal fees. Cheers

I'll pm you

Thanks for the clarification Birgir. I'll check for any last minute revisions with you before placing an order.

Yes it's the through hole version - I'm not that brave. I have received a number of pms of interest and we're already over 10 sets so the price is looking good. Incidentally it doesn't have to be a set; it can be just amps (or PS!) pm me with your wants

I mustn't forget to add my praise to that heaped upon Kerry for this fantastic work. So impressive!

Thanks again Kevin and Birgir for coming up with a fantastic project. A great inspiration to us. This looks a really nice one to build and the valves/tubes are not expensive. The only way I’m likely to hear one is to build it so here we go. l have to get some boards made for my use. If you’re happy with the boards version as it is now I can offer to do a group buy. I have looked into pricing. If 10 sets are ordered they would come out at around £42 delivered to US, from England. If 20 sets were ordered it would be around £34 delivered to US. This ignores paypal fees so a few $$ more for that and currency conversion. (A set is two amp pcbs and one PS pcb.) When the order is in, delivery would be 15 working days to me and then about a week to US/Europe. pm me with your interest. Of course Europe is not the cheapest place for buying pcbs - if you guys Stateside can get better prices then perhaps you can get some arranged for me. To save you working it out those approx delivered prices £42=$70, £34=$57

Needing a few 1KV caps and not wanting to trouble Mouser for a small order from England, I got EPCOS - B32653A104J - CAP, FILM, PP, 100NF, 1KV, made in Spain VISHAY ROEDERSTEIN - MKP1840422104M - CAP, FILM, PP, 220NF, 1KV, made in Portugal from Farnell who do sell in the USA. as Farnell Element 14

Thank you very much JoaMat, GeorgeP, They are screwed to the rather OTT 3/4" beams which I tap M3. paradoxper posted pictures elsewhere of this arrangement. The fourth picture here is looking from underneath and shows the beams and amps with servos. I would add that I went down this route because I wanted to be able to get at the screws from above and also the beam carries standoffs to hold the top panel on.

Yes thank you guys, it was a bit of a challenge! Were a few moments before it all came together when I thought it might not be a good idea. My main worry was that it would have noise and hum issues from the proximity of the transformer and inputs but possibly due to the balanced inputs no problems, it does not sound any different to previous builds. Thanks Kevin I wasn't sure about the gold anodising but it turned out pretty. My best offer in homage to your circuit.

These show how it goes in. It is very tight when it comes to screw up the terminals, am looking into alternatives to make for an easier assembly. I should mention for the eagle eyed that the trial assembly did not use both the final amps. They are different.

I’ve sometimes wondered what the distortion would be for these amps. Not that I’m in any way worried; the incredibly detailed and transparent sound says a lot. But they are very impressive figures. I want to thank Birgir and Kevin for developing the smaller and simpler PS. Now builders have some very useful options. This is where I came in 18 months ago and was pondering using a 350v-400v PS. As it turned out I went for full KGSShv and have had a very interesting year of the Stax. My final effort is the Cube which is as small as I want to make a full KGSShv. 242 W x260 D x180 H. (9.5” X 10.25” x 7” plus feet).

That's very sweet Birgir. Nice one.

Yes hats off to you Kerry - oh Birgir's popped up in the last few seconds! and you Birgir for the fantastic work you do in house.

Thank you - It was a lot of effort but they turned out well. I know they sound great but I wanted them to look not too DIY as well. I used the Modushop case for my first ones and it is very easy that way, but for my own design there was no need to go abroad. I live just outside the West Midlands which has a metalworking tradition going back hundreds of years. It is only a short drive to the suppliers of the heatsinks, aluminium, laser cutting, machining, finishing, printing and engraving. Being able to meet and discuss the work, particularly for the finishing has been a great help and much more interesting.

Yes thank you - so do I. It is the prettiest I've built and I had to be persuaded to make the effort to research the metal finishing etc. The buyer suggested the A_D attenuator and the overall approach to the layout and finish.

Yes good work Birgir a great idea to do the small alternative. Since I posted here in late 2012 I have had a "year of the Stax" and would like to feed back what I have built. First KGSShv (an on-board) powered a pair of SR-507 I had. I have since designed and built a more compact off-board. Several enthusiasts were interested so I intended to build them the same to simplify the design effort. They were to be black cases with silver knobs and the controls operating the pot and switch at the back. However people have their own wants so I ended up customising the original to build several versions. The most radical mods were an all silver amplifier with polished front panel and top, with a different layout of a large centrally mounted attenuator, and a rather subtle look. The third request was for a modified “standard” design with two Stax sockets and if possible the large attenuator, which was squeezed in. I have done another design for a more compact “Cube” and then I will have done all I can think of for now at least. We rate the A_D 41 step attenuator as a worthy companion to Dr Gilmore’s circuit – only time will tell if it proves reliable but it seems well made. Thank you to Justin and Birgir along the way and the advice from Kevin. Without Kevin Gilmore we’d be nowhere. http://headinclouds.imgur.com/all/

Well done ume! Two builds, and I too like the gold colour. I hope you're enjoying the music

Yes I have made add-on servo boards, for on-board and off-board. I currently have a number which I have made for my use and some spare. pm me for details

Like eggil says "WOW"

Congratulations Kerry! That's a very impressive project

Brilliant "NOANTS" Oh the trials and tribulations of you who have more extreme climates. In the UK we sometiimes get an attack of little black ants. The Nippon drops work for these. The sugary bait contains a poison that they take back and shock - horror, they die. The Rentokill products are effective too. But we don't get big ferocious beasts so I can't say what would work best for those.

That's nice, looks smaller - to save me working it out what size case is that again?