luvdunhill

well, 1001 is another way to say 1K. 1002 would be 10K 1003 would be 100K and 1004 is 1M and 2201 would be 2.2K (see the pattern?) I think you might have both CMF55 and RN55 resistors perhaps ("commercial" and "mil-spec" resistors, respectively)? I'm not really sure myself ... they could be older resistors that use this different naming convention. Anyways, sorry I should have caught this based on your previous PM.

not directly related, but I'm messing around with my first input transformer tonite for single-ended to balanced conversion and balanced input isolation. I like what I hear so far, much better sounding than the IC solutions I've played with. I'll report back once I get the Sowters in house (I have a pair of Cinemag on loan). I'm interested in seeing if the center tap on the Sowters provides any benefit over the pair of resistors after the Cinemags. edit: one note so far, seems the input impedance really needs to be < 600 ohms. So, I'll throw that out there as the one constraint I've seen so far.

heh... I'll be a bit of a tease.. try measuring them with your meter and tell me what you get

er, 100 ohms? I don't think there are any in the circuit. Ya mean the 10 ohm striped resistors?

Sorry Steve... I forgot to talk about mounting those. In general, I'd recommend leaving some leg on top of the board, meaning not to squash them down close to the board. The reason being that you want to keep these things cool. Most people press them down thinking that they are keeping the signal path short or something. If I would have remembered to mention this to you, you could just have clipped them off of the top of the board and easily removed the legs and then remounted them. I usually leave ~0.25"-0.5" or so on top of the board, and when I'm feeling fancy put a bit of small teflon tube around the legs to protect them from accidental bendage. I'd try what Colin recommended, as that's what I do. It seems counter intuitive, but adding solder usually makes board rework easier. So, add a lot of solder, then work the tip (actually, more like the side of the tip, as you have more contact area this way) of the iron so it comes in contact with all three leads (if possible), or at minimum the solder pools. Play with aligning the iron this way before you turn it on, so you get an idea of the angle needed. Then once you've heated things up, reach around and pull the device out from the other side of the board with your fingers. Then clean up the holes with the solder-wick. The trick with the solder sucker is that once you heat the solder up, you have to quickly put it down on top of the solder pool and pull the trigger. It takes a bit of coordination to do. What I do is put one edge on the board and then use this contact point like a pivot and then once the solder is heated up, pivot down so as much of the nozzle is on the joint, hit the button and then remove it from the board... heh, pretty hard to describe. In short, it's harder than it seems

A pair of custom Sowter input transformers.

Is this a pretty decent deal?

seems to be much, much faster. I can definitely notice an improvement.

with all due respect, this conversation doesn't belong in a intro to DIY thread. I'd excise it if I could. This is way down in the weeds.. you new guys need to get your hands dirty and start to form your own opinions on what makes a difference

not trying to start anything, really.. but.. would you say these differences are relatively similar to how Senn lovers perceive differences between the HD-650 and HD-600, i.e. much much closer than they are different?

Steve: I'm sorta out of commission until later today, hopefully I'll survive some fireworks at pabbi1's house.... I'll give you a ring when I'm on the road back to Austin. With regard to IEC w/fuse and power switch, new it's hard to find something under $10 or so. One option is the below surplus part, which also includes a EMI/RFI filter... kinda like an integrated power conditioner. Since you have some mad square hole cutting skills, you could go this route. I've purchased several of these in the past: DELTA LINE EMI FILTER 6 AMP 06AK2D Lightly Used - eBay (item 330084141165 end time Jan-31-09 10:03:28 PST) Problem is, shipping nails you on these, unless you get 3 or so. The deal is, new these are probably >$25 each when purchased new. Anyways, this is one option. I'm sure others around here will have some good choices. If you like the one I used on your Pearl, it is Digikey part 486-1084-ND for $10.01. The deal with this, is it uses dual fuses. This is easily fixed with some solder, or actually using two fuses. A single fuse version of this would be more suitable in some senses.

I was just floored by the SOHA II. I am somewhat tempted by the new offerings, but I think the SOHA II can really be tweaked and probably has more potential if you're willing to understand the circuit and try some new things... the all-in-one board makes this a bit difficult, but it can be done.

my bad. I could have sworn I read the word "discrete"... searching around, I just see jp# calling this discrete over at head-fi. By "fail" I was referring to the fact that this would be rather misleading if it was indeed the case, as Justin predicted. I've used a 2-3 different THAT chips and similar ones made by Analog.... mainly in phono stages, which is probably one of the better applications for them. They are not at all transparent. I hope to have better luck with transformers in this sort of role.

1.8V is practically zero in electrostatic world.. heck, 10V is practically zero.

I cannot make it. However, can I ship some gear to someone to try and sell it there? Is there a spare table or two that could comfortably house my gear? If some Head-Fi noobs don't have room to setup, that's fine by me. Wait, I just had another idea, can I sell raffle tickets as well, even though I cannot make it? You wouldn't have to be present to win, of course..

EAGLE's size restrictions are just a compelling reason to switch to Diptrace (and deal with its pin limits)

... wait, an all discrete amp that uses opamps for balanced to se conversion? :fail:

interesting observation. Looking at the curves for 6080, I suppose the question is, what's the voltage sitting on them. Also, perhaps its a new production 5U4 with improved specs? That would kinda bite tube rollers a bit though, so that's probably unlikely...

Mike: I was looking around yesterday for some spade terminals especially fit for a phono stage binding post and noticed that both Cardas and Vampire make spades especially for vintage gear using barrier strips, such as your Mac amp. Here's some pics: Anyways, not that I'm advocating better cables in your setup, but just happened to notice these...

Steve: They were all there when I repacked the little kits. I double checked. Most troubling. I can order the parts for you if you'd like, just PM me. Might as well pick up the missing Zetex transistors as well, they're dirt cheap.

from what little I know, no. I believe he works at National.

I think the reason the locking mechanism is left in is that XLR jacks don't have the same contact force that RCA jacks do. I know amb has said this a few times, as have a few people on other boards who seem to give a knee-jerk disapproval when they see pics of jacks with the mechanisms removed.

if so, why don't we add Rowan Williams to the mix...

Voltron: if you stumble across anything with a DIY slant, I'd be interested in giving something like this a try as well.

nah, some opamp based thing for an electronics course, but that's my point