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Look ma, no circuit boards!


Rotijon

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I recently bumped into this site decware, where they make SET amplifiers without circuit boards. Being a complete electrical engineering idiot, Im wondering if there is any merits to it. If im not mistaken, audionote uk does not use circuit boards too.
insideoptions.jpg

There's the internals to one of his speaker amps. Im quite tempted to put down an order for one just for novelty sake and the lifetime warranty. If im not mistaken he makes headphone amps and kind enough to include the schematics. Quite skeptical about the beeswax caps though.

http://www.decware.com/newsite/TABOO.htm

 

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There is no doubt in my mind that a properly designed circuit board is better to p2p wiring.  Consistency being the nr.1 feature but the PCB also offers safety, parts can be placed in much closer proximity and with a full ground plane the PCB offers a lot shielding and thus better noise performance.  The only snag is with AC filaments running on the PCB, twisted wires pushed right up to the chassis is a better way to do that.  The problem though is that the wast majority of PCB's just aren't that great.  The layout and execution is lacking so the end result is below par. 

 

Now I like to do p2p amps but now we have dirt cheap PCB's so it's just as easy to draw up a circuit board and have it made.  I'm pretty cynical but it also always seems to me that manufacturers try to sell very simple circuits off as good when done p2p. 

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Is it wrong to see so many problems with such simple amps?  I really like the second from the top, thinking that adding Muse caps to the DC heater supply will make up for it being unregulated.  "Heater supplies for people who like buying new tubes all the time...." 

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Yeah, just because it's neat doesn't make it right.

 

Indeed, sometimes a rat's nest amp will work better. Too neat often induces cross-talk from wires running in parallel while proper star grounding can look like a mess.

 

PTP is great for one-offs and simple designs, but there are definitely places where a well designed PCB is superior.

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Indeed, sometimes a rat's nest amp will work better. Too neat often induces cross-talk from wires running in parallel while proper star grounding can look like a mess.

 

That's what I try to tell myself since every one of my DIY projects resembles a ball of spaghetti. 

I have great admiration for people who can do neat PtP wiring, it's a skill which continues to elude me.

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