RudeWolf

Got some 2 kilos of roasted and pressed river lampreys from my old neighbor lady. Real tasty these critters are with mayo mixed with strong Russian mustard. A shame that I only had fancy Dijon mustard that has considerably less kick to it.

It might mean this- http://liveweb.arte.tv/de/video/Camille_im_Olympia/

Never thought I'd be THAT mindblown by a sax. http://liveweb.arte.tv/de/video/Colin_Stetson_Jazz_a_La_Villette/

Yep, the HD650 cable is pretty decent for the price. Actually I'd happily choose it for recable jobs on other dual entry headphones. It is reasonably sturdy but stays free of microphonics. Also the Y-splitter is pretty well done which I can't say about the otherwise fine Grado cable.

I'm not sure if this counts as a deal but here's a pretty good case for the price- http://www.ebay.com/itm/2107-Full-Aluminum-Power-amplifier-Enclosure-headphone-amp-preamp-case-DIY-/120945750823?pt=US_Amplifier_Parts_Components&hash=item1c28edb327 My thinking was to get two for a Dynahi build. It might take some careful planning to stack both amp boards but it might actually work. I'm sure most of you have other ideas about what to stick inside such a box. Class-A monoblocks come into mind.

I somehow manage to ALWAYS get up a few minutes before the alarm regardless when it's set. A few years ago when I was working as an assistant to a entertainment event producer even after three hours of sleep I always got up before the alarm.

Measuring them boards for hassle free mounting. And in case I spill the beer they are all mounted on 5mm spacers!

Also they seem tubeampable!

Well, it's the normal pedestrian 40/60 but I really hate the flux. Looks like it isn't evenly distributed in the wire so occasionally I get bigger blobs that sometimes make a mess. At least it isn't too aggressive and can be left uncleaned. One day I'll order one of them fancy silver/tin solders and probably regret it as it won't flow and the flux fumes will melt my face off.

That splinter would've made a badass guitar pick, Steve! Stocked up on some Polish solder, nasty stuff but at least it isn't the one used for piping work. Fired up the O2 to see what all fuss is about. Using Pico as a source (I bet that makes some of you cringe) and the sound wasn't terrible. With my HD650 the soundstage is reasonably wide and all in all the sound is extremely clean. However the bass is very lean compared to my Dynalo making the overall signature very thin and uninvolving. Some might actually like it. Pics will follow in the DIY section.

I see that vikings have natural resistance to Chinese torture. I only have had got dried spaghetti under my fingernails when I was washing a pot. Was more of a startle than a real pain. And yeah, running out of solder is like Earth running out of sand! I tried using pure lead as I have plenty of that but it isn't eutectic. It doesn't flow at all and gets all creamy when it cools down.

Got to the post office to pick up my Pico DAC and O2 parts. Pico DAC sounds awesome and O2... I was soldering the last battery terminals as I friggin ran out of solder. Never thought that to be physically possible.

Bah, I'll just buy some from you guys at inflated prices sometime next year when I'll be ready to tackle a stat amp.

I have punched people for eating loudly. What maddens me the most is supping and chewing without closing the lips. When I was living in Iceland I had a roommate who had a habit of eating loudly. The only thing that kept me from horribly mutilating him were my HD25-II's. Then again even with headphones I KNEW that he was eating like a LOUD ESTONIAN SWINE!!!!!11111

I was thinking of putting the relay board on the back panel but then it occurred to me that I'm at most saving about 7cm of wire. Also I just fired up the Visual Analyzer and tried moving the relay board towards the working transformers. Oddly enough only at 150-200Hz grew a small 5dB hill that wasn't previously there. And that's with putting the relay board directly on the EI-Core tranny. I'm starting to think that EM radiation from AC devices is a bit overblown. Sure, doing something silly like routing signal wires under a tranny might get some noise but to me it seems that my creations have a whole lot more other bugs that need squishing before I start making Faraday cages. In other news- next week I'll build an O2 to see what's the fuss about. Maybe even bring to some guys to do measurements and compare to my Dynalo and probably a two board B22. Most of the local electronics enthusiasts laughed their asses off when they saw the Holy Grail of headphone amplification.

Thanks for the advice! I'm usually rounding up to the nearest full millimeter so most of the time I'll be getting about 0.3-0.7mm worth of play. And now I'm starting to regret that I choose those fancy Neutrik RCA's that need those extra screw holes. Regarding the layout - how hard should I fight for reducing the line signal wires? I have a JT attenuator that in theory could be mounted on the back panel with RCA's almost touching the inlets and total line signal path being under 70mm. Are low power (30VA) trannies noisy enough to cause any issues?

I'm doing a CAD drawing for my front and back panels and I was wondering whether I should draw precisely as measured by a calliper or leave some room for a looser fit? Sure, I can dremel some off but what has been your experience with these things?

P.S. Thanks for the Spoek Mathambo mention. P.P.S. How do you like the 2nd Law album?

Happy birthday, man!

I usually surf around Prog Archives and Jazz Archives. A pitty that Jazz Archives aren't too active. Also I've been trying to find something decent on the Bandcamp but alas- nothing so far.

For my 1*102W needs I'd build an End Millennium. Simple enough for me not mess up (yeah, right) and enough juice for 89db'ers. Some of the local guys praise the design and sound. Also none of the parts seem too unobtainable. Cookbook with less bullcrap than the article linked above. Just my two imperial septims.

I might case up the damn thing in the following week if I manage to CAD draw the panels- however one niggle remains. I know that some of you are using relay based stepped attenuators- do you connect the ground (I prefer the term- common wire) of the controller board somewhere? I get 50Hz hum if I don't connect it to the PSU common wire. Btw, I keep hearing that the signal common wire should be separated from safety or power grounds. More than one way of skinning a cat?

Looks okay from here chief! Chrome, WinXP.