n_maher

No way, did it not survive the trip home? The thing worked flawlessly throughout the meet.

Pete is taking my hand-drawn schematics and putting them into an official form as we speak. As soon as I have them I'll post them. Not yet, unfortunately because they share the same base as the 6528 I have to use an adapter - they don't fit the sockets that I used. The guy who designed this amp was a moron and forgot to check stuff like that...

I don't know what he's got in her amp for a filament trafo, I would doubt that it's the same Plitron since he's no longer using the HV section. And right you are, I'm sure it's not AC, but rather the DC already rectified and smoothed. Serves me right for not forming a complete thought before typing. The whole point of the external supply is to allow the use of 6528s and their massive 5A heaters. So I'm guessing, and it really is just a guess, that he replaces the plitron with a beefy filament trafo and moves all the HV stuff to the external box.

I actually talked with Mikhail about the external PS on Sunday. The external PS is the HV supply, not the heaters (although like you I expected the opposite) so it's not something you can use the amp without. And no, Vicki's amp doesn't have a voltage selector. The connectors are Neutrik Speakon types, although he has said he gets special versions that are black w/ gold plating. I've seen them for sale before, although only once, and I'm not sure I'd feel all that great about using them for HV AC. I haven't read their spec sheets close enough to see if it's anything worth worrying about. Just found the link to the gold speakon plugs - http://www.audiogear.com/Neutrik-Speakon.html - part no. NL4FC-B

I'd ask if they have ebay feedback. Just about everyone has it these days and you could use the contact form to verify it's authenticity (i've done this before with new users). Otherwise, it is a gamble and I'm not sure I'd do it.

Based on your love of a certain band I'd beg to differ that EAC has produced many a bad disc for you posty.

You want more pictures, I'll give you more pictures!!! Gratuitous Shot of Vicki's "Head-Fier of the Year" Stand My Source First Rig - Ipod Touch -> Menace Tyll and Queen V philodox's wounded, but still excellent rig Vicki's Lector (so close to being my precious...) Vicki's Exemplar 2900 (nice, very, very, nice) Vicki's Extreme Platinum w/ external PS Jack Woo's WA-5 Rudistor Table Smyth's Ultimate Gaming Rig Moon Audio's Cary and modded Original CD Player Meet Master Mike's rig (pay to listen, sheesh!) highlife's rig Voltron's New Beta22 asr's Beta22 asr's seriously sexy bel canto dinner friday night aka my first vegan meal (pretty good) Smyth's Surround Demo Smyth's Secret Black Box TTVJ/Millett Phono Stage Todd's Seriously Cool Posters TTVJ/Millett 307A MONSTER (one of my top 2 rigs of the meet) no caption required... Tyll and his Audiophile Desktop (me want BAD) Headroom Speaker Stands (pics just don't do these a bit of justice) My Ultimate Office Rig The Main Room (as seen from my table) The Main Room (from the far end) - side note I would not like to be around when the hotel gets there power bill... Pete Millett's "Starving Student" Hybrid Amp - way cheap, doggone good, pure DIY fun Voltron's Jitter Reduction Device (or something like that...) Justin's/Headamp's Prototype Blue Hawaii Special Edittion (my other favorite rig of the meet, geez this sounded spectacular) Thrice is going to post detailed impressions since he can't escape the fact that I caught him listening here... Thrice missing his old amp Thrice checking out Mike's current rig Thrice w/ the Headamp Aristaeus (man this guy was everywhere, post some impressions already!!!) The Single Power Odyssey (drool) and to close things out, DanG checking out the soon to be released PJ530 IEMS (yes, you can get the whole frog in your ear for maximum bass and isolation)

It's the only place I'd buy an apple refurb if only for the Applecare option.

I'd go w/ a refurbished Macbook ($1000) or 15" Macbook Pro ($1500) and definitely get the warranty for a college kid.

[2] Tung Sol 6520's [2] Tung Sol 421A's I think The Menace output tube collection is now complete.

Happy Birthday!

Yes, I did - my balanced HF-1s. It drove them very, very well on the low-Z balanced setting.

While the National Meet is often referred to as an international meet I would respectfully suggest that if the European and beyond members want to hold a large scale meet they best prove that they can pull off an EU-wide meet or something similar. I can almost guarantee that a majority of manufacturers from the US would not be able to attend or attend with any gear due to shipping expense and hassle. Cool idea, yes, practical concept??? Japan, you can pretty much factor me out as I'll never take a week or more long vacation with headphones in mind.

I believe that the layout is very much function over form. I don't know that he made every decision that way but it's easy to see the power and signal flow diagram just from the top panel. IIRC it's a 40 something pound beast. I'll try and get an internal picture or two from Pete if I can.

Single chassis.

Read this on the way to and from CanJam, pretty typical of the genre but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

I'm guessing a SRD7 Pro or MKII, much like deepak is looking for. Not sure how often they come up and you've definitely got a bit of competition looking for one but still they seem to stay in the $200/$250 ballpark. I hope to be able to give some listening impressions later this week of that exact setup. Also, have a look at this list for models that have the pro-bias option, you may find a smaller solid state driver unit that wouldn't require a speaker amp.

Should be the adjustable feedback.

All my builds are ghetto. Pics or ban.

I think that given the chance to hear it you might think a bit differently about it.

Update - post CanJam - this amp is much better looking in person than the original pictures would lead you to believe. Of course my taste is skewed but I didn't hear many complaints about the look after folks put the headphones on. A little visual evidence:

Well, he is a kitty technician so that's hardly a stretch (guffaw, guffaw) for him....

All I used the Lector for was a transport, I was using the DAC pretty much the whole time on Saturday. Sunday it was back to the Ipod. I'll be uploading ~50 pictures over the next hour or so, I might just post the highlights here...for now, just a teaser. Thrice, what is that dog doing to you?

You're probably right, I try not to look.