n_maher

Busy weekend... I also got the sigma22 built for my DAC which means that I might get to fire that up for the first time in a week or so... YIKES!

Back on the topic on the Tiny Singlepower... There are a few interesting comments coming out in the most recent Florida Meet thread. Jp#'s gives it a pretty good bitchslap and everyone else has precious little good to say about it (which really speaks volumes) other than the fact that it runs hotter than a bastard. Choice quote for the banned among us:

The TREAD. The M3 could potentially pull enough current that if you're dropping a lot of voltage the stock heatsink might not be enough. You could of course go with a lower voltage wallwart (like 20VAC) which would give you a maximum output of closer to 24V which is a pretty happy number. What opamps are you thinking of running?

Do yourself a favor and at least toss a TREAD on the output of whatever wallwart you use. If it were me (for an M?) I'd use a 24VAC wallwart with a TREAD set to 26V or higher depending on the opamps you're going to use. You might need a larger heatsink for the M?.

Ugh, you really want that list... ok, here goes. The Defintes (currently underway) 1. Balanced DAC of unmentionable origin with a sigma22 power supply operating at +/-12V, the DAC is done, the power supply isn't. 2. Sigma11 power supply for SB3 (for me, finally). 3. Sigma11 for SB3 (for a friend). 4. Sigma11 for Apogee MiniDAC (again, for a friend). 5. Hagerman Bugle - the board has been populated for 6 months and I just need to case it up. Some day, some day. The Maybes (some big maybe, some small maybe) 1. Balanced Beta22 - this is pending the outcome of the balanced DAC, if the DAC works as well as hoped this will quickly become a definite. 2. Aikido - I've had all the parts for this project for the past year almost and still haven't started it. Before I had too much going on, now I have the Wheatfield which quite frankly I'm not sure I ever want to part with so the Aikido once again gets shuffled to the back burner. It hurts my head bad to have $600 worth of parts sitting in a box gathering dust. 3. Further modification of the Wheatfield. I've mildly tweaked this amp already but if I can coax some more suggestions out of Pete I might have another go at it. Or I might make the great leap and try to PTP a new one. That's all I can think of now, although I'm sure there is stuff that I'm forgetting about.

Of course you can ask, it's a 1455N1601. Nope, it's a Avel Lindberg Y236001 (for 5V output). At higher output voltages (bigger trafo) you might want to seriously consider a bigger case. I'm not saying that you couldn't fit more in the case only that it already takes a bit of planning to do. It's a little more expensive than the STEPS in my case. I'd put a STEPS at around $100 and the σ11 around $125. I'm sure in both cases you can build them for less, but that's a fair ballpark. There are pros and cons to both power supplies and neither is a bad choice. I think technically the σ11 has lower output ripple but the STEPS is pretty damn low to begin with. Being the glutton for punishment that I am I'm actually working on three σ11's right now and another σ22. Lord have mercy on my wallet.

Thanks man, I'll look into that tube. The good thingi about 6080's is they're pretty cheap (generally speaking). I like the NOS RCA that I've got in there now. In bad news it would appear that the 6528A that I got is unhappy. I put in the amp last night, powered it up and it makes this occasional pinging sound. It's like of like the sound your car's engine might make while cooling off. I let it go for a little while hoping that it was just the tube warming up but it kept going for 20min. at which point I shut it down for fear of damaging the amp. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to return it otherwise I just flushed ~$65. Grrrr.

Well, my Wheatfield tube sampler arrived today from Radio Electronic Supply so I now have all of Pete's recommended output tubes. Included was a Tung Sol 6528A, TS 7236, RCA 6080, TS 5998 and an RCA 6AS7G, wuhoo!

Sure, just paypal me the shipping, $1000 should cover it.

I've heard stories of reviewers holding gear hostage and can't imagine how frustrating that must be for manufacturers. Don't sell product unless you loan gear out for review, send gear out for review and risk never getting it back. Reason number 643 not to become an electronics manufacturer.

I heard churros help more with vibrations but pretzels have more bass impact.

Nice work Stephen, can't wait to see what it looks like when it's all done!

Do you need a warning sign on the steering wheel of your car to let you know that driving fast can kill you? Jebus, let's cover the world in warning labels.

Speaking of the Apogee, I'm currently building an external regulated power supply for a friend on HF. I'll be interested to hear the results of that experiment to see if it at all tracks with the differences on the SB3's analog outputs. They both use a switching power supply although I have no idea how noisy the Apogee's is. The SB3's is awful.

Yeah, years ago they tried to buy the site from the guy and it did not go well. On topic: I really enjoyed my time with the balanced desktop (home modules) and would have no problem living with it.

I'll try to ask Voodoochile if I can get in touch with him but anyone who's built the kit should have a copy of the schematic (I think) and be able to tell you. The Ear+ HD2 schematic (the newer version) can be found in the user's manual here. Please note that this is information directly from Dr. Peppard's site so I assume that it's safe to share.

First things first, my comment was not meant as a personal insult or anything close. The fact is that, from a technical standpoint, Ray's amps don't seem to be the best bang for your buck. In my opinion there is no questioning his chassis design and attention to detail (assuming of course that you like his designs to begin with) and there is certainly some value to that. And FWIW I kinda like the guy, our relationship is not hindered by either the customer or competitor aspect so I've got no beef with him or his company. What is really unfortunate about the current headphone amp market is that his major tube-amp competition is shooting themselves in the foot (Mikhail) with long lead times unless you wan the current FOTM amp (Extreme). So I don't blame you for going with the B-52, it's probably not the best amp for the money but that's not to say it isn't a nice amp. I listened to it a bit in NYC with balanced HD600s and actually thought it sounded pretty damn good. One more thing, it isn't just RSA that gets criticized around here. Any manufacturer who doesn't live up to expectations is likely to be roasted with equal vigor by most of us. So unlike other sites that paint a pretty rosy picture of the landscape you're more likely to get a little less flower and more reality from this site. Like anything else take all of it with a grain of salt and in the end let your own ears be the judge. [/off soap box]

No disputing that Justin, but in some cases I think manufacturers invest too much in case design and end up unnecessarily inflating the cost of a product. That's just my opinion.

Note to the admin staff, don't ever, ever grant high-roller status to this individual. Poor guy's going to have a enough to live with when he realizes he payed $2000 for casework.

I always wonder with products like this that clearly have a large focus on how they look just how much of the budget was left over to make sure they sound decent.

Soundproofing, in my experience, is pretty much impossible to accomplish after something has already been built. And if you're over amplifying the 650s to combat ambient noise then the solution is closed headphones. It doesn't matter how good something sounds if it ultimately ends up destroying your hearing.

Anyone seriously looking for a source might think about having a go at this.

About once every 6 weeks or so a group of anywhere from 5 to 8 of us gets together for a night of COD2 LAN gaming. It is fun to a degree that is not possible to convey through text. I'm seriously bummed that all the new COD releases have been console only.

COD?

Damn you guys and all your gaming system talk. I was already teetering on the brink of picking up a PS-2 and this thread pushed me over the edge. Found a killer deal on craigslist locally that includes not only the game that wanted (GT4) but this: