What Are You Building Today

[swt61]

Indoor tree house in progress.

[luvdunhill]

Hate to tell you this, but it isn’t a tree house once the tree is turned into lumber.

[Grahame]

Lumber Dungeon doesn't quite have the same warm fuzzy feeling as indoor Tree House.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Grahame

[swt61]

4 hours ago, Grahame said:

Lumber Dungeon doesn't quite have the same warm fuzzy feeling as indoor Tree House.

It definitely needs something to make it more aborial. We will be cutting a tree in half and mounting it against the structure. But no stocks and slings. It's not for geeks or subs, but for little tykes to curl up and read. 

[luvdunhill]

1 hour ago, swt61 said:

It definitely needs something to make it more aborial. We will be cutting a tree in half and mounting it against the structure. But no stocks and slings. It's not for geeks or subs, but for little tykes to curl up and read. 

Somewhere they don’t want to leave?

[mwl168]

12 hours ago, tomislavkufrin said:

Carbon is getting a sister. Had a few holy crap this is good moments. 

That looks like a Grounded Grid? 

[tomislavkufrin]

On 3/19/2022 at 4:36 AM, mwl168 said:

That looks like a Grounded Grid? 

Yep! Finishing this build made me really happy.

[Pars]

Nearly finished casing my Salas phono stage. Need to mount the transformer and raw PSU. I may use a vandal switch on the front, but some type of momentary switch board or at a minimum, a voltage select board will be going in as well. Also need to shorten transformer leads, and clean up wiring. Runs dead quiet in my system; no noise evident when turned up all the way at tweeters or via headphones. I've got the Antek steel transformer cover and a set of Mundorf Supreme caps, though the kids all seem to be going for the Clarity Caps these days. It sounds good with the BC polyprop and MKP1837 I have in there now.

This is setup for MM at 42dB gain. Loading switchable to several different values via dip switches. Set at ~34K right now for the Ortofon 2M Bronze I was using (a bright cartridge IMO).

[JoaMat]

Have made a few test inscriptions on aluminum with CNC machine. 

 

[JoaMat]

I somehow managed to copy H and C from HeadCase logo and mill it on the plate. 

picture in B/W

[en480c4]

Got one of the cab corner repair panels welded into my father’s ’62 Willys project. As the saying goes, “a grinder and paint makes me the welder I ain’t.” Lower cowl panel in front of the door will be next, then the rocker, and finally lower door repairs. Then lather, rinse and repeat on the other side. 
 

 

 

 

[luvdunhill]

A box with some dirt in it

 

Pre box, pre dirt

 

[Zoide]

On 11/18/2017 at 11:50 PM, spritzer said:

It's been a while since I built something just for me but here is something old...    So long story short, I was sent some boxes by mistake and the seller said I could just keep them.  That also meant I had to find a project to put them.  They were tiny 70mm tall boxes with sinks on the sides so an idea was born.  It's been roughly 15 years since I built my first KGSS so why not make something to commemorate that..introducing the KGSS Klassik. 

So this was a pretty difficult birth, cramming the PCB's down to this size while using the same parts I used back in the day...was a challenge to the say the least and well, there is no space in the fucking chassis.  So this is a bone stock KGSS like we did back in the day but with a few modern twists.   Output resistors, 2SC4686A's instead of the C3675's but that's about it.  The PSU is the new SMD version of the old KGSS design. 

As can be seen, this is a super tight fit and makes something like the KGSSHV mini seem spacious.  It does work wonderfully but I need to do something about the Stax socket.  So this one comes from the whole host of extension cables I've killed recently and often the threads on those sockets are just toast.  So here I glued it in place with some crazy resin glue but it didn't set properly.  Other than that, it is a cracking amp and not "that" much bigger than the SRM-252...   

Hi @spritzer,

I'm considering buying a used KGSS Klassik (serial #006). I see that you no longer make them. Are they reliable long term?

Or are they any concerns (noise, reliability) due to having the electronics crammed into such a small space, for example?

What other amps would the Klassik be comparable to (e.g., Octave II, STAX 717, 353X, High-Amp.de models)?

Thanks

[n_maher]

The KGSS is a robust and reliable unit.  I've heard of precious few (none come to mind immediately) that had issues when built by a competent builder.  Birgir would certainly more than qualify for that standard.  And while that chassis is compact I'd wager it has far better (and just more) heat management and dissipation compared to the original design's on board heat sinks.  The original design was fine, don't get me wrong, but inherently needed more volume to operate in because airflow across the heat sinks could be limited.  

Comparison wise just look at what the standard KGSS has been compared to before.  I don't think any of the modern(ish) Stax amps can compete with the KGSS (others feel free to correct) and have no experience with the commercial models you are referencing. 

[Aspirant Audiophile]

1 hour ago, Zoide said:

Hi @spritzer,

I'm considering buying a used KGSS Klassik (serial #006). I see that you no longer make them. Are they reliable long term?

Or are they any concerns (noise, reliability) due to having the electronics crammed into such a small space, for example?

What other amps would the Klassik be comparable to (e.g., Octave II, STAX 717, 353X, High-Amp.de models)?

Thanks

I would guess/expect a high-amp.de amp to be in the same league as a midrange Mjolnir amp, but I only base that opinion on the recommendations of others who know that high-amp.de builder personally. I have never owned products by either person. I hope to visit high-amp's workshop myself this summer. 

I have a 353x now, and I am getting a Carbon built because the 353x is good for an affordable amp, but not powerful enough--the Carbon I'm getting is not by Spritzer, but that says nothing about Spritzer's reputation as a builder, which is unquestionably impeccable--I mean, I doubt there is anything on the internet that mentions problems with a Mjolnir product. That should tell you something.

One thing I am curious about is what kind of pot/attenuator/misc. is used in an official Stax amp, as I am currently trying to decide on whether to have my Carbon build upgraded from an rk27 to a Goldpoint47. As I sit in front of my 353x, I'm wondering what Stax itself uses. I understand that Spritzer uses the best components he can find in all his products, though.

[n_maher]

2 hours ago, Aspirant Audiophile said:

One thing I am curious about is what kind of pot/attenuator/misc. is used in an official Stax amp, as I am currently trying to decide on whether to have my Carbon build upgraded from an rk27 to a Goldpoint47. As I sit in front of my 353x, I'm wondering what Stax itself uses. I understand that Spritzer uses the best components he can find in all his products, though.

I believe the unit that you can see in the picture above is an Alpha pot which was sourced via a large group buy.  I don't think that you can buy them one-off.

[spritzer]

No KGSS Klassik has ever come in for servicing so highly reliable I'd say.  Closest comparison would be a fully modified 717. 

[JoaMat]

Not built today,

This combo works realy good

but this combo is not good.

 Where is the bad apple?

[MLA]

Is DynaMat having an impedance fight with mini T2 DHT edition  ? 

[mikeymad]

The little orange light is on the Benchmark in the second one?  

[JoaMat]

Thanks for the suggestens.

It turned out to be this…

Two unsoldered pads inside amplifier to the right.

The amplifier has been working all right for a couple of months, until now. Luckily, I noticed the two missing pads.

No bad apple, just a poor soldering guy.

[simmconn]

hmm, perhaps someone has the habit of populating all the parts first, and then finish up all the soldering joints. Easy to miss a thing or two when there is no AOI. After all it’s only the servo…

[luvdunhill]

Anyone have a favorite jtag interface that can power the target and doesn’t have a complicated Vref requirement? I had to get creative to make this work ..

[swt61]

Winding down on another remodel. 

I'll post a few pics for anyone interested. 

Cabinets all installed. Waiting on appliances mid November. Bottom cabinets are veneered in Fir.

As is the island and floating shelves. 

[swt61]

The ponywall cap and railing are White Oak and the round pickets are set directly into the floor, negating the need for a bottom plate. It makes for a really modern look IMO. The pickets will be painted the same White as all the trim.

The brass bar hanging above the ponywall is actually a pot rack.

I finished the railing to perfectly match the White Oak flooring.

The two bi-fold doors on the far Left are factory made. The four other bi-fold doors are built by myself to match the other two. Someone screwed up and ordered doors that didn't fit, so to avoid a multi month re-order, I just built them.