Point to Point Wiring done right...(large pics inside)

[tkam]

Well I was a little bored last night so I opened up my PrimaLuna Prologue One and was very impressed by the point-to-point wiring so I took some pictures.

Lower res versions here: http://head-case.org/photos/thumbnails.php?album=6

[Thaddy]

That does look pretty nice, but are you allowed to post manufacturer pictures like that?

[tkam]

Haha those actually are my pics not ones from the manufacturer, not that it would matter we're pretty open here about what can be posted here

[bhd812]

Its not thats its done rite compared to some others....Its just that its Cheap labor..but still a great job at that.

That amp showed me the k1000's so nice I wouldnt believe it if someone told me

[PsychoZX]

That is indeed a nice p2p job.

[aerius]

Hate to be a party-pooper, but not really. Layout is nice, but the actual solder joints themselves aren't that great. Quite a few have too much solder and some don't have enough, overall it qualifies as being built to Class I standards (common consumer goods), and would fail Class II (telecom & medical equipment) nevermind Class III (military & aerospace).

[hirsch]

I also hate to be a party pooper, but I'm not even sure about the layout. It looks like there are wires with different voltages bundled together. If you've got the B+ (hundreds of volts) bundled with the filament voltage (6-12 volts), there may be some interference. Shielded cables would help, but even so the inverse square law does its part also. That's one reason even good P2P amps tend to look like bird nests. One of the objectives is is to keep wiring with different voltages apart from each other.

OTOH, too much solder is not a problem in P2P the way it is on a board. The real connections is mechanical, with wires twisted together. The solder is too keep them from coming apart. It doesn't hurt anything to slather it on. Too little can be a problem, but there is only too much if it's shorting to something else.

[Jon L]

We were visiting Kevin Deal's home/store, and he popped the hood on his PrimaLuna and ASL amps for comparison. The PrimaLuna amp does have super-neat layout, but what's also impressive is the unusually thick gauge chassis, especially when compared to the tin-can feel of ASL amps.

Some amp builders believe "messy" wiring is actually better for sound quality, though, possibly b/c the random electromagnetic fields generated by messy, random wires tend to have less sonic signature.