Graduation Day - The Tubelab Simple SE project begins...

[bhjazz]

Completely different tought. (and yes, it was good for me)

So I was going to get into shpeakers a few years back. And it was a few years before the whole headphone thing which I really enjoy. I ended up talking with Jeff Joseph (speaker designer) and listened to one of his conversations with an audio engineer that he knew well.

I was lost in the first 30 seconds.

[lostonetr]

what's the name of the unit in aerius's post?

[aerius]

That's a one of kind Electronluv amp. It uses the GM100 tube which is well, pretty darn big.

[spritzer]

That's a one of kind Electronluv amp. It uses the GM100 tube which is well, pretty darn big.

300+W for the filament of a single tube!!

[lostonetr]

Great name for an amp. How bright does that tube get? The

Filaments lit to 5V so they can be seen without going blind.

has me curious.

[aerius]

Great name for an amp. How bright does that tube get?

For a rough approximation, go to Home Depot and get a 300W halogen tube along with a lamp to put it in. Plug it in, turn it on, and stare at it.

[bhjazz]

Their website is down now, but stay tuned. Some serious beautiful (and huge) amps. They sound about as amazing as they look.

[luvdunhill]

Grace Ice & Water Shield (membrane for under composite roofing) also works very well, and is very DIY friendly.

Nate:

I also like bitumen pads... not as DIY friendly perhaps, but meh...

As far as I'm concerned, then North Creek manuals are the bible on enclosures, until you start stepping up to the academic articles.

[n_maher]

As far as I'm concerned, then North Creek manuals are the bible on enclosures, until you start stepping up to the academic articles.

Thanks, I'll search around and see if I can find some information on those manuals, it's the first I've heard of them.

[luvdunhill]

Thanks, I'll search around and see if I can find some information on those manuals, it's the first I've heard of them.

yeah, they have a very particular way of doing things, but it is excellent and well-thought out. However, get ready for some nice heavy cabinets.

I might have a pair of 10" drivers up for sale soon. In my opinion, the best driver out there for a true 3-way. It the SS 25W/8565-01, I measured them and that's it, otherwise brand new. Looks like you may have other plans though...

Also, I'd recommend this forum for speaker building (and more importantly, designing). Extremely knowledgeable people there, and in my opinion the best forum out there for this stuff:

HTGuide Forum - Mission Possible DIY

Take care!

[n_maher]

Ok, back on topic (as much as is possible around here). FedEx dropped off a 40lb box yesterday and other than a few missing parts (which are already on the way) all's well in Simple SE land.

The guy who selected the parts for this build has heard several Simple SE's and also owns a very similar commercial product and chose the parts according to his experience and advice from others. The result, a collection of pretty top self components really. I can't see anything so far that I'd upgrade. All of the iron is custom Electraprint stuff (to the tune of north of $600), the big honking motor run caps are the same that I used in the Menace (they're used in the PS here) and all the resistors are Riken, PRP or Holco. What few electrolytic there are that will be used will be Elna Silmic II's. For what is for me a "budget build" I'm content to leave this alone. On the way from the seller are the Mundorf Silver in Oil caps and a PEC carbon pot.

So last net I set about sorting and getting a lay of the land in terms of how I want to approach this. Miss Lily decided that I wasn't going to be all that productive so I didn't get much done last night other than that.

Today I started the process of stuffing the pcb, a simple (wink wink) and straight-forward process. All of the positions are clearly labeled and match up with the schematic and parts list on the website. As usual I go pretty slowly and methodically since 10 minutes saved resulting in smoldering parts really isn't a good use of what free time I have. So after about an hour I'd turned the pile of parts into this.

Another half hour and I had the tube sockets mounted.

Before I go much further I need to do some layout planning to see how exactly I want to mount the remaining board mounted parts and other details. The parts "kit" came with a Hammond chassis but I'm not sure everything is going to fit since it's pretty shallow so I may need to fine a solution for that before I can get a whole lot more done.

So that's it for now, not much I know, but it's a start.

[n_maher]

Nate, check your PM's now, it's very important.

/just kidding.

Nice one Jacob, but so far I haven't messed anything up yet. Although it did screw with my head when I discovered that the octal tube sockets that I had are numbered incorrectly on the bottom side, all the numbers are shifted 1 place. That'd be pretty awful if I was PTP'ing this and used those as a guide instead of the notch!

[luvdunhill]

if those are Holco resistors, they look mighty funky

[n_maher]

if those are Holco resistors, they look mighty funky

Cry pardon, Kiwame, PRP, Riken.

[n_maher]

A bit more progress was made the other night.

I've gotten a bit more done since then but not much really. Progress has been slow going as I bounce back and forth between projects. I hope to have some time over the long weekend to start chassis layout planning. I'm finding that I'm not all that pleased with the restrictions that the pcb is causing regarding layout and the seed has already been planted that this may end up being a prototype of sorts with a PTP version to follow.

[n_maher]

Another all-to-brief update. I finally got around to doing some preliminary layout work this weekend. Good grief this is going to be a pretty tight layout. Not 100% sure which of the two I'll go with, both have advantages and disadvantages.

I'm leaning towards the latter so far, it's better as far as the caps are concerned so I may start drilling tomorrow based on this.

[jinp6301]

I like the first and my opinion counts more since I'm not a metal monster

[aerius]

Good grief this is going to be a pretty tight layout. Not 100% sure which of the two I'll go with, both have advantages and disadvantages.

I'm leaning towards the latter so far, it's better as far as the caps are concerned so I may start drilling tomorrow based on this.

I prefer the first one. It puts the metal capacitors between the big power transformer and what looks like either a choke or a filament transformer. This should cut down on hum coupling from the power transformer to the choke (if it is one).

[jinp6301]

it's the other way around: since you are a measly human, your opinion doesn't count for shit.

you're a monster and monsters are fail

[Dusty Chalk]

Unless he's your friend and you're trying to fight another monster.

[spritzer]

Looks good but I wonder if it wouldn't be better to rotate one of the output trafos 90

[n_maher]

Looks good but I wonder if it wouldn't be better to rotate one of the output trafos 90

[guzziguy]

Just make both and see which you prefer. You can sell the other to Earwig and tell him it's a BHSE.

[spritzer]

I don't think that I've ever seen that done before. I've been told to orient the primary trafo 90

[n_maher]

Finally, some friggen movement on this project.

Hopefully some more round hole cutting can be accomplished today.