The ultimate DIY? A Stax SRM-T2!

[digger945]

Let me guess. You're saying to yourself something like..."That's it. After this project no more for awhile. Besides, what could possibly be better?"

[nattonrice]

Every time I say that it's the end it always fails like a week after...

I build a balanced b22 and say that's it.

Then I hear the o2 and KG does this t2 thing so then there's that.

Right, no more.

Oh but wait a kgss would be cool to have around!

That'll end it.

Hmmm what about another dac?

...

Shit

[Craig Sawyers]

There is a small bit of leakage thru the aluminum oxide thermal washers, so a few microamps shows up.

I forgot to mention a while back, that a small grounding wire between the power supply output, and a nearby

chassis mounting screw works great. (picture the next time i open the thing up, which is probably going to be never)

I suspect that it is more likely to be due to interwinding capacitance in the power transformers than the alumina insulators. That is why two-pin appliances have to be double insulated to keep chassis parts away from human contact.

But really, the first time in 4 years that i have spent

a single penny on the corvette.

OK, I'll bite - what vintage of corvette do you have? I rebuilt and restored a 30 year old Jaguar V12 saloon (sedan) a few years back, end to end. There are a LOT of bits in a 5.3L V12 and GM400 gearbox. For project cost imagine a pile of dollars and a shovel.

For anyone remotely interested, here are some pics of the finished beast

http://www.tech-enterprise.com/tekstuff/DSCN0194.JPG

http://www.tech-enterprise.com/tekstuff/DSCN0195.JPG

http://www.tech-enterprise.com/tekstuff/DSCN0196.JPG

http://www.tech-enterprise.com/tekstuff/DSCN0197.JPG

http://www.tech-enterprise.com/tekstuff/DSCN0198.JPG

[spritzer]

Let me guess. You're saying to yourself something like..."That's it. After this project no more for awhile. Besides, what could possibly be better?"

For me it isn't even about better any more, just something different. I have two nearly finished amps sitting on my desk right now yet I spent the morning working on a project which I haven't touched for 6 months or more, HEV90/Aristaeus style amp with rare and obscure triodes...

[kevin gilmore]

2007 corvette. My daily driver. Including the winter.

Which is why i need all season run flats.

[mrarroyo]

Man, I miss my 2004 Vette. It was red and a convertible but it was killed by a flood in May of 2009 in Miami Beach. Over 4,000 cars were declared total loss. Kevin, in the future you may wish to try Tire Rack ( Tire Rack - Your performance experts for tires and wheels ) for tires.

[kevin gilmore]

I got the michelins at discount tire. I needed to deal with the problem immediately.

tire rack is useless. the tires won't fit in the trunk (what trunk) and they won't deliver to anywhere

convenient.

I'm now good for another 40k miles. By then i will have a C7. (or else)

Jaguars are beautiful cars. I owned one. I will never EVER own another one.

At least it never left me stranded. But the every single month service repairs

were really abnoxious.

Got to love the impossible to adjust dual throttle linkage on the V12.

Edited July 10, 2010 by kevin gilmore

[mrarroyo]

Sorry to hear that Kevin, things have changed for the worse. When I last bought a set of 4 tires (had an Audi TT convertible) from Tire Rack they delivered them to a local shop that installed them.

[kevin gilmore]

trying to decide which direction to cut the knobs from.

paging Dr. Wood...

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/lv1.jpg

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/lv2.jpg

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/lv3.jpg

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/lv4.jpg

[swt61]

Kevin I'm kind of partial to the even grain of the first pic. I'd use that for the flat face of the knob. Gorgeous wood, and I have no good guess as to it's species.

Can't wait to see those cut!

[Craig Sawyers]

Kevin I'm kind of partial to the even grain of the first pic. I'd use that for the flat face of the knob. Gorgeous wood, and I have no good guess as to it's species.

Can't wait to see those cut!

Lignum Vitae

[swt61]

Oh, I wouldn't have guessed that at all. I have some of the Central American Variety also known as Vera Wood, but I'm imagining yours to be the 'true' Lignum Vitae, which is highly sought after.

I made a fence for my cross cut sled out of the Vera Wood, and immediately dulled a good blade on my table saw. You can hear the silica grinding as you cut.

I imagine Kevin has something a little more elaborate to cut with.

[Craig Sawyers]

Jaguars are beautiful cars. I owned one. I will never EVER own another one.

At least it never left me stranded. But the every single month service repairs

were really abnoxious.

Got to love the impossible to adjust dual throttle linkage on the V12.

Yeah - service repairs are always horrendous. I ended up retiring the car in around '95 after it let me down with coolant leaks far too often, but couldn't bring myself to dispose of it. So I shoved it in the garage, and when I found some time (oh - around 2 years work in evenings and weekends) I rebuilt at nut and bolt level. Horrendously expensive job. Fortunately my local Jag garage (TWR Oxford) lent me all the specialist tools necessary.

So there is absolutely no way it is going to let me down (knock on wood). Plus it only gets sparingly used, and only in the Summer to keep the rust worms at bay.

Throttle linkages is a doddle. You undo the locknuts on the ends of each linkage. One is a left hand thread and the other a right hand one. There is a knurled bit on each link rod to grasp between your fingers - you just turn each link rod until there is a little slack, and the throttle pedastle takes up that slack on both links at the same time. Tighten the locknuts - job done.

Certainly nothing like as difficult as the pre-injection, very early 4-carb V12 engine was to adjust. Two SU carbs each side, with each one feeding three cylinders. Balancing that up really was the stuff of madness and dragons.

Corvette looks like a real champ Kevin - nice beast. Like my Jag it must drink fuel like crazy

[swt61]

Quite astonishingly the new C7 can get beter than 20 mpg on the highway.

[Craig Sawyers]

Oh, I wouldn't have guessed that at all. I have some of the Central American Variety also known as Vera Wood, but I'm imagining yours to be the 'true' Lignum Vitae, which is highly sought after.

I made a fence for my cross cut sled out of the Vera Wood, and immediately dulled a good blade on my table saw. You can hear the silica grinding as you cut.

I imagine Kevin has something a little more elaborate to cut with.

I was lucky - I snagged a 13" x 2-3/4" square piece of true LV. Drove a fair distance to pick it up. Have used a strip off one side to make fences out of for my hand rebate planes (3 old Record ones, and a skew mouth Lie Nielsen). It is great because of its self-lubricating properties and its extreme harness.

There is the most astonishing perfume when freshly cutting the wood from the exposed oils. Lignum Vitae means wood of life, because it was believed to have medicinal properties.

I cut a 4" chunk, which is the one that Kevin now has in the photos. I use a bandsaw to cut the stuff, not a table saw. There is less waste using a bandsaw too (thinner kerf), but you have to be careful to minimise wander, and cut slowly and steadily.

Vera Wood is interesting - also called Maracaibo lignum vitae (Bulnesia sarmienti), and is a great wood. My wood supplier says of Vera Wood (which he calls Palo Santo wood):

"Although this wood has been used for generations for the same purposes as the genuine lignum vitaes (timber from the genus guiaicum) it has become a more important choice recently because of the listing of the Guaiacum lignum vitaes on Cites appendix II.

Genuine lignum vitae is currently only possible for import with Cites export and import documentation. In practice this means there is not a lot coming through."

[kevin gilmore]

Quite astonishingly the new C7 can get beter than 20 mpg on the highway.

Mine already gets 29 mpg on the highway, and 21 in the city.

No joke. Beats the crap out of the jaguar which could only

do 14 in the city.

The C7 with the 440hp direct injection engine should do 35 on the highway.

(being 150 lbs lighter, and the efficiencies of direct inject)

Maybe even better depending on the aero-dynamics.

When i was growing up in high school, one of the people on the block

had a very rare XKE with a V12 engine, and 4 x 2 barrel carbs. he was

adjusting it weekly. Maybe even more often. Had floating things with

ping pong balls in it to do the adjustments.

I'm likely to cut up the wood with a diamond saw.

Edited July 11, 2010 by kevin gilmore

[swt61]

I remember the 350 engine swap kits on the market, because so many people were tired of the constant maintenance with the Jags. I happen to be a big Corvette fan. When it really comes down to it, the cost to performance ratio is phenominal. The next gen. split window looks pretty damn good too...

[Craig Sawyers]

Mine already gets 29 mpg on the highway, and 21 in the city.

No joke. Beats the crap out of the jaguar which could only

do 14 in the city.

I have to keep looking at the different definition of gallon on each side of the pond. 1US gallon in 3.78 litres and 1UK gallon is 4.55 litres. On the freeway at 80mph in cruise I average 18 mp(UK)g, which is 22 mp(US)g. So less for sure than your 'vette - but it is a much older engine design. Also, mine is the so-called HE engine (for "high efficiency":)), which had a domed head and a monster 12.5 compression ratio. The older flat head low compression engine gave 14mp(UK)g on a good day.

When i was growing up in high school, one of the people on the block

had a very rare XKE with a V12 engine, and 4 x 2 barrel carbs. he was

adjusting it weekly. Maybe even more often. Had floating things with

ping pong balls in it to do the adjustments.

That sounds about right. Early Lotus cars were the same - they had a straight 6 with three SU carbs. But to fit the engine in the squat profile the engine is canted over with the carbs *underneath*. Also the Triumph TR7. Owners of all these cars are constantly tweaking the damned things.

I'm likely to cut up the wood with a diamond saw.

Sounds like a plan. Try shaving 1/8" off one end and see how it goes.

[Icarium]

Hooray Morphsci the amp brotherhood continues. also j4cbo is working on the dynafets he hopes to finish before he leaves.... fingers crossed

[Craig Sawyers]

i know somebody with one of those. as far as i can tell, he has spent much more time working on it than he ever has driving it.

I think that this is possibly the definition of "classic". Porsche 928? Gorgeous - a nightmare. Aston Martin DBS? Superb - a moneypit. Jag Mk10 - don't even consider it. In fact the older Astons had such "individuality" in panel fit that they used to lead load the bodyshell in the factory to get everything levelled off. So if you need to replace a panel, you need to find a bodyshop that knows how to lead load panel seams.

About the only older car that just keeps going is an older Rolls Royce - 1960's to 1980's. You can pick them up for a song. Even the Bentley Mulsanne Turbo is only a few grand. Just don't try to go around a corner in it - straight line performance is like a bullet (0 - 60mph in 4.8 seconds), until you turn the steering wheel.

[morphsci]

Hooray Morphsci the amp brotherhood continues. ...

Yep, that was my exact thought when I bought it.

... also j4cbo is working on the dynafets he hopes to finish before he leaves.... fingers crossed

Excellent

Edited July 12, 2010 by morphsci

[kevin gilmore]

a stax of staxjacks

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/staxjacks.jpg

i wanted to make 40, but friday got in the way...

this is enough for a while, the 4 people getting chassis

this month, let me know whether you want low bias or

high bias jacks.

If the material comes in today, i will start on more angle

pieces.

All of the parts for the 4 are done, so they will ship as soon

as the stuff gets back from anodizing.

[digger945]

Those look great. Like the fact that they are one piece jobs.

[spritzer]

Yup, it's a single piece of teflon.

I need a couple of these Kevin for the prototype, milled from solid Blue Hawaii...

[kevin gilmore]

You already have 2 stax jacks for that, and you know it.

But i will send you one more to replace the defective one plus the 2 knobs

and the dact bracket as soon as the stuff shows up.

The solid single piece BH is indeed great.

I hope to do even better with the solid single piece T2.

I think we are both in a race to see who can spend more on massive

solid chunks of aluminum.