Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 22, 2022 23:08:09 GMT
Ok, so numpty question , what's the advantage of dual bridge rectifiers on each rail? Numpty answer......no idea, I did as I was told 🤣 Partly kidding. I'm sure I know why, but my head is tired and my brain isn't working. I suspect an answer will arrive tomorrow....after sleep! |
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Post by electronumpty on Mar 22, 2022 23:16:55 GMT
 No worries! Cheers
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Post by antonio on Mar 23, 2022 5:13:23 GMT
That looks a very tidy build Oli, well done.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2022 7:22:15 GMT
Looking great! I see you're orienting the amp boards to have same length input cables. Are you still planning to remove the Molex-type connectors and solder inputs and outputs directly? That was the plan, however as Tom rightly predicted,they do not budge easily. After an attempt at removing them, we abandoned it. I will now solder directly to the pins, but I'm going to try and get as close to the PCB as possible in hope of getting a bit of solder in contact with the through hole. Best I can do. If you are never going to use the connectors, you could cut the front off the sockets to give you better access? |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 23, 2022 7:42:10 GMT
That was the plan, however as Tom rightly predicted,they do not budge easily. After an attempt at removing them, we abandoned it. I will now solder directly to the pins, but I'm going to try and get as close to the PCB as possible in hope of getting a bit of solder in contact with the through hole. Best I can do. If you are never going to use the connectors, you could cut the front off the sockets to give you better access? Yeah could do. |
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Post by firebottle on Mar 23, 2022 8:11:42 GMT
That's what I did on the last 686 upgrade.
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optical
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Post by optical on Mar 23, 2022 8:17:55 GMT
That's what I did on the last 686 upgrade. Alan did a lovely job on these.  |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 23, 2022 8:30:01 GMT
That's what I did on the last 686 upgrade. Alan did a lovely job on these. Yeah, I thought about those. I'll be attacking them in a similar way. |
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Post by jimbo on Mar 23, 2022 9:11:14 GMT
Yeah nice job Alan.
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Post by pete on Mar 23, 2022 9:39:23 GMT
Build is looking excellent, not far away now
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 23, 2022 10:00:04 GMT
Build is looking excellent, not far away now Cheers Pete. Can't wait to get it up and running |
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Post by pete on Mar 23, 2022 10:06:50 GMT
Build is looking excellent, not far away now Cheers Pete. Can't wait to get it up and running How is progress going on the speaker protection? |
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Post by robbiegong on Mar 23, 2022 10:10:42 GMT
Build is looking excellent, not far away now Cheers Pete. Can't wait to get it up and running Excellent work Olster. Be great when you fire it up. Get those hours on though, (leave it on if you can), very important and save any critical evaluation of it's sonic prowess until then. I found 100 hours to be a very significant and key moment with my recently acquired Vida Prima phono stage, very significant. |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 23, 2022 10:46:52 GMT
Cheers Pete. Can't wait to get it up and running Excellent work Olster. Be great when you fire it up. Get those hours on though, (leave it on if you can), very important and save any critical evaluation of it's sonic prowess until then. I found 100 hours to be a very significant and key moment with my recently acquired Vida Prima phono stage, very significant. Cheers Rob. The big caps on these amplifiers take months mate. It took my old 686 about 3 months of daily use before I felt it really woke up. That was when the 686 boards were already 12 months old. Now everything is new, even the wiring. I have a feeling it may be some time before it is firing in all cylinders. I always recommend 100 hours on Phonostage though. It does seem to be the magic number. |
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Post by robbiegong on Mar 23, 2022 11:00:40 GMT
Excellent work Olster. Be great when you fire it up. Get those hours on though, (leave it on if you can), very important and save any critical evaluation of it's sonic prowess until then. I found 100 hours to be a very significant and key moment with my recently acquired Vida Prima phono stage, very significant. Cheers Rob. The big caps on these amplifiers take months mate. It took my old 686 about 3 months of daily use before I felt it really woke up. That was when the 686 boards were already 12 months old. Now everything is new, even the wiring. I have a feeling it may be some time before it is firing in all cylinders. I always recommend 100 hours on Phonostage though. It does seem to be the magic number. Fabulous Olster. I've made the mistake myself, making a judgement without giving a component any time, it;s a lesson I've learned. Worse is a brand new/newly built piece of kit being given out for immediate evaluation - guess what the reviews will be like ? and flawed of course. |
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Post by brucew268 on Mar 23, 2022 11:09:18 GMT
Excellent work Olster. Be great when you fire it up. Get those hours on though, (leave it on if you can), very important and save any critical evaluation of it's sonic prowess until then. I found 100 hours to be a very significant and key moment with my recently acquired Vida Prima phono stage, very significant. Cheers Rob. The big caps on these amplifiers take months mate. It took my old 686 about 3 months of daily use before I felt it really woke up. That was when the 686 boards were already 12 months old. Now everything is new, even the wiring. I have a feeling it may be some time before it is firing in all cylinders. I always recommend 100 hours on Phonostage though. It does seem to be the magic number. Yeah, 3 months sounds about right for my experience of the 686 coming into its own. Don't you hate the requirements of patience?! |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 23, 2022 11:13:30 GMT
Cheers Rob. The big caps on these amplifiers take months mate. It took my old 686 about 3 months of daily use before I felt it really woke up. That was when the 686 boards were already 12 months old. Now everything is new, even the wiring. I have a feeling it may be some time before it is firing in all cylinders. I always recommend 100 hours on Phonostage though. It does seem to be the magic number. Yeah, 3 months sounds about right for my experience of the 686 coming into its own. Don't you hate the requirements of patience?! Yes, it's bloody annoying, but this time digital will be doing the heavy lifting and I'll be reserving until I feel the 686 is singing. Running the last 686 in took three months off my HA102 last time. Won't make that mistake again |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 23, 2022 21:16:25 GMT
Spent a couple of hours sorting out the power inlet and wiring for the speakers and RCA connections. PC-TRIPLE C of course! Finally got to the point where I was happy to check the power supply. Plugged it in and..........Nothing. Spent 10 minutes probing around..... couldn't see anything that was wrong, or obviously not right. Very frustrating......then I realised I hadn't put a fuse in the fuse holder 🤣 Spent another 30 minutes looking for a fuse that might work.....but no. I haven't got a bloody fuse. Mega frustrating.       |
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Post by robbiegong on Mar 23, 2022 21:24:25 GMT
Spent a couple of hours sorting out the power inlet and wiring for the speakers and RCA connections. PC-TRIPLE C of course! Finally got to the point where I was happy to check the power supply. Plugged it in and..........Nothing. Spent 10 minutes probing around..... couldn't see anything that was wrong, or obviously not right. Very frustrating......then I realised I hadn't put a fuse in the fuse holder 🤣 Spent another 30 minutes looking for a fuse that might work.....but no. I haven't got a bloody fuse. Mega frustrating. What you like Olster, Mega rolls Royce / Bentley build, cant fire up due to no battery  |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 23, 2022 22:32:23 GMT
Spent a couple of hours sorting out the power inlet and wiring for the speakers and RCA connections. PC-TRIPLE C of course! Finally got to the point where I was happy to check the power supply. Plugged it in and..........Nothing. Spent 10 minutes probing around..... couldn't see anything that was wrong, or obviously not right. Very frustrating......then I realised I hadn't put a fuse in the fuse holder 🤣 Spent another 30 minutes looking for a fuse that might work.....but no. I haven't got a bloody fuse. Mega frustrating. What you like Olster, Mega rolls Royce / Bentley build, cant fire up due to no battery Mad. I really can't believe with the amount of stuff i have in the garage that I haven't got a fuse! I've ordered various values, which I hope will arrive Friday. |
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Post by electronumpty on Mar 23, 2022 22:41:37 GMT
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 23, 2022 23:16:47 GMT
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 24, 2022 8:37:50 GMT
WE HAVE POWER!!!!!!
.......and I didn't die, which is great news.
+/-30v per channel. Now all that's left is to connect the wiring. Can't do that at the minute as it's the gaffers birthday, but she's out at 13:00. I'll attempt to get this running today.
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Post by antonio on Mar 24, 2022 9:11:57 GMT
Great, must be a good feeling when it powers up ok especially with out any wiring  Only kidding, I know you mean interconnects and speaker cables. Happy Birthday to Mrs Bigman, have a great day together, (hifi and the forum can take a back seat for one day  ) |
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 24, 2022 9:15:19 GMT
Great, must be a good feeling when it powers up ok especially with out any wiring Only kidding, I know you mean interconnects and speaker cables. Happy Birthday to Mrs Bigman, have a great day together, (hifi and the forum can take a back seat for one day ) Yep, over the moon that I didn't die. You don't want the first power up to take place with the boards connected. Thats a £1000 unnecessary risk! Yep, just the internal wiring to couple up now and it should be ready to fire up and get playing. |
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 24, 2022 12:59:16 GMT
Getting close now  |
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Post by electronumpty on Mar 24, 2022 13:12:29 GMT
No speaker protection? Looking good
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Post by misterc on Mar 24, 2022 13:17:23 GMT
Oli, why not speak to Alan and build a nice 500W dummy load, then you can give the amplifie rsomething to chew on for a week that will sort it then you have a platform for running in these things.
I built three a few years ago (one variable) so I do not have to go through the boredom of running in again. Also usefore for testing as well
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 24, 2022 13:27:01 GMT
No speaker protection? Looking good Not yet. Boards are being mate. |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 24, 2022 13:27:11 GMT
Oli, why not speak to Alan and build a nice 500W dummy load, then you can give the amplifie rsomething to chew on for a week that will sort it then you have a platform for running in these things. I built three a few years ago (one variable) so I do not have to go through the boredom of running in again. Also usefore for testing as well Yeah, not a bad shout that T. |
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No worries! Cheers 
)