Today i got reacquainted with my old speakers after months apart.   I didn't have any gear on hand though, so with a little work i powered them straight from the headphone jack of my iphone4. I got a fair amount of volume, so for curiosity's sake I'm pretty seriously keen to know how much...

I'm finally casing up my DIY Firstwatt F2. I'll be doing it mostly in steel. The PSU is already connected to the earth. Should i wire the case up to the earth too?   Thanks   Hugz

My current rig uses: Storm Dac d02 (NOS. Very rich and warm sounding) either stepped attenuator, or a tube preamp that i dont like much Firstwatt F2 power amp (Solid state, mosfet, single ended transconductance amplifier) speakers or headphones   So i want to replace my "preamp"...

hey all, i've got myself a little problem i'm in the market for a balanced dac and a balanced power amp, but i've just realised that my preamp is.. not balanced can anyone recommend some balanced preamps? preferably not too cost. preferably tube (am i contradicting myself)...

i must admit, xlrs confuse the heck outa me. it's true. from what i can tell, a balancd audio xlr should use 3 pins. if this is the case, why do i always see 5 pin xlrs around the place? secondly, what's the general standard of male vs female? male goes on the cable end and female on the...

Hey all my general philosophy for audio nowadays is to buy something sufficiently good that i wont be forced or tempted to upgrade any further. So I have my eye on a (probably second hand) Rega P3 and am wondering a) if it will be sufficient to not make me want to upgrade any further...

Hey all I've got some 0.47uf clarity caps. I was thinking of using two of them in series to replace the 1uf ratshack input cap on my amplifier. I gather that using two 0.5uf caps in series is electronically the same as using one 1uf cap.... but will there be any negative affect on the sound...

Hey all I'm curious to find out how much gain various headphone amps have.. so post up and let me know what model you have and how much gain it has

Hey all. Whats the disadvantages of using a speaker amp to amplify headphones? I dont mean the headphone jack of a receiver - i mean connecting headphones to the speaker jacks? I've been doing this for quite a while and I like it

Time to replace the 6922 tubes in my preamp it currently uses electroharmonix 6922EH, but it's time to upgrade. What tubes would you guys suggest as a replacement for my EHs?

For all discussion about Ken Law's previous dodgy business practices, please visit the Action Against Storm Digital thread. This thread is ONLY for discussion the Storm Pandora DAC. The other thread is ONLY for discussing the previous problems. Thankyou Storm Digital is infamous around these...

Hey all just curious how to cram a zapfilter into a zhaolu case. does anyone have any internal photos?

Hey all I'm just curious if the ability for a transport to read over a scratched CD without skipping would be an indication of a good (sounding) transport, or if it'd be completely unrelated? I know that there's probably no direct relationship between the two, but I'm just wondering if it...

Well there's a thread for just about every other hobby out there, so all you sneakerheads post up and show us what you have and what you want! Or, if sneakers aren't your thing, show us whatever other shoes you have! These are my favourite shoes; not-so-affectionately termed "clown shoes"...

Hey all.. I'm considering buying a closed woodie headphone [from japan]. My budget is around $850 (100,000yen). What would you guys recommend me? Unfortunately I've been out of the headphone scene for a while (i mostly just post in DIY, amps and source subforums lately) and a whole bunch...

Hi all My folks are going to japan soon, and I have a (21st) birthday coming up. Are there any headphones that are a good deal in japan that I should be considering? I know Audio technicas are japanese, as are sony (of course) but are those headphones more affordable in japan than overseas...

Hi all.. I have a modified DAC-AH which I adore, but I've lately been feeling that the time has come to upgrade. My speakers, amp and preamp are more or less at the stage where I cannot afford (nor want) to upgrade them any further. Anyone who has paid any attention to me at all (or can...

Hey all I have a tube amp which uses tubes in the power supply. Currently it uses cheap chinese tubes in this section. is it worth replacing these tubes, or is it a waste of money (considering that i'm on a budget). For comparison, I'd consider changing signal path capacitors but not PSU...

Hey all I've been planning on buying some paper in oil caps soon for my firstwatt (because I'm using some no name brands in some parts due to mixing up my original parts order), and figured that I may as well take the opportunity to upgrade some of the caps in my tube preamp - afterall, most...

hey all I'm thinking of replacing the crap 1uf bypass/output caps on my amp with some paper in oil caps. does this sound like a good idea? is there anything i should be aware of? People seem to almost universally say that paper in oil caps are great for tube amps; however my amp is solid...

Hey all My current setup uses a stepped attenuator as a passive preamp between my source and my power amp (ie, i just have a volume control between the DAC and the power amp). I've just noticed that the final step on the attenuator is actually -3db. Considering that I use a 5w amp, I dont...

Recently Nelson Pass released the schematic for the Firstwatt F2. It's a current amplifier that can be used to power single driver speakers (eg, single driver speakers, AKG K1000 and possibly other headphones). This is a build log just for the sake of documentation, and also to assist anyone...

edit: dammit, typo in title. should be "cdp as amp" Hey all. Just a quick question out of curiosity (not because I actually want to try it). What would happen if I tried to connect my (highly efficient) speakers straight to my CDP? As far as I can tell most CDPs put out 2v. 2v at 8 ohm is...

Hello all I need a little assistance positioning my speakers, if anyone can help. My aim is to make them as transparent as possible. When i close my eyes I want them to disappear. The speakers are "Dallas II" rear loaded horns. They are approximately 32cm wide (on my drawing it's 28cm-...

Hey all I'm ordering parts for two first-watt F2 amplifiers soon, and thus I'll probably be buying four MF30-2F-151.5 heatsinks from http://www.conradheatsinks.com Total cost is around $210. I figure that if i buy a little more they may be willing to give a discount So if anyone from...