Post pics of your builds.... - Page 409

So this is not really electronics, though it will help my hobby

The problem was no space to work on projects without my wife looking to kill me. So I'm building this piece of furniture that goes in my dinning room (city living). It will make a nice serving table, but underneath...

It is a place for me to work (daytime - computers / nighttime - electronics).



Yes, that is my DIY Blue Hawaii on the left of the shelf

Early photo just after I glued the main pieces together (no screws - I used buscuits and glue to join all the wood).



Here's a shot from the back. The back panels were glued into 1/4" groves that I routed in.


It's not finished yet, but you can start to get the idea. The front will have doors on either side and the center contains 4 pull out filing draws. There is a 6' work shelf that pulls out 20". It is supported down the center when it is pushed in. Seems rigid enough for now when it is fully extended (as long as there is nothing too heavy in the center).

It's far enought along to be functional. I should finish it up in the next week or two.

x2. are you planning on driving efficient speakers as well? i think the B22would sound great with FR speakers.

This has been a very long time coming, and I am absolutely thrilled with the final results...... so apologies for the photo spam, especially if you end up seeing this exact same post on several different forums!

I have just finished up a complete re-case and upgrade of my Buffalo DAC, originally posted here. This is my best attempt at a no holds barred build, while still trying to be a little bit sensible. While it is comprised exclusively of cookie-cutter DIY parts, I would like to think that everything is implemented quite well; I designed it to be clean, functional, and above all, upgradeable.

First some pictures......













Tech highlights:
HiFi2000 Pesante 2U 300mm deep case
FPE panels front (6mm) and back (4mm)
Integrated IEC inlet with DPDT switch, double fused and filter
AMB's E24 with SSR for mains power switching
Two fully shielded and encapsulated 30VA transformers from SumR
Two TPA LCDPS providing four separate power lines for the digital components
One TPA Placid BP with 2.5" sinks providing power for the I/V and linestage, set at ±15V
TPA SPDIF MUX for input switching
USB input provided by AMB's Gamma1 USB/SPDIF board
TPA Toslink input module
Two additional RCA coax inputs
DAC is an original TPA Buffalo24, fed by I2S from the MUX
I/V and linestage is an TPA IVY with the most recent parts recommendations
1pr each XLR and RCA out

Of everything that went into this build, the thing I am most proud of is the Power/Lock light, as shown below. When power is first switched on, the switch lights blue. When SPDIF lock is obtained, the switch changes to red. It is controlled by the LOCK led from the MUX board triggering an OTTO relay wired to reverse the polarity of voltage fed to a Bulgin dual-colour illuminated switch. Such a simple premise, but I absolutely love the functionality it provides, and the cleanliness of the front panel from not needing separate lights. The only problem with this scheme is that when using ASIO through the USB input, the relay clunks around a lot when pausing/resuming and switching tracks. Certainly something I can live with though.


Silence......


Music playing!

I still need to add a couple of finishing touches, namely a selector knob, connecting the IEC GND to the chassis, replacing the fasteners with socket head screws, and installing 'struts' that connect the top and bottom plates for better structural rigidity - I'm just going to use a 3" long 6-32 standoff for this, but can't justify the Mouser order for just these, so they will have to wait. I would also like to get a shorter internal USB cable.

Now with respect to being upgradeable, I have tried to keep the power and input system very flexible...... any DAC that takes SPDIF or I2S should drop right in, and the power supplies should be able to handle up to 9V for digital and anywhere in the range of ±12-18V for analogue. And there is an absolutely huge amount of room for new DAC, I/V or linestage boards.

Thanks for looking!

Edited by Beefy - 5/27/10 at 12:53pm

Amazingly clean build, Beefy, that really looks beautiful!

that is some slick work @beefy great job

Beefy - that is truly an amazing job. Looks much better than nearly anything on the market, despite being homemade.

Beefy that is very clean and super awesome. Lovin' the panel work - congrats!

Congrats Beefy, amazing work. Is there an improvement with the Placid?

Thanks John and everyone else

To be honest, its been so long since I listened to my old LCBPS version I couldn't tell you the difference the Placid makes

Great build Beefy..that's some sweet work.

beefy posted some really PRO level work. it took him a lot of time to design and build that chassis. (and it really looks good, too).

me, otoh, I have not quite gotton into the FPE thang quite yet. but the price was right (free chassis from an old TIVO box, series-1 tivo, to be precise) I might use it as a base and dress it up (and then mount things for real) or I might abandon it and find something a little nicer for the innerds. but for now, it keeps the power supply from sliding into the amp modules and I suppose that's kind of a good thing.



yes, that really is hot-melt glue holding the standoffs to the chassis. it will hold long enough for me to decide on a final layout (that's what I'm fussing about at the moment). I might go with this layout but I also want to reserve room for 'control things'. this has no volume control and it will need one...

but for now, it lets me play with it and that's always a nice middle stage to be at.

Where did you get the awesome switch?

I think I picked that up at Newark.

Mouser has plenty of the single colour variants (I bought another plain red one for another build), but doesn't seem to stock the dual colour ones.

Thanks for posting. Such a clean build! I am still debating on what to do with my Buffalo. I want something cheap for the time being.

The Bulgin switches can be easily found from Farnell and I am considering installing it on the Havana with a customized front panel, replacing the acrylic panel with aluminum and windows for the 4 LED indicators and tubes displays.