[Nebby]

Well I'm picking up two kits, one for myself and one for my friend. So after building them I'll have a chance to listen to a balanced CTH before I case them up

 

[tacitapproval]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sachu /img/forum/go_quote.gif well apart from the hiccups with the 6N1P..how does the amp sound?

It's fantastic. Not quite as smooth as the SOHA II, but a lot closer than its size would indicate.

 

[sachu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tacitapproval /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's fantastic. Not quite as smooth as the SOHA II, but a lot closer than its size would indicate.

Yeah, that's exactly my thought too. The SOHA 2 was slightly better but for the price and the size..the CTH is quite the deal.

 

[nsx_23]

Whats the build time for one of these? Uni break coming up, so might finally get the time to build it.

Otherwise I'll have to wait till mid-year break......

 

[sachu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsx_23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Whats the build time for one of these? Uni break coming up, so might finally get the time to build it. Otherwise I'll have to wait till mid-year break......

umm..lets see..about 3 hours it took me last night to populate 95% of the board. Missing a few components else it would all be done by now.

The case work is about half an hour to an hour at the most if you are using the plastic end plate version. The top plate takes an additional hour to two.

Of course with Wiatrob offering pre-drilled top plates or perf tops, plus the soon to be added custom front and rear end plates, casing would be a non-issue.


The custom plates are looking real nice too

My second CTH is going to have RCAs and a 1/4 inch jack in the small case..

I think I can squeeze it in...we'll see

 

[nsx_23]

Ooh, custom plates. When will they be ready?

 

[tacitapproval]

Sachu, I think you are much faster than me. It took me @ six hours to populate the board and wire it--there are a lot of parts. I haven't done the casework yet, but I have the plastic ends so it shouldn't take too long.

 

[Nebby]

I just realized I don't own a uni-bit! Anyone know where to buy one with good prices?

 

[wiatrob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsx_23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ooh, custom plates. When will they be ready?

In about a week. I'm revising the spacing and design now, will run a second prototype in a day or two. Price is TBD at this point, I'll post pictures some when they're ready.

 

[MrSlim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebby /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just realized I don't own a uni-bit! Anyone know where to buy one with good prices?

The best prices seem to be on ebay.
This is the best deal right now I think:
4 PC STEP DRILL BITS TITANIUM tools - eBay (item 260388448407 end time Apr-07-09 11:30:26 PDT)

I bought a 3 piece set a while back and recently purchased one of the bigger 1 3/8" ones to do some of the bigger holes. The other set max was 3/4" The deal attached includes the 1 3/8" so it would be very versatile.

 

[holland]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsx_23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Whats the build time for one of these? Uni break coming up, so might finally get the time to build it. Otherwise I'll have to wait till mid-year break......

It'll vary, depending on what you want to do. A week, working on it now and then at a slow pace should suffice.

I'm building my second one right now, using a larger case (1602). I'm mounting them in the upper slots, so a large part of the time was in playing with how I want to mount things and how much room I have for the bits in the rear and front, and top and bottom clearance. That probably took me a day, and then mocking up a template for the front and back panels is a few hours of measuring and laying out.

My first build was similar, in a Context Engineering case, mounting in the upper slots, playing with parts placement (what to move underneath and angle in certain ways), etc.

If you stick with the recommended build, and putting the PCB in the bottom slots of the Hammond case, it should go fairly quick. Take your time though, replacing parts because you put them in the wrong spot is not entirely pleasant.

Overall, a week (for uni break) should be more than adequate. If you aren't constantly out and about with friends, it should be plenty of time.

 

[sachu]

A big thanks for all those who participated in the 6N1P tube group buy..

Those in the states should be receiving your tubes in a day or two at most and in a week for our friends abroad.

Payment has been received from everyone. Thank you very much all. Hope the tubes light up your eyes and warm your ears.

Cheers,
Sachu

 

[MrSlim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebby /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I'm picking up two kits, one for myself and one for my friend. So after building them I'll have a chance to listen to a balanced CTH before I case them up

So do you have a pair of balanced headphones now, and if so what brand?
I've been curious about the idea myself, but am also a little skittish about recabling my K601s. There has been a lot of discussion about the fact that some headphones benefit from balanced operation more than others and I'd kinda like to know in advance that I would be getting a worthwhile improvement for the effort involved.

 

[wiatrob]

I hate to be the one to disparage the idea of hooking two of these amps up balanced (as I floated the idea early on). But there are some technical hurdles due to the virtual ground levels. I think they're mentioned earlier in the thread...

 

[holland]

I think you can do it. Just leave the ground disconnected from output, but wire it connected to a ground point. Meaning the incoming interconnect needs to have 3 real inputs, +, -, and G per channel. G shouldn't be floating. The + and - should be at the same/similar DC levels and effectively cancels each other out. Take the L and R from one channel as the + and - for the headphone.