[G-man]

Hi, well as you may have gathered, i was thinking of building a set up, from scratch (well pretty much) for around about 350 pounds. This was my idea:

Audio Set up:

Headphones:

AKG K701s. It was basically either these or the SennheiserHD650s, and well, i chose these (but am still reading on the 701 vs 650 threads, just so many, and nobody says the same thing. stupid people with there stupid opinions and original thoughts. why cant you all be like sheep and agree.

).

BTW, if i missed a headphone in the £180 price range, do tell me, obviously only if it is of similar quality.

Amp:

My general basis of this choice is that, for my price range (bout 80-100ish pounds), it would be better to build an amp as i would be getting a much better deal so to say. Although i have little or no experience, i will get my dad to help, who is and electrical engineer, so should be able to help me.

Now i do not really know of any other DIY amp kit, in this price range, so i going with the Bijou from Glassjaraudio.

So,are my multitude of assumptions right, that diy will give me the best bang for the buck, and that bijou is my only option?

DAC:

Now i will be using my desktop (or my laptop if i eventually get it fixed) for the system, i do not want my oh so crappy sound card to be the weakest link. So i decided to get a dac, but not spend too much.

Again, the diy logic applies, so i was thinking of the Alien dac, again from glassjaraudio. The price range is about 30ish pounds, and as i will get these with the bijou, together shipping should be less. Again, any other options, and is the diy assumption right.

Cables:

I am a complete n00b in the area so need your help. What cable connects to what, and should i build my own (depends on connectors, but most should be available in my local maplin) or buy them ready made.

Also, what will be cost of each. I will probably build a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, for a couple of uses, probably using some cable i will have left over when i decrease my MDR xd200's cable form 3m to 1m.



You can assume that this is my first set up. I listen to a lot of stuff, roack/indie/jazz/classical. Nothing too bass heavy, thus the so called lack of bass in the 701s does not bother me.Ii also like what i am hearing of the tube amps, that they are warm and have nice mids, so i would like one of those, but i do not mind going hybrid/solid state if the sq is better, or if i am mistaken.

Finishing Ideas:

Amp/DAC:

Finally some ideas that i have to finalise my set up. As both the amp and dac are in Hammond enclosures, i was thinking of getting them both in silver, and putting a layer of nice soft brown leather around the middle, up till the risen edges.

Then, drilling a small capital italic G in one of the corners, and putting a white LED underneath. That would look nice in my opinion, as long as it is neatly done.

Also, are the tubes in the Bijou fully risen, (i.e. above the top of the enclosure)? And if not, can they be made so. I could not find any pictures of a completed bijou, so i could not tell.

Shelving Unit:

I will the probably buy a small table/rack with glass shelves and metallic pipes for edges (seen one or two i like, not sure about size). The pipes are most likely to be hollow (do not think they would have such thick solid metal bars). So, to get rid of unsightly cables, drill small hole near each edge, and run all the cables up and down inside the pipe. i was thinking 4 shelves:

1 (top): Laptop (if fixed) and IR cables for the remote (if i can get it to work)
2: Headphones, with stand (no stand for AKG, have an idea for a stand if otherwise)
3: Amp (medium height, due to larger amp and tubes)
4 (bottom): DAC (low height shelf) Might switch this and amp about, see which i like better.

Costs:

I made a list of the general amount i want to spend in areas in total, do please say if you think proportion should differ:

Headphones: £180
Amp: £90
DAC: £30
Cables: £20
Other: £20
Shelving Unit: £30

Total: £350 (wow, i wasn't even planning on spending exactly 350).

I am probably not able to stretch is more, maybe get 30 pounds extra if i can get my parents to buy the shelf. And i do not even want to spend extra, as i only have £100 as of now, will get a job soon to save up for the rest. So please do not say, "if you can afford to extend you budget, ...".


So what do you guys think?


Thanks


Gautam

 

[ludoo]

Why don't you get a Stax setup instead?

 

[G-man]

i knew someone was going to say that. the only stax set up i would be interested in is £350, and i would rather get these. that way, it is better for using other headphones as well.

 

[G-man]

on an extended note, is it possible to "extent" the connectors of the tubes. i mean there are normal connectors soldered onto the PCB. is it possible to buy longer ones of those, or even extend them, or make them higher. i was looking at the bijou diy thread, and most of them are pretty low. i would like my tubes to be as high as possible, and so above the enclosure. but everything else hidden inside.
Is this possible?

 

[steviebee]

I have got this right -the shelving unit is for the amps and phones? Why not put them on your desktop stand or just a wallshelf -or am I missing something here....I mean that's 30 quid -could go on something audio!

Nice idea re the LED 'G', btw

 

[jdouglas]

Yea, cool idea about the LED, you should take pictures if you do it

Also, that sounds like really good price for a DAC, hard to imagine getting more of a DAC for less money.

 

[G-man]

i certainly will. and i do not have space on my desktop, so i dont mind spending that 30 pounds on a shelving unit. what about the actual audio equipment, and the cables, any ideas?

 

[sawyer]

For headamp/DAC, I would like to recommend Zero DAC/amp. Around $180 shipped and I bet it would be the best $180 you've spent.

 

[G-man]

lol, i am not spending ~£100 for a dac. And i just realised that i will get the hd650, think i will like it more, unless the new akg looks really really good. and also, the itallic G is not possible, if i do it, 2 peices of metal will cut out. (ie loops). so i would either some how do it with some metal still stuck, or i would just do a normal G, or i would not cut it. ill see nearer to the time.

But please, can you all help me answer some questions:

1. Are the 701s and 650s the only option in this price range? (not going to get a 600)
2. Is my assumption that diy will provide the best bang for the buck right?
3. Are those the best choices for diy (i would like a kit, mainly for easyness, sourcing part in uk would be expensive)?
4. If the diy is the wrong way, what amp/dac would you suggest for me?
5. Which cable connects to what?
6. Build my own cable or buy them?
7. Is there a way to raise the tubes above everything else?

 

[JamesL]

Again, the bijou can't be built for 90 pounds.
On top of the kit, you have a $70 transformer, knobs, chassis, jacks, screws/standoffs, iec inlets, switches, tube sockets if you insist on panel-mounting, and a lot of other stuff that could be forgotten on the first shipment.
Also, I highly doubt the bijou will fit in any of the extruded hammond enclosures. Perhaps the steel enclosures, though you'll have to source everything from a UK distributor, as international shipping for large chassis are extremely pricey. If using anything under a 3.5" tall enclosure, with the recommended 370dax, you'll need to mount the transformer on top, or cut a opening on the top of the chassis.
Yes, the tubes can be mounted on the top. You will need to p2p wire, or solder all the capacitors on the bottom of the board.
This can't be done with the PSU tubes, since the heatsinks should be facing upwards.
Using standard radioshack jacks, feet, jack, knobs, wire, etc, also assuming you have all necessary tools to cut through the chassis for tubes and such, ... I guess $270, excluding all shipping.

There are plenty of options in that price range. dt880's, d2000's, ultrasones, sr225, ath-ad900. 701's and 650's are both great options.. try them beforehand if at all possible, as they're very different sounding.

DIY will almost always provide the most bang/buck.. given that you're concerned only about audio quality.

I don't think the bijou is an ideal 'first project'. Building the amplifier is only 1/4 of the work. 1/4 is planning, 1/4 is troubleshooting, and the last 1/4 is trying to explain to other people where all your money disappeared to.

I think the millet max or ckkIII are ideal for the budget and difficulty level. PPAv2 can be done with a stretched budget, and a pimeta can be done for about 1/2 the price.

Which cables connect to what? -- huh? for SE, 2 wires to each driver, tip for left, ring for right, sleeve joins together the ground wire from each. For interconnects, same thing, cept plug is on both ends of the wire. for RCA, tip is signal, sleeve is the return signal. Theres a sticky in the DIY forums.

I'd make your own cables... Mogami or star quad recommended, and spend any extra money on higher quality parts for the amp and dac.

Tubes can be placed above everything else, see second paragraph.

Also, I think its a little silly giving the DAC a shelf, as it only has a 5cm x 4.5cm footprint.

 

[SleepyOne]

AKG 701 need power to sound good, given your budget maybe worth looking at Grado line as well.

 

[G-man]

thanks for the input. the problem is that i can not try out any headphones in my area, so have just decided to get a 650 from play.com. that should be good enough.
Well, i have gotten off the idea of a bijou, and gone onto a b22. i realise that the price is higher, so i was thinking of raising the budget up to 120ish. this is what i will get a kit, shipped to the uk for. what else is needed?
By the wires i meant which wire connects to what. is it a usb to usb from a computer to a dac or what? and so on.
I understand that it may look stupid, so i will only buy a shelf/other stuff once everything is complete. if i like is on top of the other or any other combination, ill just do that.

thanks for the input.

 

[SleepyOne]

Interconnect is important - go to magazine shop to see what is current best buy cable at that price point. As for USB, think Monster do a nice one (fast transfer rate). 650 is a good choice.

 

[JamesL]

I don't know where you're getting these prices. You do know that you need a power supply to run the beta22 off of, right?
120 pounds is usually the cost just to case up the beta22, add jacks, pots, knobs, feet, switches, mill, pay for solder and quality chassis wire, etcetera, etcetera..
For a project like a b22, get ready to pay for replacement parts as well.

Do you know what capacitors and resistors do? Do you know how to calculate current/voltage/resistance? Can you differentiate from AC and DC signals? Do you know what ground is for?

I'm really trying not to be critical and an ass about it, but theres a lot of parts in the b22, and one misplaced pin or cold joint can send all kinds of hell flying your way, and especially if you don't know what to look for, it'll cause you a lot of frustration. Wall power is also lethal, considering you'll need to make a o22 as well, and even with it unplugged, caps can still carry very high voltages.


For the alien dac, you would use a usb cable. From the dac, you would ideally use a rca cable to the amp. For chassis wiring, 16g-24g stranded or solid core ohfc copper is ideal. Teflon is better than pvc if you can get a hold of it. Info on how to wire the boards are on AMB's site. When wiring, keep the signal path as short as possible, and as far away from the transformer as possible. I don't think the toroid comes with the o22 psu from jeff's kit, so keep that in mind.

If you really want to follow through with the b22, I suggest you thoroughly read through amb's site and the b22 build threads on this forum and headwize.

 

[G-man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesL /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know where you're getting these prices. You do know that you need a power supply to run the beta22 off of, right? 120 pounds is usually the cost just to case up the beta22, add jacks, pots, knobs, feet, switches, mill, pay for solder and quality chassis wire, etcetera, etcetera.. For a project like a b22, get ready to pay for replacement parts as well. Do you know what capacitors and resistors do? Do you know how to calculate current/voltage/resistance? Can you differentiate from AC and DC signals? Do you know what ground is for? I'm really trying not to be critical and an ass about it, but theres a lot of parts in the b22, and one misplaced pin or cold joint can send all kinds of hell flying your way, and especially if you don't know what to look for, it'll cause you a lot of frustration. Wall power is also lethal, considering you'll need to make a o22 as well, and even with it unplugged, caps can still carry very high voltages. For the alien dac, you would use a usb cable. From the dac, you would ideally use a rca cable to the amp. For chassis wiring, 16g-24g stranded or solid core ohfc copper is ideal. Teflon is better than pvc if you can get a hold of it. Info on how to wire the boards are on AMB's site. When wiring, keep the signal path as short as possible, and as far away from the transformer as possible. I don't think the toroid comes with the o22 psu from jeff's kit, so keep that in mind. If you really want to follow through with the b22, I suggest you thoroughly read through amb's site and the b22 build threads on this forum and headwize.

Lol i am stubborn, so don't worry about being an ass. after my brief spell fantasising about the b22, i was brought back to earth by the people over at diy. so, i guess i am back to the bijou. are there any alternatives for an amp and dac, both together for around 150ish pounds. i would really only want a kit, and well i dont really know of any others.

thanks again