It's finally done. The project that kept getting put on the back burner for me that I really wanted to complete.
Kit from Glass Jar Audio, the rest from the four corners of the Internet. I've been buying parts here and there for years. I couldn't really get a front design that I liked which would set it apart from my other pieces. I wanted a vintage look for sure and finally settled on something that might include wing designs from the 1930s and a pilot light from many eras. The front panels were ultimately done by Front Panel Express. The rest of the design started falling into place this year. The wings, in particular, were a bit difficult for me to align with the pilot light as they came from a jewelry supply store so had their own mounting holes...which were not quite what was needed for a panel mount. Many drill bits and measuring(s) later they were done.
The rest of the parts are working really well together. 6922 or 6DJ8 tubes on the input and 6N6P output tubes. Regal mods. Gold Point stepped attenuator, Cardas input jacks, DH Labs Pro Studio interconnect as input, Cardas output wire, the 370DAX transformer and a Muffsy power breakout board which holds a MeanWell 120V -> 5V transformer for the pilot light. I am currently using the Pabbi-supplied photo flash caps which are 410uF. In the future I may change these to something lower. Who knows? There are no LEDs on the amp boards and I decided to skip the NFB circuit. So no, the amp isn't particularly great with Grados. As expected.
The amp is a treat with Sennheiser HD600s, of course. It's also happy with a pair of AT-ESW9. There is a musical rightness to it, even with mediocre sources. With great sources: it's delicious! Like most great components, though, it's difficult to describe what it is doing other than giving me more insight and emotion than many other amps I own.
Big thanks to Ericj, SergeyPe, funch and all the rest for keeping me on track as I blundered my way through this one.
