[bigfatpaulie]

The build is officially underway!!  The wood base is glued and has two coats of polyurethane (at least one more needed).  The bell is painted and everything got mounted today...
 

 
It's actually a very impressive looking amp in person.
 
With apparently a lot of little parts...
 

 
And some obviously special transformers...
 

 
 
And through the magic of television, the four boards are built!
 

 
 
Phew.  It doesn't look like much, but mounting everything and building the boards took nearly 4 hours.  I'm beat for the night.  More to come tomorrow!!
 
@punit

 

[skeptic]

Beautiful start on it Paulie!  If you have a chance at this point, you might want to go over all the solder joints on the boards with a loop/magnifying glass.  Take it from one who knows - way easier now than down the road.  I had one cold joint on a resister on the regulator board that gave me fits troubleshooting at the end.  Tired eyes are the bane of diy hehe.

 

[Loquah]

  Beautiful start on it Paulie!  If you have a chance at this point, you might want to go over all the solder joints on the boards with a loop/magnifying glass.  Take it from one who knows - way easier now than down the road.  I had one cold joint on a resister on the regulator board that gave me fits troubleshooting at the end.  Tired eyes are the bane of diy hehe.

 
Agree. Top work so far Paulie and nice pictures too.
 
Great idea about going over the boards now. I completely stuffed the mounting of the blue pots on the power regulation board (with the little black and yellow Dayton caps) - wish I'd solved that one early!

 

[JamieMcC]

Paulie, green with envy here! Looks like you are off to a great start, I am very much looking forward to seeing more so please keep the pics coming. 

 

[bigfatpaulie]

Thanks guys!
 
I have been really nervous of a bad solder joint so I have been testing the continuity of each joint as I completed each board.  As I test each point, I inspect it with a magnifying glass.  Fingers crossed.  I am really trying to avoid having to retrace everything later...
 
So far, it has been a really, really enjoyable build: just what I was hoping for.  It has a nice mix of easy and really fiddly little solders, etc.  One thing I didn't prepare for was the 24awg wire...  My stripper only does 22awg so I have to do the 24awg wire the good old fashioned way!
 
Anyway, I hope to get the attenuators built today.
 
Thanks again!

 

[Loquah]

  Thanks guys!
 
I have been really nervous of a bad solder joint so I have been testing the continuity of each joint as I completed each board.  As I test each point, I inspect it with a magnifying glass.  Fingers crossed.  I am really trying to avoid having to retrace everything later...
 
So far, it has been a really, really enjoyable build: just what I was hoping for.  It has a nice mix of easy and really fiddly little solders, etc.  One thing I didn't prepare for was the 24awg wire...  My stripper only does 22awg so I have to do the 24awg wire the good old fashioned way!
 
Anyway, I hope to get the attenuators built today.
 
Thanks again!

 
The Mainline was the most fun of all the kits I've built so I completely get what you mean. For me, the order of building enjoyment was:
 

• Mainline
• Crack
• S.E.X.
• Quickie

 
That's not to say the Quickie wasn't fun, but the others were just "funner"

 

[GeorgeNapalm]

   
Phew.  It doesn't look like much, but mounting everything and building the boards took nearly 4 hours.  I'm beat for the night.  More to come tomorrow!!
 
@punit

 
Wow, 4 hours..... That's pretty fast.
 
My whole build, including wiring, took me about 35-40 hours - almost a month of work. Granted I could only work for 1-2 hours every day. 

 

[JamieMcC]

   
Wow, 4 hours..... That's pretty fast.
 
My whole build, including wiring, took me about 35-40 hours - almost a month of work. Granted I could only work for 1-2 hours every day. 

That sounds like a great way to enjoy building the kit.
 
 

   
The Mainline was the most fun of all the kits I've built so I completely get what you mean. For me, the order of building enjoyment was:
 

• Mainline
• Crack
• S.E.X.
• Quickie

 
That's not to say the Quickie wasn't fun, but the others were just "funner"

 
I can not comment on your number one as yet but would definitely agree the order of enjoyment for  2,3,4

 

[bigfatpaulie]

What a night!!  My goal was to get both attenuators done but…  Well…
 
So I wire the transformer, install the power board, plug it in and start testing the voltage at the 6.3v terminal.  Nothing.  Then the 275v terminal.  Nada.  So I start testing all around the main transformer and everything is reading zip…  Uh oh.
 
Well, I am building a 220v version and I’m in Canada so I have 110v in my home.  I bought a 500 watt 110v  to 220v converter so I start thinking that that is the culprit…
 

 

I test it right at the plug and it’s reading perfect: 220v spot on (not to mention surprisingly stable). 
 
Fast forward an hour later and about 18 dead hair follicles.  I give up and call Doc.  I walk him though everything and he patiently gives me a “un-hunh” every few seconds.  I tell him how I tested everything over and over and it all reads nill and my power is fine and so on and so on.
 
Un-hunh, he says with wisdom.
 
“So, Doc, I think the 220v transformer in the Mainline is dead.  What do you think?”  To which he very humbly replies – Did you put the fuse in the power socket?
 

 
 
I can’t believe I forgot to put the fuse in.  It’s even in the manual.  I thought I opened the little door and saw it already in there.  
 
 

 
I…  I…  I essentially tested thousands of tiny little twinkle lights without them being plugged in.  Has Chevy Chase taught me nothing?!
 
So I put in another 3 hours tonight but almost 2 were spent dealing with the fuse so I didn’t reach my goal of getting the attenuators done
 
 

 
 

Close, though.  And tomorrow is a new day!  Have a good night all and THANK YOU AGAIN DOC!
 
 

 
See you tomorrow!
 
 
-Paul
 
 
 
@punit 

 

[Doc B.]

'Twas my pleasure. Believe me when I say that fuse thing happens around here, too, along with the one where the power cord is not plugged in to the wall.

 

[bigfatpaulie]

'Twas my pleasure. Believe me when I say that fuse thing happens around here, too, along with the one where the power cord is not plugged in to the wall.

 
Lol.  Well at least I was sure it was plugged in : )
 
(this time...)
 
Thanks again.

 

[Armaegis]

'Twas my pleasure. Believe me when I say that fuse thing happens around here, too, along with the one where the power cord is not plugged in to the wall.

 
My last couple "duh" moments were when I kept forgetting to plug the power cord itself into the amp. I'd crank the dac and still only hear faint sound from the amp.
 
Power switch... check. Interconnects... check. Plugged in to powerbar... check... Why isn't it working?!?

 

[JamieMcC]

Paulie grrrr now look what you have gone and done I was sitting listening to some music and then all of a sudden my mind has wondered off and I'm thinking about different finishes for a Mainline. I need to sit on my hands and save my pennies.
 
p.s. your not alone I have plenty of my own *fuse* moments the last one earlier in the week was because I hadn't fully pushed in the head phone jack.
 
I am hoping you might post a little commentary on how the Mainline compares to your DNA Stratus.  
 
Your builds looking great by the way

 keep the pics coming.

 

[bigfatpaulie]

Thanks for your kind words and encouragement - I really do appreciate it!!
 
Jamie, I don't want to begin to imaging YOU building a Mainline.  It would be on a whole different level!!  
 
 
(I can't wait

) 
 
 
Not much work was done today.  When I had a "job" I worked for a company that did some major lay offs today and a few friends of mine were let go so I spent some time on the phone with a few of them and grabbed a pint with a few others.  They will be fine, it was just a bit of a surprise for some.  But I am spent...  Heck, I didn't even have the energy to take a proper photo 

.
 
 
But I digress.  The attenuators are built as well as the outputs are wired.  It's onto wiring the heater supply tomorrow.  Tomorrow will also be my last night for about a week as my wife gets back into town.  The following weekend I am bachelor again so the amp should be done then.
 
 

 
 
I will also post my thoughts about the Mainline vs the Stratus.  I know when I originally was considering which tube amp to go for these two were at the top of my list and I could not find a direct comparison anywhere.  I will also be upgrading the caps in the Mainline to Auricap XO's Loquah style.
 
Have a good night all!
 
-Paul

 

[Loquah]

  Thanks for your kind words and encouragement - I really do appreciate it!!
 
Jamie, I don't want to begin to imaging YOU building a Mainline.  It would be on a whole different level!!  
 
 
(I can't wait

) 
 
 
Not much work was done today.  When I had a "job" I worked for a company that did some major lay offs today and a few friends of mine were let go so I spent some time on the phone with a few of them and grabbed a pint with a few others.  They will be fine, it was just a bit of a surprise for some.  But I am spent...  Heck, I didn't even have the energy to take a proper photo 

.
 
 
But I digress.  The attenuators are built as well as the outputs are wired.  It's onto wiring the heater supply tomorrow.  Tomorrow will also be my last night for about a week as my wife gets back into town.  The following weekend I am bachelor again so the amp should be done then.
 
 

 
 
I will also post my thoughts about the Mainline vs the Stratus.  I know when I originally was considering which tube amp to go for these two were at the top of my list and I could not find a direct comparison anywhere.  I will also be upgrading the caps in the Mainline to Auricap XO's Loquah style.
 
Have a good night all!
 
-Paul

 
Nice choice of caps, Paul!! I'm really enjoying the updates