[tintin47]

One extra bit of advice: Worry about transformer hum a little if you are using it with the grados or other low Z phones. Place the transfo far away from the board as you can and even consider a lone transformer case if it will fit into your budget / desires for your amp. Otherwise just look up different ways to eliminate the hum. Mine isn't too bad (doesn't bother me during actual songs, or only on very quiet ones), but it is annoying enough during the silence between songs that I am working to fix it.

 

[Henmyr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintin47 /img/forum/go_quote.gif @Henmyr It is pretty fine as a first time project, as long as you use the resources available to you. I had never even soldered before starting mine. Go slowly and just check your work to eliminate dumb errors. I think you'd be happy with it, and I think that it would be a big step up from the zero onboard amp, from what i have read.

Sounds good

I had a Little Dot MKIII a while ago but decided that an SS amp fits my listening habits better, and I've wanted to DIY something for a while and CK2III seems to be perfect for my needs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintin47 /img/forum/go_quote.gif One extra bit of advice: Worry about transformer hum a little if you are using it with the grados or other low Z phones. Place the transfo far away from the board as you can and even consider a lone transformer case if it will fit into your budget / desires for your amp. Otherwise just look up different ways to eliminate the hum. Mine isn't too bad (doesn't bother me during actual songs, or only on very quiet ones), but it is annoying enough during the silence between songs that I am working to fix it.

A two box solution would be very cool and something I will concider, especially since my headphones are rather sensitive.

 

[tintin47]

Yeah. You can look at that or sthg like mumetal to shield your transfo (which is what I am looking into now.) That, or just get an unnecessarily large case, which would look nice too, if you don't mean to move it around ever. That way you could just put the transfo far away from any signal wires and the board.

I thought about doing two cases, but I decided against because one case would have to be just the transfo, which seems kind of dumb. I'm def. going to go two cases on my next project, tho. (Beta 22 + Sigma 22)

 

[lacrossebowe8]

I also would recommend the CKIII. It is easy to build and sounds great. You can get a full kit, as I did, from jeff r at glassjaraudio.com. Just send him an email, he doesn't have it on the page but he will get it to you.

 

[Henmyr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacrossebowe8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I also would recommend the CKIII. It is easy to build and sounds great. You can get a full kit, as I did, from jeff r at glassjaraudio.com. Just send him an email, he doesn't have it on the page but he will get it to you.

Do you remember what his price was?

 

[tintin47]

From other dealings experience, the glass jar audio kits are great, and sometimes ring in for less than sourcing the parts yourself. Just shoot jeff an email.

 

[munchzilla]

ohh so good. I hate looking for parts, cause if you order almost everything but have a few missing and you have to wait a couple of days longer it gets really annoying.

thanks a lot! will email him right away.

also wondering about the price though, but I suppose I will find out if he still has them.

not sure about that separate trafo box, but I suppose I just have to connect them with a wire that leads electricity? it should be easy right? I don't mind really, it might look good even if there's a second case on top or so. I will come up with something!

I got pretty steady hands (FPS-gamer hands

) so I really hope this shouldn't be a problem. have chipped a few PS2's and that was kinda challenging but I managed somehow without killing it.

really, thanks a lot for the help. would appreciate more help if I ever get stuck too

really thanks a lot for the help, feels so great to have a project started.

 

[tintin47]

Good luck. Yes, for the transfo in a separate box, you need an umbilical running between the two. IMO, it might not be worth it for the CK2III. One thing you should definitely do is get a case a little larger than you need and just push the transfo away from the board/signal carrying wires. Another thing to do is simply rotate the transfo once your amp is up and working. The magnetic field it generates is not symmetrical, so rotating it can and does change the hum a lot (if there is one).

 

[munchzilla]

thanks, but hopefully luck won't be needed.
I just need to rotate it once until the hum goes away?
anyone ever tried this? and can confirm?

 

[nsx_23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by panda /img/forum/go_quote.gif the ra-1 is a great amp for rs-1. you shouldn't avoid it just because it's simple. i suggest you try to build a dual mono version of the ra-1 clone as i've always been curious to know how that peforms, but use the proper parts as if you use diff parts than the factory standards the magic might get lost... if you insist on a more challenging build, try dynalo, it was designed with grado hp1 in mind and works well for rs1 as well. as for dac, look for tda1543 nos dac kit. inexpensive and very music friendly, but don't skimp on the power supply. Nonoz III DAC page

I've built the hohodiy RA1 clone kit, and it sounds fantastic with my SR60s.

Anyway, is it possible to get a full CKIII kit??

 

[munchzilla]

he just recommended glassjar audio- Jeff to help me with a kit, so I suppose he might be able to do so

 

[deaconblues]

Quote:

Originally Posted by munchzilla /img/forum/go_quote.gif ohh so good. I hate looking for parts, cause if you order almost everything but have a few missing and you have to wait a couple of days longer it gets really annoying.

Soooo true. My M3 is sitting in my drawer as I await the arrival of 9 100ohm resistors and a diode. At mouser.com, when you search for the part # of the 100ohm resistors, it shows both 100ohm and 100Kohm resistors... guess which one I clicked on?

 

[munchzilla]

aww that's a shame.

those little things should just not happen. well, I hope you can finish it soon. must be really itching!

 

[DouglasQuaid]

Gilmore dynamic works great with rs1. You could probably build it for under 300 (mine cost 330, but that's with a custom psu and stepped attenuator).

 

[tintin47]

Quote:

Originally Posted by munchzilla /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks, but hopefully luck won't be needed. I just need to rotate it once until the hum goes away? anyone ever tried this? and can confirm?

Yes, that is exactly what I did. The problem is that I have a case that is extremely tight fitting, so the transfo is basically on top of the board. When there is complete silence, I can still barely hear the hum. That said, when I originally plugged my rs-1s into the amp, it was buzzing so loud that I heard it over the music, so rotating the transfo helped a lot. I kept my phones in while turning the toroid and you can hear the buzz changing if there is interference. You simply rotate until you hear the least noise. This DOES NOT necessarily remove all noise. It is just a way to minimize it.

If you combine rotating the toroid with a larger case you will probably have no hum whatsoever. The transformer in the CK2III isn't super powerful, so its magnetic field isn't very strong either, which limits interference.