[Vandal]

I've finally fixed on the headphone amp I want to build. As ambitious as this may sound I've decided to go the DIY way and build a Beta 22 amp from scratch. Sourcing parts is going to be my first major hurdle, since I'm based in India and I need a lot of help. I tried contacting a few builders for the M^3 amp, but found no replies - possibly me being from India put them off because of shipping/reliability etc. I also considered the RSA Raptor since I was willing to spend up to 1100$, but shipping costs are astronomical.

This was the prelude to me thinking about building my own amp. Since it will obviously be cheaper, I thought I would go with the Beta 22 in lieu of the M3. I've read a lot of posts here, claiming good synergy with nearly every headphone - Senns, AKGs and Grados in particular - which are in my interest region.

I have spent at least 2-3 hours every day for the last 3 weeks reading up on exactly what I need and what I should build.

I've also been brushing up on my electronics, which is quite shabby to be honest. I'm starting from scratch and even need advice on which type of soldering iron is best and which solder to use. A friend (electronics and telecom engineer) is aiding me in the build.

Since I do not have a big budget as of now, but I plan to build this over the period of a few months, I will keep harassing head-fi's helpful members with information as and when I need it. For now I have 400$ saved up. Remember that I will keep adding 100~150$ each month (saved from my salary) for the purchase of material.

I am interested in a 3-channel (active ground build). I also plan on building a dual rail Sigma 22. This will be an amp I'd like to keep for a number of years so I'll spare no expense. Machining a chassis for the amp and power supply will be no issue, I know a good many local guys for the purpose, but I don't know where I can get the interconnects and cables from.

So far I have this website as a reference:

Glass Jar Audio : Beta 22 Amp kit 3 channel Active Ground Amp
I will probably order the stuff from here.

Can someone guide me as to what else I'll need? Anything I need to watch out for? Any tips guys with prior experience can give me? Any other links would be useful. I am aware of AMB Laboratories DIY Audio Site, are their other useful sites?

 

[driftingbunnies]

Head-fi has a DIY section that will probably be more helpful than the amp section

 

[GLdgShDjKsHT]

i believe that you get almost all the parts from glass jar audio

i'd like to know how much it costed you the kit full shiped because i'm interested in building this amp too, the one with 3 boards

the case will be the easy part, soldering and pairing will be harder ...
why don't you go balanced? athough it's easy to upgrade the amp later i think you'll better do it now, and balanced hd 650 do sound better

secondly i think you should upgrade your source too, because i am on a budget too and heard that the b22 it's a transparent amp i'll probably go with a mhdt paradisea which fits into my budget too

here are some useful links

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f6/rol...beta22-243379/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f113/r...us-dac-344299/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f113/h...review-280379/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f113/h...-tales-330775/

 

[driftingbunnies]

it's actually the other way around. soldering is a lot easier than the case. case usually takes longer and more time.

it cost me 390 total for both the boards and power supply parts shipped from glass jar. Case costs can range from 100+ depending on how nice you want to make it.

 

[wolf18t]

First this thread belong to the DIY forum.

Here is the minimal tools that you'll need:
- Soldering station and a solder sucker
- Solder and flux
- Wire cutters and stripper
- A DMM (digital multimeter) with at least VAC/VDC/diode check/ohm meter features.
- Screwdriver set. Also Precision screwdriver could be handy when adjusting PCB mount pots or removing an IC from socket.
- Rule
- Long nose pliers
- Hand drill with multiple metal bits (case work)
- And patience

If possible try practicing a bit your soldering skill on an old power supply board for exemple.

To be able to do some troubleshooting I also think you will need to do some reading on basic electronics to know at least what is a resistor, capacitors, diodes, transistors and how to check them. At a minimum, know how to install polarized electronic parts in the correct orientation (diodes, LEDs, transistors, electrolytic caps...).

Happy building.

 

[tintin47]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eroarex /img/forum/go_quote.gif i believe that you get almost all the parts from glass jar audio i'd like to know how much it costed you the kit full shiped because i'm interested in building this amp too, the one with 3 boards the case will be the easy part, soldering and pairing will be harder ... why don't you go balanced? athough it's easy to upgrade the amp later i think you'll better do it now, and balanced hd 650 do sound better secondly i think you should upgrade your source too, because i am on a budget too and heard that the b22 it's a transparent amp i'll probably go with a mhdt paradisea which fits into my budget too

Okay. The part about the case being the easy part is 100% totally wrong. If you approach a DIY project with that attitude, you will end up with a badly thought out, messy, and possibly non-functional amp, especially with the beta where you have to deal with two cases and the umbilical. Casing takes at least 60% of your time if you do it well, and probably more. For the beta, you can probably stuff a board in 4 hours or so, but the whole project will probably take 60-70 hours. Very experienced builders of this amp still say that it takes 40 hours minimum. End rant.

Second, not all of the parts come in the Glass jar kit. In addition to the kit, you need: Volume control, input jacks, headphone jacks, hookup wire, cases, umbilical power wire, umbilical jacks, male and female etc. That is a hefty cost, and probably at least equal to the cost of the board components for the three beta boards and the sigma.

Going balanced will blow up your budget faster than you can say "I want to go balanced". You add another $100 for boards, significant money for larger cases, more jacks, and then there is the volume control. You don't have to go with a stepper, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to build a super high end balanced amp and skimp on the volume control. Add shipping to all of that and you can see where its going.

OP, you can do this project under $1000 no problem as long as you are smart and avoid shipping cost wherever possible. The first way to do this would be to buy from glassjar, so that you get one shipment instead of a bunch. Second would be to use repurposed cases. That would save you a lot of money. Cases are expensive, heavy, and big. Shipping to india would be killer. This will also cut down your casing time a bit. Get an old receiver or the such and just strip it. Save the power input and the fuses if you can.

 

[GLdgShDjKsHT]

well i've said that mainly because i may already have a case for my amp and i have only to assemble the boards and buy the rest of the pieces like the cords, volume control, jacks ...
you can keep it under 800$ easily if you don't get everything online and use some parts you already have like a case

and i haven't said it would be easy ... i just have to deal with it and finish it

 

[boinger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vandal /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've finally fixed on the headphone amp I want to build. As ambitious as this may sound I've decided to go the DIY way and build a Beta 22 amp from scratch. Sourcing parts is going to be my first major hurdle, since I'm based in India and I need a lot of help. I tried contacting a few builders for the M^3 amp, but found no replies - possibly me being from India put them off because of shipping/reliability etc. I also considered the RSA Raptor since I was willing to spend up to 1100$, but shipping costs are astronomical. This was the prelude to me thinking about building my own amp. Since it will obviously be cheaper, I thought I would go with the Beta 22 in lieu of the M3. I've read a lot of posts here, claiming good synergy with nearly every headphone - Senns, AKGs and Grados in particular - which are in my interest region. I have spent at least 2-3 hours every day for the last 3 weeks reading up on exactly what I need and what I should build. I've also been brushing up on my electronics, which is quite shabby to be honest. I'm starting from scratch and even need advice on which type of soldering iron is best and which solder to use. A friend (electronics and telecom engineer) is aiding me in the build. Since I do not have a big budget as of now, but I plan to build this over the period of a few months, I will keep harassing head-fi's helpful members with information as and when I need it. For now I have 400$ saved up. Remember that I will keep adding 100~150$ each month (saved from my salary) for the purchase of material. I am interested in a 3-channel (active ground build). I also plan on building a dual rail Sigma 22. This will be an amp I'd like to keep for a number of years so I'll spare no expense. Machining a chassis for the amp and power supply will be no issue, I know a good many local guys for the purpose, but I don't know where I can get the interconnects and cables from. So far I have this website as a reference: Glass Jar Audio : Beta 22 Amp kit 3 channel Active Ground Amp I will probably order the stuff from here. Can someone guide me as to what else I'll need? Anything I need to watch out for? Any tips guys with prior experience can give me? Any other links would be useful. I am aware of AMB Laboratories DIY Audio Site, are their other useful sites?

Im also doing a build from india of a B22 I'll let you know how the importing of parts goes.

 

[scytheavatar]

I highly recommend you to start building the M3 instead, it's far cheaper and easier to build. Start building the B22 only when you are more confident.

 

[Vandal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scytheavatar /img/forum/go_quote.gif I highly recommend you to start building the M3 instead, it's far cheaper and easier to build. Start building the B22 only when you are more confident.

That's disheartening to be honest. I wouldn't want to screw things up, but most of the soldering would be done by my friend, who has made a few FM transmitters and some small IC based stuff.
^^Please be in touch via PMs about the cost of importing stuff. A friend is coming down from the States (Florida) in October, I could also have him bring things down with him.

 

[boinger]

I have been doing some research on customs for importing to here. So far from what have understood customs will be anywhere between 15-25% maybe 30% at worst.

So it shouldnt be too bad to import. If you aren't building the amp anytime soon if i have good luck with mine I dont mind helping you out / building. Again all depends on how my build goes. I am going to be finding a local source to build my case for me shouldnt be too expensive in india.

 

[Vandal]

^Hey man, where you based? I'm in Mumbai.
Initially I was going to let a friend do this, but suddenly I'm interested in giving it a go myself. I'm shopping for all the hardware needed at the moment and will start practicing my soldering skills. Obviously there's a lot of reading I need to do as well.

Keep me posted. BTW if you can get the parts labelled a gift, you can do away with customs duty. Since they do not open the box, you're good to go. I bought an amp this way. Also please get the parcel declared at no more than Rs 8,000.

 

[Vandal]

A quick question - what sort of solder should I purchase? Tin-Lead is the most common, although I've heard that Tin-Antimony has better electrical conductivity. I was wondering whether it would advantageous to use this?

Here's a site for soldering irons in India:
Soldron Soldering and Desoldering Equipment India from Vimla Engineering

Is a fixed temperature iron better? If so what temperature should I look at, obviously this would depend on the solder I use? What is the best chemical composition of solder that I'm looking at?

Also any good sites to brush up my electronics knowledge?

 

[JamesL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vandal /img/forum/go_quote.gif A quick question - what sort of solder should I purchase? Tin-Lead is the most common, although I've heard that Tin-Antimony has better electrical conductivity. Is a fixed temperature iron better? If so what temperature should I look at, obviously this would depend on the solder I use? What is the best chemical composition of solder that I'm looking at?

Isn't tin-antimony used for brazing? In either case, you shouldn't need to use lead-free solder where you don't have to. 63/37, or other eutectic variants are highly recommended, though 60/40 is also perfectly fine.
Variable temperature stations are also high recommended. You need a good amount of heat (and be able to sustain that heat) when soldering to the larger ground planes.

Quote:

Also any good sites to brush up my electronics knowledge?

No matter how much reading you do, there's absolutely no substitute to experience.
If you're dropping $1000 for a b22 on your first build, at the very least spend the extra $10 to practice building a cmoy or tread first and learn how to use a multimeter if you don't know how already.

 

[shldn]

You will be fine with 60/40 solder and the 25W Soldron iron with the yellow handle.

Some of the parts for the boards and case accessories like jacks can be had from Lamington Rd, but will involve a fair deal of legwork to source.