[Paladin79]

The start of an amp in black walnut as well as some African padauk wood in some tiny radial speakers I may well keep.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

The start of an amp in black walnut as well as some African padauk wood in some tiny radial speakers I may well keep.

Looks good! I like that walnut chassis, it will be a good looking amplifier. What tubes will it use?

 

[Paladin79]

Looks good! I like that walnut chassis, it will be a good looking amplifier. What tubes will it use?

Two EL 34's and a 12AX7. The walnut cabinet was used for a different purpose, I will try to bring it up to par. I cut new aluminum for the top. I had already installed an IEC connector and RCA jacks in the back so that should speed things up. I made the cuts for a dual gang pot but I have some single gang Alps I may use. A friend used to call these Black Beauties as best I recall. I got a bunch of them in some surplus I bought.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Two EL 34's and a 12AX7. The walnut cabinet was used for a different purpose, I will try to bring it up to par. I cut new aluminum for the top. I had already installed an IEC connector and RCA jacks in the back so that should speed things up. I made the cuts for a dual gang pot but I have some single gang Alps I may use. A friend used to call these Black Beauties as best I recall. I got a bunch of them in some surplus I bought.

Nice, should pair well with your radial speakers. Is that Alps pot vintage? I made a last minute decision to use a TKD pot for my pentode amplifier.

 

[Paladin79]

Nice, should pair well with your radial speakers. Is that Alps pot vintage? I made a last minute decision to use a TKD pot for my pentode amplifier.

I am hoping the amp pairs well but in the meantime I am using a 25 year old Cary amp I like pretty well. I have used some TKD pots in the past as well and have no complaints.
The Alps pot is indeed vintage, I still have several pairs in use in amps I built so I know how well they performed.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I am hoping the amp pairs well but in the meantime I am using a 25 year old Cary amp I like pretty well. I have used some TKD pots in the past as well and have no complaints.
The Alps pot is indeed vintage, I still have several pairs in use in amps I built so I know how well they performed.

Very cool, I like using vintage parts, like old bakelite knobs and Amphenol sockets. For older tube socket types like UX4 and UX5, I think the vintage Amphenol stuff is better than most if not all of the current productions sockets. For octal and 9-pin noval, there are some good choices, still like vintage Amphenol though. Never used a vintage pot, maybe I'll have to give that a try some day

 

[Paladin79]

Very cool, I like using vintage parts, like old bakelite knobs and Amphenol sockets. For older tube socket types like UX4 and UX5, I think the vintage Amphenol stuff is better than most if not all of the current productions sockets. For octal and 9-pin noval, there are some good choices, still like vintage Amphenol though. Never used a vintage pot, maybe I'll have to give that a try some day

It is NOS and I have heard of people searching for this exact item. They are large by todays standards but I can build around most anything. I only use brands I know and trust like Amphenol, Neutrik, Switchcraft etc. I do not do boutique parts especially cables or connectors.

 

[Zachik]

Okay here are the modified Herbie's Halo's with Mad Sci carbon graphene namo doughnuts!

Happy listening,

jgwtriode

Haha - this is what comes to mind, seeing your contraption:

 

[L0rdGwyn]

It is NOS and I have heard of people searching for this exact item. They are large by todays standards but I can build around most anything. I only use brands I know and trust like Amphenol, Neutrik, Switchcraft etc. I do not do boutique parts especially cables or connectors.

100% agree. Most times with boutique connectors, you are going to pay 10x the price for something that either falls apart, is difficult to work with, or looks cheap. I use Amphenol RCAs most often, although I do like Kimber's RCA's but that is the only boutique connector I use anymore if I'm feeling fancy. I use Switchcraft 1/4 jacks, NKK or Schurter switches and Schurter IEC inlets. Switchcraft or Amphenol for most other connections.

I remember a while back I bought some WBT RCAs for a build. WBT is a German company, their site has pictures of all of these guys walking around wearing lab coats, this communicates how serious they are about their connectors, they are doing real research into connector design which requires lab coats. Well apparently they didn't think to QC those RCAs to ensure all of them were of equal diameter, one of the two was so overly thick to the point that I could not fit a standard male RCA connector over it. I had never seen that before nor have I seen it since. So much for the lab coats.

Or Vampire RCAs where there is no ground tab, the ground connection is on the freaking body of the RCA, which is a 1cm^3 chunk of solid copper! How am I supposed to heat it to make a good solder connection? It's basically a heat sink. I heated one to the point that the gold plating started to flake off. Just plain stupid design.

 

[jgwtriode]

Haha - this is what comes to mind, seeing your contraption:

hahaha! Indeed. Yeah its improvised so all I care is that it improves the sound and does not look completely unsightly

jgwtriode

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Turntable is back in its home. Still a lot of work to do setup wise, but it is a functioning turntable at this point.

 

[bcowen]

100% agree. Most times with boutique connectors, you are going to pay 10x the price for something that either falls apart, is difficult to work with, or looks cheap. I use Amphenol RCAs most often, although I do like Kimber's RCA's but that is the only boutique connector I use anymore if I'm feeling fancy. I use Switchcraft 1/4 jacks, NKK or Schurter switches and Schurter IEC inlets. Switchcraft or Amphenol for most other connections.

I remember a while back I bought some WBT RCAs for a build. WBT is a German company, their site has pictures of all of these guys walking around wearing lab coats, this communicates how serious they are about their connectors, they are doing real research into connector design which requires lab coats. Well apparently they didn't think to QC those RCAs to ensure all of them were of equal diameter, one of the two was so overly thick to the point that I could not fit a standard male RCA connector over it. I had never seen that before nor have I seen it since. So much for the lab coats.

Or Vampire RCAs where there is no ground tab, the ground connection is on the freaking body of the RCA, which is a 1cm^3 chunk of solid copper! How am I supposed to heat it to make a good solder connection? It's basically a heat sink. I heated one to the point that the gold plating started to flake off. Just plain stupid design.

I really like the Kimber RCA's. About the only other boutique connectors I go for are Cardas binding posts on a speaker amp. Several plating choices, not stupid expensive, and very nicely built.

Remember the Edison Price binding posts that were all the rage 20+ years ago? Damn, I hated those things....tighten them just a little too much and they would collapse. Pretty expensive at the time too.

 

[bcowen]

Turntable is back in its home. Still a lot of work to do setup wise, but it is a functioning turntable at this point.

Gorgeous!

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I really like the Kimber RCA's. About the only other boutique connectors I go for are Cardas binding posts on a speaker amp. Several plating choices, not stupid expensive, and very nicely built.

Remember the Edison Price binding posts that were all the rage 20+ years ago? Damn, I hated those things....tighten them just a little too much and they would collapse. Pretty expensive at the time too.

Yeah those Kimber RCAs are well made and not crazy overpriced. I'll have to check out the Cardas binding posts. Hmmm 20+ years ago, I remember it like it was yesterday...trading Pokémon cards with my friends...skateboarding to middle school, ERRR, I mean...trying out high end binding posts on my Snell type As and drinking fine scotch while discussing world affairs with my fellow adults.

 

[Paladin79]

Yeah those Kimber RCAs are well made and not crazy overpriced. I'll have to check out the Cardas binding posts. Hmmm 20+ years ago, I remember it like it was yesterday...trading Pokémon cards with my friends...skateboarding to middle school, ERRR, I mean...trying out high end binding posts on my Snell type As and drinking fine scotch while discussing world affairs with my fellow adults.

As far as binding posts and associated connectors I like Pomona. Mind you many builds my employees did went to audio companies, audio engineers, and other professionals so it was best to use brands they recognized and trusted. I often refused to build with TRRS connectors because of their construction and low quality.