[ninshin]

tried all the insulating. the headphones start humming when i put my hand near it, and the high pitched whine is only sometimes there depending on where i position my headphones/head. is it feedback?

edit: it is getting pretty weird, the whine changes volume when i move the headphone cable. can heat transfer gel short the mosfets? i think i checked the connection between the mosfets and the case and there wasn't a short, and music plays fine except for the whine when i turn down the volume, and the whine isn't affected by the pot.

 

[sandbasser]

I just received an order of Navships wire and I'm now going to rewire my SSH (kit from Beezar). I'm wondering (Yes, I've re-read the assembly guide that Tom put together) if I should tin the wires that will be inserted into the terminal blocks, or just insert stripped wire directly??? Also, how hard should I tighten the screws?

Thanks,

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandbasser /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just received an order of Navships wire and I'm now going to rewire my SSH (kit from Beezar). I'm wondering (Yes, I've re-read the assembly guide that Tom put together) if I should tin the wires that will be inserted into the terminal blocks, or just insert stripped wire directly??? Also, how hard should I tighten the screws? Thanks,

Same response that I gave in the other thread

:
Quote:

Originally Posted by tomb /img/forum/go_quote.gif If someone is picky about cabling and wire types, I suppose it may bother them to tin the ends on the signal wiring. When you do that, you're clamping down on the solder with the screws, not the wire. You could use that argument with every soldered joint that's on the PCB, however. I've done both and haven't noticed any difference in sound quality. Actually, not tinning may improve the repeatability. It seems that tinning the ends causes them to be more susceptible to breaking over the long haul, but that could just be my imagination. I've tinned both the ground wires and soldered them together before, but it seemed to me that the resulting large lump made worse contact than without soldering them together. Perhaps when you tin, you should keep the wires separate and do it as lightly as you can. That's what I've been doing lately. In either event, I screw down the screw as much as I can - using only a small precision screwdriver, though. There might be some of us who could use a large screwdriver and torque the terminal blocks right out of their soldered pads - or worse.

 

[luvdunhill]

I always tin wires before inserting them into screw terminals. Afterwards though, I clamp down on them real hard with a pair of smooth jaw pliers to flatten out the end.

 

[revolink24]

Right now I'm using cheap radioshack 6 strand 22ga copper wire, is there really that much of a sound difference between that and high-strand SPC? Im just using what I happened to have lying around at this point.

 

[royewest]

I'll let others respond to the audio characteristics of short runs of different purities of copper, etc. To me, the advantages of decent-quality teflon-coated wire are:
* Good build quality of the wire that makes it consistent and reliable and easy to work with
* Teflon doesn't shrink back when you solder the wire, so you can make good connections using short exposed wire ends without the insulation melting back when you solder.

 

[revolink24]

Finished, and not sure if I'll take pics, it looks like everyone else's (especially TomBs, I used some crappy thermal paste that looks like his) now I'm waiting for my PSU to come....

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by revolink24 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Finished, and not sure if I'll take pics, it looks like everyone else's (especially TomBs, I used some crappy thermal paste that looks like his) now I'm waiting for my PSU to come....

Hey! I resent that!

Just kidding!!

 

[Juaquin]

Has anyone NOT used paste?

I was contemplating it, but with the toasty temperatures on those MOSFETs I figured it couldn't hurt, although I was worried about it squeezing out and ruining the looks. The key is to go VERY light. The paste is meant to fill in the microscopic areas where the metals do not make full contact and hence there is no conduction - it is not supposed to be a complete layer in between the metals (metal is still a better conductor than the paste). Or at least that's how it works with CPUs and thermal paste; I assume the same applies here.

 

[revolink24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomb /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey! I resent that! Just kidding!!

Actually, I have no idea if its crap. Its whatever came with my Xigmatek HDT-S1283 CPU cooler, and I didn't use it because I used arctic silver. Should be better than arctic silver for this, because its silicone so its not capacitive like AS 5 is. I just hope I didnt scrape enough off the Bergquist pads to cause a short.

Cheers

, its a good kit you guys put together

 

[the_equalizer]

Well, I know it'll look just the same as other builds, but still a couple of pics.





During the building process and particularly at the end, when contemplating the finished amplifier I couldn't help but be truly amazed at the quality of the design, how it all fits together. I can barely believe I assembled the thing! So in short, MAJOR thanks and congratulations to TomB and Dsavitsk on their work.

On an aside, I assume it's safe to clean the case with isopropyl alcohol, right?

Cheers!

 

[Juaquin]

Pics are always appreciated. For instance, my tubes are the Raytheon variety and the heating element is covered - it's cool to see the glow in yours.

 

[PJPro]

OK. Here's a couple of mine....

 

[gore.rubicon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juaquin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Has anyone NOT used paste? I was contemplating it, but with the toasty temperatures on those MOSFETs I figured it couldn't hurt, although I was worried about it squeezing out and ruining the looks. The key is to go VERY light. The paste is meant to fill in the microscopic areas where the metals do not make full contact and hence there is no conduction - it is not supposed to be a complete layer in between the metals (metal is still a better conductor than the paste). Or at least that's how it works with CPUs and thermal paste; I assume the same applies here.

I didnt use paste, was going to, but was too lazy to trek to my friend's house to borrow some. Building the thing was first priority...I even scavenged heatshrink to insulate the LEDs and used tape as insulation on the inputs to finish it up.

 

[PJPro]

Actually, I may have just identified a problem with my amp.

If I turn the sound right down and slowly turn it up, the sound comes out of one headphone while the other is silent. As I turn it up, the other channel gradually gets louder (but always quieter than the other) until it gets to normal listening volume (not that loud) where it appears to have "caught up". I some ways it's like a balance knob being turned from the left to the middle but getting louder at the same time. If I turn it right, right up the sound stays fixed in the middle, rather than continuing on past the middle.

I haven't noticed this until now because I don't really fiddle with the volume once it's set. The amp had warmed up and had a couple of hours under it's belt that day (50 hrs total) when I discovered the issue.

Any ideas or is this normal for valves?