[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soloz2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif my Max could probably drive them! I haven't tried sextets, but I'm confident (MOSFET output stage with a nice big toroid)

Yes, of course - and with taller heat sinks and higher bias, the MiniMAX may be able to do the same thing, but the case is the thing and 1" is the limit.

I'm wondering if Daveze is the fellow who super-biased his BJT's on the regular MAX. There was someone who did that - put over 100ma on the BJT's, I think, but I can't remember who exactly.

 

[soloz2]

it wasn't me. and yeah, I do have 2" sinks on my Max

 

[Daveze]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomb /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, of course - and with taller heat sinks and higher bias, the MiniMAX may be able to do the same thing, but the case is the thing and 1" is the limit. I'm wondering if Daveze is the fellow who super-biased his BJT's on the regular MAX. There was someone who did that - put over 100ma on the BJT's, I think, but I can't remember who exactly.

Guilty. Not quite 100 mA, only up to 80 mA. You do raise a good point though, I might try some more tube rolling and see what I come up with. One reason I went with two Mini's was that I was loosely considering a balanced rig, maybe I've come across a good reason to try it.

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveze /img/forum/go_quote.gif Guilty. Not quite 100 mA, only up to 80 mA. You do raise a good point though, I might try some more tube rolling and see what I come up with. One reason I went with two Mini's was that I was loosely considering a balanced rig, maybe I've come across a good reason to try it.

Weren't you asking about going higher than that at one point, though? Still, I wasn't too far off.

Extra current will help some on the big MAXes, but not on the MiniMAX. However, with that high impedance, the best you can do is get some high output 12AE6's and make sure you don't use any output resistors. In that regard, the MiniMAX should be equal to the task, I would think.

Your idea of balancing would solve it all, probably - more current available and twice the voltage gain.

 

[Daveze]

I was considering going higher but after changing the transistors twice already, I really didn't feel like going through the grief of a third change in the event of transistor failure. At that point they were running ~50 degC, which is a nice point to leave them.

Now I just need a small balanced DAC. My DAC-301 would be up to the task but needs a case. Is there a fancy way to make two y1 into a balanced arrangement?

 

[patton713MW]

I noticed that the top of my Lansing case is slightly bowed outward. Have any of you noticed this on your cases? What did you do to flatten it? I've tried bending it by hand, but it doesn't seem to want to flatten out.

 

[linuxworks]

"use a bigger hammer"

I just pressed on mine, leaning on it, until it flexed flat. be careful, though - and it really may not be worth risking, to be honest. minor flaw - and sometimes when I try to fix minor things, I make it even worse..

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by patton713MW /img/forum/go_quote.gif I noticed that the top of my Lansing case is slightly bowed outward. Have any of you noticed this on your cases? What did you do to flatten it? I've tried bending it by hand, but it doesn't seem to want to flatten out.

They're all like that. You can actually offset the endplates slightly to account for the difference. Just whittle an extra sliver or two off the bottom of the pot-shaft and headphone-jack holes.

 

[cetoole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveze /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is there a fancy way to make two y1 into a balanced arrangement?

No, the only thing you could do if you needed balanced out of a y1 was add a phase splitter of some sort, or maybe a transformer.

 

[linuxworks]

this is a fun little amp. I'm really glad I jumped in on the GB and got the machined case. that made ALL the diff.

I used to be into ham radio (1970's timeframe) and this 2 tube unit reminds me a lot of stuff I used to use back then. it was a neat time for electronics and DIY back then, too..

so far I've left the buffers at 90 and have not pushed to (120?) yet. am I missing much by leaving it so low? I don't feel a lot of heat off the case and I kind of like it that way..

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif this is a fun little amp. I'm really glad I jumped in on the GB and got the machined case. that made ALL the diff. I used to be into ham radio (1970's timeframe) and this 2 tube unit reminds me a lot of stuff I used to use back then. it was a neat time for electronics and DIY back then, too.. so far I've left the buffers at 90 and have not pushed to (120?) yet. am I missing much by leaving it so low? I don't feel a lot of heat off the case and I kind of like it that way..

You should be able to get 110mV (50ma) without any issue, probably a bit further, if you want to push it. However, 110mv (50ma) is our official recommendation.

90mV is only a little more than the PPA and CKKIII get without any heat sinks.

 

[Beefy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cetoole /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, the only thing you could do if you needed balanced out of a y1 was add a phase splitter of some sort, or maybe a transformer.

See, I've been thinking about this, and there is theoretically a better way if you do have two y1.

With ASIO4ALL and Foobar, you are able to map the music channels to whatever ASIO device you like. If you had a plugin that was capable of generating a perfect inverse signal to your music in real time, you may be able to send left + and left - to one device, then right + and right - to a separate device.

Completely theoretical of course, and the plugin doesn't appear to exist.

 

[rds]

You could use an Opus DAC. It will be cheaper than two y1s and uses a better DAC chip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveze /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is there a fancy way to make two y1 into a balanced arrangement?

 

[Beefy]

He already has the y1's

 

[linuxworks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beefy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Completely theoretical of course, and the plugin doesn't appear to exist.

have you tried rot13?

(kidding!)