[JamesL]

Audiofreek, the cost largely depends on the parts you use, features you implement, tools you need to buy.

To give an idea of how much it would cost..
My BOM with opa627's, with fairly good quality components across the board came out to a bit over $150.
I also paid $50 more for some quality hookup wire, switches, solder, volume knob, and rca jacks from other sites, and with it, I bought myself some new tools for about $150.

The AD8610's will cost about $25 less than the opa627's, and you can get rca jacks and a volume knob at Mouser for pretty cheap, so if you already have the necessary tools, building a standard PPAv2 for $150 won't be very hard.

 

[audiofreek]

Thanks James.. I wonder if you'd share your BOM? I already have tools and such, and I guess I am interested to see what parts you used, what is high quality hook up wire vs what I may have available here and through mail order. my email is lowhere{(at)}hotmail{(dot)}com

thanks!

 

[JamesL]

I did my BOM on paper, so it'll be hard to email it to you, but for the most part, I stuck with values suggested by Tangent, and bought extra parts to experiment with, such as values for the bassboost, transistors, different brand capacitors, and so forth.
I also read through the PPAv2 build thread, to spot for problems that other people encountered, parts that caused issues..
I also paid a little extra for vishay/dale, panasonic FM, Silmic II, where I could get a hold of it.

I'm really not a firm believer in audiophile wires and such, so instead of trying to get the best of the best, I try to spread my budget out, to get decent parts all-around. This way, I can get peace of mind that I'm not missing out on much from cheaping out anywhere.

Normally, I trust most audio-diy distributors to carry good quality products suitable for audio applications, so places like michael percy's audio and connexion express are good places to look for stuff.

I mean, everyone does their thing differently. You can use the $0.10/ft wire they cut up at your local hardware store, or a pure-silver braid at $10/ft, and theres no one to say you screwed up.

 

[audiofreek]

Cool. Thanks for the tips.

 

[bperboy]

rds, do you have a source for the opa627, or were they something you had on hand already?

 

[rds]

Quote:

rds, do you have a source for the opa627

I get them from Digikey. They have lots in stock and they're guaranteed to be the real thing.

 

[kdaq]

I built my PPAv2 a few years back, before the first national meet. More recently, added a STEPS.

It's been collecting dust for awhile now....but tonight I dusted it off and resoldered a damaged input. Back in business!

Great to revisit this flavor of sound again. Lately I had been enjoying the never-offensive, even sound of the Mini-3. Now, I'm enjoying the bittersweet experience of finding that subset of my music collection that really makes the PPAv2 sing.

...Now, if only I would finish casing it

 

[JamesL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bperboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif rds, do you have a source for the opa627, or were they something you had on hand already?

Also, a member here, ferds, seems to have a good stock of authentic opa627's. I bought mines for $14 each from him not too long ago.

 

[rds]

 

[bperboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rds /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Lets trim those leads off... otherwise it looks pretty good!

 

[n_maher]

If you get crazy, you could try and stuff a TREAD in there.

 

[JamesL]

Dang! Thats gonna be a major pain to wire, especially with those dpdt switches...
That looks like some 30-35 wire connections back and front. =O

That stepped attenuator looks like it fits perfectly where the rk27 should be, heh.. How do you like it compared to the other one?

 

[rds]

Quote:

If you get crazy, you could try and stuff a TREAD in there.

That is evil, but I'm going with the YJPS and holding on to those last shreds of sanity.
Looks good though - I like compact design.

Quote:

That stepped attenuator looks like it fits perfectly where the rk27 should be, heh.. How do you like it compared to the other one?

I was literally working with fractions of a millimeter.
I don't know yet. Wait for me to connect those 40 wires. In theory it is better and with three gain settings dialing in the right volume shouldn't be a problem. Haven't fully decided on the gain levels yet. I was thinking 4.5, 3 and 1.5. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[MisterX]

Quote:

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l5...e/IMG_1787.jpg

I certainly hope that mini-jack is not intended to be an output.
(a metal ground tab connected to a metal enclosure that is connected to the metal ground tab on the input = short circuited ground channel.

)

Quote:

I like compact design.

You ought to like this one then:

Please excuse the image quality.... I was to lazy to roll the chair across the room and turn the overhead light on.

 

[rds]

Quote:

I certainly hope that mini-jack is not intended to be an output.

It is meant to be an output jack. I just put on the components to get a picture, but I do need to find some plastic washers. Thanks for the heads up.

That does look sweet - what case are you using?