[tkam]

The turn around time for my amp was about 3 weeks.

 

[euclid]

thanks for a great review,
have you tried it as a preamp yet? i see this design has output rcas, plus the input select would be a great feature for that.

ive been wanting to build one of these, now i might actually have to shift priority with some funds to make it happen asap.

 

[tkam]

The output RCA's are just a loop-out.

 

[TURBO]

First, congratulations in having that so beauty amp. Hope you are enjoying the sound of that piece of art.
Second, Lately, I am learning about the M3 and I also congratulate the M3 team. I am not an expert in DYI design but I have some concerns.

I am concerned about 3 cables that I think are the line-out (+, -, grd) to the headphones. These cables are routed thru the caps. Caps get hot aren’t they? Those 3 cables can be routed differently?. If caps get hot, those 3 cables will eventually get toasted or broken?. Just a brain storm in my head right now, tending to hurricane warning.
Here are the cables I am talking about:

 

[tkam]

The caps don't get hot or even warm for that matter. I suppose you could use more wiring and route them differently if you wanted to but I don't really see a need for it.

 

[shimage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TURBO [snip]I am concerned about 3 cables that I think are the line-out (+, -, grd) to the headphones. These cables are routed thru the caps. Caps get hot aren’t they? Those 3 cables can be routed differently?. If caps get hot, those 3 cables will eventually get toasted or broken?.[/snip]

I'm no engineer, so I don't have that much experience with the non-idealities of circuit elements, but capacitors aren't supposed to be dissapative. If those are, indeed, high-quality caps, I'd expect them to behave like capacitors.

Besides, if they ever got hot enough to melt plastic, you wouldn't expect them to be wrapped in plastic, would you?

 

[amb]

TURBO, the capacitors don't get hot. If they do, it would be a sign of imminent failure.

 

[TURBO]

Thanks a lot for your answers.

 

[stevieo]

tkam, very nice review indeed.

 

[Jaypetermen]

tkam, nice amp!

Is there the benefit of using the Solen Caps for the Bass Boost verse the recommended cap?

From the pictures it looks like the Solen cap is a .33uf/630v?

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaypetermen Is there the benefit of using the Solen Caps for the Bass Boost verse the recommended cap? From the pictures it looks like the Solen cap is a .33uf/630v?

In my Rockhopper M3, the Wima cap in the bass boost appeared to be a source of grain. Thrice eliminated the bass boost completely, and the amp is smoother. IMO the best cap in the bass boost is none at all...

 

[devwild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hirsch In my Rockhopper M3, the Wima cap in the bass boost appeared to be a source of grain. Thrice eliminated the bass boost completely, and the amp is smoother. IMO the best cap in the bass boost is none at all...

Based on my conversations with him, the Solen caps have been working better, though he still doesn't care for bass boost personally. I ordered it with, we'll see how it goes I guess.

 

[thrice]

Yep,

I'm not fond of the Bass boost, but that doesn't mean it's bad, just that I'm not fond of it. I figured if you're going to put caps in the signal path, might as well put good ones there

 

[chesebert]

who do I contact for Rockhopper M3?

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert who do I contact for Rockhopper M3?

Thrice, the guy in the post above yours.