[HiGHFLYiN9]

Very nice example, and good to hear regarding the impressions. Where did you procure the V-Caps? Victor? Any final thoughts vs the Jupiters?

I ordered the smaller TKD pot as I was worried the larger one wouldn't fit. Glad you were able to make it happen I'm going with Takman carbon film for most of the resistors. They and the Vishays are the very few through-hole resistors that are non-magnetic these days. David Berning turned me into a convert Also snagged some copper-body Vampire RCAs as they were on sale at PCX, hopefully they fit.

Oddly I found the Schurter IEC I needed in my parts bin, so hopefully I can knock the amp out a little sooner now.

 

[jh4db536]

I got my Vcaps directly from Victor while building a 8900 for someone else.

I think the Vcaps are better in this case, because the Sangaku is already warm and bloomy. Vcaps are tighter sounding and probably as clear as it gets for couplers without spending More Megabucks. If i was using a straighter dac, like Rockna or Bricasti, id probably be using a jupiter instead of vcap. yggsrasils... any second generation schiits best be using the more neutral cap

Same thinking with Dales. Normally i choose CFR carbon films or vintage draloric, but im working with something that needs control and crisper sound.

I am fine with using an Alps RK27, but i had this 10k TKD laying around from another project. It's a pita actually doesnt fit right. Should've just bought the alps.

This schurter IEC was a 2pole that was still in stock. you should've seen MFW it didnt turn on cause it was missing a metal tab in the fuseholder i've never had something just flunk on first turn on. I couldn't detect voltage in the trafo, all the fuses were good, i pulled the entire IEC and tested the switch lmao. I thought I was losing my mind

btw, when i do the voicing on this amp already i have a target sound in mind. I felt it was reachable and the amp had potential when i first built it otherwise i wouldn't spend the effort on this.

I don't mind bloom or tasteful warmth (not trying to make it neutral), but i think 10uf in the cathode is too high and causes 'bad bloom'. Try removing C33, 34 entirely and you'll see what i mean. I have 0.47uf electrolytic in there right now.

Bad bloom is when the bass decays too long and sustains into the mids veiling it. You either roll off the bass, dampen it with cathode feedback, or if the amp is good enough (has enough layering and separation) you can also push the mids forward (n shaped presentation) so the bass sustains behind the mids. You can also mess with things upstream to accomplish some of this.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Thanks for your candidness, for careful (OCD?) builders like you and I having an amp not power up perfectly on startup can be disconcerting. Totally understood that this amp leans toward warm so you were trying to swing the pendulum back toward neutral. Honestly based on my observations resistors make precious little difference, coupling caps and pots should be the priority for most.

 

[Whitigir]

LOL!! Chasing a ghost is pretty frustrating and sometimes it turned out to be the most silly thing. Nice that you have it up and running. I am super happy with 8900

 

[Gizmo1k]

Got mine going finally after correcting my d3 polarity and getting a replacement timer chip. Been listening for a solid hour, love this little amp. It exceeded my expectations. Really enjoying the holographic sound stage.

 

[Gizmo1k]

Brought the amp with me on a trip just now and only brought the focal elegia and didn’t like them near as much as the sennheiser hd598se for some reason. I think too much of a good thing. Both this amp and the elegia are pretty warm and together it seems accentuated in the same way so it is out of balance. I’m hoping to try an hd800s tomorrow on it. But so far I prefer hd598se

 

[Whitigir]

Brought the amp with me on a trip just now and only brought the focal elegia and didn’t like them near as much as the sennheiser hd598se for some reason. I think too much of a good thing. Both this amp and the elegia are pretty warm and together it seems accentuated in the same way so it is out of balance. I’m hoping to try an hd800s tomorrow on it. But so far I prefer hd598se

So far, the only amplifier that I think is transforming the HD800S is pretty much only OTs amplifiers. Now, I do understand what is making HD800S so hard to drive. It isn’t simply just the juices that it needs, or loudness either. Somehow a my newly built TU-8900 is bringing new life to my 800S

I have always enjoyed 800S and out of many others. It scales well, but the OTs is a different ball game

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

I finally got all the parts from Mouser, went to get the AMGIS L01-6363 / 700063K transformer and that was sold out everywhere. Ended up ordering an open-box one from a random seller, hopefully it's in working order.

 

[petewebb]

Alright, I joined the Sangaku DIY club and ordered the partial kit off eBay the other day. I was able to order all the parts for it, except the transformer… which doesn’t look to be available anywhere.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Yeah I had the same predicament. There are like 2-3 brands (Talema, Amgis, and one other one) that make them but all are sold out. I ended up buying an old beat up NOS one for more than they cost new. Fortunately it measures fine.

They make a standard toroid version: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/talema-group-llc/62063/3881407 ...that looks like it would fit. I would have bought that if I didn't find the NOS one. You just would have to match up the schematic to get the leads in the proper places. G;ad you were able to get the rest of the parts. I had trouble getting a few of them.

My unit is nearly done, just waiting on some fuses. I used the auto BOM tool on Mouser and it ordered me the fuses for 220v

 

[petewebb]

I see this one on ebay that looks like a copy of the Amgis, but there is 0 chance I'm going to pay near 4x the unit cost, and then another 4x for shipping from the UK: https://www.ebay.com/itm/124389231227

I think I'll wait it out a bit and just build what I have with the parts when I get them for now.

 

[petewebb]

Yeah I had the same predicament. There are like 2-3 brands (Talema, Amgis, and one other one) that make them but all are sold out. I ended up buying an old beat up NOS one for more than they cost new. Fortunately it measures fine.

They make a standard toroid version: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/talema-group-llc/62063/3881407 ...that looks like it would fit. I would have bought that if I didn't find the NOS one. You just would have to match up the schematic to get the leads in the proper places. G;ad you were able to get the rest of the parts. I had trouble getting a few of them.

My unit is nearly done, just waiting on some fuses. I used the auto BOM tool on Mouser and it ordered me the fuses for 220v

Which TDK Pot did you end up going with?

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

I'd go ahead and place an order now at Mouser or Digikey as I recall the lead time is shorter than the restock.

Partsconnexion was out of the regular TKD but had the 601 stepped version, so I went with that given the 25% off sale, but at regular price I'd just get the standard version from HiFiCollective. Someone was able to fit the larger 2511 in but it looked fairly tight.

 

[petewebb]

Just a heads up for those looking for the transformer. I checked on lead times for the AMVECO 70063K with Allied, and they are saying it has been discontinued. I'm going to order the Talema 62063 that HiGHFLYiNG9 suggested and try it out.

 

[petewebb]

I'd love to get your impressions on the jupiters vs the Vcaps in there. Glad to see you used the Vishay Dale resistors, the leads are non-magnetic which is important.

I got a bronze powdercoated chassis from Landfall this week for mine. Their prices are very reasonable and the turn around is super fast. Now to play the waiting game...

Do all Vishay/Dale resistors have non-magnetic leads? I've been trying to find non-magnetic resistors for the odd size ohm resistors in the BOM like 1.21K & 1.27K ohm but can't find any that specifically state they are non-magnetic. The only Vishay/Dales I have been able to find that state being non-magnetic are in the CMF and RN lines and have a special product code at the end of the part number("143")... and even then I can't seem to find them in the Ohm rating need. I'm wondering if that is because the CMF/RNs are fully non-magnetic and not just the leads.

I was able to find Takman and AudioNote non-magnets for all the other resistors of pretty common Ohm ratings though.(1Mohm, 20Kohm, 15Kohm, etc)

Here's the CMF datasheet: https://www.vishay.com/docs/31091/cmfnonma.pdf