The Melos Modification Thread

[nikongod]

wooot! headfi is back upo!

my parts came. the parts i requested to cancel came. crazy.

anyways, vibrapods are cool. so are the cones.
cardas 1l interconect cable is tough to solder, even after setting the iron to 770* and sanding/scraping the wires. these wires begin burnin on my stax system. the melos/hp2 has been stealing all of the love from the o2's...
there are lots of other little bits and pieces that i got that are waiting untill later to install into the amp.
the rtx multicaps in teh 1.5uf size are facking huge. if the photentiometer were still present, they would not fit. they are not yet in.

power conditoner is also awsome. my quest to exactly coppy jahn's system continues.

 

[lan]

You mean the parts from partsconnexion?

I should be getting mine next week. They must've really gotten killed by all those orders.

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan You mean the parts from partsconnexion? I should be getting mine next week. They must've really gotten killed by all those orders.

ya, the ones i ordered about 2 weeks ago.

 

[Jahn]

nikongod's breath on the back of my neck duly noted.

and that audiogon tubed Melos is insane. oh lordy, imagine all that tube rollin'!

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bozebuttons Guys check out the Gold referance Mar on audiogon for a differant twist had extra tubes added.

Doesn't that mod bypass the SS output stage and therefore all the goodness that comes from Melos' hybrid nature for driving low-impedance Grados with lots of wonderful current?

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg Doesn't that mod bypass the SS output stage and therefore all the goodness that comes from Melos' hybrid nature for driving low-impedance Grados with lots of wonderful current?

it looks like it bypassed/replaced the mosfets for the preamp stage with the tubes.

the headphone mosfets are still on their heatsink.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod it looks like it bypassed the mosfets for the preamp stage. the headphone mosfets are still on their heatsink.

So basically those mods have no effect when used as a headphone amp?

 

[nikongod]

some of my new parts are in the melos.

tonight i swapped:
wire from the switch for tape/dial to stepper, stepper to caps is now 99.9999%copper.
2 huge facking caps are now mounted off of the board. multicap rtx, 1.5uf. they actually measure closer to 2uf (1.92, matched) which is sweet.
i re-routed my left-chanel mod to further from some cross-board wires.
and the output from the board to the headphone jack is cardas headphone cable, 2 conductors per chanel.

after a small problem, the amp is running flawlessly.

i think i have more work still to do...

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg So basically those mods have no effect when used as a headphone amp?

exactly! screw it! long live the Maestrobator! tho i have to say the folks in this thread are starting to make me worry that I won't be #2 at the meet anymore (we all know which Melos will be #1!)

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn exactly! screw it! long live the Maestrobator! tho i have to say the folks in this thread are starting to make me worry that I won't be #2 at the meet anymore (we all know which Melos will be #1!)

mine?
computerpro?

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod mine? computerpro?

both?

 

[nikongod]

eric clapton unplugged, love comes over me...

there is someone who starts clapping in the middle of the song by himself. it wrecked the black backround of the rest of the music. at least it was quiet, and he stopped quickly. then someone scratched their fingers on the guitar strings changing notes. argh.

 

[nikongod]

pay attention to your grounds. they are important. for the second night in a row, a ground issue has poked me in the bumm. not too hard, fortunatley, but its just dumb.

day 1: when i put all that stuff in yesterday, the ground came off of the stepper. this was my fault, and took a decent amount of time to find.

day 2: while reattaching the ground wire that goes to the back of the board to the board, it came off of the back of the board. this jsut sucks double because i have never touched that back connection. all fixxed.

ooh, i put in some black gate caps too. they are before the LV regulators now, so they get "shaken and stired" with the full chop off of the rectifyer well before the meet. i will move them after the regulators in about a week or so. i only want to punish them as much as the deserve for costing as much as they do....

also, if you didnt get it from above, checking what looks like a good ground is a good idea. there is TONS of nise in a bad ground. even a 'medium good" ground isnt a "very good" one. find it and kill it. its worth the time, because the parts necessary are near free.

 

[Computerpro3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod pay attention to your grounds. they are important. for the second night in a row, a ground issue has poked me in the bumm. not too hard, fortunatley, but its just dumb. day 1: when i put all that stuff in yesterday, the ground came off of the stepper. this was my fault, and took a decent amount of time to find. day 2: while reattaching the ground wire that goes to the back of the board to the board, it came off of the back of the board. this jsut sucks double because i have never touched that back connection. all fixxed. ooh, i put in some black gate caps too. they are before the LV regulators now, so they get "shaken and stired" with the full chop off of the rectifyer well before the meet. i will move them after the regulators in about a week or so. i only want to punish them as much as the deserve for costing as much as they do.... also, if you didnt get it from above, checking what looks like a good ground is a good idea. there is TONS of nise in a bad ground. even a 'medium good" ground isnt a "very good" one. find it and kill it. its worth the time, because the parts necessary are near free.

Wondering if my noise and humming issue is a weak ground....

Time to go exploring in the Melos!

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Computerpro3 Wondering if my noise and humming issue is a weak ground.... Time to go exploring in the Melos!

it may be worth the effort to run around the board, and just resolder the grounds.

also, the ground on the photentiometer.