[levlhed]

I made this guy a Best Offer which got accepted, wasn't expecting that.  But I got a good price (I think).
I got him to send me a schematic while I wait for delivery...
http://www.levlhed.com/6DJ86AS7amp.pdf
The ad claims "uses hi-ended Audio Cap's, Germany Audiophile Cap's, Hi-end Tomiko's Power transformer, and Germany RAC Gold Jack. All assembled by hand."
I see the seller has a different amp up now too.
 

 

[CaptnMix76]

I love the two-toned wood scheme.
 
Let us know how she sounds.

 

[/Fail]

Is this the seller?
 
Looks pretty interesting. Looks like a Morgan Jones/EMP.

 

[levlhed]

Yeah that's the guy.  I don't think English is his first language judging by the emails, but at least he is pretty quick with communication.
I can't tell if these are just his personal one-off creations that he's used and now selling, or if he does this regularly.
 
Either way, I've got DT990's waiting to be plugged in to the one I bought.
I guess since it's coming from over on the West coast I won't see it until next week, possibly.
 
I asked him about upgrades, he claims it's "already upgraded".  Heh heh, of course he would say that.  I'm really curious what exactly was used on its insides...

 

[markkr]

What did you pay for it? (if you dont mind me asking)

 

[levlhed]

$157 USD delivered insured.

 

[diego]

The amp is a copy of this design http://gilmore2.chem.northwestern.edu/projects/showfile.php?file=waarde1_prj.htm . There are several well known amplifiers that have a similar topology, so it probably sounds good.

 

[Starky]

Beware of this seller. I bought a Morgan Jones clone amp (like the 6DJ8 listing) from him, and the 3 prong ground socket actually turned out to be shorted inside. I don't have enough electronics knowledge to explain if the lack of a ground was the cause, but when I was switching sources I got a pretty serious electric shock from the amp. Another presumably related, though less serious, problem was very noticeable noise when using a source that wasn't itself grounded like an iPod.
 
I returned the amp and while the seller started out pretty helpful he turned out to be a real pain. I had to go through Paypal to get my money back.
 
Fingers crossed that yours is OK levlhed. Mine certainly sounded very nice, especially for the money, on the bright side.

 

[levlhed]

Yikes, well thanks for the heads up Starky.  I'll have to hope it's cool I guess.  I don't know much electronically myself yet, I actually have a Bottlehead Crack kit on order thinking it would be my first foray into the whole thing.  On a whim I just made an offer on this one, only half wanting to win it anyway...so I am actually on the fence over the whole deal in the first place.
 
diego, that link doesn't get me where you want me to be I think...I'd like to see what you are referring to!

 

[aristos_achaion]

It looks like a pretty simple circuit (despite his annoying usage of blue blocks instead of the normal resistor symbols), so it shouldn't be hard to go through and at least perform some resistance-checks, which should at least tell you if the amp is safe to turn on. (If you don't have a digital multimeter, you're going to need one to test the Crack...there's a cheap & good one on Harbor Freight.) It might be instructive to go through and check the work to make sure everything's properly grounded and all.
 
I would NOT advise turning it on before doing some resistance checking, especially with Starky's story. I'm sure people in the DIY forum could help you figure out expected resistances. (I'd volunteer, but I'm a bit rusty and don't want people entrusting their lives to my physics skills.) I notice he doesn't give a resistance for the potentiometer (it's just labelled "Vol").
 
This amp is pretty similar the Crack (I don't have the Crack's schematic with me at the moment, but it's the same concept...you can even roll this one's 6AS7 and the Crack's 6080, since they're compatible tubes), so comparing the two could actually be quite interesting if you're so inclined.

 

[levlhed]

Alright, I posted in DIY section asking for help with that.  Still waiting for delivery yet so maybe I'll get some pointers before it even arrives.
 
I ended up cancelling the Crack order today just due to budgetary constraints.  I really hope I don't regret going this route!  But it seems as long as it's put together correctly with the quality of parts that are claimed that I shouldn't regret it.

 

[diego]

I corrected the link above. The amp is probably very similar to the Crack.

 

[Happy Camper]

http://www.audioasylum.com/scripts/d.pl?audio/faq/joes-tubes.html#6DJ8
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/410326/for-6as7g-tube-rollers-here
 
The TS 5998 is a very nice tube for the 6as7.

 

[levlhed]

wow, that's an extensive 6DJ8/6922 rundown!  I haven't come across that one before.
Thank you

 

[levlhed]

I took delivery today.  I will post some pics of it's guts this weekend and maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can tell me what's what and if the parts are really "audiophile quality".
First order of business tonight will be the basic quality/voltage/resistance checks.