[zzz]

Now that I'm ampless and W2002 out of the phone jack on NEC just doesn't cut it and I know that HP4 will probably take another two weeks or so to arrive, I went and ordered myself some Stax SR-001 from audiocubes just to try them out. Then I found the Kevin Gilmore design for an amp for Staxes (http://www.headwize.com/projects/sho...lmore2_prj.htm) and decided to give it a try (especially in the light of upcoming long weekend). And yes, I barely know anything about analog design, but I know that I can play a trained monkey with a soldering iron just fine (Ohman crossfeed circuit without any burnt fingers

). So, my questions are:

1) What places do you go to buy for the parts? This could be both online or a chain that has a chance of existing in Santa Clara/San Jose area (I'm carless, so this would be important...).

2) mouser.com seems to have most of the things I want, except for 2SA1156 and 2SK389. What could the substitutes for these transistors be? Newark has them, but lead time is 2 weeks and it probably would not be as much fun anymore with HP4 around.

3) What's the general turnaround time at say mouser? Can I expect to receive anything before the long weekend?

 

[tangent]

In order of preference, I use Mouser, DigiKey, Allied and Newark. Newark sucks rocks, but darn it, they sometimes have stuff that no one else does.

At Mouser and DigiKey, if they say they have the parts in stock, the order will ship the same day you order early enough in the day. At DigiKey, this is like 7-8pm Central time! Mouser is also good; I may be lucky, though: they have a warehouse in Texas, and I live in New Mexico, so shipments get here quickly. Both of these places will ship with various services, so you can get your parts overnight if you want them bad enough.

I've only been dealing with Allied for a short time, so although all of my experiences have been good, I don't have enough of them to give a definitive thumbs up or down.

Allied's web site isn't as good as Mouser's and DigiKey's. The latter is hands-down the best web site in electronics distributing, for what that's worth. Mouser's is good, but a clear second-place to DigiKey's. Newark's web site bites the bag, which is one of several reasons I use them only as a last resort.

As for local stores, the only one I know of there in the Bay Area is Halted Electronics Supply in Santa Clara. They carry overstock and discontinued parts they pick up from other companies, so you never know what they might have, but the prices are excellent. I've never been there in person, but I know someone who lives nearby and they sent me a bunch of great stuff from there. The web site is a joke, but I'm sure it's because keeping the web site current for that kind of business would be a mess. Since you're local, you should wander in and see what you can find. You might find some real treasures.

 

[aos]

For Canadians, Digikey is by far, far the best electronics supplier that exists. If you order early in the day, you'll get it in your hands by next day - before 9AM in my case! - all for only $8 Canadian shipping. No one can beat that. Brokerage fees are included in price and are probably far less than you'd pay manually unless you're buying 1000s of dollars woth of stuff, and so is GST included, and they don't charge you provincial taxes - thank God. So there is no hassle, no extra bills to pay, no nothing. The website is incredible, in fact it is so bloody good that I use it to search for datasheets instead of Google, or even instead of going through my directory on my hard drive. The only potentially bad thing are the prices - they can be pretty steep for some stuff and you need to try buying in larger quantities to get it down.

 

[morsel]

Heehee, I am the someone who told Tangent about Halted. It is on Ryder St., a little connector road from Central Expressway to Lawrence Expressway southeast of the intersection. It is only accessible from eastbound Central or northbound Lawrence. Definitely check it out, and be prepared to spend hours there, it is mesmerizing.

 

[zzz]

Thanks, guys, I will pay that shop a visit.

As I said, Mouser has about 3/4 transistors I need, but the remaining 3 types (2SA1156, 2SC3675, and 2SK389) cannot be found anywhere... Vancouver-based Main Electronics has them *all* and I'm somewhat bitter about that, because that's where I normally live

.

Digikey doesn't stock any of the parts I need and stupid me doesn't know enough about all this to be able to find substitutes. Newark theoretically has the parts I can't get from Mouser but has none of them in stock, plus there's lead time of 15 days, `VENDOR MINIMUM`, and the prices are rather high.

Allied doesn't have anything I need, except that they have one of the transformers for the power supply (which goes for a mere 70 USD

) and the Stax jack.

Well, ok, enough whining, I'll continue doing that when I start

...

 

[tangent]

I avoided mentioning your name, morsel, so people wouldn't bug you to get stuff from there for them. Now you're in for it!