mwhouston Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 The only parts I purchase from digi-key is the Hammond chassis with the wooden checks. Most times I don’t need a bottom plate but when building phono stages I do. They need a grounding plate. In the past I’ve had them cut by KK Steel in Hastings. But I found I can buy a plate to fit and I don’t have to prepare and spray it. But the matching plate doesn’t fit. It’s about 4mm too big. It’s stainless so hard to cut or file down. After a chat with a few digi-key departments they decided to refund my money and keep the plate. I love the retro type chassis and combine this with great customer service I’ll not seek other alternatives. Now with the black stipple finish I don’t even have to spray. Win win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcAL Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 (edited) 5 hours ago, mwhouston said: The only parts I purchase from digi-key is the Hammond chassis with the wooden checks. Most times I don’t need a bottom plate but when building phono stages I do. They need a grounding plate. In the past I’ve had them cut by KK Steel in Hastings. But I found I can buy a plate to fit and I don’t have to prepare and spray it. But the matching plate doesn’t fit. It’s about 4mm too big. It’s stainless so hard to cut or file down. After a chat with a few digi-key departments they decided to refund my money and keep the plate. I love the retro type chassis and combine this with great customer service I’ll not seek other alternatives. Now with the black stipple finish I don’t even have to spray. Win win. Cutting stainless steel can be tricky however I have found if you only score the stainless steel several times but not go all the way through this works well. I use the thinnest stainless steel cutting disk for a 5" grinder and cut along a straight edge that has been securely clamped at both ends or use the old front and rear panels as seen in the ZPE amplifier restoration project below. The trick here is not to generate heat as this will warp the stainless and make it turn black. The thicker the stainless the longer it takes but it is less likely to warp so keep it cool and take your time. A sharp file can dress the edges nicely. 80-120 grit sandpaper will give it a nice linished look if that is what you want else paint it. Sharp drill bits for stainless steel work help also. Edited August 30 by MarcAL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 4 minutes ago, MarcAL said: Cutting stainless steel can be tricky however I have found if you only score the stainless steel several times but not go all the way through this works well. I use the thinnest stainless steel cutting disk for a 5" grinder and cut along a straight edge that has been securely clamped at both ends or use the old front and rear panels as seen in the ZPE amplifier restoration project below. The trick here is not to generate heat as this will warp the stainless and make it turn black. The thicker the stainless the longer it takes but it is less likely to warp so keep it cool and take your time. A sharp file can dress the edges nicely. 80-100 grit sandpaper will give it a nice linished look if that is what you want else paint it. Sharp drill bits for stainless steel work help also. Thanks for the advice. I'm hoping the local steel merchants will trim it for me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RankStranger Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 I purchased some original AudioEngine A5s from the classifieds, knowing they would need some sort of repair. Here is the ad, for context. First up, I tried replacing the cap referred to in the linked article, which unfortunately didn't fix the channel imbalance. Next, I pulled the whole assembly apart and found one other failed cap and two more that looked suspect so I replaced those, too, but the problem persisted. Although I had access to the schematic, I'm more of a Lego-builder DIYer than an experienced circuit surgeon so after holding my tongue in a number of different positions while I squinted intently at it, which also - amazingly - didn’t fix it, I decided to try a different path. There are posts and videos online from folks who just disconnected the internal amp and went passive. Although I'm sure they sound fine that way, the idea of a passive speaker with all that junk just sitting in it made my brain itch. I thought through various options of adding power back to the speaker, such as adding a class-T or even a gainclone of some description. I had confirmed the transformer was still fine so my preference was to reuse that, if I could. In the end I did a search for the amplifier ICs that Audioengine had originally used (TDA7294) and I found a power amp board on AliExpress (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005709292047.html) that uses the same chips complete with regulator and speaker protection and could be powered by the 19-0-19 secondary of the existing transformer. Winning. In addition to needing some sort of volume control, for my purposes, I wanted a subwoofer pre-out with independent level because the sub I use in my desk rig oscillates wildly whenever the volume control isn’t set to exactly 12 o'clock but otherwise works perfectly. Again, on AliExpress, I found an NE5532-based preamp (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000288879845.html) with subwoofer output with independent volume and low-pass filter that could be powered directly from the from the 0-10V AC secondary of the transformer. From my research, the general vibe online seems to be than the high failure rate/short lifespan of the original A5 - and the reason for the pretty-quick introduction of the A5+ - was due to overheating. My guess is that although the heatsink was adequate to the task, the lack of ventilation was the culprit. To counter this, I cut a new backplate out of 4mm aluminium, mounted the original heatsink to the outside of it (with thermal paste in between) and mounted the ICs to the inside of the backplate so that the whole backplate and heatsink assembly would contribute to cooling. I mounted the rest of the hardware around it, which involved desoldering and adding extension leads to the phase switch and pots to fit everything in neatly (or, to my mind, what passes for neatly where no one will ever see it) and resealed it all with foam tape when I put it back together. I'm happy (and a little surprised) to report that it pretty much all worked. My solution for getting the power LED on the front going worked in a test but not after assembly. I haven't had a chance to troubleshoot it yet but I'm hoping it's something obvious/mechanical. Also, the subwoofer volume and x-over don’t have as much of an effect as I expected. I don’t know if that's just me or just the circuit or it needs some more playing around with but it's adequate for my purposes so I might just leave it alone. I have no idea if it sounds as good as the originals because I didn’t listen to those beyond just testing but I am happy with how they sound. The electronics were about $70 shipped and most of everything else was stuff I had sitting around or salvaged from the original. All in all I feel like it was a pretty successful and worthwhile project. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Type 1 Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 Nice work! I wish that I was smart enough to do that!! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 To all the DIY dads out there, Happy Fathers Day! 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 Off thread but who has one of these and/or could you ever imagine owning one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLAH BLAH Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 On 04/08/2024 at 12:41 PM, RankStranger said: I’ll grant that that may be the case but we’ll never know because they’re out of circulation. No enterprising 17yo is going to pick them up at a garage sale for $100 and find the schematic online and painstakingly recap them or whatever. They’ve been reduced to dust-collecting trinkets. So true...the Audiophile's version of dust-collecting tchotchkes... (If they were that rich to own so many units, you'd think they would splash out for a maid and feather duster to keep it all dust free!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 1 hour ago, mwhouston said: Off thread but who has one of these and/or could you ever imagine owning one? Had an original one back in the day - worked extremely well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 Looking at some layouts for monoblock 6L6 SE UL ampwith these heavy Silk 20W OPTs. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 Just purchased this. Haven’t see a cheaper cleaner and this does four LPs at a time. Any clues for a good cleaner mix. I’ve heard a touch of dish washing liquid in water but any better suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muon* Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 (edited) 54 minutes ago, mwhouston said: Just purchased this. Haven’t see a cheaper cleaner and this does four LPs at a time. Any clues for a good cleaner mix. I’ve heard a touch of dish washing liquid in water but any better suggestions. It does 8 or so the ad states. It's an ultrasonic cleaner so you don't use cleaning agents (should not be needed), just water. Edit: be careful with the temp setting. Edited September 8 by muon* 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 5 minutes ago, muon* said: It does 8 or so the ad states. It's an ultrasonic cleaner so you don't use cleaning agents (should not be needed), just water. Edit: be careful with the temp setting. Is it the MK8 or does it clean 8 LPs at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 9 minutes ago, muon* said: It does 8 or so the ad states. It's an ultrasonic cleaner so you don't use cleaning agents (should not be needed), just water. Edit: be careful with the temp setting. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 59 minutes ago, mwhouston said: Just purchased this. Haven’t see a cheaper cleaner and this does four LPs at a time. 40kHz is OK - 60kHz cleans better. 59 minutes ago, mwhouston said: Any clues for a good cleaner mix. I’ve heard a touch of dish washing liquid in water but any better suggestions. I would suggest - in contrast to @muon* - that you should add to distilled water (not tap water! ): 5% (compared to the amount of water) of 99% IPA and, say, 5ml of something like Ilfotrol (rather than dishwashing liquid). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 My current cleaner is a disc-o-stat. Very manual but I could do 15 lps in 30mins. Do you think I can use the dico fluid which i have two bottles of. But then Ill have to wash it off. Best just plane water. Could be one disc-o-stat up for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 Not mine but impressive. One hell of a lot of work. Beautiful and steam punk. Looks like a 6V6 PP. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 Simply amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 Some tranni prep. I use to do this once mounted. Cramped and fiddly. This is a much better idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLAH BLAH Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 19 hours ago, mwhouston said: Looking at some layouts for monoblock 6L6 SE UL ampwith these heavy Silk 20W OPTs. Any thoughts? Okayyy...for starters...about your amp's orientation...which sides are the front and back?!? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 4 minutes ago, BLAH BLAH said: Okayyy...for starters...about your amp's orientation...which sides are the front and back?!? Ummm ... the sides are 'sides' - as distinct from the front & the back! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLAH BLAH Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 8 minutes ago, andyr said: Ummm ... the sides are 'sides' - as distinct from the front & the back! Ummmm... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 26 minutes ago, BLAH BLAH said: Okayyy...for starters...about your amp's orientation...which sides are the front and back?!? The front is toward you 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian McP Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Electron Luv always takes the cake for steampunk https://6moons.com/industryfeatures/josh/josh.html https://www.facebook.com/ElectronLuv/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 The LP cleaner arrived. Can some one tell me what temperature and time for LPs. I understand plain filtered water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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