Hi all,

Just showing off my system. Speakers are due to replaced by new custom-built jobbies any day but this is how it is at the moment.

CD Player - Rotel 991

Augmented by DIY valve output which is still in prototype form but sounds great. It is housed in the old Luxman CD Player box above the Rotel.

TT - Dual 505-3 via DIY valve phono stage - the box on the right sitting temporarily on the white chair. The box was previously an Audio Electronics Supply pre-amp I built from a kit which generously gave its life in the interests of science.

Amplifier - DIY Hifi Supply Ella EL34/KT88 built from kit with various mods currently with EH 6CA7 valves. Little box on right of amp holds volume pot and input switching as there's no room in the amp - the polyprop. caps I've added are 'big mothers'.

Speakers - B&W CDM1se. I replaced the crossover and used lots of Auricaps and big air-cored inductors which hung off the back of the speakers. Back to their original state now and will probably sell them when the newies arrive.

Subwoofer - Custom built with bandpass enclosure, two compound 10 in drivers ( clamshell style). DIY low pass filter at about 80 Hz (hidden behind telly) Powered by stereo Rotel 981 power amp.

Oh, the Rotel integrated down the bottom is a spare. Don't we all have a few extra amps lying around?

Probably but not all of us have spare Rotel's! welcome - are you happy with the current sound - looks like you have spent some time with the modification to get to what you want - are you happy with the outcome thus far?

Probably but not all of us have spare Rotel's! welcome - are you happy with the current sound - looks like you have spent some time with the modification to get to what you want - are you happy with the outcome thus far? [/b]

I have to say that each addition/modification has improved the sound and I'm really loving it at the moment. I do try to research and mull over each mod as much as possible before I do it.

The CD output thing did start out as a "can I actually design and build this" project but so far has exceeded my expectations.

Thanks for sharing RoHo. Gee the woodwork looks fantastic too. A spare amp just laying around, I wish!!.

Are you trained in electronics in some way? Great to see DIY systems, something I'm completely not able to do.

G'day Rod,

does the TT shelf slide out or something? looks a bit tricky to open the lid and get a record in there if it doesn't?

I wish I had a spare amp lying around.

Rod.

Grumps:

The speakers? Yeah, the B&W's veneer finish does look super. It was quite pale when the were new but has mellowed nicely with time. I've got a degree in Biophysics which gave me a good grounding in Electronics. The valve theory I'm learning as I go.

4hecks:

The turntable doesn't get a lot of use so it doesn't get a lot of space! I've taken the lid off its hinges so to play a record I remove the lid and then slide the record in. Not elegant but it works.

Great to see so much DIY Rod! What are the new speakers you're working on?

Cheers,

Jake

Grumps:

The speakers? Yeah, the B&W's veneer finish does look super. It was quite pale when the were new but has mellowed nicely with time. I've got a degree in Biophysics which gave me a good grounding in Electronics. The valve theory I'm learning as I go.

4hecks:

The turntable doesn't get a lot of use so it doesn't get a lot of space! I've taken the lid off its hinges so to play a record I remove the lid and then slide the record in. Not elegant but it works.[/b]

Yes I meant the speakers and the rack and is it the sub with matching wood legs? very nice.

Grumpy:

The rack is a std mass produced thing from HN. It's just vinyl wrapped board. But, yes, it does look great with the speakers - a happy coincidence. The sub legs were stained to match the rest.

Great to see so much DIY Rod! What are the new speakers you're working on?

Cheers,

Jake[/b]

The company that sells the amp kits, DIY Hifi Supply in HONG Kong, also sells a semi-full range driver called the "Neofone". It's has a 5 1/2 in aluminium cone and was designed to match their amps. I'm going to be using it in a sealed box with a Fountek ribbon tweeter. The cabinets and crossovers were designed by the guy who did my sub - I'm not clever enough for that. I had the rough prototypes on my system for a few months to fine tune some things and they sound fantastic. They make the B&W's sound coloured and boxy and the main reason I bought them was of the mid- range clarity! The total cost of drivers and crossover parts for the newies is about $500, with cabinetry costs added they will still end up less expensive than the B&W's. Now you see why DIY is so appealing.

Rod

Good to see more diy on this forum .

Cheers.

The company that sells the amp kits, DIY Hifi Supply in HONG Kong, also sells a semi-full range driver called the "Neofone". It's has a 5 1/2 in aluminium cone and was designed to match their amps. I'm going to be using it in a sealed box with a Fountek ribbon tweeter. The cabinets and crossovers were designed by the guy who did my sub - I'm not clever enough for that. I had the rough prototypes on my system for a few months to fine tune some things and they sound fantastic. They make the B&W's sound coloured and boxy and the main reason I bought them was of the mid- range clarity! The total cost of drivers and crossover parts for the newies is about $500, with cabinetry costs added they will still end up less expensive than the B&W's. Now you see why DIY is so appealing.

Rod

Rod

Any news on this project with the neofone?

I've just got some of these arrived in the UK that are awaiting me paying the tax, then I can bang them into the tall floorstanding cabinet shown on Brian's website. I hope to do it later this week.

I've got some Fountek ribbons as well, but I'm going to try the neofone on it's own first off, maybe add the ribbons later if I feel the need. The Founteks I've got on the way are different to yours, NeoCD3.0

Are you using the Dynafone for the sub?

Even if you aren't, can you tell me how you control the volume of the system overall, given that you're controlling the low stuff with the Rotel and the rest with the neofone/fountek? I've thought about adding the Dynafone with another amp' as well but a lack of knowledge of how it all connects together and is controlled is what has stopped me so far.

Thanks and sorry if this is the wrong "room" for this.

BrianD (also have Ella and I also have a spare Rotel amp' lying about. )

Rod

Any news on this project with the neofone?

I've got some Fountek ribbons as well, but I'm going to try the neofone on it's own first off, maybe add the ribbons later if I feel the need.

Are you using the Dynafone for the sub?

Even if you aren't, can you tell me how you control the volume of the system overall, given that you're controlling the low stuff with the Rotel and the rest with the neofone/fountek? I've thought about adding the Dynafone with another amp' as well but a lack of knowledge of how it all connects together and is controlled is what has stopped me so far.

BrianD (also have Ella and I also have a spare Rotel amp' lying about. )

Hi Brian,

I'm still waiting for the finished article to arrive, trying not to get impatient! I'll post photos as soon as possible.

The Neofones sound good solo but you do miss the upper treble that gives percussion its sparkle & "air". Ribbons are a good match 'cos they don't need to go as low as a tweeter has to in a conventional 2-way.

My sub was built before the Dynafones became available so I was unable to use them.

I'm using a separate active crossover to feed the Rotel and then onto the sub. It's a simple, analog DIY design from Rod Elliot's ESP Sound, check out his website - it's very educational.

The crossover incorporates trimpots to adjust the level of the sub relative to that of the main amp. You buy PC boards from Rod Elliot and then get the components, case and hardware yourself. If this sounds like too much to handle then get an all-in-one "plate" amp for the sub or one of the Reckhorn ones that Brian at DIY HifiSupply sells.

Is your Ella standard?

One great mod. is to convert the circuit to run in triode mode - gives less power but much improved imaging, soundstage, becomes more "lifelike".

Rod

Hi Brian,

I'm still waiting for the finished article to arrive, trying not to get impatient! I'll post photos as soon as possible.

The Neofones sound good solo but you do miss the upper treble that gives percussion its sparkle & "air". Ribbons are a good match 'cos they don't need to go as low as a tweeter has to in a conventional 2-way.

My sub was built before the Dynafones became available so I was unable to use them.

I'm using a separate active crossover to feed the Rotel and then onto the sub. It's a simple, analog DIY design from Rod Elliot's ESP Sound, check out his website - it's very educational.

The crossover incorporates trimpots to adjust the level of the sub relative to that of the main amp. You buy PC boards from Rod Elliot and then get the components, case and hardware yourself. If this sounds like too much to handle then get an all-in-one "plate" amp for the sub or one of the Reckhorn ones that Brian at DIY HifiSupply sells.

Is your Ella standard?

One great mod. is to convert the circuit to run in triode mode - gives less power but much improved imaging, soundstage, becomes more "lifelike".

Rod

Rod

Thanks for the info, I'm looking forward to seeing the photo's and your thoughts on it once it's up and running. I'll almost certainly have my neofone's working by the end of this week, albeit in a lash up for a cabinet.

One question back to the controlling volume. Even with Brian's Reckhorn amp' for the Dynafone. With the system setup with a dedicated amp' for the bass and the Ella for everything else, is the volume controlled from one master point that does it all? It must be really, I can't see how anybody could put up with having two separate volume controls but I've no idea how it's connected up.

Regarding my Ella. It's the previous version with the wooden front plate. I've modified it quite a bit. Dynamicaps as coupling, schottky diodes, kiwarme's, triode mode, disconnected NFB and the real biggie (but most expensive) was a DACT stepped attenuator. I had it all detailed on my website but I changed ISP so my website is gone until I can track down some free webspace that supports MS Frontpage. I'm lazy like that....

Cheers

BrianD

Rod

One question back to the controlling volume. Even with Brian's Reckhorn amp' for the Dynafone. With the system setup with a dedicated amp' for the bass and the Ella for everything else, is the volume controlled from one master point that does it all? It must be really, I can't see how anybody could put up with having two separate volume controls but I've no idea how it's connected up.

BrianD

I get your point, Brian. No, you don't want to adjust two volume controls. You need to have the sub's level control after the main volume control. I forgot to mention that I have relocated my volume pot to an external box that includes some input switching (my Ella, like yours, was single input only). This box has two "pre-outs", one goes to Ella, the other to the sub's crossover - so they are both controlled from the same knob.

With your Ella you have two choices. One is to add a "pre-out" by soldering a cable to the volume pot. This cable then goes to the sub.

Or two - Brian's recommendation is to take the sub's input from the speaker terminals, search the DIY Hifi forum for his notes on this. You need to use some dropper resistors to reduce the level to that suitable for your sub's input.

Too long with no updates. It's the first time in years that I don't have any projects on the go so here are the fruits of my last few years DIY efforts.

Pre-amp is the FVP5A designed by Allen Wright of Vacuum State which includes a phono stage. This sits on top of the AD1865 DAC. This is non-oversampling with passive I/V ie. no output stage. The pre-amp has enough gain so why add another stage?

Turntable is a Thoren's TD160 Super with a grace 727 arm and new Ortofon 3M blue cart.

Two power amps - one the left uses Allen's PP2C input stage with 6H30 valves mated to a 6B4G push pull outputs. 6B4Gs are 2A3s with more modern bases and heater voltages. NOS 6B4Gs are cheap and it is relatively simple to modify an EL34 amp to take them, which is what I did!

Amp on the right is a "Baby Huey" designed by Aussie Gingertube and much discussed over at DIY Audio forum. It uses push-pull EL84s.

At the moment I only use one at a time. I swap them over when I feel like a change. Maybe in the future I'll use them both in a fully active speaker set-up.

Speakers were custom made by Ron of the Melbourne Audio Club. They're based on the Neofone wide-range driver which was sold by DIY Hifi Supply but is no longer available. They roll off at the bottom end where the custom sub, built by Ron, takes over. Ron also made the matching front panels on the power amps

Under the Baby Huey is the active crossover and amp driving the sub. Crossover is now the MiniDSP which I think may need some tweaking to try to smooth the response a bit more.

It is quite strange not having the urge to add or modify anything, I find myself just happy with everything and really enjoying the music. Though I must admit I have been browsing the Twisted Pear Audio site and reading up about the Buffalo DAC. It might be fun to compare a modern up-to-the-minute design with my NOS/valves gear.

I bet that looks spectacular at night with the lights off and the tubes glowin'

Yeah! The 6B4G, like the other big triodes, is a damn sexy looking tube

Nice amps, I bet the system is sounding very nice

Just realised I haven't updated this in a loooooooong time so here goes.

 

Star of the show is the custom redgum unit.  Very solid and versatile.

Amps now use 6CB5A tubes which have more power than the 6B4Gs and being indirectly heated don't have any of the problems/complexities of directly heated tubes.  Being egalitarian I have built both a push-pull amp (top left) and a single ended (bottom right).  Both use the power supply unit at right centre, only one at a time.

MiniDSP 2x4 HD has replaced standard 2x4 which was used on the sub only.  Now I am taking optical out from the CD player straight into the MiniDSP then onto main&sub amps, so no analog to dig conversion.  The turntable only gets occasional use and goes into the MiniDSP analog input via DIY phono stage (Rod Elliott/ESP Sound).

I had set myself two lockdown projects:

1) Redesign the speakers crossover.  I used XSim software and 9 full iterations and hundreds of measurements later I accomplished that to my satisfaction.  And what a massive improvement!  Actually it's made me less inclined to to play with the amps as the gains there are......not as massive, sadly.  Unfortunately there's nothing to see as the XO is internal but here is a pic of the leftover components!   Apart from a few leftovers they were obtained from Nigel at Speakerbug, very highly recommended.

This was massive learning curve but the gains were likewise huge.  I would love to use this knowledge to create something bigger and better, so to speak, but my woodworking skills are non-existent.  A puzzle to be solved.....

 

Project #2 came about with the realisation that some of the music I wish to buy is just not available on CD.  I had been following the computer music trend from a distance but I had issues   I get no pleasure from working with computers and my skills are limited so setting up a PC system with all the stuff was not attractive.  Plus I'm a frugal, DIYer at heart so I am never going to buy a multi $K streaming product.  You might have guessed the answer....

Raspberry Pi 4B hardware and Moode library/player software..   Just bloody awesome!  I have the simplest combination, just the Pi and a 250GB USB SSD for the music.  Was quite simple to set-up and works a treat.  I don't have immediate plans to set up streaming, maybe I will get there but I'm really not that interested ATM.  I also bought the HifiBerry case and spdif/optical hat for the Pi.  I compared the optical to the USB Pi outputs and there was no significant difference in sound quality.  MiniDSP has remote switchable optical and USB inputs so I compared the optical from the CD with the pi's USB and again no significant difference.  So I can leave both CD and Pi connected to the MiniDSP easily switch between these two sources remotely.   Really handy for comparisons.  

A question for those more familiar with music via computers.  I now have two digital volume controls, one on the MinDSP and the one on Moode.  What is the best way to juggle these?  Keep the MiniDSP set near max and only use Moode?  Halfway on both?

 

Awesome 👍👍👍👍