Jimmy’s Junkyard » Blog Archive » Finally, It’s Done… Soldering 60 pcs of Black Gate Troops…

Finally, It’s Done… Soldering 60 pcs of Black Gate Troops…

Posted on Sunday, 5th July 2009 by Auw Jimmy

After over 2 month of laziness, finally I finish the tiring job, soldering 60 pcs of Black Gate F Series for my Gainclone Power Supply.

Well, practically, this is not only for Gainclone. The design will be quite modular, as described below:

Dual rail design, for positive and negative
Each filtered with 30 pcs Black Gate F Series 680uF/65V (around 20.400uF total capacitance each rail)
Choke Input Design
Main rectifier is 4xMUR860 (600V, 8A)
Snubberized Design with Mills Resistor and Russian PIO/Teflon Capacitor

With 65V working voltage of the capacitor, this modular power supply could be use for many purpose. Let’s say, a MOSFET project?

Well, as I’ve told you. I love a “neat” design. So cosmetic should be one of my main consideration. I use small fabric cloth to cover all the capacitor leads. All capacitor connected via a thick 2.5mm copper wire, wrapped with its standard “heat-proof” insulation.

The final appearance of my Black Gate troops. I just need to add the MUR860, choke, and Snubber parts. Oh well, we’ll see when I have extra free time to do this.

Tags: Black Gate, power supply
Posted in DIY Audio | Comments (16)

16 Responses to “Finally, It’s Done… Soldering 60 pcs of Black Gate Troops…”

Arie Says:
July 6th, 2009 at 16:48
Ampuuuuuuuuun deh Pak Jimmy…
Mantaaaaafff….
racun kelas wahid nih…
Jimmy Auw Says:
July 6th, 2009 at 21:26
Hehehe… enggak Pak cuman iseng aja…
Thanks.
Dino Ary Says:
July 9th, 2009 at 02:33
Huhuhuhuuuu..
The purest sounding GC will rock da hauze ya pak JA!
Congrats!
Jimmy Auw Says:
July 9th, 2009 at 21:34
Hahaha… belum Pak Dino. Masih sibuk ngindreyen capacitor yang lain…

Thanks.
gegerg Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 15:09
50 tane kondansatör kullanmış vayy canınaaaa x)
fixer Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 04:59
waste of money + time, what’s the use of black gate f series on a supply board?
Max Jeorge Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 07:51
Those black gate has amazing sound and filtering capability in psu application. I assume you never try any, fixer?

@Jimmy:
How does it sound man? I have tried with 4 black gate in my gainclone and it sounds wonderful. I use Nichicon and Elna before though.
Jimmy Auw Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 07:58
@Fixer:
Perhaps you are right, it’s a waste of money and time. But since right now I have them both available, so it’s not a real problem to try a “full blown Black Gate” power supply board. You can try to look elsewhere to find reason why a capacitor named “Black Gate” is praised in the world (and why people would spend extra money and die for it). After you got that, perhaps you will know my reason to put so many on my PSU board (and perhaps you will also curious to listen the different).

My experience, power supply has significant contribution in audio application, as food for human. Good and well designed power supply may contribute over 50-80% to overall sonic quality.
Thanks.

@Max:
Not yet finish with the rectifier and snubber.
Thanks.
fixer Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 17:39
I know what the black gate is, and its capabilities, on a gainclone, i would use them as on board reservoirs near the psu pins of the chip and it would be really useful because of high ripple current capabilities, the amp will easily can get the peak currents required. But i would prefer two of big low-esr, high-ripple, high temperature (e.g. evox-rifa peh169) caps on the psu, instead of 60 small black gates. Psu caps must clean the power well and make it stable. A hi-temp, low-esr cap is more important on the psu section i think. İf you made this unit because you had the caps already in hand, i just can say it’s good looking, but technically required? I think not. By the way, i would not use that thin wire for a 6800uF cap.
Regards from Türkiye…
Jimmy Auw Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 22:47
Hi,
Thanks for your attention. Don’t worry, the on board PSU near the chip also got the Black Gate, bypassed with oil caps, for smoother mids.

I have some high ripple, low ESR caps like Nichicon, Aerovox, Sikorel, etc (you can see my collection on other post). But so far, none could provide the sonic signature like Black Gate (after break-in period). I also love Elna Cerafine, but dont have enough on hand. Sikorel also very good, but again, this is one of the rarest on planet.

I have experiment with lot of wires, including copper and silver. Basically, use the largest copper that you can get (cheap one is ok), will provide significant result as long you use “enough” AWG. Off course, higher quality cable is better, but if you can’t get high quality enough, just make sure you get enough AWG size for applicable current.

We are not talking about technically required, but sonically enjoyed. Cheap industrial caps with enough capacitance and a little bit more than everage ESR is enough to smooth the power. But sonically enjoyed? I don’t think so. For example, I have Nippon Chemicon RWE on my other post. It’s high ripple current capacitor, low ESR, technically perfect as PSU caps. The sound? I don’t like it. I would prefer my ASC.

And one more things, with 60 Black Gate (30 in parallel each channel), I think the ESR would be lower than any available single caps solution on the market.

Thanks.
denging Says:
July 17th, 2009 at 11:24
auw, sinting deh om jim…. hehehehe
Erik HD Says:
July 20th, 2009 at 17:42
ini baru mantep…
nyoldernya rapii..
elnino Says:
March 31st, 2010 at 21:21
insanneee pak jimmy..

gw pensaran kek gimana nanti..
Anonymous Says:
July 20th, 2010 at 13:26
WUSSS 2jt’an untuk psu aja…..
Ben H Says:
January 15th, 2012 at 02:48
It’s beautiful, Jimmy. I wonder how the sound would compare to the equivalent capacitance implemented using the screw terminal FKs.
Auw Jimmy Says:
January 15th, 2012 at 13:00
Hi Ben,
More capacitors usually better as they will have lower ESR than a single capacitor.
Thanks.