Posted on Saturday, 28th November 2009 by Auw Jimmy

Finally, with the help from my girlfriend, I manage to get the Nuvotem Talema Transformer on hand within a week. It’s rated at 6.3A with 2x18V output or about 225VA. Not bad for my LM1875 huh…

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Tags: power supply, talema, transformer
Posted in Collectible Stuff, DIY Audio | Comments (18)

Posted on Wednesday, 25th November 2009 by Auw Jimmy

I manage to secure some old vintage meters. One is for DC Voltage (up to 300V, exactly what I need for my pre-amp). While the other is mA meter (up to 30mA, another luck for my pre-amp). I’m thinking of removing the old black cover, change it with some wood and acrylic. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

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Tags: vintage meter
Posted in Collectible Stuff, DIY Audio | Comments (7)

Posted on Sunday, 22nd November 2009 by Auw Jimmy

When I arrived back home at night and cleaned up my equipment, I noticed that my solder tip has “golden” color appearance. Well, I have been on this solder-toy-world for over 15 years, but never saw my solder tip showed this kind of color.

I think this is caused by the usage of Mundorf M-Solder Supreme Silver/Gold. Check here for another entry of my blog for the short review of this solder.

Am I Seeing (Smelling?) My Gold Burned?

Tags: mundorf, solder
Posted in DIY Audio | Comments (0)

Posted on Sunday, 22nd November 2009 by Auw Jimmy

I also got chance to test the Mundorf M-Solder Supreme Silver/Gold. This is one of the finest solder on the market. Currently, I use WBT for most of my main project. But the chance to try the M-Solder shouldn’t be wasted, right?

This Mundorf M-Solder Supreme Silver/Gold consists of:

• Sn: 88.6%
• Cu: 1.8%
• Ag: 9.5%
• Au: 0.1%

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Tags: mundorf, solder
Posted in DIY Audio | Comments (9)

Posted on Sunday, 22nd November 2009 by Auw Jimmy

I ordered custom made transformer to replace my old Aikido Pre-Amp transformer. Before, I rarely ordered a “finished” transformer (but prefer doing DIY one with my colleague). But now I’m thinking to try a “proven good” transformer (and considering doing some comparison of its effect).

Finally it’s done. The transformer consisted of few secondaries, to supply my main high voltage, the rectifier, and the tubes.

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Tags: Aikido, preamp, transformer
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Posted on Sunday, 22nd November 2009 by Auw Jimmy

I visited my friend’s home few days ago. We planned to tweak his #26 Pre-Amp (with Parafeed design).

His Pre-Amp was a high quality pre-amp, in terms of parts and design. As you can see below, the high voltage section has Black Gate SKZ capacitor.

He just finished tweaking the high voltage section by adding 3 huge Russian Teflon capacitors (FT-3) and got significant improvement on the sound staging. He was poisoned by the VCap Power Supply trick as I did on my pre-amp, so he tried the cheap Teflon solution first, the Russian FT-3 before going down deeper with VCap

At first, his #26 used Jensen Capacitor Aluminum Foil. The overall sound is live, fast rhythm, and dynamic. A little bit less sexy on the vocal side for my taste and the top end detail was a little bit “flat”. Then we changed to Jensen Copper Foil Paper Tube. How did it sound? Keep reading.

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Tags: 26, jensen, preamp, preamplifier
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Posted on Sunday, 15th November 2009 by Auw Jimmy

It’s a cool weekend, we are entering rainy months. I continue soldering my Ultimate Power Supply. Today, I solder 8 pcs of MUR860 and 70 pcs of Black Gate F Series. Done in 3 hours, not bad huh.

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Tags: BlackGate, diode, mur860, power supply, rectifier
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Posted on Saturday, 14th November 2009 by Auw Jimmy

Some of you have emailed me asking to finish the Gainclone – Black Gate Power Supply project, and well, I’m about to complete it with some modification. Here is the “sneak-peeks”

The rectification section is made dual, total 8 pcs of MUR860 will be used here.

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Tags: BlackGate, diode, gainclone, MUR, power supply, rectifier
Posted in DIY Audio | Comments (6)