Posted on Friday, 15th July 2011 by Auw Jimmy

Not yet finished chassis. Quite huge for a preamp, around 42×42 cm in size. Some copper sheet shown on the picture for some section on the top plate.

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Tags: Aikido, chassis
Posted in Collectible Stuff, DIY Audio | Comments (16)

Posted on Friday, 15th July 2011 by Auw Jimmy

The upgrade not yet ended. I still have something to finalize my Aikido PreAmp. I go to upgrade some section in order to make it firms before fitting it on the new chassis.

Here we go. First, we will install the affordable grade IEC from Furutech, the Rhodium plated FI-03. Fuse holder integrated there (oh well, which fuse shall I use?). That’s gonna be another question.

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Tags: Aikido, Cable, Cardas, Duelund, Furutech, Kimber, resistor, Vishay
Posted in Collectible Stuff, DIY Audio | Comments (12)

Posted on Tuesday, 12th July 2011 by Auw Jimmy

Not just Lundahl here, I also ordered custom choke from Jack/Electra-Print. I contacted Jack and asked him to create a Choke, with requirement to be placed in Input position. He offered me a VPI technique which (according to him) enough for Choke Input application. Other requirements was a “jimmyauw.com” standard which mean oversize construction (M6 lamination, 30H/75mA).

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Tags: Choke, Electra-Print
Posted in Collectible Stuff, DIY Audio | Comments (5)

Posted on Friday, 8th July 2011 by Auw Jimmy

AD1865 was build from some different factory around the world. Some may have from Malaysia, some from Philippines, some maybe from anywhere around the world. I collected some old AD1865N, probably from year 90′s and some N-K series from 2000′s. I think, Analog Device also changed the font size. Newer one got smaller font size.

It’s gonna be interesting to see how good the N-K would be, vs the lower grade N series.

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Tags: AD1865, DAC
Posted in Collectible Stuff | Comments (0)

Posted on Friday, 1st July 2011 by Auw Jimmy

I’m ongoing to rebuild my Aikido Preamp which has been suspended for quite long time. The target is simple: a complete wood chassis and some upgraded parts then we are done (no more upgrade or whatsoever for this Preamp). You can check link above to check the current parts used on the Preamp.

I have ordered new chokes from Sowter, Electra-Print, and Lundahl. Brian (Sowter) and Jack (Electra-Print) needs to custom my order, so they will be delayed around 2 weeks for production times. Meanwhile Per (Lundahl) got a ready to use one (LL1673) then I ordered from Kevin (K&K Audio) and delivered right to my home around 2 weeks with Priority Mail service.

Kevin helped me to match both chokes. Although from the appearance, I think they were not manufactured on same batch (you can see different font size), but from some short measurements, they are indeed quite “matched”.

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Tags: Choke, Common Mode Choke, Lundahl
Posted in Collectible Stuff, DIY Audio | Comments (1)

Posted on Saturday, 12th February 2011 by Auw Jimmy

I dig some of my collection and find some AZ1 tubes. Basically, I have several tubes, but short word, they are separated into 3 brands, Philips Miniwatt AZ1, Valvo AZ1, and Telefunken AZ1. I don’t use P-Socket on my system, but I could use my converter here.

Caveat before reading: This test result is purely subjective on my system. It could be different on your system. Take it as reference only, please

First test is Philips Miniwatt. This tube has quite nice sound. The Ingram Washington’s vocal could be delivered sweet enough. Staging is not too wide, but depth is fine. The piano slightly light, less weight. When I first turn on the High Voltage, I see a blue spark. I think this tube is quite new, so probably need some time to break-in. Overall the tone are enjoyable, although slightly less weight.

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Tags: Philips Miniwatt, rectifier, Telefunken, Valvo
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Posted on Saturday, 12th February 2011 by Auw Jimmy

I would rather call this as “beauty in the dark”… No longer perfect in terms of construction, slightly off-center for the mesh and triangle, since probably over 70 years old tube. But… It’s still a nice collectible item. Since the label has gone, from my knowledge, this should be Valvo G2504, but it could be Telefunken RGN2504 also.

How does it sound? Beautiful thick vocal, wide staging, excellent mids, very musical, transparent, but slightly “too powerful” on the preamp section. Added: The low frequency is awesome, tight, and very well controlled. Will compare them with my Telefunken 2004 later. I’m interested to hear the different

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Tags: rectifier, RGN2504, Telefunken, Valvo
Posted in Collectible Stuff, DIY Audio | Comments (2)

Posted on Wednesday, 2nd February 2011 by Auw Jimmy

This album is one of the my precious collectible album. Not just because this CD is quite rare (the original one, not remastered with XRCD bla-bla-bla), but this CD also has an outstanding quality. The Vinyl version is even better (but the price is getting not reasonable to purchase one at mint condition). I also have the Vinyl version, but rated at VG or VG+ only.

What makes this CD so special? This CD was made directly from two-track “live” analog master tape, recorded simultaneously, and no additional editing or polishing possible. According to Sheffield Lab, this kind of technique combined with their custom electronics and microphone will increase the transparency and phase linearity. Also the production of this CD is limited to specific quantity. No more additional copy will be made, unless we are talking the new version (like XRCD).

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Tags: amanda, CD Audio, sheffield lab
Posted in CD/DVD Review, Collectible Stuff | Comments (1)

Posted on Sunday, 7th November 2010 by Auw Jimmy

Not completely done, but I could imagine the final appearance later. Enjoy!

Only one last module left, the audio player as source. And off course, the speakers.

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Tags: amp, TBA820, tube buffer
Posted in Collectible Stuff, DIY Audio | Comments (7)

Posted on Monday, 13th September 2010 by Auw Jimmy

Some of the readers mailed to me and asked, why do I digitalize my collections? The reason is as below.

I found at least one of my CD has a serious unrecoverable error. The outer circle has black stain on the inside layer. The track from #8 to end, definitely not readable, even with my laptop and Exact Audio Copy. The CD was “Carmen Meets Kharma”, STS SACD – The Essence of Music series (STS 611126). Was one of my really favorite collection

The surprising this was, this CD was not cheap. I’ve seen such phenomena on cheap-pirated-not so well manufactured CD. But rarely on fabricated one and with such rare usage (this CD condition was very good, almost no scratch and played less than 50 times in the 3 years period after I bought it).

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Tags: CD Audio
Posted in Collectible Stuff | Comments (14)

Posted on Sunday, 1st August 2010 by Auw Jimmy

I designed a simple SRPP PCB for my own project. A special thanks to my friend, Mr. ATP who helped to process the PCB fabrication.

Well, later these days, I just feel more comfortable with PCB rather than point-to-point wiring. It’s nothing special, just an ordinary SRPP design.

Tags: PCB, SRPP
Posted in Collectible Stuff, DIY Audio | Comments (4)

Posted on Wednesday, 21st July 2010 by Auw Jimmy

I love the Duelund CAST Resistor sound on my speaker crossover. Despite its cost, it’s better than some of my previous favorites, like Sfernice or Mills (YMMV). But since they are designed for crossover application, so they don’t have such high value. I manage to get special order one, custom value at 299R.

Definitely, 299R is not a common value at crossover application. Not even close.

One measured at 303.6R while the other measured at 305.6R. At 0.6-1.6% accuracy, I think it should be fine.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

I plan to put this cute black resistor on Grid application, on my tube preamp. Which preamp, we will see later

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Tags: Duelund, Duelund Cast Capacitor, Duelund Cast Resistor
Posted in Collectible Stuff | Comments (2)