Posted on Friday, 1st May 2009 by Auw Jimmy

I digged my old boxes and found this old vintage capacitor, Nippon Chemicon RWE 820uF/550VDC. Very big in size (a little bit bigger than my ASC 40uF/440VAC and surely a giant compared to AA battery). This electrolytic capacitor is a legend one, made for inverter application. Equipped with screw type terminal, this capacitor is really ready to rumble.

Tags: ASC, Audio, Capacitor, DIY-Audio, nippon chemicon
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Posted on Tuesday, 31st March 2009 by Auw Jimmy

It was a nice session at DWA’s house located at Bintaro. We held a long session, from morning to night, from amplifier, preamp, DAC, to speaker. The event was started with a lunch ;)

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Tags: Aikido, Audio, Blind Test, clio, gainclone, solid state, speaker
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Posted on Wednesday, 25th February 2009 by Auw Jimmy

Mercury: a heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic element. That’s what I get from Google or common dictionary. Well, as long as it has good sound, it’s deserved to be auditioned.

Presenting, JAN/RCA NOS 83 Tube Rectifier. Thanks to my friend, Mr. A who allows a nice exchange of this nice tube with over a dozens of my Black Gate (that what’s friends are for)

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Tags: Audio, DIY-Audio, rectifier, tube
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Posted on Sunday, 15th February 2009 by Auw Jimmy

I’m thinking of… a full Black Gate Power Supply

Well, it’s not a dream since I have enough Black Gate F Series stock on hand. One value only, 680uF/65V. I need to use at least 10 pcs each (symmetrical power supply, remember? We are not talking tube, this is chip-amp project!). So total is at least 20 pcs. The troops are ready!

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Tags: Audio, Black Gate, Capacitor, chipamp, gainclone, power supply
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Posted on Sunday, 8th February 2009 by Auw Jimmy

It was a nice day, a little bit rainy at the morning. I went to Bintaro (Mr. Didik home) to enjoy a Solid State Blind Test session. After around 1.5 hours traffic, finally I arrived there.

We used equipments as follow:

• NAD C542 CD Player and Aico top loading DVD Player (with External DAC)
• Aikido 6CG7/6072 Pre-amp
• DIY 3-way speaker (Woofer PL26, Mid P17, Tweeter XT25TG)

The contenders (first session)

• Unknown from Bandung (Mr. David SKP)
• LM3886 (Mr. Ado Bekasi)
• LM1875 Balanced (Mr. Ara)
• LM1875 Buffer 12SL7 (Mr. Budiarto W)

The contenders (second session):

• Lucky13 LM3886 (Mr. Dino Ary)
• LM3876 Buffer Nelson Pass (Mr. Dino Ary)
• MOSFET IRF (Mr. Ado Bekasi)
• MOSFET MP50Di (Mr. Didik WA)
• LM1875 Stasiun Bekasi (Pak Praka N)
• LM1875 Sentul (Pak Aip N Sentul)

It was a long sesssion. Although the session was ended at around 17:00, we still continued with some extra session, like loudspeakers and Pre-amp testing. We finally ended the session at 21:00.

Here is some photos. Enjoy!

“Filled the tank” before we started the session.

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Tags: Audio, audiophile, Blind Test, DIY-Audio, gainclone, LM1875, LM3875, MOSFET, pre amp
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Posted on Monday, 19th January 2009 by Auw Jimmy

Actually, I don’t do iPod. But just for fun, why not?

This is actually an “old” audio tweak, by using this “stuff” below. You can buy it at local bookstore.

This removable adhesive could be place above your components, like capacitor, resistor, or even DAC and Crystal (Clock). The effect? Taste yourself, as I did on my iPod below.

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Tags: Audio, DIY-Audio, ipod, tack-it, tweak
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Posted on Monday, 29th December 2008 by Auw Jimmy

I went to my friend’s house to test my “old” Knight 600 Tube Tester. It was old, I got from eBay. I didn’t have step down transformer on hand, so I need to try it elsewhere.

It was a nice unit. Some rust on the screws, but overall all the functions were functional. The roll chart was working completely, no sign of jammed or stucked. This “simple emission tester” could check most tubes, from classic 4 pins to Octal and Nuvistor tube.

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Tags: Amplifier, Audio, tube, tube tester
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Posted on Saturday, 13th December 2008 by Auw Jimmy

A Gainclone challenge? Why not? Solid state? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Wise man says ask “Why” five times. But I think I will end up with same answer Sorry! Just consider this as a small killing time, boredom destroyer project uh…

But remember, we are on crisis, so no budget!!! So, I also don’t want to spend any budget… Well, small budget is ok, but really-really small.

Let’s straight to the point and back to the topic: I want to try a LM1875 Gainclone Amplifier. This is not my first time building a Gainclone, but first time with LM1875. Gainclone becomes famous because this “simple chip amplifier” could sound beautiful – in 47 Laboratory 4706 Gaincard (retail price near US$ 3000) and Jeff Rowland Concentra (retail price around US$ 6500). FYI, Gainclone family has some models, like LM1875, LM3875, LM3886, etc. Each has different specifications, especially for power rating and speaker load impedance – but all amplifier with this chip will be called as “Gainclone”.

I’ve received the PCB from my friend at local DIY forum. Now, it’s time to pick my “agents” – I mean my components

“As always, should you or any of your IM force be caught or killed,, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.”

Well, just suddenly remember those classic Mission Impossible warning on every end of its mission tape. Now I’m starting to pick my agents. Let’s open my shelves and see what I can find. A Gainclone only need very small amount of components, around 10 pcs each channel. I think I still have some in my drawers.

Some capacitors on my drawer. Umm… I’ve collected these for quite long time.

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Tags: Amplifier, Audio, Capacitor, DIY-Audio, gainclone, resistor
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Posted on Monday, 8th December 2008 by Auw Jimmy

Finally, I put my Aikido Pre Amp on the chassis. Well, was a tough job since normally I didn’t do such thing (e.g. putting my DIY work on “little bit” neat chassis).

I separated inside the chassis into 3 chambers. The first one was for the main transformer, the second was for the power supply unit, and the last one was for the Pre Amp parts itself. I used 5 mm MDF wood covered with thick aluminum foil. The foil then grounded to minimize the interference.

Actually, I planned to put this Pre Amp to the Blind Test Session last week. But, the White Cathode Follower used in my Pre Amp seemed have some trouble when connected to higher impedance load (e.g. the input volume control on amplifier). I need to check it to find and confirm the problem later.

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Tags: Aikido, Audio, chassis, DIY-Audio, pre amp, tube
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Posted on Sunday, 7th December 2008 by Auw Jimmy

Last week, located at Audio Lifestyle Magazine office (also known as TubeLover showroom), held a Pre Amplifier Blind Test Session. If I could recall my brain correctly, we have 38 contenders, from Aikido 6SN7 Pre Amp, to antique #26/#27 Pre Amp. Well it was so nice and crowded session, from 10 am to 10 pm. Over 12 hours, 8 preliminary sessions (5 Pre Amp each) + 1 final session. I was sooo tired to judge in all those sessions (except session III where I need to receive some phone calls). We have 5 judges and some audience to pick favorite/people’s choice Pre Amp.

Enjoy some pics here. So many Pre Amp, so many design! The equipments was Consonance CD Player 2.2, Jadis Defy 7, and Tannoy Stirling full range speaker (with extra Fostex super tweeter).

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Tags: Audio, Blind Test, pre amp, Pre Amplifier, tube
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