Posted on Saturday, 2nd January 2010 by Jimmy Auw

A pair of Duelund CAST is enough to rob your wallet. How about two pairs? Well, sometime money is not an object - when you are pursuing the ultimate sound. No sky is high enough

I welcome, two pairs of Duelund CAST Capacitor installed on 6J5-RE604-RS241 Amplifier. The installation process was done just before end of last year (31th December 2009, night!). And well, I saw many fireworks when driving home (around 00:15). Happy New Year first!

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Tags: Amplifier, CAST, Duelund, RS241, tube
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Posted on Tuesday, 18th August 2009 by Jimmy Auw

After you read this, perhaps you would expect a better system to test the capacitors. So today, I visit a friend, and test the capacitors on his system. We can call him, Mr. X. Here is some brief of Mr. X audio system.

Below is the power amplifier. Powered with RS241, RE604,and 6J5. Rectifier is RGN 2504 (later we try Klangfilm RGN 4004). OT is Tango. Currently powered with Jensen Copper Foil Capacitor and old NOS Western Electric capacitors. FYI, RS241 is claimed by most audiophiles as best sounding tube amplifier (forget 300B or 2A3) - and it’s really proven, if you have chance to hear it. This is an ultimate Single Ended tube amplifier (if you really know what do RS241, RE604, and 6J5 really mean to an audiophile).

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Tags: Capacitor, Duelund, jensen, mundorf, tube
Posted in DIY Audio, Indonesia | Comments (34)

Posted on Sunday, 19th April 2009 by Jimmy Auw

I dig my tube boxes and found this old tube. Not a really expensive or most wanted tube, yeah… just an old Western Electric 393A tube. It’s a Argon and Mercury Vapor filled Thyratron tube. According to the datasheet, the addition of Argon gas on the Mercury Vapor atmosphere allows the tube to start conducting at low temperature. Ok, forget those technical literature, just watch the tube in action.

I heat up the tube for a while. According to the manual, to maintain the life span, it’s recommended to heat it up first. I give around 3-4 minutes. You can see the filament is glowing inside the metal bracket on the center of the tube.

Time for action, activate the High Voltage… Voila, the sky of blue on the top of the tube. Very beautiful!!! You still can see the red filament glowing inside the blue Mercury atmosphere.

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Tags: glowing, Mercury, tube, tube tester
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Posted on Sunday, 19th April 2009 by Jimmy Auw

It’s time for Single Ended amplifier benchmarking session. Located at Bakmi Margonda, Sarinah, Indonesia.

Here is some shoot from the event. The system was very simple, Tannoy speaker, Audio Aero Capitole CDP, and AirTight 300B as Reference Amplifier.

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Tags: Amplifier, Blind Test, single ended, tube
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Posted on Saturday, 11th April 2009 by Jimmy Auw

Amperex 6BQ5/EL84 from “trash bin” shop Not bad for some cheap experiment!

Tags: el84, tube
Posted in Collectible Stuff | Comments (8)

Posted on Sunday, 8th March 2009 by Jimmy Auw

Since tomorrow is holiday, so I take this Sunday as a “long holiday”. So I pay a visit to my good friend, Mr. Paul a.k.a PJ. I also bring my DIY Speaker and my DIY Aikido.

I don’t remember the way to PJ’s house (been there once), so I fire up my GPS on my Asus P835. I search location of Cipinang and trace down a little bit. I mark the location on my Google Earth and put coordinate on my GPS. I’m ready to go.

After 1 hour of traveling time, finally I arrive. My suggestion, don’t trust 100% with a gadget named GPS. It’s good, useful, but you need a brain with good logic to make it perfectly usable Just use it, and you will understand my point.

Here is PJ’s system. A nice floorstander speaker from ProAC (R3) and a bookshelf R1S also from ProAc. You also can see his 2A3 amplifier and 112A Pre-Amplifier there. A nice system as reference.

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Tags: DIY-Audio, speaker, tube
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Posted on Wednesday, 25th February 2009 by Jimmy Auw

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 Monday, 29th December 2008 by Jimmy Auw

From my previous Aikido project, I’m still thinking of improvement of my B+ PSU. Well, I still hear a small hum. There are several possibilities to be tried, but I’m thinking of improving my B+ PSU first. If it fails, then I will think another way

From the LC-LC filter used before, I’m moving into a more filtering. Well, I’m talking about another stage of LC, creating LC-LC-LC filter. Previously, I used two Samhwa 220uF/500VDC capacitors. It’s a nice price/performance capacitor - I have to admit that. But, I need to change into a higher level (to see how much the improvement).

First I remove two Samhwa capacitors. It was a tiring job to remove those two capacitors (phewww). Then, I change the first capacitor with Korean “Motor Run” Oil Capacitor (60uF/400VAC), second capacitor with Mundorf M-Lytic 560uF/400VDC, then finally with another Korean “Motor Run” Oil Capacitor (40uF/400VAC).

Well, don’t ask me why I use this Korean “Motor Run” Oil Capacitor. It’s simply because I have no budget. If you have enough bucks in your pocket, go with ASC Oil Capacitor then

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Tags: Aikido, Capacitor, HV, power supply, preamp, PSU, tube
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Posted on Monday, 29th December 2008 by Jimmy Auw

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 Monday, 8th December 2008 by Jimmy Auw

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 Jimmy Auw

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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Posted on Saturday, 4th October 2008 by Jimmy Auw

Well, I have one week holiday and I’m almost dead because of doing nothing. Since I have a pair of Aikido 9-pin Preamp PCB, why don’t I build one?

The main concern of this project is simplicity and cheap price. I don’t want to spend too much money for this project (just to kill my boring days).

So here is the PCB. Nice, sweet, well build by John Broskie.

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Tags: Aikido, Amplifier, headamp, headphone amplifier, preamp, tube
Posted in DIY Audio, Personal | Comments (22)