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Re: DIY thoughts of the day
Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:16 am
by Fretless
Subwoofer in the sofa could be fun - especially with double kick-drums or reggae (feel da bass, maaan !)
Re: DIY thoughts of the day
Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:50 pm
by karatestu
Fretless wrote: ↑Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:16 am
Subwoofer in the sofa could be fun - especially with double kick-drums or reggae (feel da bass, maaan !)
Ha ha good one. Used to know a drummer who had a monitor built into his throne. Could definitely feel the bass
Re: DIY thoughts of the day
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:24 pm
by OrangeFixie
Re. selector switch musings. I ended up removing the selector switches from both of my NVA amps, a process of elimination of components and sources. When I still used a tuner and CD player, I fitted an on-on toggle switch as a selector. It allowed me to switch between 2 inputs, was cheap and sounded so much better than the rotary selector switch did. Rated as 250VAC 10A, or 125VAC 15A. Bought it from Maplins, looks a bit industrial but that's fine by me.
Re: DIY thoughts of the day
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 5:09 pm
by Nigel
I find it hard to believe it "sounded so much better." I have amps with only one input and if I put my Beresford selector switch in front of them, to allow more inputs, you would be hard pressed to hear any difference at all.
Re: DIY thoughts of the day
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:41 am
by karatestu
It does sound better with no selector switch in the chain. No switch contacts and two fewer solder joints. How much better is open to debate.
I have no source sele tor or volume control at the moment until i get my arse in gear. Just a potential divider with one 10k resistor in series and 604R to ground in each channel. The music is so good i am putting off building the stepped attenuators for as long as i can
Re: DIY thoughts of the day
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:33 am
by Fretless
NVA preamps have a 'direct' input that bypasses the selector switch for maximum SQ.
I have a couple of old Japanese amps in use and hook up a single source to the 'tape out /rec.' sockets. This also cancels out selector switches and tone controls.
Re: DIY thoughts of the day
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:27 pm
by OrangeFixie
Hi Nigel, "it sounded so much better" was in the context of changing one switch for another, so a simple and cheap experiment. It did result in music sounding clearer and better channel separation (maybe that's why it sounded clearer?). Very hard to quantify, I thought it might make a positive difference, I thought it did, no one else here was remotely interested! Only got a single input now, slowly experimenting with eliminating as much as possible. Who was it who once said "the best component is no component?" LED power on indicator is the next thing to try without...
Re: DIY thoughts of the day
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:39 pm
by Nigel
Thank you for quantifying. I don't dispute it sounded better.
Re: DIY thoughts of the day
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 5:06 pm
by karatestu
OrangeFixie wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:27 pm
Hi Nigel, "it sounded so much better" was in the context of changing one switch for another, so a simple and cheap experiment. It did result in music sounding clearer and better channel separation (maybe that's why it sounded clearer?). Very hard to quantify, I thought it might make a positive difference, I thought it did, no one else here was remotely interested! Only got a single input now, slowly experimenting with eliminating as much as possible. Who was it who once said "the best component is no component?" LED power on indicator is the next thing to try without...
Yeah get rid of the LED.
Oh and the case, that can go too
Along with the mains switch and IEC socket. Oh and don't forget all the fuses they can be binned as well.
Re: DIY thoughts of the day
Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2018 6:36 pm
by OrangeFixie
Long term plan is to experiment with separate power supplies for each channel but I need to do some research into how to go about it and where to get parts from before I commit to that...so that's adding more components!