Rusty Messages: 1205 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
Whew! Done wiring...Finally. Did a cursory look over and called it a day. I'll go over everything this week. Soldering looks shiny enough, though sometimes I glommed a tad much. Soldering is a skill set that takes sheer volume of tries. I got much better towards the end. I'll go over everything and if all's well, button it up, put the knobs on an fire it up. Hoping against yet still, did I mess something up? That's what fuses are for. There are no fancy audiophile parts within, which a trained eye could tell. But, that's the philosophy of the designer. I'm alright with that.
Rusty Messages: 1205 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
Hey JC5. I've been chasing a buzz. It's got to be a bad solder weld. I've been over all the hookups and placements of parts, which seem to check. I'm just going to have to go over the solder joints with the iron. Which is hard for some of the occupied terminal strips. I'll have to undo the connecting screws to let me get at them better. Point to point build seems much more difficult than I'd anticipated. Circuit boards are much friendlier to solder. But I remember I had this problem with my original Grounded Grid preamp I built from schematic. Once I got the one little connection stuck tight, it was silent as an owls feather. Real frustrating though until then.
How do you like your build?
johnnycamp5 Messages: 354 Registered: June 2015 Location: NJ
Grand Master
I think reflowing all of your solder joints can be a good idea/approach. It worked for me in the past for correcting a problem (oscillation...).
I agree It is much easier on a PCB though.
I am enjoying my new preamp (VTA sp-14) and it seems to be burning in/mellowing out quite nicely.
I was a bit unsettled at first, as it seemed a bit bright and strident. That was not an effect I had from any previous DIY preamp builds I'd done.
It's as quiet as a church mouse lol. Seems to have a little bit more gain than I'm used to or need though.
It wasn't my first choice, and a bit more $ than I was looking to spend, but It satisfied the "DIY" itch...
Rusty Messages: 1205 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
Fingers crossed. Noodling around, moving a terminal out from it's location a film cap leg from the gain pot just popped off from the terminal. It was a stretch originally getting it to span to the terminal, so I added some wire from it to the terminal. Later I checked one heavily populated terminal for the phono section that was very unfriendly getting it fixed back to the case. I must have spent 45 min to an hour trying to get a teeny lock washer and nut back on to the screw. I felt like Curly from the 3 Stooges, exasperated at doing the same thing over and over with a pair of needle nose pliers with a bit of magnetism holding on to the little parts when I didn't want it to. Yup, I'm paying my dues getting this thing to play right by me.
gofar99 Messages: 1955 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, it is a bit difficult to see but it appears that all the input wires and output wires are not shielded. I have found that any time one needs to be longer than about 2 inches they have to be shielded to prevent hum. If you replace them with shielded wire remember to only ground the shield at one end unless it is actually carrying the ground return of the signal.
Rusty Messages: 1205 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
Guess he designed it that way Bruce. No insulators for the input/outputs, no ground ring for the outer sleeve. Guess the case carries the ground return. No shielded wire included in the kit. I emailed him about this hum/buzz. He says I must have an open or bad ground in the power supply. I thought I had it when the little film cap leg popped off the terminal, but, nope. No cigar yet. Very frustrating. His products sound great. So I figure it's my bad soldering skills.
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but it appears that all the input wires and output wires are not shielded. I have found that any time one needs to be longer than about 2 inches they have to be shielded to prevent hum. If you replace them with shielded wire remember to only ground the shield at one end unless it is actually carrying the ground return of the signal.
