Newbie Questions

[Wormwood]

Hey all,

As I spend more time lusting over these various units it gets harder and harder not to pull the plug - I just want to ensure that I order correctly and not knee jerk and find I have gotten the wrong thing.
Some of these questions are for the Doc while others are more general.

What is the general turn around time to forfil an order? With that question in mind - shipping to Australia - what is the common turn around time? And finally on shipping etc. What is the final cut off to have an order delivered for Christmas? I am looking at a two week break and thought that it would be a perfect time to focus on a kit.

Assuming I have nothing to start with and I order the S.E.X - what other tools should I have ready for delivery? What tools would be great to have but not 100% necessary?

With the cabinet - does the wood need any more sanding or finishing before staining? Has anyone on here bought a Blumenstein cabinet for their amp - again if so what is the fit and finish like? I am looking at a pair of bookends.... it that look that is grabbing me and if I do head down that path I thought it would be nice to have all the items 'dressed' the same.


Cheers in advance


Wormwood

[Laudanum]

I can help with a couple.

The wood could use some light sanding.  By hand would work fine, there isnt a lot of material to sand.    But I think you can get different answers on this one.  Someones idea of plenty smooth enough may be anothers idea of needs a good deal more.   

You need some soldering gear.  Preferably a soldering station rather than a pencil iron.  The station will give you variable temperature control and a better iron.  You dont have to spend a bunch for a decent station.  $40 (US)  would get an entry level Weller for example.   You need solder ... stay away from lead free.  An electronics grade 60/40 or 63/37 works fine.  You can get fancy name brand solder if you wish or 2% silver solder.  But those arent necessary.   A "third hand"  would be a good idea.  Just helps you hold small parts like PC boards while you solder to them.   Some solder wick.  Some small tools for electronic work ... Small wire cutters (nail clippers work in a pinch but dont plan on using them for nails afterward  ), wire stripper, small needle nose pliers.   You need to buy or borrow a VOM (Volt ohm meter) / DMM (digital multi-meter).   Some will steer you toward a good meter like an entry level Fluke (over $100).   But if you arent planning on using it much, an inexpensive meter will suffice.  Just avoid "cheap".  In other words, look for good reviews on inexpensive meters rather than buying the first $5 meter you run across. 

I missed a bunch, Im sure.  Others will chime in to help.  Also, try the search or browse the forums. There are lots of threads related to these same questions.

[Jim R.]

WW,

I don't think you could go wrong with the s.e.x. 2.1 and the Orcas (bookends) -- by all acounts a fantastic pairing, and one that will eventually be playing either in my living room or bedroom.

I have two of Clark's BH bases on order but I've not seen them yet, but not even having had an opportunity to handle them, I'll guarantee that the fit and finish is as good as the Orcas, which I do have and which are simply beautiful.  I can't imagine being disappointed with the bases, the orcas or the s.e.x. amp or the system as a whole.  Add a nice little dac like a dragonfly or musicstreamer II or II+ and a laptop and you should be really happy.  Of course you could quite a bit further up the food chain in terms of your source and I'm sure the amp and speaker combination will still keep up.

HTH,

Jim

[Paul Birkeland]

Howdy WW,

The standard shipping method for Australia would be the United States Postal Service - Priority Mail.  This service takes around 6-10 business days, but perhaps a bit more as we head toward the holiday season.

Delivery for the SEX amp can vary between 3 and 6 weeks, with perhaps a few instances where an out-of-stock part holds us up a little longer than anticipated, and there's always the madness of the holiday season!  For a safe arrival before Christmas, I'd imagine ordering by the third week in October would give you a giant of safety margin. 

As far as tools go, the SEX amp doesn't require anything too out of the ordinary.  A 40 watt iron, solder, needle nose pliers, wire strippers, wire cutters (small cutters), a volt/ohm meter, and an assortment of screw drivers would be enough to build this kit.  With careful shopping, you can get all of this for under $75 in the US, even less if you go second hand.

-PB

[Grainger49]

Under the Technical Tools folder there is a sticky of First Project Suggested Tools:

http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,173.0.html

There are 10 items you have to have to build the kit properly.  The rest make it easier.

I'm going to say that if you want to have a SEX kit at Christmas, order now.  Bottlehead can not predict when their suppliers will get backed up on a transformer, top plate, a specific capacitor or connections.  They have to rely on the places they buy parts from to have everything on hand when Bottlehead orders.

Bottlehead batches the kits.  That is they put together 20 or 40 SEX kits at a time.  Same with all others.  They are batched so packing errors are very low from Bottlehead.

[Wormwood]

Thank you all for the help. I do believe that I might be able to .... borrow a iron from my father (I belive he as a decent one) just to stop double up on tools that won't get used a lot.

So it would seem that I should order just after my next pay (mid Oct).

Grainger - cheers for the link, I am making a check list now.

Blackplate - Thanks for the turn around times  (see above).

Jim- Thanks for the reasurance with both the SEX and the Orca. BTW I will most likely be running off a Fiio DAC for the time being. The Orca might be in the Nov/December pay stream.

Laudanum - Great advice and list that you havbe let me - by parsing this and the link I should be right to arm myself for the BH experience! Thanks also for the obversation regarding the state of the wood. I am sure it might be hit with a tad more sandpaper just to smooth the baby's bum. If/when I do go the Orca path I might just 'upgrade' to their surround but that is not to say that I am not looking forward to finishing the BH journey from start to end.


For those on the forum who have done so in the past or know of other that have - what is the best way to get a faceplate custom cut. By this I mean if I wanted to have the FP in brass, I know a company that should be able to do it. What I am asking is should I provide the Kit FP or are there measurements somewhere (etc in the manual) which I can pass on?



Thank you all once again.


Wormwood

[Grainger49]

One last link.  Today I will add a picture of miniature needle nose and proper wire cutters.  I have to go shoot the picture now.

http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,3145.0.html

[Wormwood]

Placed my S.E.X order last night....

and after eleven years of marriage that statement really brings a smile to my dial.


Now to start gathering up the tools. The upside is that my next door neighbour worked for Tandy (Australia) for over 30years as an electrical engineer so I feel that if I cannot muddle it out from the instructions or here on the forum I have local backup.


Getting excited... just like Date night coming up!



Stephen
Wormwood

[Grainger49]

Stephen,

Borrow your neighbor's soldering iron or station.  If you get a chance with a good one you won't want a cheap one.  The worst thing you could do to it is leave it on overnight.  This is easy to fix.  Cool it down then reheat and tin the tip.  All is good after that.  I have left mine on for weeks and it was never damaged.

[Laudanum]

Congrats Stephen, welcome to the club.   Im sure you'll be pleased.  Waiting on arrival isnt fun but the build and satisfaction of  DIY'ing your own great sounding amp sure is.  Speaking of pleased,  Im pleased that after 23 years of marriage Im not the one who has to wait on the S.E.X order   

[Wormwood]

You will be happy to hear that I have just finished the soldering of the SEX - I must say I really enjoyed building the amp, it was like a Zen thing... there is a peacefulness that I found when soldering. Wiring not so much - I have also finished a Quickie as a test run for soldering and I had a right bit of trouble with the imperial measure straight off the cuff. Of course this isn't as bad in the SEX build as 95% of the instructions have had metric measure added, which is a pure godsend.

I aim to finish the base (it's stained but needs to be coated and formed up) this weekend. Once that is done I will start the checks on the unit but I feel good about it - like I said the soldering was fun. One key thing I need to get is a powercord for it, what should I be asking for? I am in Australia so it's 240V - what is the terminal head call. I guess I can take a shot of it on my phone and take it into Jaycars but I would rather ring first.

One thing I do have to say is I was surprised at the total weight of the amp once I had bolted it together - very impressive!


Itching to get this up and running and I really should have thought about the power cord before now but I have been taking my merry time with it and it didn't seem too important - a total 'it was the journey not the destination' vibe to the build.


Cheer to everyone on this board who has helped me and will help me in the near future (I have yet to turn it on  ) - but I can see where all the upgrades go now and that seed is sitting at the back of the mind (After the orca's .... and maybe the two offical add-ons)



Stephen

[Jim R.]

Stephen,

Congratulations!  I too find that I too go into a zone when I'm building.

The AC inlet is an IEC 320.

You're on your way to some sweet tunes there!

-- Jim

[Wormwood]

Cheers for that Jim, I will start the hunt today or tomorrow (Saturday) for a cord.

Stephen