Jeb's Build

[Jeb Jeb]

Hi Guys,

Just a quick update:  I just finished the smaller boards and got everything wired in.  Tested well so just fired her up!  Of course I doubted myself at every step of the way..lol.. but so far so good and it sounds really EXCELLENT!

In terms of sound there are quite a few areas of improvements I'm noticing - but in the bigger picture I would liken it to something slightly blurry having been brought into much tighter focus.  I'm not sure if its because the staging has increased in width and depth or if it's just the greater resolution but the whole experience feels grander and more refined to me.  One other area I would mention especially is the bass, which is exhibiting improved depth and definition, which is particularly noticeable vs the stock sound that I've been used to for the last 6 months.   

The build was good fun and nicely challenging.  For a beginner I would say it is really spot-on in terms of the learning curve from the skills I learned from the stock build.  The manual/photos are excellent just as before.  My PCB soldering skills definitely improved by the time I got to the smaller boards and I had bettered my technique and developed a bit more confidence in what I was doing.  I suppose if I were doing it again I might have bought a blank practice board and got my eye in on that with some cheap components first before hitting the main board - but it didn't really matter in the end. 

Once again, a big thank you to everyone here for their help and to also everyone at Bottlehead HQ for doing what they do!

Cheers!

James





 

[adydula]

Hey Jeb!!

Congratulations on your upgrade and I am glad you like the sound. Its hard to tell the differences with all the variables involved. But technically its a better amp with the upgrade which should help.

It would be nice to have two identical amps side by side one with and one without to do a AB listening comparison.

To me it definitely did not hurt the sound quality at all. Its just different to me in a good way.
As you know I really like building stuff as well and cant resist upgrades and fiddling around with the stuff!

Been thinking of getting a fancy volume pot, stepped type to install....

Enjoy!
Alex

[Jeb Jeb]

Thanks Alex -

I agree - the tinkering is a lot of fun. I decided to strike while the iron was hot so I've also popped in a new pot (not stepped), power supply choke and film output caps in the last few days.  I also bypassed the last PS cap with a small 2.2uF film cap.  All challenging & a really great experience for me in terms of thinking outside of the manual a little bit.

To be honest I never really had any problem at all with the stock pot, but I do feel the better pot I have (TKD) is somehow a bit cleaner and less rough.  The TKD feels incredibly silky so the user experience is really nice, that's for certain.  Quite ridiculous when you think about the price in relation to the cost of the amp though of course.  I also padded the pot with the resistors, as you did a while ago, which is GREAT as I have much more usable range on the dial now.

Crack is addictive.

Definitely post an update if you go ahead with the stepped attenuator!