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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2015 19:24:43 GMT
Hi James, now silly low reordered more today will take 10days to come, OK I could get them quicker but the cost get high. Have you done yours yet?  |
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Post by Sovereign on Jun 10, 2015 19:34:51 GMT
Hi Colin
I'm waiting for the Fanel order to come in for my other amp, and I was wanting to complete that first. But I have some spares left over from that amp so I might get building the DIY kit whilst I'm waiting.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2015 13:33:27 GMT
Now working on a super version will be available in a few month after I have tried to kill it. It will out perform the Iridium but it will not be so cheap to make as the baby version now available, parts are silly prices (sorry). It will use the same PSU but will also self generate on the Amp PCB a 2 x Vc drive this will push the dynamics higher and increase the bandwidth to a silly 1MHz, we do filter the input to stop you local Taxi service from wrecking the sound but the amp damping factor will also improve. And from those out there who commented on the less expensive Amp thanks for your input on construction it has all been implemented.  |
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Post by Sovereign on Jun 12, 2015 13:44:47 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Jun 12, 2015 14:50:36 GMT
Nice neat board layout there, Colin, with good attention paid to star earthing and the power transistors at the edge.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2015 8:17:14 GMT
Nice neat board layout there, Colin, with good attention paid to star earthing and the power transistors at the edge. Not just STAR earth, since the power supply impedance and the earth are low, and ripple/signal current can produce current loops in the earth and the power rails, you can see the star arrangement is applied to the higher current tracks, reducing the effects of the low voltage potential across the tracks, adding to noise, distortion and hum. When you get to 100+Amps this becomes even more critical. |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 13, 2015 9:23:57 GMT
Yes I can see that, never worked on a full class A design. It's difficult enough getting the earthing arrangements right on an AB circuit.
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Post by Sovereign on Jun 13, 2015 10:47:34 GMT
Nice neat board layout there, Colin, with good attention paid to star earthing and the power transistors at the edge. Not just STAR earth, since the power supply impedance and the earth are low, and ripple/signal current can produce current loops in the earth and the power rails, you can see the star arrangement is applied to the higher current tracks, reducing the effects of the low voltage potential across the tracks, adding to noise, distortion and hum. When you get to 100+Amps this becomes even more critical. That's exactly what I was going to say  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2015 20:30:32 GMT
 This is the power ON/OFF circuit Sam used in his Kit, which was made in a Maplin £39.00 PC chassis. Press "RESET" to turn ON and the PC "ON" button to turn OFF. And a LED to indicate ON, Standby power was less than 1W. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2015 15:36:12 GMT
Steve on Sunday was forced to listen to this he he.
"DIY SECA Kit
I recently had the opportunity to hear the best sounding 'computer case' I've come across..!
I'm not a reviewer so bear with me if my analogies are a bit wayward, but I'm trying to find ways to express a 'sense' through words. I should add that the time spent was more of a listen than a test or review and connected components were only a 10+ year old DVD player as source (!), bog standard IEC power cables and cheap mid-sized stand-mount speakers. I'll surmise my thoughts based on existing experience (neither vast nor exotic) - They're musical, fast, detailed, pure and textured.
From cold, the opening track through the SECAs began with a thrum across acoustic guitar that was open with an in-the-room'ness quality…
With acoustic, ambient/electronic and voice the overriding sense is that the SECAs are VERY open, detailed and light of touch, music seems almost as if carried on air.
The sound is just 'there' and 'pure' rather than other amps that seem to almost push music down a tube, constraining and colouring it. I think the SECAs may be what some would call 'natural' sounding (ie. they don't really add anything).
Sound no longer came from (within) the speakers but more like a bloom of sound that surrounded or escaped their confines and filled the space around with an effortless delivery."
Thanks Steve.
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Post by Sovereign on Jun 19, 2015 23:25:34 GMT
I rarely listen to classical music, but tonight I dug out a classical remaster of some of the greatest Queen songs. I honestly didn't know how low my amp goes, there was a huge ground floor apartment that I didn't even know was there, and it reached these depths effortlessly.
These Wonfor Class A amps ooze scale and size of sound window, one year on and my amp still takes me by surprise and impresses me.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2015 7:28:08 GMT
 Paul's SECA Kit what a work of art Paul it is lovely. |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 20, 2015 7:33:50 GMT
Beautifully built!
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Post by John on Jun 20, 2015 7:52:52 GMT
Agree
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Post by pre65 on Jun 27, 2015 10:06:29 GMT
I've held off ordering the PCBs for this amp as I was (perhaps) also interested in a higher power version that Colin had mentioned.
I see (on another forum) that Colin is disappointed in the level of sales so far when the initial interest was high.
So Colin, is the higher power version still going ahead ? And if not have you still got stock of the original boards ?
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Post by Sovereign on Jun 27, 2015 15:34:03 GMT
I've held off ordering the PCBs for this amp as I was (perhaps) also interested in a higher power version that Colin had mentioned.
I see (on another forum) that Colin is disappointed in the level of sales so far when the initial interest was high.
So Colin, is the higher power version still going ahead ? And if not have you still got stock of the original boards ? Good question, as I know others on AoS are also interested. I have the DIY boards and power supplies just haven't built them yet as in trying to finish me other amp build. So what's the latest Mr Wonfor ? |
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Post by Mr Whippy on Jun 27, 2015 16:19:21 GMT
How do you place an order? I've been waiting for a link to do this. Haven't noticed one here or when I looked on the ' Answers site. But perhaps I've overlooked it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2015 17:47:41 GMT
Well it shows you what the DIY's want, they all say "we would love the idea of a Kit for a SECA" you then only sell a few PCB's thank God I only order a small number.
If it does not pick up it will be the last time I listen to any of them.
I was going to do a second PCB with the more costly and improved version, I will not bother now.
And I had request for a pre-amp, work done I have few PCBs, it sounds good, but it will now never be a Kits.
This is what I wrote.
PM me
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Post by John on Jun 27, 2015 17:48:25 GMT
Its a pity business is slow Colin
I would go for it next year but looks like I will not have that opportunity
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Post by Clive on Jun 28, 2015 13:54:54 GMT
Colin, you've been in this business for a long time so forgive me if my thoughts are more about teaching egg sucking...
First off I think this time of year is bad for people to commit to DIY projects, Autumn / early Winter is probably better as people have less to do in the evenings and can find more hobby time.
The higher power SECA will possibly have a larger interest base though it's hard to be sure. We could argue that people interested in SE amps are more likely to have highly sensitive speakers but then again far more people have medium sensitivity speakers.
You might have more luck if the boards were discussed on the DIYaudio forum (maybe they are). The danger is that someone in China gets hold of some and copies them then sells them at a crazy low price.
Finally whilst you have the build story on HiFi Answers you could do with a site with wider coverage and a DIY section such as enjoythemusic whom I write for. Had this been around 5 years ago I would have bought the parts and reviewed the build and resulting sound. Indeed it's possible I would still do this but it's not something that could achieve in less than a few months.
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