View Full Version : Photoshop of my next DIY project.
Hi all, would just like to share my image of the next project im going to try and build.
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9005/teacpoweramp.jpg (http://img716.imageshack.us/i/teacpoweramp.jpg/)
Its a Teac T-H300 tuner casing turned into a 2 channel power amp, case seems easy to do, i would get the alu cut with a machine and the part between is just tinted perspex/plexiglass, power meters may be hard as the Technics ones (used in the image) are too big, will be using Robs Teac Tripath amp for the internal parts etc, back plate is easy to do also, the writing on the front will be a gold engraved metal strip, mainly to hide the unwanted holes.
The button on the left is the original power on/off (glows up when unit is in standby), the one on the right will be on/off for the meter lights, then next to that is a phones output (if i can fit it).
The needles will be the usual VU ones stripped apart just for the bouncing needle mechanism, the backing with the power meter level on will be a printout of the one pictured and stuck between 2 sheets of perspex lol, seems like the easiest way to achieve the technics look.
The backplate will have a set of RCA pre-amp ins, a AC inlet, a gain control pot and 2 sets of speaker binding posts.
How hard would it be to take the internal parts from one amp to another? they are both the same size almost.
So what do you all think? possible or not? i already have the tuner to strip down, just saving for Robs amp, and ill need to get a few other parts (VU meters etc).
Will be nice to see this working in real life.
Adam.
Blimey, a bit tricky IMO :scratch:
Reid Malenfant
30-03-2011, 14:49
It's certainly not impossible, but as Rob has pointed out it'll involve quite a bit of work & some thinking out of the box :eyebrows:
The problem with things like this is you need to have everything & i mean everything worked out precisely before you start. It'll involve a lot of measuring just to make sure that things will fit & if you forget something vital before you go ahead & do it you could be stuffed.
This is what i mean when i say you have to think of everything beforehand :eek: It's not just a question of will it fit, but exactly in what order you put it together so as to get everything inside the case ;)
At the end of the day only you can decide if it can be done as all we can do apart from possibly suggest a way round a problem is simply watch & see what transpires :lolsign:
Good luck :)
tommy6206
30-03-2011, 14:50
I'll put my order in for 1 now lol...Look nice if you can pull it off
The Vinyl Adventure
30-03-2011, 15:30
Having followed your progress with your pre-out conversion id dont doubt you have the tenacity to pull it off!
Good luck with it Adam, i shall follow this with intrigue!
Thanks all for the replies, i certainly want to try, i too hope all the parts fit lol.
tommy6206 the case seems easy to do if you want one (supply the bits) its the power meters that will be the tricky part (along with fitting the boards inside, the background of the meters will be straight forward, its getting the needles in place and to play nice with the markings on the background, then theres fitting the lights, another tricky bit as i will need to take the power off the main power board or route it off the power switch light.
All i can do is try, if i do pull it off i will be over the moon, if i do the case and cant fit the amp in then i shall sell the case on here as im sure someone could fit some sort of amp in it, saves it going to waste then.
If not then i shall maybe just mod the front of the amp off Rob.
Adam.
Reid Malenfant
30-03-2011, 16:36
Don't worry about the lights for the meters, that's easy ;) All we need is the voltage rail of the main PSU (one side say +VE rail to ground), then get yourself a few white LEDs connected in series with a resistor (determined by the rail voltage) & Bob's your dads brother :eyebrows:
Don't worry about the lights for the meters, that's easy ;) All we need is the voltage rail of the main PSU (one side say +VE rail to ground), then get yourself a few white LEDs connected in series with a resistor (determined by the rail voltage) & Bob's your dads brother :eyebrows:
That sounds easy enough, i understand the power meters can be connected directly to the + & - speaker terminals, so that also shouldn't be too hard, its just getting them into place, the ins & outs at the back of the case are easy to do also, i think the fitting of the amp will be hard for me, im still new to all this stuff.
Anyone got any ideas as what could go where the VU meters are incase i cant do it? the perspex has got to be there as i need to cut away the old tuner display etc.
Thanks loads,
Adam.
Reid Malenfant
30-03-2011, 16:55
That sounds easy enough, i understand the power meters can be connected directly to the + & - speaker terminals
I wouldn't be too sure about that at all ;) If they are proper power meters from another power amplifier then yes it's a distinct possibility that that may well be the case. If they aren't then they most certainly won't :rolleyes:
There has got to be some form of rectification so the meter gets a DC signal only or the needle would be wacking itself backwards & forwards (or at least attempting to & probably doing a bad job of it) & trying to go backwards from the stop. You might find you'll need some kind of resistor divider to get the meters to read correctly, as i say, it depends on what type of meters they are :)
I wouldn't be too sure about that at all ;) If they are proper power meters from another power amplifier then yes it's a distinct possibility that that may well be the case. If they aren't then they most certainly won't :rolleyes:
There has got to be some form of rectification so the meter gets a DC signal only or the needle would be wacking itself backwards & forwards (or at least attempting to & probably doing a bad job of it) & trying to go backwards from the stop. You might find you'll need some kind of resistor divider to get the meters to read correctly, as i say, it depends on what type of meters they are :)
Thanks for the reply Mark, glad i asked, i don't have any power meters as of yet but will more than likely be ones from ebay, i think there from old cassette decks or reel to reel things.
Adam.
Reid Malenfant
30-03-2011, 17:13
I'm sure that one or two of us here will be able to help you out some when it comes to getting whatever meters you end up with reading as near spot on as possible. It would help if you had a multimeter though ;)
Whatever you do though i suggest you ask on here about the suitabilty of whatever meters you are thinking of buying before chucking cash at them :eyebrows:
I'm sure that one or two of us here will be able to help you out some when it comes to getting whatever meters you end up with reading as near spot on as possible. It would help if you had a multimeter though ;)
Whatever you do though i suggest you ask on here about the suitabilty of whatever meters you are thinking of buying before chucking cash at them :eyebrows:
Thanks Mark, will get a multimeter asap, and will ask in here for help and what parts to buy etc.
Heres 2 more mock ups that maybe a bit easyer for me to build.
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/320/teacpoweramp2.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/i/teacpoweramp2.jpg/)
This one shows ready made VU meters from ebay, i think there for tube amps, come backlit etc.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5121/teacpoweramp3.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/i/teacpoweramp3.jpg/)
I actually really like this one, just a blank black plastic bit lol, this would be the simplest to do, i wouldn't even need to cut the aluminium.
Any other ideas guys?
Thanks,
Adam.
Or maybe blank with a couple of LED's just to make it look less erm, blank?
http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/797/teacpoweramp5.jpg (http://img845.imageshack.us/i/teacpoweramp5.jpg/)
Im really not sure yet, but one of these will come to life soon.
Adam.
And so it begins.....
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/5128/image000eq.jpg (http://img16.imageshack.us/i/image000eq.jpg/)
I have stripped the tuner to the bare chassis, will be doing a paint job on the lid and the back panel in the morning.
I have rubbed the lettering off the front panel where it will be visible etc as the black plastic perspex won't cover it all.
Oh the fun of DIY audio :)
Adam.
Interesting idea Adam - good luck with it.
For me, design-wise and based on your mock ups I would try to find a way of fixing the black perspex piece without using screws through from the front (assuming the 4 gold circles will be covering screws?) - I think it would look a lot cleaner with just the black perspex, whichever design you end up with. I'd probably just stick with a plain black piece if it were me, but I am a minimalist! ;)
Glad you're having fun, regardless - that's exactly what a hobby should be all about. :)
Interesting idea Adam - good luck with it.
For me, design-wise and based on your mock ups I would try to find a way of fixing the black perspex piece without using screws through from the front (assuming the 4 gold circles will be covering screws?) - I think it would look a lot cleaner with just the black perspex, whichever design you end up with. I'd probably just stick with a plain black piece if it were me, but I am a minimalist! ;)
Glad you're having fun, regardless - that's exactly what a hobby should be all about. :)
Thanks Alex, yes those 4 gold things would be covering screws, not sure how i would attach it otherwise, a good glue might do the trick ;)
Just tried it in photoshop, yes it does look better, thanks Alex, will do away with the screws/caps.
Adam.
If it doesn't need to come off again, I'd go with an epoxy resin like Araldite (http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=araldite&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=ivns&biw=1600&bih=785&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=6458864347266797178&sa=X&ei=DqmTTfvfE4eHhQflmrHuCA&ved=0CGwQ8wIwBA#), I think. Others may have better options, though.
If it doesn't need to come off again, I'd go with an epoxy resin like Araldite (http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=araldite&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=ivns&biw=1600&bih=785&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=6458864347266797178&sa=X&ei=DqmTTfvfE4eHhQflmrHuCA&ved=0CGwQ8wIwBA#), I think. Others may have better options, though.
Thanks Alex, that wont melt the plastic will it mate?
Many thanks,
Adam.
I've never had problems with it like you can with superglue, but then I'm not sure I have ever tried joining metal to perspex with it - partly why I said others may have better options - you could of course try it on a small piece first. A quick google search suggests epoxy is one of the recommended glues for perspex, so I think you will be ok.
I've never had problems with it like you can with superglue, but then I'm not sure I have ever tried joining metal to perspex with it - partly why I said others may have better options - you could of course try it on a small piece first. A quick google search suggests epoxy is one of the recommended glues for perspex, so I think you will be ok.
Thanks mate, im not sure if its going to be glued to the metal yet, theres two ways i could do this, the front panel is 10mm thick but the middle part is cut away and is plastic, see pic...
http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/7839/28562114.png (http://img863.imageshack.us/i/28562114.png/)
Hope you can understand the image lol
I could make the job very easy and glue the perspex directly on top of the front panel, or i could have the panel cut so the top and bottom are left and the perspex will sit against the plastic that runs through the panel and glue to that instead, that way the top and bottom of the front panel will be flush with the perspex.
Adam.
howlindawg
31-03-2011, 09:58
Anyone got any ideas as what could go where the VU meters are incase i cant do it?
Seems to me you might be able to shoehorn a Squeezebox display in there.
If space is tight inside the unit you could always shift the PSU into a seperate external enclosure.
Seems to me you might be able to shoehorn a Squeezebox display in there.
If space is tight inside the unit you could always shift the PSU into a seperate external enclosure.
Hi Martin, a squeezebox classic in a box like this was on the agenda a while back (theres a topic about it on here a few pages back) but i felt it pointless as i wanted the squeezebox touch instead, or do you mean "just" the display and no other parts of the SB?
Nice idea about the PSU in a seperate box :idea:
Thanks,
Adam.
howlindawg
31-03-2011, 11:29
Hi Martin, a squeezebox classic in a box like this was on the agenda a while back
Ah, I haven't seen the earlier thread yet.
Will watch your progress with interest.
Ah, I haven't seen the earlier thread yet.
Will watch your progress with interest.
Its old now and the idea was scraped, but depending how this goes i might pick up on the idea again in the future.
Adam.
Had a nightmare today, decided to paint the lid of the tuner, and half way through i ran out of paint, had to stop and scrub it all off lol, was a right mess but lucky enough it came off ok, just need to lightly sand the lid before i repaint it.
Back plate also needs another coat, iv also gotta some how block the already made socket holes with some steel plating then redrill ready to fit my holes etc.
Adam.
Techno Commander
31-03-2011, 21:17
The mock up looks sweet. Good luck with the build.
The mock up looks sweet. Good luck with the build.
Thanks Andy, the case should be done in around a weeks time, its sourcing the parts that take the time, im having a very hard time finding 2mm thick black gloss perspex/plexiglass, the thinnest seems to be 3mm, thats thicker than i would like, the ideal size would be 1mm.
Adam.
howlindawg
01-04-2011, 17:04
Try a model shop.
Thin perspex sheets are regularly used for "glass" parts on RC cars and aircraft etc... Black is popular becuase it doesn't show the gubbins inside.
Try a model shop.
Thin perspex sheets are regularly used for "glass" parts on RC cars and aircraft etc... Black is popular becuase it doesn't show the gubbins inside.
Thanks Martin, will take a look :)
Adam.
Reid Malenfant
01-04-2011, 17:14
Have you considered using some kind of smoked coloured perspex & spraying the rear? Just a thought :scratch:
Have you considered using some kind of smoked coloured perspex & spraying the rear? Just a thought :scratch:
Hi Mark, i have been looking for 1mm thin stuff, no joy yet, yes i thought about spraying the back as i was going to order clear but i think black or as you said smoked would be better with black back.
Adam.
Hmmm had a thought, clear 2mm plexi with some car window tint sheet? i think that would work.
What do you think?
Adam.
Reid Malenfant
01-04-2011, 18:00
As you only have a tiny area to cover you can take your time to remove any bubbles that get trapped, it's not easy stuff to work with though :rolleyes: If it was me i'd still spray it, so much easier..
As you only have a tiny area to cover you can take your time to remove any bubbles that get trapped, it's not easy stuff to work with though :rolleyes: If it was me i'd still spray it, so much easier..
I was thinking of tinting the front and spraying the back, will see how it goes, just ordered a 2mm clear sheet, will see what i can do when it arrives, i will get 4 cuts from the sheet, so theres room for error lol
P.S. my 47k pot turned up finally today, bit late but hey ho, will keep hold of it for the future.
Adam.
Just an update of this project, front plate is coming along now, fitted a remote sensor window (bottom right) and the main plastic to cover the holes (not quite finished, gotta tint it).
Also studs holding plastic on need spraying champagne, still got to cover up the series of holes where the buttons was, back plate will be started over the week end.
Heres a pic of the front so far...
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8710/image002bx.jpg (http://img59.imageshack.us/i/image002bx.jpg/)
Adam.
Will update this thread the weekend as i am still waiting for parts to finish the case off.
I hate waiting.
Adam.
Just a quick update, front perspex part is now gloss black, looks very nice, still goto paint the 4 studs holding it on, and cover up the old button holes.
Back plate is almost done, has a set of RCA ins and speaker binding posts fitted along with the Fig8 AC inlet, will get some pics up later.
Adam.
Reid Malenfant
15-04-2011, 09:26
:worthless:
HighFidelityGuy
15-04-2011, 10:52
HiFi Collective (http://www.hificollective.co.uk/catalog/-c-61_84_207.html) do a couple of VU meters if that helps. Nice looking project BTW. Good luck. :cool:
Jac Hawk
15-04-2011, 22:57
Have you thought about the peak meters off an old Technics SU V5 I think, i would say it's roughtly the same size as your display
you may find a broken suv5 on ebay you could canabalise for the display
http://www.vintagetechnics.info/images/suv5catalog.jpg
The Grand Wazoo
15-04-2011, 23:17
Not that I want to piss on your cornflakes Adam, but do you intend these meters to have an actual purpose, or are they just meant to enhance yer aestheticals, like guv'nor?
I'm not going to fit the meters, just going to leave it blank glossy black as its hard to cut the hole in the aluminium, will update with pics today.
Adam.
Adam!!!:eek::eek::eek:
Just noticed you are using QED SA cable :eek::eek::eek:
The Grand Wazoo
17-04-2011, 08:18
Crikey Adam - you may just be the longest surviving QED SA owning AoS member of all time!
You should go right now & stand outside DSJR's office..........he will deal with you later!
In the meantime try & have a chat with Alex_UK about these cables.
Seriously Adam, they are likely to be holding your system back by a very large margin and there are many ways of improving on them for not much money.
Crikey Adam - you may just be the longest surviving QED SA owning AoS member of all time!
You should go right now & stand outside DSJR's office..........he will deal with you later!
In the meantime try & have a chat with Alex_UK about these cables.
Seriously Adam, they are likely to be holding your system back by a very large margin and there are many ways of improving on them for not much money.
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
Indeed, you have managed to slip past the QED SA police, good spot Puffin!
You won't have to spend a fortune to improve it as Chris suggests - if you're interested in looking at it further then start a new thread and you will get twenty different suggestions on what to spend your money on I expect! (I just went with the Belden that Mark Grant was selling at the time, he now sells the well regarded Van Damme Blue (http://markgrantcables.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=46_21&products_id=169) at £1.90 a metre which would be a good choice.)
So i take it the QED SA XT is rubbish guys :( worked so hard on dressing them up lol, ohh well.
Heres a new pic of the front face with the perspex finished in gloss black..
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9016/img0041nu.jpg (http://img819.imageshack.us/i/img0041nu.jpg/)
Will post more soon as i go on with the project, money problems aren't helping.
Adam.
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