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Thread: The New Adventures of the ElectroNumpty DCB1

  1. #1
    Join Date: Jan 2014

    Location: london se6

    Posts: 823
    I'm AndyElectroNumpty.

    Wink The New Adventures of the ElectroNumpty DCB1

    Hi All

    Here we go again

    Well so, when I decided to build the DCB1 I bought 2 boards from Mr Teabag over at DIY audio. My original intention was to try and build a pre without spending too much in the way of fancy parts just to see if I could get something working and then maybe use the 2nd board to make one with some fancy parts to make it sound better. Anyway It's all worked better than I expected , especially with some help along the way from the usual suspects , thanks guys!

    Anyway, the build is great and while I didn't spend silly money on it , it has good quality parts , case , sockets, wiring and transformer which give a good basis for better electronics I think.

    Original build thread below for ref, I thought it might be better to start a new one to list my improvements/experiments/disasters (in no particular order!!)

    https://theartofsound.net/forum/show...-s-getting-fat

    The sound has settled down now as the component have bedded in and this means that I'll be able to gauge the effect of any changes more accurately.

    After considering things I decided that it might be more fun to make changes to the original on a step by step basis and see what effect they had rather than going for a big bang approach of slotting in a whole new board. Also some of the parts are now getting scarce and expensive - matched quads of JFETS in particular, which makes stuffing an entirely new board a bit more problematic , not to say expensive

    The other advantage of staging the upgrades is that it spreads the cost over the course of a few months. I intend to live with each one for a month or so before another change so that I can see if it was worth it or not .

    So my order of battle is as follows -


    1. Swap the cheap stepped attenuator for an AD Acoustics part. The original sounds fine for the £23 it cost and does a job, but feels very clunky to use - think Soviet industrial quality

    2. Swap in new Mundorf power caps for the power supply. I am curious to see what difference this will make (if any) as most focus in on the caps and resisters for bang/ buck. But I sort of subscribe to the theory (completely unscientifically ) that everything in the chain matters and can make a difference. So only 1 way to test this out!!

    3. Try some different signal caps instead of the Wimas, have got a couple of interesting options here so we'll see what happens with that!

    4. Try out some Audio Note resisters in the bang per buck part of the board, non magnetic tantalums.

    5. Any other numpty randomness I can think of.

    On to part 1.....
    At the cutting edge of Numptyness!

  2. #2
    Join Date: Jan 2014

    Location: london se6

    Posts: 823
    I'm AndyElectroNumpty.

    Default

    Before !







    Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
    At the cutting edge of Numptyness!

  3. #3
    Join Date: Jan 2014

    Location: london se6

    Posts: 823
    I'm AndyElectroNumpty.

    Default

    During,I had to turn the holding bracket around so that I had an extra centimetre to fit the attenuater. You can see the difference in size between the 2 for a comparison.







    Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
    At the cutting edge of Numptyness!

  4. #4
    Join Date: Jan 2014

    Location: london se6

    Posts: 823
    I'm AndyElectroNumpty.

    Default

    After!

    Pretty straightforward job, luckily!








    Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
    At the cutting edge of Numptyness!

  5. #5
    Bigman80 Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by smangus View Post
    After!

    Pretty straightforward job, luckily!








    Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
    Nice!

  6. #6
    Join Date: Jan 2014

    Location: london se6

    Posts: 823
    I'm AndyElectroNumpty.

    Default

    Thanks, was a bit of a squeeze but turning the bracket helped.
    At the cutting edge of Numptyness!

  7. #7
    Join Date: Jan 2014

    Location: london se6

    Posts: 823
    I'm AndyElectroNumpty.

    Default

    Sounds effing great too!
    At the cutting edge of Numptyness!

  8. #8
    Bigman80 Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by smangus View Post
    Sounds effing great too!
    Haha yep! Don't they!!!

  9. #9
    Join Date: May 2017

    Location: West Sussex, UK

    Posts: 775
    I'm Steve.

    Default

    Hi Andy
    I swapped out my Nichicon power caps from 4700uf and replaced them with Nichicon 10000uf, the result was faster tighter bass and a lift in the overall dynamics.

    I also replaced the 8 resistors around the realay to Audionote, the result was better focus, sweeter topend.

    Tried it with a previous build and didn't like it

    Good look with your changes.

    Steve..
    Turntable; Rega p8
    Cartridge; Alpheta mc
    Phono Stage; Rega Aria, Bigbottle 3 mm/mc
    Amplifier; Rega Elicit
    Speakers; Rega Rx3

  10. #10
    Join Date: Apr 2015

    Location: Central Virginia

    Posts: 1,736
    I'm Russell.

    Default

    That is some real professional looking work! Your wire routing is nice and neat, connections look clean. Most impressive, I wish I could hear it.

    And from your outline I think you are on the right path to better sound. So nice to have something to be proud of, when someone comments how great it sounds you can tell them you built it! How cool is that?

    Russell

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