Resurrecting an old chum

[mikmas]

... and swiftly moving on - some pictures:

Wired and ready to go:



The look of it:



Final resting place:



COMING UP NEXT .....
Final bits and bobs - and - what does it sound like?

[Jimbo]

[Wakefield Turntables]

Looks good. A very enjoyable thread.

[Barry]

Fuses in series with the speaker terminals are generally thought not to be a good idea. They can have a detrimental effect on sound quality.

Otherwise a nice, neat and tidy job.

[mikmas]

Fuses in series with the speaker terminals are generall thought not to be a good idea. They can have a detrimental effect on sound quality.

Otherwise a nice, neat and tidy job.

Thanks Barry .... the fuses are not my idea but recommended in the module specifications, so stay in
(BTW - this was very much a 'cheap and cheerful' package in its day* - a very long way from 'high end' )

*In fairness to the original designer, the overall sound rivals the output from my Quad 405-2 admirably in many respects (and falls down in others - more later ....)

[mikmas]

Looks good. A very enjoyable thread.

Cheers Andrew .... we aim to please

[mikmas]

‘Things to do’ include deciding whether to leave the front plate I made plain or black. If plain, it will need a protective coating to deter oxidisation. The blanking grommet above the RCA inputs is there while I muse over fitting a pot or continue using a separate ‘pot in a box’ passive. I like the idea of it being more or less self-contained but the single input leaves it less flexible than external solutions.

I might also upgrade the speaker posts - these were a cheap 10-in-a-pack eBay purchase left over from an earlier project, so just about anything decent could be an improvement … but to be honest, the amp doesn’t have to be the last word in hifi excellence (or even come close) seeing as it’ll be mostly providing background tunes for shed type activities and not even remotely critical listening.

That said, the sound that comes out of this knocked together bag of bits ain’t ‘arf bad ... in fact, not bad at all. I auditioned the ILP concoction through my Quad floor standers in the house and it had no reason at all to feel embarrassed standing next to my 405-2. In fact, it beat the much more prestigious offering in some key areas and showed up some of the weaknesses in Quad’s legacy power amps.

Immediately noticeable was the abundance of bass slam and an overall forward presence that the 405-2 doesn’’t quite muster with the same RPi sourced material (noting that they both share a nominal 500mv input sensitivity). However, what the ILP gives in terms of thrust, it loses when it comes to subtlety; there is depth of tone there in spades and detail is not lacking in any register - but this comes at the cost of a slightly brittle top range that slipped into slight sibilance on some songs. Fine for the shed and some banging tunes while filing a ferrule - not so much for moments of contemplation and cosy coffee that require the euphoric euphonies the Quad does so well.

Anyhow - enough alliteration!! … time to wrap this one up.

Suffice to say, I have managed to salvage some 40 year old scrap and turned it into something that will give me daily pleasure … and thoroughly enjoyed the process

… and of course no thread like this should be brought to a close without a proper ‘before and after’ footnote:

[brian2957]

Wonderful work Mike , well done . I really enjoyed this thread

[Wakefield Turntables]

Excellent thread! Now we need another...

[mikmas]

Wonderful work Mike , well done . I really enjoyed this thread

Cheers Brian - very much appreciated

Really glad you enjoyed the read - I enjoyed writing it