Neurochrome Modulus 686 Monoblocks

[Qwin]

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I picked up my 686 Monoblocks yesterday from Joe Henry in Coventry.

I could have built them myself, but when I got a look at Ali's Amps, that Joe built, build quality was first rate and Joe's pricing is fair, for the amount of work involved.
Without a decent place to work, I thought it was easier all round, just to buy them ready made.

Here are some pictures Joe took of mine during the build.




Each unit has 188,000 uF of capacitors in the PSU.





The toroidal transformers are 500VA





Speaker protection is built in.





Final soak test.





The Amps are fully differential balanced circuits so just an XLR input.





The fronts carry just an illuminated on/off switch.





Waiting to be set up in my system, I need to build some stands, so each Amp can sit under its speaker.
Each produces 360w into 4ohm, which is what my Canton CT-1000 speakers present as a load.
They sound great out of the box, but presume they will smooth out a little as everything settles in.





This is what I have in mind for the stands.

[Jimbo]

That should be a very sweet set up Ken. Love the aesthetics.

[Qwin]

Thanks James
Yes there is great synergy between the 686 Mono's and CT-1000 speakers.
Its what I heard at NEBO last time out and was determined to go this route.
Being fully balanced, these amps make better use of my Pass Labs XP-12 balanced Pre Amp as well.
It all works beautifully together.

[Barry]

Well done!
I use monobock amplifiers located directly behind each speaker, fed by balanced line cables back to the preamp. The advantage of such an arrangement is that the speaker leads need only be less than 1m long (or in my case 30cm).

[Macca]

Great amplifiers and speakers - going to be a killer system I think.

[The Black Adder]

Looks great. Keep us updated on the progress

Sent from my BBC Microcomputer 32K

[Qwin]

Well done!
I use monobock amplifiers located directly behind each speaker, fed by balanced line cables back to the preamp. The advantage of such an arrangement is that the speaker leads need only be less than 1m long (or in my case 30cm).

Thanks Barry
I made up some 60cm speaker leads, which should work for my set up, once the stands are built.
The beauty of such short distances is you can use more exotic speaker leads and the cost is still very reasonable.
I used Atlas Bi-Wire but configured it for single connection.
It has one pair of single strand, meant for HF/Mids and one pair of multi strand meant for Bass.
I twisted one of each type together and put it into a single "Z" plug.
A couple of users have said this arrangement sounds better than just using the heavier grade Atlas Hyper 3.5mm or 5.0mm multi strand.
A used unterminated piece came up on the Bay, so I thought I would try it, though I doubt such a short length is going to make much difference.

[Ali Tait]

Looking good Ken, identical to mine in fact. :-)

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do mine.

[Barry]

Yes - it does mean speaker cable costs are minimised, but also it gives you the opportunity to try other 'exotic' designs for minimal costs.

[Qwin]

Looking good Ken, identical to mine in fact. :-)

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do mine.

Ali, did you find there was any kind of break in period?
Mine are sounding pretty good straight out of the box.