General

I'm an electronic technologist with more than 39 years of experience dealing with advanced electronic and computer systems. I worked in calibration labs, Air Traffic and navigation, communications, radars and automatic weather stations. I built, installed and service them for years. Electronics is what I do.

Since the last 25 years my main hobby had been audio stuffs starting with the simple and the affordable and now dealing more with the exclusive and the sophisticated side of the equation. I built some of my best sound system components from circuits, then PCB and up to enclosure design, solid state or tubes. I also collected very nice gears over the years from major players in the audio league such as Mark Levinson, Air Tight, Ayre, Audio Research, Yamamoto, Vacuum State, Borbely, name it. I think that now I know what a good sound is, at least according to my own tastes.

I built stuff mainly for me or my friends, but sometime I organize or participate in Group Buy. Over the years I built a little circle of contacts that help me in my endeavors, to find difficult to source parts, discuss circuits, etc.

This site is dedicated to my passion. Read on...

My Hi-Fi Systems

Preamps: 

Ayre K-3rp with phono option and remote, Famous preamp, little brother of the K-1, to go with the V-3. See www.audioreview.com for a review.

Pass Labs Muse (XP32) (DIY), preamplifier using the MUSE preamp chassis, Muse volume IC, switch selection and controls in dual mono configuration. The original gain stage was replaced with my own version of Pass Labs XP32 gain stage with UGS7 gain cell and K2013/J313 output buffer biased in Class A. It has a massive separate power supply inspired by Pass Labs Xs preamp supply. The supply has two outputs and it is also used to power my XP25 phono preamp. For images of the original chassis design see www.diyaudio.com 

Vacuum State RTP3D Preamp, I loved the SVP-2 so much that I'm building from scratch, including the two enclosures, the complete RTP3D preamp. It will have the 'D' version supply, but will still use the point to point construction of the 'C' version for the preamp itself. It is fully assembled and tested, but still have to complete some work on the enclosure.

Vacuum State SVP-2, ver2 Preamp,I've always been a great fan of Allen Wright design. Its preamplifier cookbook is a must read. This preamp is the little brother of the renowned RTP3, but single ended. It uses all of Allen's tricks to get the best result from tube circuit: HV Shunt SuperReg, best sounding Super Linear Cathode follower with FET current source, precision and matched parts for perfect RIAA correction and channel matching, great volume control using Elna switch and SMD film resistors, etc. Even the PCB design is very special, all signal traces are on the top of the board, and never cross underneath. The board bottom layer has only the GND and supply traces. This preamp has also a great phono stage section. I have to say that it matches, if not betters the Audio-Research PH5 I used to have. It is just lovely, perfectly silent. Superb preamp. See www.vacuumstate.com  for the preamp description, and excellent review from HiFi+ . See also  www.sixmoons.com  for a great review of the RTP3D.

Convergent Audio Technology CAT SL1 Tube Preamp, With the Vacuum State RTP3D preamp, probably one of the 10 best preamp out there. After two years of work I made my own version, with SE/BAL input and BAL outputs. My external Power supply outputs extensively protected with separate fuses and has a detachable power cable. The preamp used ROE resista resistors through out, Mundorf coupling caps. The preamp output caps are bypassed by Duelund copper foil caps. Great preamp. See my project at: www.diyaudio.com and a review of the original 'Legend' version www.6moons.com

Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 Tube Preamp, Designed with the participation of Mr. Curcio, it is really a Curcio Daniel 2 preamp, with top notch parts from Sonic Frontiers. As the original Curcio it is an hybrid design using just one tube, bias with JFET and hybrid Mosfet buffer output. The construction is very nice and solid and the parts choice was already using the best parts around such as Holco and Vishay VTA55 foil resistors, MIT coupling capacitors, Solen and Wima HV supply film capacitors, Kimber Kable interconnect wires, ALPS Black Beauty balance and volume potentiometers, pure copper Vampire RCA connectors, etc... I upgraded mine to the Signature model by adding the needed parts on the already present locations on the very nice main PCB, such as Wima and Multicap bypass capacitors, and by replacing key components with Vishay VTA55 foil and Caddock resistors. 

Mark Levinson ML38S upgraded to ML380S and two ML38, built from scratch, a long story, see the Audio Projectsand also, see www.marklevinson.com  and www.stereophile.com for a review.

Naim NAC 112, Original Naim that I bought to go with my Naim NAP200 amp, see the amp section below. Presently used by one of my sons. See a review at: www.sixmoons.com

Stevens & Billington TX102 Passive TVC preamp, Nice passive preamp that I built for a friend, then I found my own NOS pair of TVC (Transformer Volume Control), so I built one for me too. Looking simple but it is full of features, 6 inputs with one balanced, 2 RCA, one balanced and one record outputs. It has a Mute, Hard/Float input ground and Chassis/Float output ground for RCA or XLR, and the usual 0/+6dB Gain switch. The TX102 is still available from S&B but cost more than £1000 a pair! For details see: www.diyaudio.com, manufacturer S&B website www.stevens-billington.co.uk and now their own preamp from Music First Audio www.mfaudio.co.uk

UGS ''All Inclusive'' preamplifier using UGS gain module inspired by Nelson Pass, completely dual mono with external supply, with extensive microcontroller control, digital encoder, and relay step volume controller. See my Audio Projects for details.

B1 Nutube Line Stage Preamp, Nelson Pass himself designed this interesting preamp, using using famous FirstWatt B1 preamp with the inclusion of the new KORG 6P1 Nutube. We can adjust the harmonic content using a simple trimmer on the pcb. I did my own PCB version with integrated AC power supply. See Audio projects for details.

Heretical Tube Line Stage Preamp, Tube preamp with Unity Gain. Design optimized for Low distortion and very low noise floor using the ECC88 tube and  CineMag Input Transformers. See Audio projects for details.

ForePlay Tube Preamp, using Pearl Tube Coolers (μP controlled and remote), see the Audio Projects for details

Pass Labs Bride of Zen, see www.passdiy.com and the Audio Projects

Placette, style passive shunt volume attenuator with remote control and display. See the Audio Projects and the original product at  www.placetteaudio.com. This attenuator will be installed into "The Pumpkin" Fet Preamp with "The Shunty" dual mono shunt regulators. See Audio projects for details.

Bryston .4B, A very nice little preamp, see www.technofile.com for a quick review,

Amplifiers and Integrated:

SimAudio I-5 Integrated Amplifier, Class A, 75W 8 ohms, 110W 4 ohms. Can be used as a preamplifier with the W-5 amplifier. See www.simaudio.com for details.

Gamut D200i (DIY) Superb 200W dual mono amplifier, probably second best after the Pass XA30.8

Pass Labs XA30.8 (DIY), Maybe my best amp. I did everything myself, PCB, etc.

Pass Labs XA25, ver3 (DIY), Great amp. Again I did everything myself, PCB, etc. 

Pass Labs XA200.5 Monoblocks(DIY-Upcoming), Probably the best, bigger, heavier amps I'll ever build. I'll try to complete them in 2017.

Pass Labs Muse-Up (DIY), amplifier. Designed to work with the Muse preamp. Also a dual mono design.

Pass Labs Aleph30 (DIY), see the Audio Projects section

Vacuum State DPA300B, Famous 300B tubes monoblocks. The best match for the RTP3C preamp. One of the best tube amp on the market probably. Made from kit. Took me two years to complete...

Naim NAP 200 Amplifier (Clone), Classic Naim sound. Amp built using an exact clone of the original PCB, with a custom power transformer from UK. Presently used by one of my sons. See my Audio Project section for details. Also see a review of the latest version (DR): www.naimaudio.com/review

Peter Daniel Gain Clone:  www.6moons.com/audioreviews

Yamaha CR-800: One of the best-built Japanese receivers of all time. The CR-800 is more relaxed than super tight CR-1000. Clever engineering: front/rear panels swing back & out of the way for easy tech access. Unusually good tuner. Sound is different from other Yamaha receivers: powerful & commanding with 45W into 8 ohms; sheer delight even at very low listening levels. Every switch & dial operates as smooth as glass. Chassis slips out of case through front opening. PRE/MAIN capable, muting switch for people with bionic hearing, auto-touch AFC tuning through solid aluminum knob, mic jack with dedicated volume pot. Very well built and weights a ton. The power transformer is a real one! See HiFiEngine for details at: www.hifiengine.com

Harman Kardon 330c:  Nice little vintage integrated, almost pristine condition, used in my garage with a pair of also vintage L26 Decade JBL speakers. When I want some great sound while working in my garage I use the Pono as digital player.

Digital Sources: 

Esoteric K-01 SACD Player  Probably the best sounding CD/SACD player I ever heard, and killing transport on top of that. I heard one years ago at a friend house and was completely charmed by its sound. Incredible what a good player can produce from a simple CD. It has also SPDIF digital and USB inputs, so we have access to the incredible DAC inside. I loved it so much that I being looking for a good one since then. Upgraded from the K-03 in 2024. For a review see www.theabsolutesound.com and www.theaudiobeat.com 

Oppo UDP-203 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player with built in network server, Roon ready, for list of features see www.oppodigital.com. This excellent player could be modified to reach real HiFi sound by replacing the switching power supply by a fully analog one. The stock supply injects a lot of RF noise everywhere in the circuits. Replacing the power supply solves this problem and reduce noise level, improve clarity and music flow. For the discussion on the supply modification see: www.diyaudio.com and for the supply see: www.oppomod.com. In addition to that I'll replace the DAC board by an improved one using the ES9038PRO, very low jitter SAW master clock and dedicated stereo output, see: www.diyaudio.com

Mark Levinson ML390S Compact Disk Player and DAC, probably the best player Mark Levinson ever made, see one of the review at www.stereophile.com. It is also a great DAC with external inputs using the same expensive PCB material as the ML380S preamp, nude Vishay laser trim resistor the I/V converter, great transport (same as the ML37), etc... The original superb hi-res Mark Levinson pictures can still be seen at www.hifishock.org

Mark Levinson ML37 Compact Disk Transport, one of the best transport ever made. Upgraded in 2010 with the newest CDPRO2LF drive. The ML37 used from the start an external low jitter clock mounted on its digital In/out PCB to drive the CDPRO2 inside it. I did the same mod on the newest CDPRO2LF so it can use the ML37 own clock. See this web page for some details: www.stereophile.com and  www.marklevinson.com

Ayre Acoustics CX-7emp, Very analog and musical CD player, one of my favorite. Custom 16x digital filter, twin massive power transformers—one handles just the digital circuitry; the other the analog, Discrete Fet supplies without feedback, and a very special I/V converter based on AD844 diamond buffer that insures an analog sound. See for details: www.ayre.com, and for reviews: www.soundstage.com, www.stereophile.com, Audiophile Voice Review

Sony CDP-707ESD Top Sony player in the 80's. The original "7" series player, sold worldwide as a CDP-557ESD, in the US as a CDP-707ESD. Inside, center stage, is the first version of the BU-1 aluminum die cast base which was reused in the next four models of the X7 series. The BU-1 holds the main motor, the laser's linear motor and its two magnetic rails and the precious KSS-190A. The BU-1 assembly is known to be of the "almost everlasting" kind : read "more than ten years" of moderate but daily use. In reality, the actual lifetime of the laser, servos and motor can easily exceed twenty years. Taking some from the CDP-555ESD, the chassis set the main layout for all following X7s : double steel plates, extruded 4mm front plate and drawer's front, copper-plating everywhere (including all the screws), ceramic-powder feet and ceramic-damped d/a chips. The two transformers and the BU-1 drive are placed in their respective sub-enclosures. The BU-1E assembly itself rests on a Gibraltar sub-base bonded to the (top) bottom steel. Gibraltar is made of calcium carbonate, glass-fiber and resin. DAC chips are two Burr-Brown's PCM64P (18bit resolution) teamed to a Sony CXD1144A 18bit / 8fs digital filter, the latter being the industry's very first 8fs digital filter. As all of Sony's digital components between 1984 and 1994, components choice is lavish and oversized everywhere (caps are all premium Elna Duorex and Elna For Audio), 14 power-supplies, generous regulations and heatsinking (in copper, too), solid copper bus bars - ES in all its grandeur. Circuit-wise, the CDP-557ESD had sci-fi elements like Error Prediction Logic II (to "predict" read errors and correct them before they actually happen with an 1/10000th of second speed), a Servo Stabilizer II (to keep servo digital noise as low as possible), GIC low-pass filter (one for each channel) and FET-charged analogue outputs. A CDP-557ESD built today, in 2016, would cost five or six times what it cost back then; nobody can afford to build like that anymore. See the description www.thevintageknob.org at and this reviews forum.audiogon.com

Pono portable Player Great little portable player but with great sound, designed by Ayre Audio founder and head designer Charles Hansen. Originally a Neal Young Kickstarter project, it was designed from the ground up to support HiRes files and to provide unparallel quality play back. I'm using it as music server and superb testing music source. See ponomusic.force.com 

Yamaha CD-S1000 SACD CD player. Just a gorgeous machine built like a tank. It is just awaiting to be modified to transform it into a killer player and transport. With minimum modifications it can becomes a CD-S2000 with balanced outputs. The only difference between both machines is a separate transformer for the Audio section power supply and a few missing parts on the Audio output board. Both machine use the same board, so it is easy to upgrade. And just had a low jitter clock with its own supply and it becomes a superb transport.

Sony CDP-338ESD A very nice top notch CD player, quality Sony built of the 80's, with Burr Brown PCM-58P selection J DAC chip, one per channel. It includes a nice headphone output and remote controlled volume for headphone and variable output as well. See this reviews www.thevintageknob.org and possible tube output mods at:  www.lampizator.eu

Pioneer DV-563 (Universal Player, modified supply and output), see the Audio Projects section

Rotel RCD-965BX Trusty little player, used for testing my projects

Digital to Analog Converters:

EMMLabs DAC2X, Version 2, Premium D/A Converter I made the grand plunge and finally bought what will be probably my best DAC ever... It sounds fabulous driven by my Lumin Mini U1 streamer. The EMMLabs DAC2X was considered one of the best reference grade DAC in the world, and it is now even better with the latest Version 2 upgrade. I auditioned its little brother the Meitner MA-1 a few years back and it was one of the better sounding dac I ever heard, period. The DAC2X improves on every aspect of the MA-1.DAC. This DAC is unique and doesn't use off the shelve dac IC. It was designed by the SACD designer Ed Meitner itself and includes proprietary technologies, unique to EMMLabs. The DAC2X V2 features the latest generation MDAT2™ up-converting DSP, MFAST™ jitter removal system, MCLK™ master clock and Ed Meitner’s revised hand built DSD512/8xDSD proprietary discrete dual differential D-to-A converters. The New V2 input digital board has the latest galvanically isolated USB audio interface that accepts 2xDSD and 384kHz DXD PCM. Then all signals are upscale to DSD512/8XDSD. The DAC pcb itself is using the lastest, simpler, fully discrete and running in Class-A output audio converter. This pcb is made of exclusive aerospace-grade composite laminate (ceramic), that allows the best digital and audio reproduction. (June 2020 update), installed three IsoAcoustics ISO-PUCK mini under the DAC. See the manufacturer site for details www.emmlabs.com, some of the reviews www.audiostream.com, audiophilestyle.com and this one that compare the MA-1 to the DAC2X  www.soundstageglobal.com

RME ADI-2 Pro DAC/ADC 20th Anniversary Edition At its heart, the ADI-2 Pro is a simple two-channel, mastering-quality A-D (using AK5574EN chips), and with D-A converter with AKM’s ‘velvet sound’ converter technology (AK4490EQ chips), it boasts a dynamic range greater than 120dB, 32-bit processing, and sample rates up to 768kHz. It also supports several DSD (one-bit) formats as well. The AKM AK4127VF Rate Converter chips is used to convert to any rate. Usefully, it also features a second, identical, two-channel D-A section to provide a total of four analogue outputs, this secondary pair being dedicated to an additional independent headphone socket (which can also be used as an extra two-channel unbalanced line output, if required). So it’s really a two-in, four-out device as far as the analogue connectivity is concerned. Op-amps used inside this DAC are OPA1602 SoundPlustm chips. It also has two stereo headphone outputs that are independently controllable for volume and balance. RME have equipped both headphone outputs with their new ‘Extreme Power’ amplifier technology (using paralleled OPA1688 op-amps), which is essentially a high-current driver with selectable Standard and Hi-power modes, providing high-quality and powerful output signals almost regardless of the headphone impedance. The OPA1688 is a dual channel headphone driver IC that can source/sink up to 75mA per channel at extremely low THD+N levels, while consuming just 1.6mA idle current per side. FET input and just 0.25mV (250uV!) DC output offset. A little HP amp using this chip is presented at www.diyaudio.com, or also the Schiit Audio Magni 3 Heresy version. These two outputs are fully protected as well. I was lucky to get one of the 500 units ever made of the 20th Anniversary Edition. In addition of using this unit as a hi-end DAC/Headphone amp, I'll use this unit into a measurement setup in addition to the AutoRanger MKII interface (See my electronic projects for details on the AutoRanger MKII). For details see www.rme-audio.de, and an excellent review at www.soundonsound.com

Metrum Acoustics Menuet R2R DAC Successor of the already excellent Hex, the Menuet closes the gap between the Pavane and the Musette and has 85% of the Pavane sounds. The Menuet uses the new Transient module, a fully discrete R2R DAC module. It is a non-oversampling DAC with Forward (FPGA) corrected to overcome the switching noise that undermines the linearity of ladder DACs at low levels. To make a long and complicated story short simpler; it processes both MSB (most significant bits) and LSB (least significant bits) in the same top half of the converter. To do this, the level of the LSB has to be increased prior to conversion. Thereafter 12-bits are sent to each DAC module. In this way the low level or LSBs have the same signal-to-noise profile as the MSBs. The levels are corrected in the analogue stage in order to get the full 24-bit depth with maximum linearity. Inside the Menuet there are two Transient modules per channel in differential mode, giving it a total of four modules.. Unit has balanced & unbalanced outputs. AES/EBU, Digital coax, BNC, Toslink & USB for inputs. See a review at www.the-ear.net 

HQ-Audio AD1865 DAC End 3 An other excellent kit built by HQ-Audio built around the renowned NOS R-2R AD1865 DAC with 6H30Pi IV Tube outputs. I was able to source a parts kit. The AD1865 Analog Device chip is considered by some to be the best sounding Non Oversampling 18 bits DAC chip ever built. This DAC is using multiple shunt regulator supplies and a separate IV section using tubes. It has two switchable digital inputs, one optical the other coaxial. For the best sound an IV section uses one tube per channel. It supports three tube type, the 5687, 6Dj8 and 6H30. I use it configured for the 6H30Pi. Each tube is run with its its two sections run in parallel for better drive capacity and transparency. The tubes HV supply used a Salas HV Shunt regulator with a CLC pre-filter. The tube heaters are driven by a low noise, LDO regulator. The best parts are used throughout both PCB, for more detail see  www.diyaudio.com. 

Yamamoto YDA-01B DAC (clone) I like the YDA-01 so much that I built the tube version for me. Mine is special, a reproduction of the marvelous Yamamoto DAC, but with dual selectable digital inputs and DIY Ayre line filter, custom toroid transformer, Yamamoto Teflon tube sockets and  wood terminal strips, M-Lytic Mundorf HV cap and ClarityCap MR output coupling caps. A few weeks back me and friends we compared this Dac with the new Meitner MA-1 (7K$), the Naim NDX and the NAD M50 music player in a streamer/server test bed. Guest what the Yamamoto was way better than the Naim and the NAD using another Dac, and as good as the Meitner!  We also listen to some excellent hires files (192/24 bits) files from Fidelio, and the Yamamoto and Meitner were very close, with a little edge from the MA-1 part. This is how good this Dac is and considering the price difference between both dac, the Yamamoto is a steal. My own Tube output section is also slightly different. It is still using WE408A tube, but has a different CCS, different cathode loading and grid stopper for an even better sound. I love this DAC.  All internal wiring is done using Neotech Solid-core UP-OCC COPPER Wire, Teflon jacket, cryo treated. See some great reviews of these DAC on 6moons, ss version review: 6moons.com-YDA-01, and the tube review: 6moons.com-YDA-01B

HPA HD-1 Dac/Headphone Amplifier: Very nice sounding Dac with integrated headphone amplifier. This Dac supports 192Khz/24 bits and is using the CS8416 Receiver, the Analog Device AD1896 Sample Rate converter and the PCM1792 Dac chip. BTW this is the same dac used inside my excellent Ayre Cx7e CD Player. It has 2 digital inputs with auto-detect selection, sophisticated dual mono power supply and a custom 4 layers PCB. The headphone amp section is realized using the TPA6120A amplifier chip. The Volume is done in the digital domain using an ATMega processor code. It is very compact, and sound wonderful. Great Dac to sit near your computer for easy listening. Some information can be found here: www.diyaudio.com

Buffalo-II DAC ESS Sabre Reference 24 bits/192Khz DAC (8 channels combined to 2 channels for exceptional low noise floor) based on Twisted Pear Audio Buffalo-II DAC PCB with USB, BNC, AES/EBU, optical Toslink & ST inputs, see www.diyaudio.com for my own contribution, an interconnect diagram that illustrates the different modules I used. The I/V conversion is done using the dual mono Counterpoint fully discrete symmetrical converter, fully balanced output, DC coupled, see it own thread on www.diyaudio.com. To supply the Counterpoints I used two Placid-BP shunt regulators, one per channel with their own power transformer. To convert to Single Ended (SE) I used my own version of the Ballsie converter combining the buffer section of the new Legato so I can drive headphones as well. The volume can be adjusted using the built-in ESS excellent digital volume control and the I2C Volumite controller. See my own project at www.diyaudio.com and www.twistedpearaudio.com for details.

Pass Labs D1 DAC Clone, Version 3 A classic Balanced PCM63P-K DAC but using Borbely FET I/V converter and all discrete Borbely FET Low noise analog supply. See my Audio Project section for details.

Super Tube DAC with low jitter PLL clock and Tube Output, see the Audio Projects section and the original designer site see: Original Project Page (Explorer only) 

SDS-Labs Tube DAC, using a pair of PCM63-K DAC chips (maybe one of the best DAC chip ever made), passive I/V conversion (using a Riken resistor) and Shunt Regulated Push-Pull (SRPP or Mu Follower) all tube output. I'm planning to use it for an upcoming music server. My own version has some improvements and modifications such as two selectable inputs (SPDIF BNC and USB, using the Hagerman "HagUSB" SPDIF-USB converter, CLC filtering on all digital IC supply pins, Oscon caps, screen ground plane, Jensen paper in oil coupling caps (and AuriCap film bypass caps), Takman carbon film resistors in the Tube section and mute relay at power-up. The supply is using custom built toroid transformers. See www.quadesl.com for details. 

dAck! Original and Clone, a TDA1545-CS8414 DAC None Over Sampling, see the Audio Projects section and www.ack-industries.com for details. I use it with my headphone. Very nice sound with no fatigue.

Audio Zone DAC-1 clone. a TDA1543 DAC None Over Sampling, clone of the  with No digital or analog filters, Passive I/V conversion, Active input driver/buffer,  4 active regulators with extensive CLRC filtering, BNC input (75R), Single ended output, see the Audio Projects section.

Digital Audio Music Server:

Aurender N150 Music Server/Streamer Bought this one to replace the Cocktail, and using it as streamer as well with Tidal. Probably one of the best, more musical server out there, Manufacturer product page at aurender.com and see reviews at alpha-audio.net/review   

Lumin U1 Mini Digital Transport/Streamer, Replaced my Mac Mini Server in 2019. The Lumin is the best streamer, music server I ever tried. It supports both iOS and Android interfaces, can do oversampling and DSD, and sounds just so much better than the Man. The U1 Mini is exactly the same machine as the U1, minus the milled aluminum chassis and the discrete power supply. See the product page at: www.luminmusic.com and a few reviews at: www.soundstageaustralia.com, hifiknights.com, soundrebels.com. I made an upgrade discrete power supply to replace the switching one inside my U1 mini, for details see www.diyaudio.com, or send me a private email... Latest addition Supra CAT8 Network Cable, length 2m, see www.av-connection.com

Digital Signal Processors: 

DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core After listening to this Fantastic Speaker Room correction and DAC system at a friend's house I decided to go ahead and get the DSPeaker. It uses three powerful DSP cores (1x VS1000 for GUI&USB and 2x VS8053 IceDragon for Audio, 40-bit, 2-channels). This processor has extensive sound customization options, including quick house curve design tool, linear-phase full spectrum tilt, several parametric EQs and has numerous DSP Filters, starting with the Anti-Mode 2.0 Multi-Rate (FIR & IIR), House Curve filter, Linear-Phase Tilt, Parametric EQs, Adjustable Infrasonic and Adjustable cross-over.  It is loaded with features  and can be used as a locally clocked high quality jitter-free DAC that supports asynchronous USB audio as well as S/PDIF input/output via optical Toslink. The built-in Dual balanced ADCs delivers the highest level of audio performance. It has Dual (one per channel) balanced DACs with jitter free operation (local crystal), oversampling to 6144 kHz, DSP buffering and filtering (Digital signals are re-aligned for jitter-free operation). It can also be used as a high quality pre-amp with remote controlled volume that uses Analog resistor network volume controller to ensure full digital precision. Other features are: Supports several sound profiles (e.g. independent ”sweet spots” and/or equalizer settings), quickly switchable with the remote controller. Friendly graphical user interface, very easy to set-up and operate, Ability to measure and display room responses on a built-in 262k-color display, ”Pure digital” mode using S/PDIF input & output: signal is processed in the digital domain all the way (S/PDIF output resolution is independent from input). It has Versatile connectivity: insert Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core between your existing pre-amp and power amplifier or powered speakers or utilize the processor loop or tape loop of your integrated amplifier - or use it as a standalone DAC / preamp! It is a Class A Stereophile recommended component since 2013. For details see www.dspeaker.com and these great reviews  www.stereophile.com, www.theabsolutesound.com and www.avforums.com

McRU LDA High Linear Power Supply Upgrade Linear Power Supply for the DSpeaker Anti-Mode from McRU in UK, see www.mcru.co.uk

Behringer UltramatchPro SRC2496 Sample-Rate Converter & ADC/DAC The Swiss Army knife of the digital conversion. Great little machine that can do almost anything you can dream of to do to audio or digital data. It can upscale/downscale (32 to 96Khz) or change the bit length (18-24 bits), switchable de-emphasis all this done using the CS8420 Sample-Rate Converter and transceiver, convert audio to digital (using an AK5393 24/96 ADC chip), or digital to analog (using an AK4393 24/96 multi-bit DAC chip), all this balanced In/Out and with three types of In/out digital interfaces each (AES/EBU, SPDIF both with galvanic insulation and optical Toslink). It has a ton of leds to indicate the bit word status and even an headphone amp (using hi-current op-amp RJM4580), vu-meters, internal or external word clocks, etc. It is a very useful tool and allows you to listen to upsample music on the fly, without to have to rely on a computer. See this interesting review www.hifi-advice.com and details at www.behringer.com

Analog Sources: 

Technics SP-10 Mk2, seating on the Technics SH-10B3 obsidian plinth with Dust Cover and EPA-100 Tonearm with SH-100 Headshell and its original shielded low capacitance cable. What can be said, one of the most famous turntable of all time. The Technics SH-10B3 is a massive stone block of gleaming obsidian, mounted on a rubber and rosewood veneered base. The plinth provides a wide platform for arm mounting and shock-damping against external vibration and feedback. The famous EPA-100 tonearm was specifically designed to go with the SP-10 and it is still today one of the best tonearm ever made! It uses ruby bearing, cartridge compliance dynamic compensation (that you cannot get on any tonearm today), one of the best VTA on the fly adjustment, Titanium-Nitride arm tube (was never used again in any commercial tonearm...), a real gem. The Technics SH-100 Headshell has its leads replaced with Oyaide HSR-CU Headshell Leads. This table is used with a MM Cartridge of the same area, perfectly compatible with the EPA-100 tonearm, the Technics E-205C-Mk2H, MM cartridge, elliptical diamond, magnesium Cantilever. Apparently Technics will restart the production of the SP-10 but it will cost over 10K$ to get one. I have two for the moment, and I should be able to sell the extra one this year... For details see www.vinylengine.com, and www.soundfountain.com, also a good thread about restoration, upgrade and repair at www.diyaudio.com. For details on the EPA-100 tonearm, see www.vinylengine.com and www.thevintageknob.org

Teres model 100, DIY turntable with Graham 2.1 tonearm and Ortofon Kontrapunkt-H MC Cartridge. This turntable is no longer available as a kit. I was able to get the acrylic platter and the bearing kit from an other user on www.diyaudio.com, see my project development on this link. My teardrop wood base is done. It is made of dried maple, laminated and ready for finishing. The wood is so nice that I will only put a clear lacquer finish. The plinth will be loaded with lead to add weight and to absorb the plinth's resonance. I have 3 diamond cones feet on order to put under the turntable. I just got for Christmas the Teres Delrin record clamp. See www.teresaudio.com for an picture of what it will be.  I have my own version of Mark Kelly battery supplied Maxon motor controller already built and ready to go, see the audio project section. I'll use the new mylar tape drive using the Teres tape pulley. The motor pod is a recycled very nice sensor aluminum enclosure with a machined custom top plate that fits the Maxon motor. Finally, a DIY Schroeder tonearm is in the pipeline. I'm getting help from an other diyaudio member for the Schroeder machining. See: www.vinylengine.com and www.theanalogdept.com. Tonearm is the Graham model 2.1 tonearm, maybe one of the best unipivot design, except the famous Graham Phantom II . It has all the 2.2 upgrades minus the ceramic wand (Top bearing and tungsten side weights). This arm have some of the best setup tools included and allows on the fly VTA adjustment. See a review at: www.stereophile.com. To connect the arm, that is sold without interconnect cable, I'll use the own Graham top-of-the-line IC70 cable, again one of the best tonearm cable. It is a silver interconnect with separate Teflon insulated L/R wires. It is terminated with the 5 pins DIN connector at the tonearm and RCA Bullet plugs at the other end. Cartridge is the Ortofon Kontrapunkt-H  MC (0.47mV output, 12 µm/mN compliance, Nude FineLine elliptical stylus, weight 10g). See Ortofon www.ortofon.com for details and a few reviews at:  www.6moons.com and www.audioasylum.com.

Kyocera PL-701 Full-automatic belt driven turntable, ceramic sub platform, carbon fiber headshell with Denon DL-107 MM cartridge: 2mV output, 9 µm/mN compliance, DSN-20 Stylus, Tip spherical, weight 8.0g

Other Cartridges MM:

Grado Blue MM cartridge: 5mV output, 20 µm/mN compliance, Elliptical Stylus, weight 4.8g

Other Cartridges MC:

Cartridge: Benz Micro ACE, MC low output: 0.4mV output, Nude line-contact stylus, weight 8.8g

Denon DL-110 High Output MC: 1.6mV output, low 8µm/mN compliance, special elliptical Stylus, weight 4.8g  

Accessories: AcousTech Digital Stylus Force Gauge, Shure Precision Stylus Force Gauge SFG-2, Decca MK3 Record Brush, Hagtech Inverse RIAA Filter for burn-in Phono Preamps, Consonance Strobe Disk.  

Phono Preamps:

PassLabs XP25 Phono Stage (DIY) Reference Phono Stage by Passlabs, probably one of the best tube phono preamp out there. I did this clone myself, PCB, chassis design, etc. Great design with MM/MC Selection, two separate inputs, SE/BAL Outputs, Switch selection for Cartridge Loading and three gains. It has a massive separate power supply inspired by Pass Labs Xs preamp supply. The supply has two outputs and it is also used to power my Muse (XP32) preamp. See a review at positive-feedback.com

NVO SPA ONE Special Edition Phono Stage Reference Status Tube Phono Stage, probably one of the best tube phono preamp under 10K$ out there. Great design with MM/MC Selection, two selectable inputs, Seven tubes dual HV supply regulators, Separate 12.6 and 6.3 Heater regulators with soft-start, Combined active and passive RIAA, Low impedance cathode follower output. For the front end it uses the unusual Russian 6C45Pi power triode, bias very heavily at 30ma. An other Russian tube, the 6C19Pi is the HV pass regulator for these tubes and has to supply an heavy load of 90ma at 250V! Pretty impressive... It got stellar reviews. Just got a very nice one. See the reviews at 6moons.com, positive-feedback.com, wallofsound.ca, parttimeaudiophile.com

Paradise Phono Stage, version R3 (DIY) Fully dual mono discrete phono preamp with shunt regulator, Calvin discrete Buffer and external dual mono supplies. Read the complete MPP thread or jump directly at www.diyaudio.com for details. See my own built at: www.diyaudio.com

Hagerman Audio Labs Trumpet Reference Tube Phonostage Clone (DIY) Based on the original Trumpet (Stereophile class-A recommended component), it is a balanced tube design for the MM section and FET MC front-end. My own version doesn't used uP control but rather switches to control all functions. In addition to standard RIAA equalization, three other curves used in the LP "microgroove" era have been included. I designed my own PCB and implemented my own internal layout. See details at www.haglabs.com 

BigBottle Hybrid Tube Phono Stage (DIY) Great tube phono preamp with MM/MC gain. The first tube stage has a clever relay gain switching with tube cathode Led (MM) or JFET (MC) bias. The Anode is driven with a sophisticated discrete MOSFET CCS. The HV supply is very quiet thanks to a MOSFET capacitor multiplier. This preamp use unusual Russian NOS PCC88 tube (7V heater) for the first and last stage. The middle stage use the 6NP2 Russian tube or the more usual 12AX7 (jumper selectable). Drop resistors are used to bring down the 7V heater to the needed 6.3V for this stage. The RIAA network is split type and uses matched Vishay foil capacitors. The last driver stage uses a grounded grid circuit. Mundorf Supreme output coupling caps complete the amp. I made my own pcn and added a Mute relay and timer. This way the preamp has also a Mute function accessible from the front panel. The two gain are 40dB (MM) and 60dB (MC). An external 'Load' connector can be used on the rear to connect in parallel your choice of load resistor. This preamp is very quiet and sounds great. For more detail see my Audio project section or the designer thread at www.diyaudio.com 

Borbely Phono Stage (DIY) Fully dual mono All-JFET discrete phono preamp using the Borbely Low Noise Regs external supply. Very nice preamp originally published in AudioXpress magazine in a two parts article in 2005. Replica of the Borbely original EB-804/419 all-JFET MM/MC phono preamp kit.

Lehmann Audio Silver Cube Phono Stage Clone (DIY) One of the best solid-state phono preamp out there. I made my own version of it. See description at: www.lehmannaudio.com and reviews at: www.tnt-audio.com. There are also great pictures at: www.avbuzz.com

JLTi PhonoPre PhonoStage with the upgrade power supply. An other one of the best solid-state phono preamp ever made. It has selectable MC/MM gain. The Power Supply is pure Class A Constant Current “SuperReg'', diamond buffer input stage with zero-negative feedback, passive RIAA, high quality resistors and capacitors, etc. This site explains the principle behind this very unusual yet elegant design: www.customanalogue.com. See a reviews at: www.positive-feedback.com  and www.tonepublications.com. See also great pictures at: www.frank-landmesser.de

K&K Audio Premium 'Maxxed-Out' Kit Sophisticated tube phono preamp with switchable Mc/MM inputs, selectable MC load and single ended/Balanced Outputs using the famous Lundhall transformers for power, MC Step-up and Line outputs. This particular model has all the options installed in; the Premium MC Step-Up with Cardas 6N high purity copper coil transformers, Cardas Parafeed caps, Stereo/Mono switch and high quality Volume control option (23 position Seiden switch and discrete surface mount audio-grade metal film resistors and low value Audio Note resistors in the signal path). See: www.kandkaudio.com for the specs, see a reviews at: www.audioasylum.com and the Art Audio 'Vinyl Reference' that is quite similar: www.6moons.com

SPL Phonos Phono Preamp Clone (DIY) It made my own clone of this excellent preamp that is using SPL exclusive 120V audio rail system that needs a custom discrete opamp (made clone of these as well...). It is full of features, MM/MC selectable, switches for variable loading resistors or capacitor, selectable gain, rumble subsonic filter. My own version has also a Mute function. For details see spl.audio 

LC-Audio RIAA Phono Amplifier with MC Light Powered Step-Up, my own DIY version. Very intriguing MC headamp circuit that is supplied by light generated by small light bulbs that in turn illuminate photo diodes producing pure DC supply voltage. So in fact the MC section is floating eliminating any supply and ground loop noises. The MM section is supplied using LC-Audio own Low noise dual regulator modules. I built it into a single enclosure with MC/MM selector, and Mute switch. All these function are selected by relays. The MM selection acts as a standby mode for the MC section turning the light bulb off to extend their life while keeping the rest of the preamp turn-on. It sounds very nice and very quiet. One of my best phono preamp. See www.lcaudio.com and www.diyaudio.com for details.

Bent Audio Mu MC Step Up Transformer Using the renowned S &B TX-103, no longer available separately, see: www.stevens-billington and www.bentaudio.com for the specs, see a review at: www.audioasylum.com

Softone PLT-1 MC Step Up Transformer Good performance, Low cost MC Step Up transformer from Japan. The PLT-1 has a good frequency characteristic and high external noise exclusion capability by 78% Nickel permalloy L type core and balance structure winding. With dual primary taps it is suitable for MC cartridge of an impedance 10 ohm and a 40 ohm. It offers extremely wide bandwidth of 18hz to 105khz. See description and specs at: softone.a.la9.jp

Rothwell Audio Headspace 2 MC Head Amp (DIY) My own version of this great MC section preamp (also called an Head Amp). Plenty of gain, very low noise, AC adapter or internal lower noise rechargeable battery supply. Adjustable gain and loading resistors using DIP switches. A very transparent and low noise MC adapter for any MM phono stage. See the designer site at:  www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk

Pass Labs XONO (DIY) One of the best. Dual mono phono preamp, see my Audio Projects section for details. Upgraded to uP controlled version with selectable MC/MM, loadings and up to six inputs...

Pass Labs Pearl III (DIY). New version of the Pearl, with Compound Opamp Hybrid output amplifier, DC output coupling, and SE/balanced outputs with mono PCB and external low noise power supply. See my Audio Projects section for details.

Pass Labs Pearl II (DIY) Excellent preamp with mono PCB and external supply. See my Audio Projects section for details.

PhonoClone3 (DIY) MC dual mono phono preamp, a clone of the very nice 47Lab PhonoCube, see Audio Projects section. Now in its third version, using a new supply design and refined PCB layout. I have to say it is probably one of my best preamp. You cannot go wrong with this one. Best performance to cost ratio. See www.diyaudio.com for details. I sold my first PhonoClone ver 1.0.

Peter Daniel PhonoClone Version (DIY) MC dual mono phono preamp, a more direct clone of the very nice 47Lab PhonoCube, but with a fancy shunt regulator supply, and very expensive V-Cap Teflon coupling caps, Caddock resistors, Muse and Black Gate Capacitors, etc. see my Audio Projects section for details.

Record Accessories:

Audio Desk Systeme record cleaner machine, see: www.audiodesksysteme.de 

Digital stylus force gauge, see example at www.amazon.com

Achromat by Funk, I have two of these Turntable mats, the thinner 3mm is on my Technodec and the thicker 5mm is on my main Teres turntable. They really work and improve the sound in every aspect, for details see thefunkfirm.co.uk

Various records weights and clamps.

Tuners: 

Kenwood KT-8300 The KT-8300 is great tuner, very sensitive and selective even in stock form. It has a powerful front end with a 6-gang tuning capacitor, and the potential for top-quality sound after an alignment and a few upgrades (output op-amp). The KT-8300's front-panel features include a button to switch the combination multipath/deviation meter, a wide/narrow IF bandwidth button, MPX filter switch, variable output knob and two levels of muting (or muting off). On the back panel, there are fixed and variable RCA outputs, scope outputs, a 75 µS/25 µS FM de-emphasis switch and a dimmer on/off switch. Inside, you'll find two independent filter paths, very much like a 600T (which it somewhat resembles) but without the "middle" path. The KT-8300 uses two 4-pole linear phase LC filters for the wide IF bandwidth setting and three 4-element ceramic filters for narrow mode, rather than the modern 3-pin type. A description and great interior photos of extensive mods to a KT-8300 can be seen on FMTuner contributor Mike B.'s website. See fmtunerinfo for details.

Sansui TU-9900 with upgraded output section, see: fmtunerinfo, some nice restoration pictures at http://amp8.com and my  restoration story at Diyaudio

Sansui T-80 With mods. The T-80 is a fully analog tuner, and additional features, such as a digital frequency readout, noise canceller switch and digitally quartz-locked front end. Internally the T-80 includes an upgraded power supply, and two additional boards to support the quartz lock and the display pcb. The T-80 has 3 gangs, 2 filters and pretty good sound. After a few simple mods it can become a great sounding tuner, with digital lock and display as a bonus. With mods the T-80 shows greater improvement in all these areas and a blacker background behind the program with no downside. Since access to the boards is very easy, the entire mod can be completed in a few hours, see the DIY page for the mods description fmtunerinfo. Mine has an extra modification, the stock display light bulb was replaced by a strip of high intensity white leds. The result on the display is striking, and now it is looking splendid! See also fmtunerinfo for details on this great tuner.

Sony ST-5000F with upgrades (supply, caps, RCA and AC IEC320 connectors, see: fmtunerinfo

some nice restoration pictures at http://amp8.com. It has 5-gang tuning capacitors, an 8-stage IF filter section, 4-pin ceramic type and an all discrete multiplex section. It has a beautiful sound, and that "in the next room", it really seems like you have musicians in your house. Amazing performance for a 30-year-old unit.

NAD 4300 Monitor Series with upgraded output capacitors.

Tivoli Model One, Platinum Edition, table radio, great sound, see: www.tivoliaudio.com

Tape Deck:

Denon DR-M44HX Vintage cassette tape deck. My son wanted to record his first tape after seeing the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Got this very nice tape deck for a song. It was an expensive and very good model at the time. See: www.hifiengine.com

Headphones: 

HIFIMAN HE-400i Planar Magnetic Headphone, www.hifiman.com. My first magnaplanar headphone, newest and improve version of the original 400, using the same technology as the higher 560 model. The Planar magnetic principle is the closest thing to electrostatic but these headphone are still compatible with current headphone amps, and portable players. I replaced the short cable with a custom High-Quality OFC Copper 3m Cable with Mogami OFC 4-Core 24AWG cable and Furutech OCC 1/4'' connector, from ArcticCables. See this reviews: www.lifewire.com

AKG K-702 Reference Studio Headphone, www.akg.com. The best pair of cans I ever had, just gorgeous. I use it all the time working at my bench.

AKG K-701, www.akg.com. Loved the K-701 so much that I bought a pair of K-702.

Sennheiser HD600,  www.sennheiserusa.com

Stax SR-407, hifipig.com. My first electrostatic! Heard them at the HiFi show in Montreal a few times, and their sound is lovely. Will use them with my upcoming Stax SRM-T1 clone, great tube Stax amplifier...

See this review of 50 great headphones at www.head-fi.org

Headphone Amplifiers: 

Aegis Tube Headphone Amplifier The Aegis is a two-stages transformer coupled single-ended amplifier. It features a tube-rectified CLCRCRC linear power supply, a choke-loaded cathode-biased 6SL7 gain stage that is capacitor coupled to a triode-strapped power pentode output stage. While Aegis is compatible with several power pentodes, I'm using Mullard KT88 tubes. This probably the best amplifiers I have, gorgeous mids, crystal clear highs, and strong, controlled bass with the KT88. See www.diyaudio.com for details. 

SPL Phonitor 2 (model 1280) Headphone Amp and Pre-Amp: One of the best headphone Amp I ever tried and the Hifi Shows. It is a stunning amp using SPL exclusive 120V audio rail system that needs a custom discrete opamp. The main benefit to this design approach is far more headroom. It has balanced and SE inputs, preamp outputs, VU-Meter, matrix circuit (a crossfeed, simulating speaker angle) and every bells and whistles you can dream for an great can amp. Got the chance to finally find one at a good price. For details see spl.audio, and these excellent reviews at positive-feedback.com and www.head-fi.org

Xen Audio DAO Headphone Amplifier (Upcoming...): The Ultimate Headphone Amp from the en Audio design team, stay tuned...

Xen Audio Super Linear Transconductance Headphone Amplifier: Again from the Xen Audio design team, Amplifier working in current mode, contrary to most amplifiers that are working in voltage mode. It is designed specifically to drive magnaplanar headphones, such as my HiFiMAN HE-400 headphone. See my audio projects section for details, or directly to the project thread at: www.diyaudio.com

Xen Audio Pioneer Super Linear Headphone Amplifier: From the Xen Audio design team, this superb amplifier is Inspired from Pioneer circuit of the 70's, a Class-A discrete design, without any feedback, and with massive dual mono supplies. It uses discrete dual mono voltage regulators, optimized for audio. Meticulous smd parts matching and active CCS insure great CMRR and ridiculous low output DC offset (in the 1-2 mv range), without any active servo correction. It also includes the sophisticated SHPP output protection circuit to insure that my expensive cans will always be protected. See my audio projects section for details, or directly to my built at: www.diyaudio.com

Neurochrome HP-1 Headphone Amplifier: Great amp that can drive very low impedance headphone with ease and vanishing low distortion. Built using a well designed pcb with 4 layers it has three selectable gain. It also includes advanced protection circuit, so your expensive cans are safe. I bought only the PCB and I made it fit into a recycled enclosure. See the designer site for details: www.neurochrome.com. See also my Projects section for details...

Neurochrome HP-2 Headphone Amplifier: Little brother of the HP-1. It is also an high end headphone amplifier capable of producing up to 440mW into a 32 Ω load at vanishingly low distortion. It is simpler to build and cheaper than the HP-1, See Neurochrome website at: www.neurochrome.com and my Projects section for details...

Hagerman Audio Labs Tuba EL84 tube Headphone Amplifier Clone (DIY) Based on the original Tuba design I made my own version, with my own pcb. This very nice sounding amplifier uses an external 15Vdc power supply adapter, generates internally the 150V HV using a switcher and then a CLC choke filtering for perfect silent background. The amplifier is a simple EL84 tube one stage zero feedback and Para-feed transformer output. The amp has two outputs, one low impedance, the other high impedance to better match your choice of cans. I'll make my own enclosure with oiled wood side panels. See the designer site for details: hagerman-audio-labs. See also a nice review of the original amp at: positive-feedback.com

HPA HD-1 Headphone Amplifier and integrated 24bits/192Khz DAC: See the digital sources section for details.

Pass HPA-1 Headphone Amplifier Clone (DIY): Super Headphone Amplifier 100% discrete signal path with using a clever opto-isolator chip auto bias circuit. Sound very good, easy and cheap to make, a real winner. I did my own PCB but original PCB are still available from Pass DIY. For details see: www.diyaudio.com

Krell KSA5 Clone Headphone Amplifier: Great and powerful amplifier, it can drive a small pair of speaker with a full 5W of clean power. Input JFET, 100% discrete amplifier using closely matched pair of output transistors. Direct signal path with the addition of DC servo circuitry to eliminate any capacitors in the signal path. Discrete powerful power supplies with regulation. It is heavily biased in Class A and it sounds very good, powerful bass, very detailed sound. See my Audio Projects section for details.

X5 Headphone Amplifier: Headamp100% discrete signal path with the addition of DC servo circuitry to eliminate any capacitors in the signal path. It is pure Class A biased with zero global feedback. Signal amplification is provided by a High Definition Amplifier Module (HDAM) that is fully discrete op-amp and specially designed for high quality audio application. I did my own PCB. See the project section, my own amp at www.diyaudio.com and the original designer site for details: www.ks-projects.co.uk

PS Audio GCHA Amplifier: X5 Headphone Amplifier 100% discrete signal path with the addition of DC servo circuitry to eliminate any capacitors in the signal path. It is pure Class A biased with zero global feedback. Signal amplification is provided by a High Definition Amplifier Module (HDAM) that is fully discrete and specially designed for high quality audio application. I'm doing my own PCBI like it so much that now I have two. The original and the latest version with balanced inputs.  This particular unit had being fully mods by 'Reference Audio Mods' in California for an even better sounds, see review: www.6moons.com

Borbely All Fets, Class-A Headphone Amplifier, using the Borbely All Fets Low Noise Regs as supply. A project of mine. It is a fully dual mono built using high quality parts all around such as Noble volume pot, Muse, Nichicon KG & Wima caps, Vishay CMF55 and MK132 resistors, J74/K170 matched fets, etc. See my project at: www.diyaudio.com 

It is really close to the Aural Audition headphone amp, now discontinued, see this review with great pictures at:  www.6moons.com.

Lovely Cube Headphone Amplifier. A DIY clone of the excellent Lehmann Audio Black Cube Linear (BCL) updated to the SE status. See the Projects section for details, www.lehmannaudio.com. See this link for an excellent review of the original BCL www.soundstage.com and this one for the SE version www.i-fidelity.net.

Sapphire Headphone Amplifier by RJM Audio. I can say that the best headphone amp I ever built so far and also a winner for the price. It is one of my best amps, equal to my beloved PS Audio GCHA (I got two ;) Built it if you need a great headphone amp. See the Audio projects section for details.

PPA Headphone Amplifier with YJPS Shunt Regulator Power Supply. A very sophisticated cans amp with virtual ground power supply, fully discrete diamond buffer output, adjustable bass boost control, etc. See the Audio projects section for details.

Objective2 (O2) Portable Headphone Amplifier with integrated USB ODAC and AGDR Booster (update 2015) The O2 is a small unique headphone amp that compares well in listening tests with much more expensive gear. I built three of these for my sons and one for me. See  www.diyaudio.com for details and the original designer thread at http://nwavguy.blogspot.ca. My own version was upgraded in 2015 to add the USB ODAC. It is now an O2+ODAC combo. For the new ODAC, see ODAC blog, and it integration into the O2, see ODAC-Update blogs. In 2015 I upgraded it with the AGDR Booster PCB as well (latest ver3.1). This booster replaces two of the original O2 op-amp with a pair of OPA827 nested in feedback loop with a LME49600, 250ma audio current buffer chip, on per channel. Then the remaining O2 op-amp was upgraded to an OPA1662. The booster allows the O2 to drive almost any headphone with ease. To find the O2 and ODAC pcb, enclosure, parts and much more, see www.jdslabs.com. For the AGDR booster project, see www.diyaudio.com, my own amp at diyaudio.com and AGDR Audio homepage www.agdraudio.com

ODA O2 Desktop Headphone Amplifier An O2 derivative but with much more sophisticated power supplies and amplifier section with a ton of features, designed by AGDR. The ODA offers several benefits over the O2 for desktop use, including:

3x the output current capability at 420mA per channel, Lower distortion and higher S/N ratio with 6 paralleled op amps per channel, Input power CRC filter, snubber, and transorb to remove power line noise, super quiet 2-stages power supply, Lower THD+N LME49990 gain stage chips and new OPA2140 pre-amp output chip, Clipping detect circuit with front panel LED and Headphone relay for absolutely no turn-on or turn-off thumps.

Front panel: 3.5mm jack input, 3.5mm & 1/4" out, RCA pre-amp out, input select switch, 4 position gain and damping factor adjust switches, Rear panel: RCA jack input, AC input and power and bass boost switches. For details see www.diyaudio.com and AGDR Audio homepage www.agdraudio.com

Zen DIY Class A Amplifier: http://headwize.com

Headphone + DAC Amplifier: 192Khz, 24 bits DAC and Jitter reduction using the AD1896 (same IC and the renowned Benchmark DAC-1) and TPA6120 Headphone amplifier IC. The volume is controlled digitally by an AVR processor, see   www.diyaudio.com

EL84 Tube Headphone Amplifier (project in progress):  http://headwize.com

Speakers:  

Wilson Audio Sasha (Series 1) Clone - Upcoming... Stay Tuned...

Verity Audio Tamino Monitors Very good sounding pair of monitor with a very simple crossover, just a capacitor for the tweeter, the Mids is driven directly for the purest and fastest sound. These monitors are now discontinued but they are a keeper! They are basically like the Tamino X2, but bookshelf, not floor standing. See the X2 reviews at: www.dagogo.com

IMF Compact Monitor 2 Very nice pair of almost mint studio monitors from the 70's. See them on www.diyaudio.com and some more info on the manufacturer site still available at www.imf-electronics.com

Eos by Enigma Acoustics Very good speakers are handmade by a friend. They use a 2-1/2 configuration and a reflex port underneath the enclosure. Very nice pair of speaker and easy to drive. They are similar to the Lyra 2 by Revelation Audio but with different drivers, see: www.revelationaudio.com for details.

Dynaudio Audience 42, Audience 52 and Audience 122 for Home Theater, see: www.dynaudiousa.com

Axiom M3Ti: Nice little 2 ways monitor, no crossover, only one cap for the twitter, see www.axiomaudio.com

Dynaudio Finale Kit, with my own twist, see my DIY Speaker Project, 3 ways, Will be used in bi-amplification.

SVS 3000 Micro subwoofer, Closed-box loaded cabinet,  Active Dual Opposing 8-inch Drivers, Amplifier 800 watts RMS (2500+ watts peak), Freq. Response: 23-240Hz. Active DSP correction accessible by Bluetooth, simply use your cell phone: www.svsound.com, see a review at www.soundstagesimplifi.com 

REL Strata III subwoofer, Closed-box loaded cabinet, 20Hz-120Hz: www.rel.net

REL R-305 subwoofer, Closed-box loaded cabinet, 20Hz-100Hz: www.rel.net, see a review at www.6moons.com.

SVS 3000 Micro subwoofer, Closed-box loaded cabinet, 23Hz-240Hz, 800W RMS amplifier, Active Dual Opposing 8-inch Woofers, DSP App for easy adjustment with your cell phone, details at: www.svsound.com , and reviews at: hometheaterhifi.com 

Velodyne SMS-1 subwoofer EQ, The SMS-1 features Automatic or Manual In-Room Bass Correction with Included Microphone using DSP Control and On-Screen Display. See Velodyne for details.

Mission 717, A other pair of very nice vintage monitor. Sensitive (92dB), easy to drive and good sounding. The drivers for this pair are made with French Saire woofers and Audax tweeters. The crossover is filled with great quality parts and nice drivers. From Hifi Engine ''It offers a rare combination of accuracy, low colouration, high dynamic range, high efficiency and high power handling''. A perfect match for my other vintage Yamaha CR-800 integrated. For details, see  www.hifiengine.com

JBL Decade L26, Nice vintage JBL speakers used in my garage with the Harman Kardon 330c receiver. I had the woofers reconed. The rest is stock, even the grid are almost new. The sound of the 70's

Home Theater: 

LG OLED65E7P OLED 65'' screen - 4K UHD HDR OLED webOS 3.5 Smart TV

Apple TV, 5th Generation Media Player Excellent player, No need to explain the obvious...

Monster HTS2000 Mk II Surge Protector Surge Protection powerbar to protect my OLED LG 65'' screen

Oppo BDP-83 Blu-Ray and Universal format feature packed player. See a review at: www.avrev.com

Sony Bravia  KDL40S504 LCD screen 40'' - Full HD 1080i

Anthem AVM20-HD processor. Upgraded in 2007 to the AVM-20-HD version which now as the same functionality as the AVM-50,  with the addition of Anthem's digital video processor and HDMI connections. This digital video processing PCB is incredible. It is a 6 layers with gold traces and over 1800 parts. It is the same one used in the Anthem Statement D2. It includes the excellent Gennum VXP Digital Image Processor/Scaler for professional image result up to 1080p resolution. See the AVM-50 review at: www.hometheatersound.com

MCA-5 Amplifier (5 channels) and the Teac Esoteric DV-50 as superb DVD player...

Kodi Media Player Great DIY little Media Player with Raspberry Pi-3 hardware and Kodi software (krypton version 9.0.2). I used the LibreElect OS distribution. I have also an IR remote. It works just great. I access movies and TX shows saved on my QNAP NAS drive using wired Ethernet (Wifi is also available). You can also install numerous add-ons such as for streaming. Just great, powerful and user friendly interface. Very recommended, for details see libreelec.tv

AC Power Distribution & Conditioner

Shunyata Hydra 8 - Ver 2, Power Conditioner, Incredibly good sounding AC power conditioner with 8 AC outlets and 20Amp Shunyata Diamondback power cord. Use to supply power to my power amps... See a review at: www.soundstagenetwork.com

Torus Power RM 2.5, Power Conditioner 2.5Amp with 4 medical grade outlets. It delivers true isolation through triple-screened toroidal transformer as well as low source impedance and ample instantaneous current. It utilizes Plitron ‘LONO’ (LONO-technology) transformer design technology that eliminates audible noise in the power transformer and Cleaner Power: Torus Power products utilize Plitron “NBT” (narrow-bandwidth-technology) to attenuate differential and common-mode noise without external circuits or components. See Torus for details: www.toruspower.com

Plitron LONO DIY Balanced Power Conditioner, DIY High Power conditioner using a Plitron LONO NBT huge 2.4KVA insulation power transformer. It uses the same transformer as the Torus Power RM-20 and can supply up to 20A of clean, pure 115V power. It has (1) 20A Furutech and (2) 15A receptacles, 1/8" thick Herbies Grungebuster mat beneath transformer, Hammond chassis lined with Stillpoints ERS, receptacles housed in a separate enclosure (Power Strip 2) also lined with ERS, Honeywell NT Series power switch, 25mm Idec LED pilot light (amber), built on 3/8" thick 7071 Aluminum plate with brass cones,1/2" Nylon transformer mounting bolt. The Furutech U-OFC Copper FP-314Ag power cable terminated with a FI-11M connector is connected to the filter using a Neutrik PowerCon 32A A/C connector. See Torus website description for Plitron LONO and NBT technologies www.toruspower.com

Ayre L-5xe Line Filter (DIY Version), My own version of Ayre L-5xe filter and power distribution bar, with 4 outlets, Furutech FI-06(G) IEC inlet and Furutech U-OFC Copper FP314AG power cord wires used inside. The outlets are Pass & Seymour 20A EMI special, non magnetic pure copper, hospital grade cryo treated ac outlet, see www.takefiveaudio.com. It has 4 DIY Ayre AC filters as the original. For details see www.ayre.com and review at www.audioasylum.com

Furutech eTP80, power distribution bar, with 8 outlets, and Furutech power cord, review at www.6moons.com

Furutech FPX(G), AC power outlet15/20A, Gold, for my main system amplifier outlet. This outlet is modified as a Shynyata Guardian Pro 2, see this site for the Shynyata secrets: www.10audio.com

DIY Power Bar (2x), power distribution bar, with 6 outlets that I made using recycled parts, see the complete story at www.diyaudio.com

Hammond 1584T6DH, Hospital Grade, 6 outlets Power Bar, with upgraded power cord. 

Cables and Accessories:

Interconnects 36" (Single Ended - Pairs):

RCA New pair of interconnect hand made by a friend. They best ones I have so far, terminated with WBT-0144. The exact receipt is secret...

RCA Oyaide ACROSS 750 RR V2, 1m. This is one below their flagship interconnect made from PCOCC-A copper from Japan. This is the same copper used in all high end interconnects since there are only 3 factories that produce OCC copper and the “A” variant is the most expensive due to the time it takes to manufacture it. See review at: www.positive-feedback.com, and manufacturer website: www.oyaide.com

RCA Atlas Navigator All-Cu, symmetrical pseudo-balanced Double shielded with copper mylar plus close lapped 99.997% pure OCC copper.  Direct silver plated OCC copper, non-compressing, double screened, self-cleaning RCA plugs (three pairs)

RCA Atlas Navigator All-Cu, symmetrical pseudo-balanced Double shielded with copper mylar plus close lapped 99.997% pure OCC copper.  Direct silver plated OCC copper, non-compressing, double screened, Neotech DG-201 OFC copper RCA plugs

RCA Atlas Questor All-Cu, simple coax cable but still using the 99.997% pure OCC copper and simpler RCA plugs (two pairs). Very good sounding cable according to UHF magazine reviews, see www.uhfmag.com

RCA Atlas Voyager, OFC copper, shielded, Direct gold plated, non-compressing, double screened, self-cleaning RCA plugs

RCA Atlas Element, OFC copper, shielded

RCA KLEI Copper Harmony,  Nanotech System(Japan) Music Strada #207 interconnect cable,1 pairs, length 8 FT, see www.nanotec-systems.jp

RCA Wireworld Luna 7, 24ga. OFC copper, DNA Helix design, Composilex 2 insulations, Gold Tube RCA connector, shielded, 1.5m

RCA Cardas interconnect, 300-B Micro cable, 1m

Eichman Silver Bullet Plugs and Vacuum State Silver foil interconnect

RCA Furutech FP-101, Cable: Furutech FA-220 PC-OCC copper, shielded

RCA Cardas Wire Oyaide PA-02 PCOCC-A copper, shielded

RCA Cardas Wire: Kimber Tonik, Tri-Braid geometry, Varistrand Ultra Copper Conductors and Polyester sleeve.

RCA VAN DEN HUL M.C.D 102 MK III with Vampire RCA connectors

RCA WBT-0108 Wire: Litz braid (3 Silver and1 Oxygen Free Cooper wires), TFE insulation, Polyester sleeve, Belden braided shield

RCA WBT-0144 Wire: 1 strand Pure Silver with TFE insulation and Polyester expandable sleeve Belden braided shield

RCA WBT-0144 Wire: Canare L-2T2S (Shielded) and Polyester expandable sleeve

RCA WBT-0144 Wire: TFE 1/8 tube with 2 oxygen free copper, plated Silver AWG30 wire, Polyester expandable sleeve

RCA WBT-0144 Wire: Belden 89207, 100 ohms TwinAx, Tinned Copper and Bare Copper pair, TFE insulated, Duofoil Shield

RCA WBT-0144 Wire: Belden 83393, Tinned Copper Pair, Silicone Rubber, Foil Shield, Polyester sleeve

RCA Neutrik ProFi Wire: Cardas Crosslink 1L

RCA Neutrik ProFi Wire: Belden 83396, Tinned Copper Pair, Silicone Rubber (Red), Foil Shield 

RCA Cardas and Cable twisted pair of JUPITER 28 awg, 6N Solid-Core Copper, Double layer unbleached Cotton, Wax-coated. 

RCA Cardas and Cardas Crosslink 1L Interconnect Cable

RCA Neutrik ProFi and Cardas Crosslink 1L Interconnect Cable

RCA with Factory Sound Premium Cable - By Canare (L-2T2S-BK200C type)

Eichman Bullet Plugs and Mogami 2524 Cable

Eichman Bullet Plugs and Cardas Tonearm Cable with shield (for turntable interconnect)

Interconnects  48" (Single Ended - Pairs)

RCA Neutrik ProFi Wire: Belden 88641 (Shielded), Polyester expandable sleeve 

Generic RCA Wire: Coax Cable, all copper with TFE, Polyester sleeve, QTY: 2

Wireworld Luna 7, interconnect 2m, 1 pair, see www.whathifi.com

Wireworld Oasis 6, 12 FT, 1 cable only, see www.ultrahighendreview.com

Interconnects Balanced XLR (Pairs)

Neutrik NC3FXX and NC3MXX XLR 3 pins cryo treated, Cable: Atlas Navigator All-Cu, symmetrical pseudo-balanced Double shielded with copper mylar plus close lapped 99.997% pure OCC copper (2 pairs).

Neutrik NC3FX and NC3MX XLR 3 pins, Cable: Furutech FA-220 PC-OCC copper, shielded, length 36"

Neutrik NC3FXX and NC3MXX XLR 3 pins, Cable: Mogami W2534 Neglex Quad, Pure OFC Copper, 4c. 24awg microphone Cable

Neutrik NC3FX and NC3MX XLR 3 pins, Cable: Kimber Tonik, Tri-Braid geometry, Varistrand Ultra Copper Conductors and Polyester sleeve, length 36"

Neutrik NC3FX and NC3MX XLR 3 pins, Cable: Canare L-4E6S (Shielded), length 12 FT

Neutrik NC3FX and NC3MX XLR 3 pins, Cable: Canare L-2T2S (Shielded), length 6 & 3 FT

Neutrik NC3FX and NC3MX XLR 3 pins, Cable: Belden 83396, Tinned Copper Pair, Silicone Rubber, Foil Shield , length 12 FT

Neutrik NC3FX and NC3MX XLR 3 pins, Cable: Belden 83393, length 36"

Neutrik NC3FX and NC3MX XLR 3 pins, Cable: Custom wire (3 wires+shield), length 8 FT

Neutrik NC3FX and NC3MX XLR 3 pins, Cable: Nanotech System (Japan) Music Strada #207 interconnect cable (7x OFC conductors, insulation PE+conductive PVC･Hybrid + PVC Outer sheath, 2 pairs, length 3 FT, see www.nanotec-systems.jp

USB Cables

Supra Cable, Supra USB 2.0 Cable, length 1m, see www.av-connection.com

Supra Cable, Supra USB 2.0 Cable, length 2m

Tchernov Cable - USB A-B IC Cable, for details see tchernovcable.com

WireWorld - Ultraviolet 7 USB 2.0 cables with DNA-Helix geometry and carbon fiber plugs. It is using the same geometry as the famous Starlight USB cable but with slightly less silver plating. I have two, one length 1 m, the other one is 2m, see www.wireworldcable.com. Best USB 2.0 cable in 2010 by WhatHiFi magazine, see review www.whathifi.com. Starlight and Utraviolet cables are compared at www.adventuresinhifiaudio.com

Digital Interconnects

Kimber Illuminations D-60, length 1 m, dual RCA connectors

Atlas Opus OCC 75 ohms Digital Interconnect, Atlas OFC copper RCA plugs, length 5 FT

Belkin Synapse Platinum Digital Audio Cable, dual RCA, length 6FT

Belden 1694A HD-SDI Precision coaxial 75 ohms, Canare RCA RCAP and BNC connectors, 6FT length, see www.bluejeanscable.com for great cables.

UltraLink coaxial 75 ohms 6N OHFC cable, double shielded, dual RCA, length 2m

Canare LV-61S coaxial 75 ohms, dual RCA, 6FT length

(SPDIF) Amphenol 31-70000, True 75 ohms BNC Cable: Belden T9116, Duobond Braid Shield, Low Loss, RG-6 75 ohms coaxial (2 cables), length 24"

(AES/EBU) Neutrik NC3FX and NC3MX XLR 3 pins Cable: Canare DA202, True 110 ohms digital cable (2 cables), length 48"

Optical Fiber Amphenol, 62.5um, ST connectors at both ends, length 3m 

Take Five Audio custom 75 ohms digital cable, cryo treated, length 1m 

Toslink/Toslink Premium SILFLEX Glass Cable with armored jacket, 3 ft. High Bandwidth Audio Applications that exceeds the 15Mbps data rates required by Toshiba's best TOSLINK optical modules. Made with 470 Audio Data SILFLEX Glass Fiber Optic strands, see www.lifatec.com for details. QTY: 2

Headphone cables & extension

Audioquest Golden Gate cable, 1/8'' stereo jack to stereo RCA, length 6FT, see www.audioquest.com

Neutrik NJ3FC6 1/4 Stereo Locking Jack, Neutrik NP3C 1/4 Stereo Plug Cable: Canare L-2T2S (Shielded), length 12 FT 

Speakers Cables

New Speaker cable (2020) hand made by a friend. They blew in the dust my previous Straight Wire Octave! The exact receipt is secret...

Inakustik Black&White LS-1202 2.0  speaker cable, made with 12 wires, copper solid core for each polarity. Made in Germany, with WBT 0610-CU Angle Banana plug, length 8ft, used with the Audiomat tube integrated, for details see www.in-akustik.de

Nanotech System (Japan) SP#777 ''Great'' Speaker cable (6x OFC＋1x 6N-OFC conductors, insulation PE(Transparent)+conductive PVC･Hybrid + PVC Outer sheath, 2 pairs, with copper spades, length 4 ft, see www.nanotec-systems.jp

Nanotech System (Japan) SP#777 ''Great'' Speaker cable, with copper spades and banana, 1 pair, length 8 ft

Straight Wire Octave, WBT-0645 and WBT-0644 banana connectors, one pair, length 11 ft 

Cardas Crosslink 1S, 4 x 13awg, WBT-0610 CU banana connectors, one pair

WBT-0645 angle banana plug connectors (3 x 4 connectors sets)

WBT-0681 CU spade connectors (2 x 4 connectors sets)

Totem Acoustic, oxygen free Pure copper pair cable with banana connector

TNT U-Byte DIY speaker cable: www.tnt-audio.com

ToneArm Upgrade Cables

Vandenhul D-502 DIN upgrade tonearm cable with Tiffany RCA connectors, uses with the Linn LP12 and its Ittok tonearm

See: www.vandenhul.com 

Cardas upgrade tonearm cable with Bullet Plugs connector, uses on the Tecnodec Rega RB300 tonearm

Home Theater Cables

Supra HDMI Cable

BJC Belden Bonded-Pair HDMI 28AWG cables from www.bluejeanscable.com 

Supra Speaker Cables.

Neutrik NC3FX and NC3MX XLR 3 pins Cable: Belden 83393, length 36", 7 Cables

Coax cable with BNC connectors for Sub-woofer.

AC Power Cables

Bis Audio, Wattgate 20 AC Cable, with Wattgate 350i and 330i Audio grade AC connectors, and AWG8, with shield OFC cable.

Nanotech System Japan SP308SY PC-Triple Conductors & Shield, Colloidal Liquid 95% Gold & 5% Silver with Oyaide C-004 & P-004 Beryllium Copper AC Connectors and Z-Sleeve Heavy Large Noise filtering system, length 8FT, QTY: 2

Furutech FP-3TS20 Alpha-OCC (14 AWG) cable, Wattgate 5266i Male and 320i Female Classic Connectors, see www.wattgate.com

Furutech Alpha3 PCOCC (12 AWG) cable, Furutech FI-25 (Gold) Connectors, see www.furutech.com

Furutech FP-320Ag u-Ag OFC (14 AWG) cable, Furutech FI-25 (Gold) Connectors, 3FT (two cables)

Furutech FP-S55N Alpha-OFC AC Cable with shield (10 AWG), with ATL-Power ETP-850CU & ETP-930RH plugs, see atl-newcablestudio.com and ZCable Z-Sleeve Heavy core filter, see 6moons.com

Cryo Parts cryomax III AC Cable, Furutech FI-11 (Ag) & Furutech FI-11M (Cu), 5FT & 9FT (two cables)

DH Labs 'Red Wave' silver-coated OFC copper (10 AWG) cable, Furutech FI-15 (Gold) connectors, second best.

Furutech FP-314Ag one Silver plated (Live) & (Alpha) μ-OFC (14 AWG) cable, NeoTech connectors

Belden19364 Cable (14 AWG), shielded; Wattgate 320E IEC; Hubbell 8215C Plug

D.H. Labs Power Plus Cable (12 AWG); Wattgate 320E IEC; Hubbell 8215C Plug

Various AC Cables with  Wattgate 320E IEC; Hubbell hospital grade Plug

Cardas Quadlink AC Cord cable with Marinco and Shurter 320E IEC

Sonarquest AC Cable with SonarQuest SE-AgC(T) & P25-P(B) Aluminum Alloy Rhodium Plated plugs, 5FT, see www.sonarquest.net

Mogami 2972 Quad OFC copper cable (L&N) & copper thin platted braid (Gnd) with SonarQuest SE-RC(T) Red Copper Series plugs, 2m

Custom AC cord with multibraid 4X16AWG ultra pure copper strand, in nylon conduit and Marinco connectors 

Accessories

Intona USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Isolator. Little box that isolate the USB interface from the PCB USB electronic noise, for details see pro.intona.eu

Nordost QRT Qvibe Qv2 AC Line Harmonizer. Little AC module that you plug into your system AC power distribution and that make a real difference, more musicality, ease the flow of music, intriguing. It really works, too bad it is sealed... Got it as an exchange for one of my project... For reviews see www.6moons.com

IsoAcoustics Aperta 200 Isolation stands Studio monitor or floor standing speaker isolation stands, pair, for details see isoacoustics.com

IsoAcoustics ISO-Pucks Isolation feet for audio equipment. After extensive listening of all king of isolation gadgets, feet and pucks, my audiophile friends found the ISO-Puck to be the most effective in improving the equipment sound. I have two size Mini-Puck (6Lbs) and ISO-Puck (20Lbs), used in three the smaller ones go under my EMM-Labs DAC-2X Dac et the three larger ones will go under my Pass XA30.8 amplifier, see isoacoustics.com

Topping D10 DAC & USB to SPDIF converter. Little DAC has the excellent XMOS XU208 USB interface and output 192K/24bits SPDIF, use it with the Yamamoto DAC

HIFace EVO M2TECH  USB to SPDIF converter. 192K/24bits Digital Audio Interface with Low jitter, low phase noise, high stability oscillators. Support 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192Khz sampling frequencies. Inputs: USB 2.0 & external master clock. Outputs SPDIF x2 (RCA & BNC), AES/EBU (XLR), optical Toslink™ & ST, I2S (RJ-45) with optional low noise external supply from TeraDak www.teradak.com. See www.m2tech.biz for details. Used with the ML360S Dac and my Laptop & JRiver. Great review at  www.highfidelity.pl

Entreq Tellus Grounding System (DIY) Ground box designed to be the central ground point of your system. I was sceptical to, but when we used it on a very high end system, all the noise went down, and the music got like a firm foundation to it, that's difficult to explain, but the result is certainly an improvement. A nice little project for you to try. To see what's inside this box, have a look at: www.monoandstereo.com and that's basically what I did in mine.

Cambré Core system Audio Racks (Two of them), on my main system, see www.cambreproducts.com and Soundcare Superspikes as feet, see www.soundcare.no

Vibrapod Isolators, Cones, PEARL Tube Coolers

Cardas Male XLR to Female RCA adaptor, pair

Hagerman Audio Labs "FryDaddy" Audiophile Burn-In Generator (my own clone version): www.haglabs.com

Hagerman HagUSB USB to SPDIF converter, see www.hagtech.com

SPDIF to Optical Toslink converter

Dahlquist DQ-LP1 Stereo Low Pass filter (2X), see www.allegrosound.com

DIY Speaker

Wilson Audio Sasha, Serie 1 (Clone)

January 2019, after 3 years of works, research, getting parts, etc, I finally completed my Wilson Audio Sasha clone speakers. Sounds is incredible. Sweet, crystal clear highs, medium to die for, and bass, solid as a rock. Perfectly integrated drivers. For me much better than the original WA Sasha. A success. Drivers are Focal TC120 beryllium tweeter (modified with damped rear cavity), mids is SEAS model ER18RNX, and woofers are Scan-Speak 21W-8553, modified with double magnets (the extra magnet is glued in place). I bought the woofers years ago from a seller on ebay that claim they were the original WA custom bass drivers. They were reconed, but were not visually perfect and he wanted the perfect ones...

The crossover is custom, and has a few possible adjustments with simple toggle switches. Some adjustments are close to the real Sasha frequency response, some are what I call 'Best'. I can adjust the Tweeter +3dB, 0ddB, and Min. The mids Sasha, 'Best', full range (this particular driver was selected out of 20 drivers to have the best full range response). An other switch allows for a +3dB bass boost.

All internal wirings is OFC copper from Transparent Audio cable, some Neotech and Mogami (woofers). There is no silver plated copper wiring anywhere... Binging posts connectors are CCGR-2 Cardas copper billet/gold plating. Crossover are assembled point-to-point.

I made the very complex enclosure myself, took me 12 weeks of work  (7 weeks for the two top modules, 5 weeks for the bottom bass modules)  with simple workshop tools, no fancy CNC. The top (Highs/Mids) is made of 3/4 MDF, well braced, joints are re-enforced with hard wood pieces, and 6.8Kg (13Lbs) of lead ingots in each enclosure are glued inside on the side panels. The head module is heavy and perfectly inert. I read the WA used to install lead sheets into the head module, but more stringent European regulation banned the use of lead into consumer products, and they had the replace the lead with new enclosure material.

The bass enclosure is very strong, braced and well damped. Front is made of 3/4+1/2MDF. Sides and rear panels are a sandwich of 3/4 MDF than 1/2MDF, that was damped by lead sheets glued inside multiple grooved cavities with a mix of wood glue and drywall joint compound. The lead sheets contains into two large recycled acid/lead batteries was used inside each bass module. On a bottom a custom 0.25'' aluminum base plate is used to firmly support the complete enclosure. The spikes (or wheels) screwed into this plate and not just into the MDF, insuring a solid mount. To give you an idea, the original Sasha bass module weights 125Lbs, mine is 110Lbs...

Speakers drivers are not simply screwed into the MDF, but metal insert Tee nuts are glued from the back, and Hex stainless bolt are screwed from the front, into the tee nut, in fact compressing the front panels while tightening the drivers in place. Window weather rubber strips are glued behind each driver frame, insuring a perfectly air tight mount into the enclosure.

As the original, I have laser cut felt damper sheets on the front around the drivers. I made also the protective grids

July 2019 Upgrade - Received the painted enclosures, titanium color, 18 coats paint process... Looking gorgeous!

Dynaudio Finale

In November 2010, After 10 years waiting to find the right parts, and the time to build such a complex speaker, I finally came across the parts I needed most, the original woofer and passive radiator used into the Finale. No need for more development or testing. I can use the original parts and crossover and build it as planned ;)

Drivers Dynaudio:

Tweeter D-260, 8 ohms, textile tweeter with ferrofluid

Midrange (Low): MW150 , 4 ohms (15W75 equivalent), 4" midrange/woofer, 3" aluminum voice coil

Midrange (High): D52-AF, 4 ohms, dome midrange

Woofers: 30W-100 XL with 30W-SL matching passive radiator.

Cabinet Construction:

Probably 2 boxes design, inspiration VerityAudio Parsifal model, www.verityaudio.com

High and Midrange Module:

First Order Crossover, Impedance Compensated, from bass module (As a Watt Puppy...)

Neotech Solid-core UP-OCC COPPER Wire, Teflon jacket Internal wiring

Pyramidal enclosure with bracing, Separate enclosure for crossover

Wall1 inch MDF+Asphalt Saturated Felt+Borosilicate damping

WBT Connectors

Modules Decoupling:

Aluminium 3/4'' plate separated by Sorbothane isolation pads

Bass Module: 

First Order Crossover, Impedance Compensated, Original Dynaudio Final design

Wall1 inch MDF+1/2" Birch Plywood+Asphalt Saturated Felt+Borosilicate damping

Extensive Bracing, Possibly Lead sheet on inside wall

Neotech Solid-core UP-OCC COPPER Wire, Teflon jacket Internal wiring

Isolation spikes

Sealed and using Passive radiator loading

WBT connectors

Cabinet ACAD File:  Dynaudio Speaker.zip (37k)

Dynaudio Finale Kit:  Dynaudio Finale kit.zip (205k)

Excel Volume Box Calculator:  Conv_Unit.zip (6k)

Links:

www.speakerbuilder.net

www.speakerbuilding.com

www.solen.ca

www.dynaudio.com

www.scan-speak.dk

www.audax.com

www.madisound.com

www.partsexpress.com

www.speakercity.com

www.meniscusaudio.com

Home Made PCB, A Little Guide

I published in DIYMagazine (http://basaudio.net/diymag.htm)two articles on making PCB by yourself at home. They explain own I do it, what are my little tricks, the material I use, etc. You may find it useful in your own projects. They are in no way professional advices. I'm just an amateur PCB maker, probably like you. But it may save you a lot of problems. Have fun.

If your using Eagle PCB and want to send your PCB design for production, read my little guide of the needed steps to prepare your PCB files. It may save you some problems, see: www.diyaudio.com