01a Preamp Build: UV-201a version – step 1

This is what I managed to do with a couple of hours at the workshop. Time is gold for me these days. Quick drilling and fitting the main components. You can’t get a smaller preamp than this one. It’s quite packed:

Planning the layout before drilling
Back panel with all connectors (supply and signal)
Inside the preamp
Close look at the gyrator boards
UV4 sockets with rubber dampers
Fitting a pair of brass base UV201a

Next, soldering. Yay, just looking forward to my favourite part of the build process

 

JFET Buffer 

Fall 2016

End of summer is here, and for some the beginning of the building season. Well, not for me am afraid. My parental duties and work are keeping me very busy these days. I don’t have the free time I used to have before (I guess I’m not the only one on this so won’t rant on it). Today, building DIY audio gear is  a matter of  a well planned and negotiated  free-time that worths more than gold to me. Well, that’s the way it goes. Anyhow, I picked up my daughter from nursery yesterday and on the way back I was faced with this beautiful landscape. I guess nature give us some gifts from time to time, you just happen to be on the right place at the right time:


Standing on the middle of the street with the pram was a bit dangerous so had to park my daughter on the side whilst I managed to take this picture. Time ago, I’d have taken probably a long time to take this snapshot, but now it was as quick as a bank robbery. Just take the phone out and shoot – you can’t take your time when you have a crying toddler on the pram!

A tail of buffers

I think I have spent far too much time designing, building and testing preamplifier, perhaps more than amplifiers lately. I don’t know why. I guess I fell in love with the preamps and their contribution to sound overall. Who knows, who cares.

Continue reading “JFET Buffer “

Running

A common theme of our age, run. We keep running, but not physically only. Our minds are constantly interrupted, like an CPU IO interrupt. Well, sort of. You get the gist. We run from home to work, from there to here, from here to nowhere. The reality is though, we are always on the move. Do we really like that? Hey, probably no, but that’s the way things work these days.

I have a hectic life myself, no doubt. As so probably you. Either way, the most precious moments in life – at least in the XXI century – is to unwind, stop and enjoy a bit of the slow movement. Slowly put the needle on that record, slowly sit down on your comfy sofa and slowly pour that single malt.

The rest is your imagination that I will so much struggle to put into words

Ale

UV4 PTFE sockets

Looking to build a new 01a Gen2 preamp shortly. This time will be for the rare UV-201a valves. They need a special socket UV4 rather than the usual UX4. See width difference of both filament pins. In the UV4 all pins have same size as below:

image2 Weather they have brass or bakelite bases, the new UV4 sockets produced by Luciano Bandozzi (Jakeband) are of supreme quality. I highly recommend them:

image1I already reviewed these and you can see more info here. I hope to post some pictures of the new preamp shortly