Intact Audio

Hi Guys,

Sounds like you've got something special there. Congratulations!!!


John

Hi Guys, In the spirit of Intact Audio, I think you should listen to the amp with the last cap. of the power supply filter physically mounted on the power supply chassis then move the last cap of the power supply filter to the signal chassis. My bet is you don't hear a difference. As Dave points out...

Hi Andrew, I had a Denon 103R and really liked it. I found that loading the cartridge with a 70 ohm load gave me the best performance. I tried values from 42 ohms to 120 ohms. When I used higher values the sound was a little hard and tizzy. When I used the lower values, the sound was too soft and du...

Hi Dave,

I used your autoformer to adjust the level on the grid of my 75TL about a couple of years ago and it sounds great.

Johnny

Cool!, sounds like you got some good things going there. Johnny

Howdy Dave,

Did you try measuring the frequency response using different input amplitudes?


Johnny

Hi Dave, We had a chance to listen to the 25-turn and the 100-turn step-ups. The 100-turn step-ups sounded dull and veiled. The 25-turn trannies with 1x1 stacking sounded very good but not as good as the 50T trannies with litz wire and 6x6 stacking. The drc's of these two sets are very close. Becaus...

Hi Dave, They were wound with litz wire for the primary, as the DCR gets lower the wire gets bigger, so I chose a multistand litz wire in place of a solid conductor. Not sure if this has anything to do with the sound but it was another variable I introduced. The 50T, low drc stepups have a richness ...

The inputs and the outputs of the stepups we used ran completely differential into the phono-pre. We connected the ground lead of the tone arm to a bolt on the trannies. We also connected a ground from the same bolt to a ground on the phon-pre. It works very well. I wouldn't ground the "negativ...

Sounds good Dave, I like the idea of having others repeat the experiments. It should give us more information.

Johnny

Hi Dave, I think it is worth mentioning now these (75TL) amps are driving oris horns full range so bass below ~100hz is handled by another amp. My amp is driving ever thing above 200 hz. Steve's and Grant's are driving everything above 100 Hz. Of the three options you listed I like the 70 turn ratio...

Hi Dave, Grant and I got a chance to compare the 1:1 transformers and the 2:1 step-down transformers you sent Grant. The 1:1's were much better. It wan't even close. I think it was one of the biggest changes we have made with your iron. Grant got the other 1:1's you sent. We'll give those a try in t...

Hi Dave, I burned-in the "pipe bomb" you sent to Steve when he was on the East coast. I ran a CD signal through the autoformer pre into the inputs of the "pipe bomb". I loaded the secondaries with 3.1 K resistors. The black box that Steve put together with the low drc and 50 turn...

Hi Dave, Sorry about not writing this information up sooner. Thanks again for all the goodies!!!! As you know my speaker load is 16 ohms. Orignally, I wanted a 2:1 load on the 75TL. Since the tubes has an Rp around 5K, I used a 25:1 transformer. This transformer together with my speaker presents a l...

Hi Dave For me this is still the ideak KISS shield and its only negative aspect is its size, to which i say sorry guys figure it out and accept the compromise I really like the look and size, it has that "gonzo" appeal I like. Infact, for the final verison I think I'm might use two bombs, ...

Howdy,

I love the bomb!!!! Great design. I'm looking forward to trying the new step-ups.


Johnny

Hi Guys, I think part of the difference may also be subjective. I admit that I'm not always consistent with my evaluations despite trying. I know after about 3 or 4 hours of constantly comparing differences I lose focus. I think you're right Dave. I believe the sound for #2 and #5 should be the same...

Hi Guys, I ended up liking the 12x12 gap best with the #2s. I went back to them after a day or two of listening to the 18x18 gap. Sunday afternoon Steve and I listened to the #5 step-ups. I changed them from a butt-gap to a 12x12 to compare directly to the #2s. After listening to some vocals, Steve ...

Hi Guys, I got some time this morning to try different gaps with Dave's step-ups. Dave sent them to me with 12x12 gap size (40H). Next I tried the butt gap (20H). It sounded a little thin and less filled in. Next I tried 9X9 (57H). With this gap it sounded a little soft and too warm for me. Finally,...

Hi Guys, I loaded Frank's step-ups with only the 47.5K load in the Artemis phono-pre. The sounded much better, more of that live quality. I compared them to Dave's step-ups with a 7K load. They were very close. If there were differences, they were very minor. Someone else needs to take a listen. Nor...

Hi Steve,

I got the phono-pre's today. I'll hook 'em up tonight!


Thanks,

John P.

Hi Dave, I like it! So as I understand it, Steve B. will send one power supply that we can use with the different signal boxes. One box would include a version with Sowter iron, another box would include a version with your iron, 80% nickel for the chokes and 49% nickel for the transformers. Finally...

Hi Steve, Congratulations! Sounds like you have come up with something very special. I would love to hear both. I was just talking with Steve Kaufman about gettting a chance to listen to them. There's going to be a bunch of people here for the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest from around Sept. 25-Oct. 7. I...

Hi Steve,

I can hardly wait for the results with the Slage iron. Please let us in on all the fun stuff.

Johnny

Hi Steve,

Way Cool!!! I can't wait to get the boards. Congratulations.


Johnny

Hi Steve,

I'm in for the power supply board. I think I would rather have a hand wired signal board but if you get enough interest in the signal path PC board I would order one as well. Sounds exciting!


Johnny

Hi Dave,

Looks good. Do you have an initial guess where the chokes should be gapped? Can't wait to try this stuff out!


Johnny

Hi Dave, Are either of the cathode resistors going to be bypassed?? Yesterday as I was taking the iron (Tamura output trannies 5002 and Tribute IT trannies which I haven't used since getting your iron Dave) off the signal chassis to sell, I looked at the configuration. All the cathode resistors have...

Hi Dave, Great post! I did play a bit with adding a small cap (.25u) at the input. Interestingly enough this eliminates the buzz you would get from improper mounting, (they were sititng on an aluminum chassis and the buzz was just vibration) but did little to the underlying hum. the .25 cap also did...

Hi Dave,

I like the numbers. As soon as they are finished ship them to Steve.

Thanks,

Johnny