# PASS DIY Headphone Amp - WHAMMY



## HiGHFLYiN9

Wayne Colburn of PASS Labs was kind enough to release a new DIY headphone amp circuit into the wild, the WHAMMY, standing for *W*ayne' *H*eadphone *A*mplifier *M*ust *M*ake *Y*ourself. It's a nice simple build, no need to match parts or make adjustments, so it's perfect for the budding DIY builder. It's also inexpensive. The PCB, parts and chassis should be under $200 without much effort. Jim Tiemann aka 6L6 of DIYAudio has been kind enough to coordinate the project and has been instrumental in making it accessible.

You can read more about the project here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/317803-whammy-pass-diy-headphone-amp-guide.html

Boards can be procured here: https://diyaudiostore.com/collections/printed-circuit-boards/products/whammy

And you can learn more about the circuit design here: 


I'll be building one myself and hope some of the members here will as well.


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## pedalhead

I'm planning on building one too. It'll be my first project as I've only built cables up to this point. I have a souped up First Watt F7 a friend built and I'm sold on the sound!


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## alpha421

Just finished the DIY Butte, and she sings.  I think this and the Bottlehead Crack/Speedball will be my next projects.  Amp building is fun and addictive.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Great! I'm glad you're giving it a shot Mark. I just did most of the build yesterday in the course of a couple of hours (and I'm methodical), so I don't think it will pose much if any difficulty  

Indeed Alpha, super addictive.


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## JamieMcC

Thanks for starting the thread here, I've been following this on the diyaudio forum ,flooking forward to getting some feed back on the Whammy here as well.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

A little bit of progress...


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## JamieMcC

Looking good you must be close to wrapping it up, are the silver vertical caps Russian pio and the green resistors Kiwame's?


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Getting close Jamie, just have to drill some more holes in the chassis and get everything mounted up. Yes, the resistors are Kiwames (2W Koa Speers from Mouser). I have quite a stash of them so I use them for everything. The silver caps are some old Sprague PIOs I had in my parts bin. Since those caps are directly in the signal path on the input I wanted to use some good quality ones.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

She lives! Running in now with some Spotify music... I tried Burson op-amps but they aren't compatible. Will start looking into other op-amps that work.


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## JamieMcC

Another one to add to your very long list of impressive builds. What have you used for the enclosure?


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Thanks Jamie! I didn't put as much thought into this one as I typically do, but it was a fun, enjoyable build.

Have a few more pics below. Chassis is from IAG DIY Tube Audio Products. He lists his chassis on ebay and on his website. Hand-made in the USA. (No affiliation). 

The front panel has a four pin as most of my headphones are wired that way, so it saves me from using an adapter.

Wiring is scraps of Cardas I had in my wire bin, 4x24, 2x24 and 2x21 and some 24AWG. Pot is Audionote. IEC filter is Furutech, picked a few up when they were discontinued for a nice price. RCAs are Cardas. Most of the caps in the audio section are SILMIC II. I know Wayne mentioned in the video they aren't as reliable lately, but they sound good... so hopefully they'll be okay for a while. Resistors are mostly Koa Speers 2W with some Vishays here and there. Input coupling are vintage 100V Sprague PIOs. PSU caps are Nichicon "For Audio"... for whatever that's good for 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Everything else is from the BOM. If you use the same parts you should end up with a warmer sounding amp... although the op-amp will probably make more difference than all those other items.


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## mourip

Very interesting project. I am a big fan of Nelson Pass and have owned two FW amps.

I would be interested in any listening impressions and also to know if there are any importable BOMs for Mouser and Digikey. I found the BOM on DIYAudio a bit hard to follow.

Thanks!


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## Paladin79

Here is one I just completed using  the Hammond case, it does fit snugly in there and I had to modify a few things to get the layout the way I wanted. I used a combo switch, fuse, and ac outlet to save a bit of time and I would have mounted it inside except for space and other issues.

I only have about an hour on it so far so it is hard to make in depth statements about the sound but I will say I like the amount of power, the clarity and the total absence of any background noise. I have hooked it to a couple tube preamps just to inject a bit of tube sound and the amp certainly holds its own. 

I learned about the build from Highflyin9 and he is a gentleman whose opinions I value and after watching the video, I knew this should be a quality amp.

I got interrupted or my build time would have been roughly six hours, I wanted to use dual Alps single gang pots but the cabinet size would not allow for that. I may build another down the road and steal, um borrow Highflyin's info on the other cabinet.


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## mourip

Very clean build. Looking forward to more listening impressions as it burns in.

Were any of the parts hard to find or just easily obtained from Digikey and Mouser?


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## Paladin79

The parts were not hard to find, I ordered a few caps from Digikey and Mouser but most of the resistors I owned as 2% parts. A couple I had to use in parallel to achieve 499 ohm etc. I have several very accurate meters so on some I just tried combinations till I got the exact results I wanted.  The Hammond case is quite snug but I wanted the ruggedness over beauty since I may use the amp outdoors some.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Paladin79 said:


> I learned about the build from Highflyin9 and he is a gentleman whose opinions I value and after watching the video, I knew this should be a quality amp.
> 
> I got interrupted or my build time would have been roughly six hours, I wanted to use dual Alps single gang pots but the cabinet size would not allow for that. I may build another down the road and steal, um borrow Highflyin's info on the other cabinet.


Haha thank you good sir. Please do try an IAG cabinet  Horace makes great quality stuff and can do custom sizes (again, no affiliation, just been using his chassis for years). If anyone needs size information just shoot me a PM. As mentioned over PM great work on your build!



mourip said:


> Very clean build. Looking forward to more listening impressions as it burns in.
> 
> Were any of the parts hard to find or just easily obtained from Digikey and Mouser?


I've got some dual Bursons on the way, will be doing some serious listening once they arrive. All the standard parts other than the toroid can be purchased at Mouser. The toroid is at Digikey.


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## Paladin79

I grabbed the Hammond cabinet at Digikey as well, HM1506-ND.


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## JamieMcC

Nice builds guys I had notification yesterday my pcb has shipped.


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## Paladin79

Very cool. I know you are artistic so please try to make yours as plain as possible so I do not become jealous and have to rebuild my own in another cabinet.  Maybe a matte black finish with some scratches in it would be a good look for you.


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## JamieMcC

Paladin79 said:


> The parts were not hard to find, I ordered a few caps from Digikey and Mouser but most of the resistors I owned as 2% parts. A couple I had to use in parallel to achieve 499 ohm etc. I have several very accurate meters so on some I just tried combinations till I got the exact results I wanted.  The Hammond case is quite snug but I wanted the ruggedness over beauty since I may use the amp outdoors some.



lol not sure what I am going to do yet case wise, I hate to buy something off the shelf when I have bits and pieces available that I could use to knock something up with. 

I need to find a suitable transformer that I can source here in the UK. The Amgis don't look to be available over here. 

Edit

Bingo just found the Talema 70065K 25VA 2x115V 2x22V from RS components here in the UK  with free next day shipping. I was checking out Hiflyings pics and noticed he used different make to those listed on the Whammy build page at Diyaudio.

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/products/2239430/

They also stock the Hammond enclosure which makes it tempting to order both at once


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## Paladin79

I am glad you found it Jamie and of course i was kidding about your case appearance.


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## HiGHFLYiN9 (Apr 30, 2018)

JamieMcC said:


> Bingo just found the Talema 70065K 25VA 2x115V 2x22V from RS components here in the UK  with free next day shipping. I was checking out Hiflyings pics and noticed he used different make to those listed on the Whammy build page at Diyaudio.


Talema is a well-respected brand, I paid a couple extra dollars for the name  I'm sure they're both identical inside buuuut OCD, haha.


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## Paladin79

You would probably snicker if you saw some of the parts I used, but the amp sounds very good indeed.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Hey, if it works, it works! ...so long as you didn't use mismatching cap types/values on each channel!


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## Paladin79 (Apr 30, 2018)

um no, nothing like that lol.

I am now listening to some of my all time favorite test music and I am still impressed with this amp. High impedance headphones, low impedance, all impressive.
Accurate sound with a very tight bass.


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## mudihan (May 11, 2018)

How would this compare to an F5 in driving Hifiman HE6 (i.e., hard-to-drive planars)? Trying to decide whether to build an F5 customized for headphones or WHAMMY.

My headphones are all pretty hard to drive (HE6, Pioneer SE700, etc.) -- I need both voltage swing and current. I have been using a modified LM4780 gainclone to good effect.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

The output on this 300-400mW, it's very substantial for all headphones except for HE6, Susvara, K1000, etc. I'd suggest going with the F5.


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## Elecroestatico

wow it looks really nice. Was the price to complete it really 200 bucks? my new iron will be here tomorrow, this is good excuse to use it.


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## Paladin79

Mine cost closer to $100 but I have a lot of parts in my shop.


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## JamieMcC

mudihan said:


> How would this compare to an F5 in driving Hifiman HE6 (i.e., hard-to-drive planars)? Trying to decide whether to build an F5 customized for headphones or WHAMMY.
> 
> My headphones are all pretty hard to drive (HE6, Pioneer SE700, etc.) -- I need both voltage swing and current. I have been using a modified LM4780 gainclone to good effect.



Have a look at the Nelson Pass ACA its 6w also uses jfets and there are many reports of the Pass DIY forum that the ACA and the F5 sound similar.

The ACA is just epic with the HE-6 I have built a couple of them now using a Bottlehead Quickie in front of it. They are real easy to put together.  The full Kit costs $317 but if you  just buy the pcbs $19 sourcing heatsinks of ebay you should be able to easy build one for half that. Forget all the talk about 100W amps being a must with the HE6 been their done that tried a good dozen different amps up to 150w mono blocks and intergrated and the 6w ACA has easily bested them all. You could drive the ACA with the Whammy!

https://diyaudiostore.com/collections/frontpage/products/amp-camp-amp-kit?variant=7072933085218

A couple of ACA pics


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## Paladin79 (May 12, 2018)

I am not sure I will build them at this time but that is a beautiful job on those ACA amps and I hope to build a couple down the road. Good to know you can reduce the cost a bit as well.


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## mudihan

JamieMcC said:


> Have a look at the Nelson Pass ACA its 6w also uses jfets and there are many reports of the Pass DIY forum that the ACA and the F5 sound similar.
> 
> The ACA is just epic with the HE-6 I have built a couple of them now using a Bottlehead Quickie in front of it. They are real easy to put together.  The full Kit costs $317 but if you  just buy the pcbs $19 sourcing heatsinks of ebay you should be able to easy build one for half that. Forget all the talk about 100W amps being a must with the HE6 been their done that tried a good dozen different amps up to 150w mono blocks and intergrated and the 6w ACA has easily bested them all. You could drive the ACA with the Whammy!
> 
> ...


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## mudihan

Thanks. I have indeed looked into ACA, since it is the hottest thing right now. But my assessment is that, among the more powerful amps (i.e., not the WHAMMY), F5 is the higher performing one, especially in the area of noise (which is relevant in powering headphones).


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## Paladin79

it looks like the chinese are doing knockoffs already, all but the Whammy are on Ebay.


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## JamieMcC

Paladin79 said:


> I am not sure I will build them at this time but that is a beautiful job on those ACA amps and I hope to build a couple down the road. Good to know you can reduce the cost a bit as well.



Thanks, my Whammy pcbs arrived today but still need to finalise my mouser order before putting it in.

 the ACA is very simple circuit in that Nelson Pass less is more way. The component cost is very low my mouser order looks to be around £30ish to populate the boards (heat sinks and jfets on top) I found a large used heat sink on ebay and just cut it in two on a bandsaw at work. An off the shelf enclosure is the most expensive item.  Diying one can save a lot of cash and is pretty simple, mine was just cobbled together out of just a few bits and pieces left over from other projects.  One using some of offcuts I had of Zebrano and the other made from a bamboo chopping board.


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## JamieMcC

mudihan said:


> Thanks. I have indeed looked into ACA, since it is the hottest thing right now. But my assessment is that, among the more powerful amps (i.e., not the WHAMMY), F5 is the higher performing one, especially in the area of noise (which is relevant in powering headphones).



Be very mindful about using a speaker amp especially if also using the same amp to run a 2 channel set up, a moments forgetfulness on the volume level or powering on off pre and power in the incorrect order can easy blow the drivers. I would strongly recommend not powering on or off any amp with headphones attached to its speaker taps and only connecting them to it with the volume control set at zero.


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## Paladin79

I think I need to get used to working with metal more and I should be able to accomplish the ACA for a very reasonable price down the road. I do have left over copper plate that would make an interesting top and front of the amp. Your build inspires me a bit Jamie, I also have some left over oak from some other projects.


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## NBigbee

Beautiful Amps! Love all the wood and metal combo.


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## Paladin79

I am using a Schiit Lyr 2 as pre amp into a Whammy and the sound is incredible. I have four or five class A amps but the Whammy is right up there, such an easy build and such quality for a low price IMHO.


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## JamieMcC

Hey guys I am about to fire in my mouser order for the whammy but am a bit confused about which op amp to get as have not built anything with one before. It would be nice to source something from Mouser, but I wondered what you guys used recommend?

Cheers
Jamie

PS anyone else having problems with the forum feeds, I haven't been receiving the normal alerts when new posts are added to thread I am following...


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Hi Jamie, I used this one initially: 595-RC4580IP - Texas Instruments, costs $1. There are others out there that are better, but that one was on the BOM so I tried it first. I ended up settling on a Burson dual as of yesterday. It sounds a little more open / less compressed than the T.I. 

 

Regarding the feeds, I've been getting mine. I get a constant barrage of emails from the deal thread, haha.


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## JamieMcC

Thanks Hiflying don't suppose you have a link for the Burson dual you used?
Cheers

Jamie


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Sure Jamie, it's https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/supreme-sound-opamp-v5/


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## JamieMcC

Been going nuts looking for my whammys transformer this afternoon I know its here Grrrrr


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## HiGHFLYiN9

doh! Hope you find it soon


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## Paladin79

This is my latest project, trying to mount a round hybrid board in an 8 ball and such. 
  I like a challenge, I may even mount one inside a scotch bottle.


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## JamieMcC

Mouser order in (at last)


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## JamieMcC (Jul 22, 2018)

Think I am ready to start my build at last.  Some of my mouser parts were on back order but I found my transformer and my case ordered from China  (Aliexpress) has turned up as well


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## Paladin79

what kind of case did you get from China?


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## JamieMcC

One of these 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1706-all-aluminum-amplifier-chassis-Headphone-amplifier-case-AMP-Enclosure-case-DIY-box-172-60-251mm/32809170128.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.a2604c4dMhq84X&dp=79e805ffa50b8f577ce6bcd46395dc8f&af=240682&cv=47843&afref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.head-fi.org%2Fconversations%2Fsex-3-0-build.2542208%2Fpage-24&mall_affr=pr3&aff_platform=aaf&cpt=1532268202286&sk=VnYZvQVf&aff_trace_key=6e959d00d76047ca8a6cb60fda745379-1532268202286-09782-VnYZvQVf&terminal_id=bed8db9e75584d60a26a7df2beb6cee2


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## JamieMcC (Jul 23, 2018)

OK making some progress but found I missed a couple of things a snubbing capacitor and the heatsink mounting bolts lol

While I wait for those to arrive I have some holes to make in the enclosure.

Not sure what output caps I'm going to use yet I have a few options to hand just need to see what I can fit.​


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## Paladin79

It looks like you are moving right along, I pretty much had everything when I started so it was a quick build. Great price on the cabinet!


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Looking good!


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## JamieMcC

Nearly there, I am going to fix the volume pot to the front panel with leads back to the pcb this allows me to set the pcb  back around 50mm from the front of the enclosure and gives bit of space to experiment with different output caps.


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## Paladin79

At least you do have some extra room, my build was pretty tight. I did move the 1/4 inch jack over some for a more balanced look on the front panel and that was more work than I intended it to be.


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## JamieMcC

Tom its funny how things always end up more work than you intend. All I have left to do is fit and hook up the volume pot and headphone jack I was thinking another 15-20mins and I would be done and playing tunes tonight. However the fly in the ointment is the nice 10mm thick aluminium front panel it's to thick to mount my parts to and I need to mill out a recess on the back side of the panel so it is thin for the threaded bits to poke through on the front side enough to get their nuts on. Fingers crossed I can machine the recesses out using a flat bit in a pillar drill at work tomorrow.


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## Paladin79 (Jul 27, 2018)

Tell me about it lol, even though copper is considered a soft metal when it is thick enough it takes a while to cut square openings in it lol.

 I love the term "pillar drill", it sounds so much nicer than drill press. Most of my current work is with round pc boards, I love the challenge and every now and then you find things that fit the boards well if you think about it enough. Jimmers came up with the plastic covering for a  security camera but the hand sculpture is an idea I lifted from MC Escher's Reflections drawing.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

JamieMcC said:


> However the fly in the ointment is the nice 10mm thick aluminium front panel it's to thick to mount my parts to and I need to mill out a recess on the back side of the panel so it is thin for the threaded bits to poke through on the front side enough to get their nuts on. Fingers crossed I can machine the recesses out using a flat bit in a pillar drill at work tomorrow.


Doh, that's no fun. Using a Forstner bit I assume? I should have gotten a larger chassis for my build, I used the smallest pot I had and it's literally a mm away from one of the capacitors on the board. 

Paladin I assume you are continuing to experiment with the Schiit coasters at the moment?


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## Paladin79 (Jul 27, 2018)

Yes, the interesting thing was that Jason at Schiit sent out boards, a schematic and bom to anyone who asked for them. I got a couple and had a heck of a time getting one going. I asked for a photo and found a slight error in the schematic and bom so I guess I was the first person in the country other than Jason to get one going. Lots of tiny surface mount parts and a few through hole parts. That board fits perfectly inside a Mattel magic 8 ball, but it takes a couple men and a small boy to open one, but once opened, it is glorious. I enjoy a challenge and in effect I was doing beta testing.

Here is a four headphone rack I did for a buddy with all copper and brass, Coaster amp in center.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

A salt holder might be cool if it's large enough. 











Are you matching up the tubes? If you are I might bother you for a pair at some point


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## Paladin79 (Jul 27, 2018)

I am matching up the tubes fairly well and I have some extras, I will send them your way at some point. The opening has to be over 3.5 inches, some tobacco tins work, 4 inch dome for security cams work well. I have extra tobacco tins too.

I set up one board as a test jig, so it is easy to plug tubes in and out as I go through them. Otherwise it is a pain to un-solder them as you might imagine.


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## JamieMcC (Jul 27, 2018)

Fill it up with mineral oil and white plastic flakes and you would have a neat audio amp snow globe 

Edit I'm on a roll on mount it on top of a plastic Frisbee with some rgb leds and you would have a neat UFO


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## Paladin79 (Jul 27, 2018)

Trust me the snow globe idea has been tossed around, that is how I ended up getting the 4 inch dome. There are round xmas tree ornaments that are made to come apart so you can put goldfish in them and such. I have a hard time finding measurements but they should work. You just need to permanently mount your cables, seal with silicone, and it is doable but I have enough irons in the fire lol.  Hmm now the UFO idea may be a good one. One friend recommended a Death Star, or a star wars robot but finding the toys the exact right size is not easy. I do have RGB strips that do all kinds of neat things so that would not be too difficult. Stop giving me ideas!!!!!! I know your builds and they are generally good ones. I need some crappy ideas I can ignore lol.

Plug the UFO Coaster into a dap playing the theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind or War of the Worlds with Richard Burton narrating, Jeff Wayne I want to say did that. Vocals by Justin Hayward.


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## JamieMcC

Its alive and sounding superb with my hd800 

Luckily I found a locking trs jack in one of my parts boxes which is front mounted and only needed a hole. Drilling out the back of the aluminium face plate for the volume pot went well, a sharp flat bit and some Boelube lubricant made the job easy.


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## Paladin79

Very nice, those are amazing little amps. I prefer tube type but love the accuracy of those.


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## JamieMcC

After a day of listening to the Solens it was time to swap them out and reacquaint myself with some old friends from the cap collection..


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## JamieMcC




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## Paladin79

Show off!!!

I mean that in the nicest possible way. 

My standard devices barely fit lol.


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## JamieMcC

Tom, think I am done, 

Very happy with how its sounding with my hd800 wasn't sure about the V6 Burson at first thought it sounded a bit off but with 25hr burn in I'm now hearing a nice improvement. The Teflon caps will need good couple of hundred hrs as well if past experience is anything to go by.

Mulling over trying a stepped attenuator, I have had a Glassware A5 36 step stuffed with Vishay RN55's in my parts box for a couple of years now it needs just a little more space than I have.


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## Paladin79

Very nice work!  I have been a little too busy to do anything with amps lately but I hope to get back to them soon.


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## JamieMcC

Picked up a couple of those 1uf Sprague Vitamin Q capacitors to give a go..​


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## Paladin79

interesting


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## JamieMcC

Seeing the Vitamin Q's in HiGHFLYiN9's Whammy build had got me curious I was able to pick up a couple for a few dollars of off ebay installed them today burning them in at the moment.  Fwiw the 60v teflons are excellent I love their resolution and the sound staging can be quiet 3D at times. Only real draw back is they take around 200hrs to come on song and can sound a bit incoherent at times on the way there.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Make sure to ground the shells, mine were picking up noise. Nothing like good vintage caps though


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## JamieMcC

My stepped attenuator turn up today, having used the ebay Valab and Dale ones in the past I thought I would give the thin film one a try this time, they all look to use the same body anyhow. I wasn't sure if it would fit to be honest but it went in ok in the end.

I'm enjoying the Vitamin Q's as well...please excuse my messy cap wiring its only temporary and will get a tidy up once I settle on the final cap.
I use a piece of non conductive foam packaging which sits on top of the loose wires from the teflon caps it gets squashed down in place when the case is closed up this holds them all firmly in place. The caps themselves are hot glued to the enclosure and the compressed foam squishing down on top of them makes doubly sure they cant accidently come loose. Plan to drill a couple of holes and cable tie them eventually.


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## JamieMcC

The Vitamin Q's were very enjoyable but its going to be the Teflons for me. It would be neat to build this with the added function of being able to have selectable capacitors you could have a lot of fun with it. The Vitamin Q's have quiet a beguiling effect and reminded me of the MHDT Constantine NOS DAC I once owned.

Just for giggles and a bit of curiosity I took the Duelund Cast coppers out of my phono stage and tried them in the Whammy a silly thing to do really as unfortunately it sounds mighty fine. Luckily they are two big to fit and get the lid back on and they will have to go back in the Eros later this evening or then again maybe they can stay in till tomorrow....


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## Paladin79

How are you liking the sound in general? I think they are an amazing amp and I prefer tubes lol.


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## JamieMcC

Paladin79 said:


> How are you liking the sound in general? I think they are an amazing amp and I prefer tubes lol.



Tom I like it a lot with the Burson V6 classics and Teflons, depending on what I'm listening to I could probably be fooled into thinking I was listening to my BH Mainline the general presentation is quiet similar.


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## JamieMcC

Ok after checking on the Diyaudio site my dc offsets on C1 & C5 were considered low enough to remove the capacitors and replace them with jumpers.

No cap is better than Duelund Cast Copper cap!


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## dweekie

JamieMcC said:


> Ok after checking on the Diyaudio site my dc offsets on C1 & C5 were considered low enough to remove the capacitors and replace them with jumpers.
> 
> No cap is better than Duelund Cast Copper cap!



Wow, it's been a while since I've built anything, but all those caps you have bring back memories. I think the Whammy is in my very near future. I still have boxes of russian teflons (that I recased) and oil caps laying around. Those AmpOhms were some of my absolute favorites back in the day as well. I never got along with the Vitamin Q's though. Guess I'll be creating a bom soon! Thanks for sharing.


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## Andrew LB

Every time i check, the whammy boards are out of stock. Anyone know if they're doing additional runs on them? I think it would be a great project, you guys have put together some very nice amps in this thread. 

Im also digging those schiit coaster builds. I bet i could turn sweet enclosure for one on my wood lathe. Or even just a nice base to mount it to where a clear bubble would go over the amp.


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## JamieMcC

I think it was mentioned on the diyaudio site that they do have more Whammy boards and they will be available again soon, so keep checking.


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## JamieMcC

Found a good deal on a used Burson V6 Vivid last week, its a nice match with my Audioquest Nighthawks but I do prefer the V6 Classic especially with the hd800 and Oppo pm3's


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## imran27

Quick question about WHAMMY:

Which one is preferable?
- PASS WHAMMY
- AMB CK²Ⅲ
- AMB ß22 (2-ch, passive GND) + σ22

Ignoring the build complications, only focusing on SQ and functionality


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## imran27

Any comparisons of WHAMMY to Gilmore Lite mk2?


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## Allanmarcus

HiGHFLYiN9 said:


> Have a few more pics below. Chassis is from IAG DIY Tube Audio Products. He lists his chassis on ebay and on his website. Hand-made in the USA. (No affiliation).



Hey, can you send me (or post) a link to the case you used. I found IAG on eBay, but I cannot find the case you used.



JamieMcC said:


> Tom I like it a lot with the Burson V6 classics and Teflons, depending on what I'm listening to I could probably be fooled into thinking I was listening to my BH Mainline the general presentation is quiet similar.



A buddy of mine built a couple of these and loaned me one. I've been listening this morning to it and to my Mainline. Damn, the Whammy is really good! There is certain solid state hardness to the vocals, which is just the opposite of the slight softness to the vocals on the Mainline, but it's tiny (to me). Maybe just a tiny bit more emotion comes through on the Mainline (man, that's hard to describe), but the Whammy is very impressive. On some songs I cannot tell the difference between the amps. On some songs I cannot identify it, but I prefer the Mainline.

I may be hooked and now I'm looking for the just the right case


----------



## HiGHFLYiN9

Allanmarcus said:


> Hey, can you send me (or post) a link to the case you used. I found IAG on eBay, but I cannot find the case you used.


That's him, you can contact him directly at atkinson [dot] horace [at] gmail [dot] com

He custom made me the chassis, just send him the dimensions you'd like and let him know you'd like the polished look (cost a bit more). Last I chatted with him he was running a little behind on orders due to his popularity, but the wait is really worth it. I was trying to find the dimensions I used in my email but I've had him build me 4 chassis over the past couple of years and I can't recall which is which. The height is by default 2.75 IIRC.


----------



## Allanmarcus

HiGHFLYiN9 said:


> That's him, you can contact him directly at atkinson [dot] horace [at] gmail [dot] com
> 
> He custom made me the chassis, just send him the dimensions you'd like and let him know you'd like the polished look (cost a bit more). Last I chatted with him he was running a little behind on orders due to his popularity, but the wait is really worth it. I was trying to find the dimensions I used in my email but I've had him build me 4 chassis over the past couple of years and I can't recall which is which. The height is by default 2.75 IIRC.


Thanks. I contacted him via email at the time I posted here this morning. He already replied! I gave him the pic you posted open the first page of this thread and he replied:


> Those cases are still available. The one pictured is 7.25w x 10d x 3h for your application the width would made 11"w x 10"D x 3"H


So, if you had to do it over again, would you prefer the case to be bigger or smaller? seems 10" deep might be tight between the transformer and the IEC socket.


----------



## HiGHFLYiN9

It's a little tight. If you want to play around more with the input caps, add a pilot light, and swap around the op-amp, the extra inch couldn't hurt.


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## Allanmarcus (Dec 15, 2018)

HiGHFLYiN9 said:


> It's a little tight. If you want to play around more with the input caps, add a pilot light, and swap around the op-amp, the extra inch couldn't hurt.


Thanks. I've heard "the extra inch" couldn't hurt all my life from various sources, but I've also heard size doesn't matter 

It appears the hammond that many people use is 8.66 in x 6.50 in x 2.05 in. Yikes! That looks quite tight. 7.25w x 10d x 3h certainly sounds better.

I asked Horace about how much it would cost to make it a little bigger and am awaiting a response. I will likely just make it "stock" from the diyAudio parts kit, and possibly play with opamps.

Update: After looking at the pics you posted again, I think there is plenty of room in there. Thanks for the pics!

I saw your LED diagram on another headphone site. What LED did you use?

Also, when you wired the 4-pin XLR jack, did you do any fancy, or did you just jump the R and L from the other jack, and split the ground into the XLR?


----------



## HiGHFLYiN9

Haha, an extra inch indeed. The LED is wired up into a little Dynaco PAS circuit, I don't see any on ebay, but it's pretty easy to breadboard. 

I got the led and holder from here: https://www.taydaelectronics.com/5mm-bezel-led-holder-chrome-metal.html

XLR is wired exactly as you described.


----------



## Allanmarcus

Thanks @HiGHFLYiN9 

For the LED, I was thinking of something like this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/PLB6-A-ATI...ator-Pilot-Dash-Light-Black-Body/321362665291

but would need to figure out where to connect it, or if a resistor would be needed.


----------



## JamieMcC

Allanmarcus said:


> A buddy of mine built a couple of these and loaned me one. I've been listening this morning to it and to my Mainline. Damn, the Whammy is really good! There is certain solid state hardness to the vocals, which is just the opposite of the slight softness to the vocals on the Mainline, but it's tiny (to me). Maybe just a tiny bit more emotion comes through on the Mainline (man, that's hard to describe), but the Whammy is very impressive. On some songs I cannot tell the difference between the amps. On some songs I cannot identify it, but I prefer the Mainline.
> 
> I may be hooked and now I'm looking for the just the right case



Get your buddy over to check your dc offsets as removing the dc filtering caps and replacing with wire jumpers makes it even harder to tell them apart. The Burson V6 classics ratchet up the texturing and density of tone and you get closer to the intimacy and breathiness to vocals that the Mainline is so good at. 

Spent a while trying to nail down the differences between them myself and thought them pretty marginal.  It was only after several months of listening to them both I came to the conclusion that the Mainline has the edge on width and depth of soundstage, air/headroom and separation around notes its all pretty marginal but that's how I hear it and it took a lot of time listening to different tracks before I came to that conclusion and then was very track dependent. Funnily enough this only really became apparent to me a few months in when not looking for the A/B differences just enjoying listening to music alternating between amps and there it was. 

The Whammy is amazing value imho really surprised there is not more interest on here.

The enclosure I used was off of Aliexpress had a little extra space think there was a link.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

You can just tap the xformer output Allan, get something close to 22V, or use one that's 120VAC and wire up after the switch directly to the AC inlet


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## Allanmarcus

HiGHFLYiN9 said:


> You can just tap the xformer output Allan, get something close to 22V, or use one that's 120VAC and wire up after the switch directly to the AC inlet


Thanks.

He, one last question before I start buying stuff.  I just realized you mounted the board upside down on the IAG enclosure. Any heat issues? The vents on that enclosure are on the bottom, and the sides, being wood, probably don't dissipate heat all that well.

Thanks.


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## HiGHFLYiN9 (Dec 15, 2018)

Allanmarcus said:


> Thanks @HiGHFLYiN9
> He, one last question before I start buying stuff.  I just realized you mounted the board upside down on the IAG enclosure. Any heat issues? The vents on that enclosure are on the bottom, and the sides, being wood, probably don't dissipate heat all that well.


The IAG has a ton of perforations on the bottom, nothing to worry about. You can drill more holes on the top if you want, but I don't think it's necessary.


----------



## Allanmarcus

HiGHFLYiN9 said:


>



I assume the pot is not PCB mounted? I just got all my parts and the enclosure. Of course I have no time to start the build, but I was looking at it all today and doing some planing in my head. Not PCB mounting the pot would make the whole project easier.


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## JamieMcC

Not mounting the pot on the pcb will give you far more options when it comes to enclosures its pretty straight forward to solder some leads to the pot pins and route them back to the corresponding holes on the pcb.


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## Allanmarcus

About to test my new build!


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## JamieMcC

Looking good and getting close Allan. By the way how are you finding the Focal Utopias with your Mainline?


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## Allanmarcus

The whammy is working! It’s just sitting on the bench for now (go Rams!), but it’s working.

The utopia and the mainline are a great combo.


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## Paladin79

Nice looking build Allan, I prefer tube amps but the Whammy is one of my favorite solid state amps and for the price you cannot go wrong.


----------



## Allanmarcus

Paladin79 said:


> Nice looking build Allan, I prefer tube amps but the Whammy is one of my favorite solid state amps and for the price you cannot go wrong.


I was so surprised at the similarity of the whammy to the sound of the mainline, that’s what took me over the edge to build one.  Once I get the case all cut up and fitted, I will experiment with removing the filter caps (after checking DC offset).  I’m told the amp sounds even more like the mainline after that.


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## Paladin79

Very interesting. I was recently involved in some DAC tests and hope to test some HP amps soon but we were going to separate them by tube type and solid state. I was hoping to get ahold of Mainline, now i shall have to compare one to my Whammy as well if I get the chance.


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## Allanmarcus

Paladin79 said:


> Very interesting. I was recently involved in some DAC tests and hope to test some HP amps soon but we were going to separate them by tube type and solid state. I was hoping to get ahold of Mainline, now i shall have to compare one to my Whammy as well if I get the chance.


The mainline with high impedance headphones and the crack should pretty close.  Compare your crack (with stock tubes) with the whammy and let us know.


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## Paladin79

Allanmarcus said:


> The mainline with high impedance headphones and the crack should pretty close.  Compare your crack (with stock tubes) with the whammy and let us know.


I have switched between the Crack and Whammy many times but I would not call them close. The tests i will be doing involve about 20 criteria per device so I will see how those two stack up at some point, as well as the Mainline in some blind testing. Five levels for each type of criteria. Most likely there will be 15 tube amps and about the same number of solid state so if the two score closely it will definitely show.


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## jimmers

Paladin79 said:


> I have switched between the Crack and Whammy many times but I would not call them close. The tests i will be doing involve about 20 criteria per device so I will see how those two stack up at some point, as well as the Mainline in some blind testing. Five levels for each type of criteria. Most likely there will be 15 tube amps and about the same number of solid state so if the two score closely it will definitely show.


Looking forward to the book


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## Paladin79

lol well it may be part of curriculum but a book is doubtful.


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## jimmers

Paladin79 said:


> lol well it may be part of curriculum but a book is doubtful.


Spreadsheet?


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## Paladin79

I have one but it may not be all the info you desire. I will try to take this to PM and explain what was going on as time allows.


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## Allanmarcus

Well, whammy complete! I used the same case as HiGHFLYiN9, but I choose (unwisely) to mount the board on the bottom plate. That made it very hard to size up where to drill holes and where to place things, and to put the whole thing together at the end. Lesson learned.

At any rate, it came out pretty good. Paladin79 helped me out with advice and wire (thanks!).

I wanted to put an LED power indicator in, but I didn't get the far. Next one!


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## JamieMcC

Congratulations


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## Paladin79

Allan, I am glad that wire worked out for you and your skills are growing and growing.  If you want a challenge, (not necessarily amazing sound quality) you should take on a Schiit Coaster amp sometime. Part of the fun is trying to mount one in an enclosure. I have a bunch of the blank boards so I could always send you one or two of those. This one was part of an MC Escher look I was going for but I could never get the globe to fit properly in a cast copy of my right hand.


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## Allanmarcus

Paladin79 said:


> Allan, I am glad that wire worked out for you and your skills are growing and growing.  If you want a challenge, (not necessarily amazing sound quality) you should take on a Schiit Coaster amp sometime. Part of the fun is trying to mount one in an enclosure. I have a bunch of the blank boards so I could always send you one or two of those. This one was part of an MC Escher look I was going for but I could never get the globe to fit properly in a cast copy of my right hand.


Thanks for the pointer to the coaster, the advice, and the offer.  I’m gonna pass on the coaster for now.  I very not happy with my whammy build; it’s the enclosure and how I mounted it that I don’t like.  I’m debating just getting another enclosure and transferring the board to it rather than a whole new build. A $60 cost for my learning more about what to think about with cases. For me, the lesson was “make sure I have easy access to everything in the case”.  A decent cast cost $85 from aliexpress, or I could just get another of the same case and 'punt the board upside down like @Hi did.

I’m in Phoenix at a conference this week, so no playing with headphones for me for a few days.

How does the coaster sound? I’m really impressed with the whammy.


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## Paladin79

The coaster sq is ok but nothing special. More of a fun little amp for a desktop.

The Whammy sounds great, agreed.


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## JamieMcC

Hey guys,

Curiosity got the better of me about a month ago and I ordered one of these ebay HDAM fully discrete dual op amps from China which are based on Marantz HDAM circuit model. 

It finally turned up today with delivery to the UK taking about four weeks.

Only had a brief listen so far (little one is not very happy with chicken pox) but first impressions are good which hopefully bodes well as the Burson V6 op amps took a while to burn in before they started sing so am thinking these might be similar. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Full-Dis...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649


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## JamieMcC

double post


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## Paladin79 (Feb 5, 2019)

I am curious if they will fit inside my case, I may have to try.

Correction, I have one on the way, thanks Jamie!


----------



## JamieMcC

Paladin79 said:


> I am curious if they will fit inside my case, I may have to try.
> 
> Correction, I have one on the way, thanks Jamie!



You should be good it sits just slightly lower than the top of my heatsinks


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## Paladin79

Yeah I looked at your photos a little more closely and that helped.


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## JamieMcC

lol Tom that was quick.

Use my pics for the orientation, I scratched my head for a while over which way to plug it in as there are no markings on it or info in the listing. Luckily I noticed the dual version needed for the whammy is just two singles fitted to an adapter board and in the single version listing there is a helpful pin out.


----------



## Allanmarcus

JamieMcC said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> Curiosity got the better of me about a month ago and I ordered one of these ebay HDAM fully discrete dual op amps from China which are based on Marantz HDAM circuit model.
> 
> ...


Ok, this think looks like a transformer or something.  Optimus prime of op amps! 

Any comparisons to other op amps? All I have now is an RC4580, but I’ll be trying an Lm833 and ad823 at some point


----------



## JamieMcC

The first op amp I used was the LM833 which I liked and happily used it for a while before picking up a Burson V6 Classic to try. I have pretty much stuck with the Classic ever since it just seems a nice match with the hd800 headphones.

I did try a Burson V6 Vivid and I can see that being a good choice for more laid back cans but not such a good choice with the hd800.

The Chinese HDAM clone op amp has definitely improved already while listening this evening at the moment it sounds to me sort of half way between the V6 Vivid and the V6 Classic it sounds spacious and detailed like the Vivid but it is more relaxed but not so intimate and textured as the Classic. Its an enjoyable listen with the hd800.

But early days maybe if the Burson V6's are anything to go by I felt they took a good while (month or two) of use before I felt I had gotten the best out of them.


----------



## bagwell359

Nice thread.  Owned a few Pass amps and pre-amps, and built a large number of kits in the "old days" - Tiger, Dyna, Hafler, Heathkit...  Looks like its time to build a NP design.  ACA looks killer!


----------



## imran27

JamieMcC said:


> The first op amp I used was the LM833 which I liked and happily used it for a while before picking up a Burson V6 Classic to try. I have pretty much stuck with the Classic ever since it just seems a nice match with the hd800 headphones.
> 
> I did try a Burson V6 Vivid and I can see that being a good choice for more laid back cans but not such a good choice with the hd800.
> 
> ...


There is this new opamp making a lot of chatter in other places

OPA2156

Also, OPA1662 has a really nice presentation of sound, very good bass and overall clean and detailed.


----------



## Goldvein

I'm thinking of doing one of these amp kits, but i have absolutely no experience in soldering or putting things together.
Would it be possible for me to put this one together, or would i just mess it up and waste 200$?


----------



## dweekie

Goldvein said:


> I'm thinking of doing one of these amp kits, but i have absolutely no experience in soldering or putting things together.
> Would it be possible for me to put this one together, or would i just mess it up and waste 200$?



I haven't built this yet (I don't know why I keep delaying the inevitable but I keep following the WHAMMY threads), but I taught myself soldering using various amp kits in the past. The through-hole pcb design makes it very beginner friendly. The build guide and full kit available from diyaudio give you the foundation. If you watch youtube videos on proper soldering/ de-soldering through-hole components and practice on a blank through-hole board to get used to the process and temperature settings, you should be okay. 

Honestly, the main determining factor of success is your attitude and persistence instead of giving up when you run into problems. When you succeed though, you will be addicted to building all sorts of things.


----------



## JamieMcC

looking on ebay there are loads of inexpensive practice / learn to solder projects like the ones in the link below.
There are also some clones of the Pass ACA which is a 5W Class A power amp this little amp sounds great and you would be able to use the whammy as a pre-amp driving it.

Imagine that a full Pass pre and mono block set up. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beginner...=item59169400c6:g:4AgAAOSw29Jb7Fvv:rk:15:pf:0

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NE555-CD...NdCusRdTe61fDkK66n4kBjNnjwKlYP&frcectupt=true

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/One-pair...6:g:viYAAOSwfrJbZtYT:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIY-6J5-...OqbiwHzixn0DqEQWzlNhn6HIi+Lq0R8xuENCYg3bnA7Ql


----------



## Goldvein

dweekie said:


> I haven't built this yet (I don't know why I keep delaying the inevitable but I keep following the WHAMMY threads), but I taught myself soldering using various amp kits in the past. The through-hole pcb design makes it very beginner friendly. The build guide and full kit available from diyaudio give you the foundation. If you watch youtube videos on proper soldering/ de-soldering through-hole components and practice on a blank through-hole board to get used to the process and temperature settings, you should be okay.
> 
> Honestly, the main determining factor of success is your attitude and persistence instead of giving up when you run into problems. When you succeed though, you will be addicted to building all sorts of things.






JamieMcC said:


> looking on ebay there are loads of inexpensive practice / learn to solder projects like the ones in the link below.
> There are also some clones of the Pass ACA which is a 5W Class A power amp this little amp sounds great and you would be able to use the whammy as a pre-amp driving it.
> 
> Imagine that a full Pass pre and mono block set up.
> ...



Thank you for the answers. It looks like a good idea to get some training kits first. Seems very possible though. I think I’m  going to try. Maybe I’ll have some more questions in the future


----------



## ThermalAlchemy

bagwell359 said:


> Nice thread.  Owned a few Pass amps and pre-amps, and built a large number of kits in the "old days" - Tiger, Dyna, Hafler, Heathkit...  Looks like its time to build a NP design.  ACA looks killer!


 I just completed the  Nelson Pass amp camp amp kits  duel mono blocks, built a linear power supplies from the PCB boards available at do it yourself audio store.  Absolutely awesome little amplifier .  I built BK-20 speaker cabinet design for a single full range Fostex speaker.  Just crank out 1 W of power for a speaker to put out 96db,


----------



## bagwell359

ThermalAlchemy said:


> I just completed the  Nelson Pass amp camp amp kits  duel mono blocks, built a linear power supplies from the PCB boards available at do it yourself audio store.  Absolutely awesome little amplifier .  I built BK-20 speaker cabinet design for a single full range Fostex speaker.  Just crank out 1 W of power for a speaker to put out 96db,



Very interesting.  I need to make a list of Pass DIY amps that can have a 4 pin output and XLR inputs.  Not that many.


----------



## JamieMcC

fwiw so far for driving my Hifiman HE-6 the little Pass ACA proved excellent. I have built two ACA so far on the first one I used an adapter from the ACA speaker taps.  On the second I fitted a 4pin XLR out (just linked to the speaker taps internally).


----------



## GimmeCans (Jun 22, 2019)

Does this (WHAMMY) 'play nice' with sensitive IEMs like Etymotics? The 'pitch' implies that it will work with 'anything' but I mean with acceptable noise levels and usable volume control range. I know it will work fine with my 250Ω Beyers but I need to use IEMs at certain times.
Looks like an easy build save for the absence of a ready-made chassis solution; any suggestions there?.


----------



## Allanmarcus

GimmeCans said:


> Does this (WHAMMY) 'play nice' with sensitive IEMs like Etymotics? The 'pitch' implies that it will work with 'anything' but I mean with acceptable noise levels and usable volume control range. I know it will work fine with my 250Ω Beyers but I need to use IEMs at certain times.
> Looks like an easy build save for the absence of a ready-made chassis solution; any suggestions there?.


No, not good with sensitive stuff


----------



## GimmeCans

The write-up describes a way to adjust the gain but I lack the engineering know-how to do it, plus without switchable gain this would be a one trick pony


----------



## gaz2613

Hi guys this will be my second DIY project and I am really looking forward to building it.

Just a quick question please, does anyone know the best way to implement a power on led as I would like a visual indicator on the front for aesthetics.

What voltage would it need to be and would I need to tap into the power supply and add an extra regulator circuit to drop the voltage to around 3 volts for the led?


----------



## JamieMcC

Hi congratulations on going with Whammy it's a neat amp pretty straight forward to build and sounds superb.

Hiflying9 the thread creator here posted some details on the diyaudio thread about setting up a led indicator light

His schematic can be found here

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/317803-whammy-pass-diy-headphone-amp-guide-10.html


----------



## gaz2613

JamieMcC said:


> Hi congratulations on going with Whammy it's a neat amp pretty straight forward to build and sounds superb.
> 
> Hiflying9 the thread creator here posted some details on the diyaudio thread about setting up a led indicator light
> 
> ...




Thanks for this I did come across this before but the voltage of the LED is not specified. I've asked on that forum to see if I can find out.


----------



## jimmers (Jul 4, 2019)

gaz2613 said:


> Thanks for this I did come across this before but the voltage of the LED is not specified. I've asked on that forum to see if I can find out.


You choose the voltage of the LED. 
Depending on LED type (colour etc.), specified at 20mA, LEDs range from less than 2V to over 3V forward voltage drop, whichever type you use that circuit will supply the LED with around 10mA which is fine.


----------



## Allanmarcus

gaz2613 said:


> Hi guys this will be my second DIY project and I am really looking forward to building it.
> 
> Just a quick question please, does anyone know the best way to implement a power on led as I would like a visual indicator on the front for aesthetics.
> 
> What voltage would it need to be and would I need to tap into the power supply and add an extra regulator circuit to drop the voltage to around 3 volts for the led?


I used this which doubles as a power switch
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32802930968.html
I got the blue, 110v version and it works great


----------



## gaz2613

HiGHFLYiN9 said:


> She lives! Running in now with some Spotify music... I tried Burson op-amps but they aren't compatible. Will start looking into other op-amps that work.



Hi your build looks very nice indeed. I am still waiting for my board to arrive. I couldn't help but notice you said the Burson op amps are not compatible. I am sure I have seen other people using them but theres a resistor you have to change to 10k to make the amp unity gain stable if I recall.


----------



## JamieMcC (Jul 6, 2019)

fyi I've had no problems using the Burson V6 Vivid or V6 Classic also the Chinese Marantz discrete hdam module clone. They were all plug and play with very low dc offsets.


----------



## gaz2613 (Aug 13, 2019)

Okay guys I have spent quite a bit of time and money on obtaining OP Amps for testing and here are by findings:

Tested using HiFiMan HE400i headphones and a Topping D50 DAC. I used FLAC audio 96Khz 24 bit. Evanescence Synthesis album.

Dual Op Amps (8P-DIP):

AD823ANZ:
Operating Voltage: 36v MAX
Slew Rate: 22v/µs
DC Offset: L 0.5mV / R -0.2mV
FET: Yes
Notes: Vocals very good but some mids and treble sounds a little raspy.

LM833-N:
Operating Voltage: 36v MAX
Slew Rate: 7v/µs
DC Offset: L -0.1mV / R 3.4mV
FET: No
Notes: Very good all round OP Amp with clear vocals, good soundstage and natural bass.

LM833P:
Operating Voltage: 36v MAX
Slew Rate: 7v/µs
DC Offset: L 22.9mV / R 26.2mV
FET: No
Notes: Very good OP Amp with clear vocals and good soundstage. Improved version of the LM833-N although DC offset is considerably higher.

RC4580 (Texas Instruments):
Operating Voltage: 18v MAX
Slew Rate: 5v/µs
DC Offset: L 14.2mV / R 14.1mV
FET: No
Notes: Good general OP Amp with tiny noticable distortion amounts with certain types of music, sounds best with dance music.

OPA2134PA SoundPlus:
Operating Voltage: 18v MAX
Slew Rate: 20v/µs
DC Offset: L 0.6mV / R 0.4mV
FET: Yes
Notes: Very clear with good soundstage and vocals very pronounced. Very nice OP Amp.

OPA2228PA
Operating Voltage: 18v MAX
Slew Rate: 2.3v/µs
DC Offset: L -0.2mV / R -0.1mV
FET: No
Notes: Very good, clear up front vocals, very good mid and treble, wide soundstage, overall I like this OP Amp.

OPA2107AP
Operating Voltage: 18v MAX
Slew Rate: 18v/µs
DC Offset: L -0.2mV / R -0.3mV
FET: Yes
Notes: Very clear and concise right through all the ranges. Vocals very prominent and wide soundstage. I really like this one.

LME49720NA
Operating Voltage: 17v MAX
Slew Rate: 20v/µs
DC Offset: L 0.8mV R 1.6mV
FET: No
Notes: Nice all round OP Amp with good soundstage. Very clear but mellow sounding.

AD746JNZ
Operating Voltage: 18v MAX
Slew Rate: 75v/µs
DC Offset: L -0.3mV / R -0.2mV
FET: Yes
Notes: Very nice sounding with wide soundstage, clear mids and treble with punchy bass. I really like this one.

LM4562NA:
Operating Voltage: 17v MAX
Slew Rate: 20mv/µs
DC Offset: L -0.4mV / R -1.1mV
FET: No
Notes: Very good all round OP Amp with clear vocals and good soundstage.

NJM4556AD:
Operating Voltage: 18v MAX
Slew Rate: 3v/µs
DC Offset: L 5.8mV / R 5.4mV
FET: No
Notes: Nice OP Amp with clear vocals, wide soundstage and balanced bass. Mids and trebles seem a little softer compared with other OP Amps.

Burson V6 Vivid Dual:
Operating Voltage: 33v MAX
Slew Rate: 45v/µs
DC Offset: L -2.0mV / R -1.5mV
FET: Yes (Fully Discrete)
Notes: Premium OP Amp obviously by far the best I've tried so far. Deep and wide reaching soundstage and up front clear vocals. My number one choice.

Next time I will be testing the following SOIC OP Amps on 8P-DIP adapters:

OPA1622, OPA1662, OPA2210, OPA2189 and OPA1692

Hope some of you find this helpful.


----------



## JamieMcC (Aug 13, 2019)

Good info thanks It would be extra helpful if you would add what phones and dac you are using to your post above for further context along with maybe price of op amp.

Congrats on the whammy build as well.


----------



## gaz2613 (Aug 13, 2019)

JamieMcC said:


> Good info thanks It would be extra helpful if you would add what phones and dac you are using to your post above for further context along with maybe price of op amp.
> 
> Congrats on the whammy build as well.



Edited OP.  apologies. I didn't add prices because my currency is pound sterling and most here use the American dollar.


----------



## gaz2613

Okay guys, as promised here is a review of the rest of the OP Amps I bought to test in the whammy. These ones are all on 8P-DIP adapters:

Again I used my HiFiMan HE400i headphones and Topping D50 DAC. I used FLAC audio 96Khz 24 bit. Evanescence Synthesis album.

8P-DIP Adapter based OP Amps:

OPA1622 SoundPlus:
Operating Voltage: 18v MAX
Slew Rate: 10v/µs
DC Offset: L -152.6mV / R -154.2mV
FET: No
Package: VSON-8
Notes: This is an excellent OP Amp, High clarity, wide sound stage, no noticable distortion, this one is truly stunning from the mids and trebles right through to the vocals. DC offset is extremely high in this one. Maybe due to the extra onboard components of the DIP adapter. There are some resistors and capacitors.

OPA1662 SoundPlus:
Operating Voltage: 36v MAX
Slew Rate: 17v/µs
DC Offset: L 76.2mV / R 74.8mV
FET: No
Package: SOIC-8
Notes: Very wide sound stage, clear with good mids and trebles, vocals prominent and up front. Overall nice sounding OP Amp. DC offset is also quite high.

OPA2189:
Operating Voltage: 36v MAX
Slew Rate: 20v/µs
DC Offset: L -0.1mV / R -0.2mV
FET: No
Package: VSSOP-8
Notes: This is quite a nice OP Amp with clear vocals, wide soundstage and balanced mids and trebles. Very low DC offset.

OPA1692 SoundPlus:
Operating Voltage: 36v MAX
Slew Rate: 23v/µs
DC Offset: L -34.8mV / R -34.9mV
FET: No
Package: SOIC-8
Notes: Crystal clear, good sound stage and up front vocals. Sounds really nice this one.

OPA2210:
Operating Voltage: 18v MAX
Slew Rate: 6.4v/µs
DC Offset: L -0.1mV / R -0.2mV
FET: No
Package: SOIC-8
Notes: This OP Amp sounds incredible. Very wide soundstage, clear mids and treble with vocals just at the right distance. This one really brings out the finer details. Very low DC offset. Really like this one.


----------



## Allanmarcus

gaz2613 said:


> OPA2210:
> Operating Voltage: 18v MAX
> Slew Rate: 6.4v/µs
> DC Offset: L -0.1mV / R -0.2mV
> ...



Thanks for all the reviews. Can you go into a little detail what is needed to use this opamp and what changes are needed to the board to use it?
Thanks.


----------



## gaz2613

Allanmarcus said:


> Thanks for all the reviews. Can you go into a little detail what is needed to use this opamp and what changes are needed to the board to use it?
> Thanks.



Hi thanks for your interest. The chip is simply a smaller package chip soldered onto an adapter board to plug directly into the op amp socket so no modifications are required.


----------



## Jimmy24 (Oct 13, 2019)

So I built this amp a few weeks ago and I just wanted to say this amp is amazing. I'm a bit surprised there isn't much talk about it. It sounds more impressive than the amp kits I've built in the past, even ones that are much much more expensive. I can say without a doubt this is the best amp kit I've built. The amp is paired with my Modi Multibit and HD 650's. Deep soundstage, accuracy, clarity, and lifelike realism I've ever heard. Price wise, I doubt it can be beat! Thank you to Wayne and 6L6 for making such an incredible amp. Truly phenomenal!

Op-amp impressions:
I highly recommend the LM833N which is cheap and compliments the Mimby and HD 650's very well. It has a warmth to it that really gives it a lifelike and engaging feel to the music. 

The Burson V6 Vivid has a very accurate and neutral sound. Clarity here is unmatched. Soundstage is a bit deeper than the LM833N but you don't get the warmth of the LM833N.

Burson V6 Classic is similar to the Vivid's but its a little more laid back and less in your face. Probably better for classical and jazz music. Sound is still very detailed. It may have slightly more soundstage than the Vivids.

I have the OPA2210 and OPA2107AP coming in so I will give my impressions on those once it comes in.

Cheers!


----------



## Jimmy24

The OPA2107's are out of this world. Biggest soundstage I've heard so far without compromising detail, clarity, and most of all punch. There seems to be an improvement in bass as well. Wow, truly truly stunning! Like the LM833N it has warmth and is very immersive. Favorite so far!


----------



## gaz2613

Jimmy24 said:


> The OPA2107's are out of this world. Biggest soundstage I've heard so far without compromising detail, clarity, and most of all punch. There seems to be an improvement in bass as well. Wow, truly truly stunning! Like the LM833N it has warmth and is very immersive. Favorite so far!



I thought you would like that one. Also a really nice one is the Analog Devices AD746JNZ. You will not be disappointed.


----------



## Jimmy24 (Oct 15, 2019)

I will be sure to check that one out  So far the OPA2107's make HD 650's sound like HD 800's but with more warmth and bass without it being analytical. Clarity here so lifelike! Too good!!!


----------



## Allanmarcus

Finally done with the Wood WHAMMY! Here are the pics:





























I'll add some rubber feet tonight, and it's done. I love it. Now come opamp rolling. It runs very cool.


----------



## ashleydoormat

Nice work there Allan! 15V is most definitely cooler than my 22V. I'm thinking of changing the transformer to 15V/18V to run cooler as I don't need that much voltage swing. Did you fabricate the wood yourself?


----------



## nerone

Allanmarcus said:


> Finally done with the Wood WHAMMY! Here are the pics:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Only one very minor thing to achieve perfection: change the screws for black ones. Otherwise, great job.



ashleydoormat said:


> Nice work there Allan! 15V is most definitely cooler than my 22V. I'm thinking of changing the transformer to 15V/18V to run cooler as I don't need that much voltage swing. Did you fabricate the wood yourself?



He said on another forum that he did. First with inexpensive wood then the final version.


----------



## Allanmarcus

nerone said:


> Only one very minor thing to achieve perfection: change the screws for black ones. Otherwise, great job.
> He said on another forum that he did. First with inexpensive wood then the final version.



I'd love to get black screws, but my local hardware store doesn't sell them. 

yep, but to b clear, the cheap pine was $3 for the piece and the "expensive" wood was $12 for the piece.


----------



## nerone

Allanmarcus said:


> I'd love to get black screws, but my local hardware store doesn't sell them.
> 
> yep, but to b clear, the cheap pine was $3 for the piece and the "expensive" wood was $12 for the piece.


See, 4x the original price, way more expensive. 

I also want to build one whammy, and as I want to add some funcions, like a DAC, I want to build with the board sideways, with the the psu section on the back, pot on the side with extension shaft.
For a quick solution I'm thinking about a Dragonfly using the Neutrik USB connector, similar to the RCA's you used.
I was thinking about finding one box just like yours, as I don't have the space to do mine at home.

I'll keep searching for the right box.


----------



## nerone

Allanmarcus said:


> I'd love to get black screws, but my local hardware store doesn't sell them.
> 
> yep, but to b clear, the cheap pine was $3 for the piece and the "expensive" wood was $12 for the piece.


I just thought about one thing. Have you tried sharpie?


----------



## Luckbad

I used to spray paint my screws when I built computers with spray painted black cases (before they were available). Works rather well.


----------



## JamieMcC

Black nail polish works well


----------



## Allanmarcus (Oct 18, 2019)

Thanks. All great ideas. I'm done black paint before, and it works well. I sort of forgot about that simple solution. I'll probably just color the from two screws.

BTW, I didn't show it in the picture, but the power button on the front lights up blue (it _is_ a Pass designed amp) when the power is on.


----------



## ashleydoormat

@Allanmarcus Just curious here. What sort of power tools are needed to fabricate woods and make panels like yours?


----------



## Allanmarcus (Oct 19, 2019)

ashleydoormat said:


> @Allanmarcus Just curious here. What sort of power tools are needed to fabricate woods and make panels like yours?



Mitre saw. Router. Router table helps. Drill. Drill press helps. Jig saw

A local "maker" shop should have these items. Buy some cheap 4"x1" pine from a big box store and fabricate a prototype.

here's a rough outline of how I made it
https://sites.google.com/marcusfamily.info/diynotes/my-stuff/whammy-amp/whammy-3-wood


----------



## JamieMcC (Oct 19, 2019)

ashleydoormat said:


> @Allanmarcus Just curious here. What sort of power tools are needed to fabricate woods and make panels like yours?



If your considering doing something like this keep an eye out in the home depot or home discount stores, for wood chopping boards or place mats when your shopping often you can get some really good deals on inexpensive wood options suitable for such builds. Ikea is a great source

I used a couple of $5 Bamboo chopping boards to make a matching turntable plinth and phono stage enclosure out of.


----------



## Jimmy24

Has anyone here compared the Whammy to higher end amps? With a OPA2107 this beast is better than some $1K+amps I've heard before and not by a small margin either.


----------



## Jimmy24 (Nov 9, 2019)

Just tried the MUSES02 vs the OPA2107. DC offsets were much higher on the MUSES02 at 18/12. OPA2107 offsets were near 0 at -0.8/-0.3.

MUSES02 didn't have the kind of soundstage and instrument separation as the OPA2107. OPA2107 had a wider holographic soundstage. Also I can't stress enough how good the life-like sound comes out of the OPA2107. I don't get excited about head-gear often, this is revolutionary.


----------



## doowap

I'm thinking about building a WHAMMY. I see there is a lot of info on how to build it, but not much on how it sounds. Can anyone give me an idea of what commercially available HP amps this might be comparable to, and maybe some subjective impressions about the sound? For reference, right now the only amps I have are a Schiit Magni2U, Fiio A5 and Fiio Q1ii using a topping D10 or Schiit Modi2U as a DAC.


----------



## JamieMcC

doowap said:


> I'm thinking about building a WHAMMY. I see there is a lot of info on how to build it, but not much on how it sounds. Can anyone give me an idea of what commercially available HP amps this might be comparable to, and maybe some subjective impressions about the sound? For reference, right now the only amps I have are a Schiit Magni2U, Fiio A5 and Fiio Q1ii using a topping D10 or Schiit Modi2U as a DAC.




Its a Wayne Colburn design so don't "think" just order, build and be very happy you did so instead of dropping $1000 on a commercial off the self amp.


----------



## doowap

JamieMcC said:


> Its a Wayne Colburn design so don't "think" just order, build and be very happy you did so instead of dropping $1000 on a commercial off the self amp.


Its that good, huh? Yea I won't be buying any $1000 hardware any time soon, so I'm sure its better than anything I could afford to buy off the shelf. I've never soldered or done any kind of electronics DIY stuff, so I think I'm gonna start with a CMoy or something, but the WHAMMY and Bottlehead Crack(or starving student, as that describes my budget) are the two amps I really want to make, once I feel confident I can put them together. I usually listen on HD600s, or Beyer DT880 600ohm and I want to get the most out of them.


----------



## JamieMcC (Nov 13, 2019)

doowap said:


> Its that good, huh? Yea I won't be buying any $1000 hardware any time soon, so I'm sure its better than anything I could afford to buy off the shelf. I've never soldered or done any kind of electronics DIY stuff, so I think I'm gonna start with a CMoy or something, but the WHAMMY and Bottlehead Crack(or starving student, as that describes my budget) are the two amps I really want to make, once I feel confident I can put them together. I usually listen on HD600s, or Beyer DT880 600ohm and I want to get the most out of them.



I've built half a dozen or so Cracks (a modified Crack with premium tubes can easily double the cost of a stock Crack & Speedball) Crack is a lot of fun but if on a tight budget do factor in the temptation of a bit of tube rolling on top which can get spendy real fast.  With the Whammy in comparison if you do get the itch to experiment a bit with tweaking the sound to your personal preference rolling op-amps might only cost a few dollars.

In addition to the Whammy currently I have also Diyaudio T2/Noir a Chord Mojo a heavily modified Bottlehead Sex and Bottlehead Mainline. The Whammy is a easy recommendation while its doesn't give quiet the same experience as the Mainline performance wise in my system the Whammy does get very close for a fraction of the cost (I'm using a Burson V6 Classic op-amp in my Whammy with Sennheiser HD800 cans, OPPO 205 as dac, Roon Rock server).

The Whammy due to the pcb layout with block transformer and lower operating voltages is I would say a more user friendly build for a new builder than a tube amp with high voltages present throughout the amp like the Crack.

Definitely a good idea to practice first on a couple of cheap projects. Lots of support and good advice for builders on the Whammy thread on the DIY audio site

Hope that helps


----------



## doowap

JamieMcC said:


> I've built half a dozen or so Cracks (a modified Crack with premium tubes can easily double the cost of a stock Crack & Speedball) Crack is a lot of fun but if on a tight budget do factor in the temptation of a bit of tube rolling on top which can get spendy real fast.  With the Whammy in comparison if you do get the itch to experiment a bit with tweaking the sound to your personal preference rolling op-amps might only cost a few dollars.
> 
> In addition to the Whammy currently I have also Diyaudio T2/Noir a Chord Mojo a heavily modified Bottlehead Sex and Bottlehead Mainline. The Whammy is a easy recommendation while its doesn't give quiet the same experience as the Mainline performance wise in my system the Whammy does get very close for a fraction of the cost (I'm using a Burson V6 Classic op-amp in my Whammy with Sennheiser HD800 cans, OPPO 205 as dac, Roon Rock server).
> 
> ...


Yea the Bottlehead Crack would be an expensive project. I really want a tube amp though, so I will hopefully end up making one eventually but I'm gonna work my way up. Have you heard one of the "Starving Student" amps? I'm curious how that would compare, or if it would be a good project while I get some experience/save up to make a Crack.
Also, did the switch to the Burson V6 Classic require any modification, or do you just pop the original op-amp out of the socket and pop in the Burson? What made you pick Burson V6 Classic?


----------



## ThermalAlchemy

Just came back from the 2019 Burning Amp festival in SF Last weekend. Just build the WHAMMY and swap out Op amps untill your hearts content listening to the different sound signatures. Very beginner friendly and tons of support with an excellent illustrated build guide over at DIYaudio. 
           Save your desire for tubes until you’re a little more experience with the soldering gun and laying down and putting together components. 
            If you really want to crave that thirst for a tube amp a very cheap inexpensive one with great performance and you do not have to purchase the ridiculously expensive tubes you could get plain Jane RCA or Sylvania stay away from the high price tubes as a beginner and be pleased with the tube sound. There’s also many brand new tubes manufactured in Russia and in Italy and Japan and China some of the better brand Chinese ones. For roughly $199 on sale get the (Dark Voice SE336) it works excellent with my Sennheiser 650 and 800.
             And the dark voice makes an excellent preamp for your solid-state amplifier to give you that that tube Sound and soften up the harshness of a class D amplifier


----------



## Allanmarcus

The starving student amp from DIY is good, as is the crack. The crack commonly goes on sale for Black Friday, and you don't need a speedball for fancy for it to sound good. The speedball will alter the sound a bit, and good tubes and make it sound much better, but even with stock everything, the crack sounds great WITH high impedance headphones. It will sound like crap with low impedance headphones. The crack is also incredible easy to make. garage1217 also has some nice DIY amps and a good DIY tips page The starlight kit is only 149, but I don't know if that includes a tube.

The WHAMMY is a pretty easy build for the board. The harder part is the chassis. 

I recommend you start with a few cables, then build an amp.  

BTW, see my signature for all my collected wisdom on DIY stuff.


----------



## Jimmy24

Shouldn't this be moved to the Headphones Amp Full Size category? I think it deserves a bit more recognition


----------



## HiGHFLYiN9

Jimmy24 said:


> Shouldn't this be moved to the Headphones Amp Full Size category? I think it deserves a bit more recognition


The WHAMMY is inherently DIY in nature, but I don't see why a separate thread on WHAMMY impressions would be out of place in the Headphone Amps forum. Why don't you do the honors and get one started Jimmy? 

Also FWIW, Bottlehead gear is 15% off currently.


----------



## Allanmarcus

Hi. Burson Audio sent me a couple of their opamps to test (unsolicited) in exchange for posting a picture. They sent me a classic V6 and a vivid. Here's the picture. I had to use a couple of extra sockets to extend the pins and allow a fit.







How do they sound? Honestly, I really can't hear a difference between them, or other opamps. I even have two WHAMMYs and did a/b testing. Maybe, possibly, there is a subtle difference, but I could not really identify it, and my ears would adjust so fast, it wouldn't make a difference to me.

Thanks to Burson for the opamps.


----------



## JamieMcC

Burson Audio also contacted me (unsolicited) before xmas and asked if I would like a  V6 Vivid and V6 Classic discreet opamps to try in my Whammy as well.

Having purchased both the both V6 Classic and V6 Vivid personally in the past it was great to have another listen and revisit my initial thoughts especially as some things have changed in my system.

I had moved on my original V6 Vivid some six months or more ago as I found the Vivid just to fatiguing to listen to for longer sessions and my personal preference was for the more musical presentation (as I heard it) of the Classic. Luckily I still have my original V6 Classic so was able to compare a new out of the box V6 Classic with one that  had several  hundred hours of use. The fresh out of the box V6 Classic presentation was instantly recognisable and very similar to my well run in one but there was certainly a little less openness and the intimacy to the vocal presentation. The density of tone and texturing that I really like about the V6 Classic was there but it didn't quiet have the finesse and polish to its presentation that I was used to with my well run in one but still very enjoyable and easy to listen to for long sessions.

Now switching to the V6 Vivid something I was in all honesty not really looking forward to and put off for some time but wowzers  what a surprise and difference compared to my prior experience of comparing the Vivid to the Classic.

I distinctly 100% preferred the Classic previously finding the Vivid a bit to much of a good thing and to fatiguing for me to listen to for anything but a short periods. For me the Classic just had more of the refined and musical presentation I enjoyed.

The surprising thing is I'm now going to do a complete about face a full on U-turn and say I find the V6 Vivid a really enjoyable listening experience my dac Oppo 205 and HD800 headphones remain the same the only difference is I had moved to a dedicated Roon Rock set up for my source last year. 

The difference between my past and present experience with the V6 Vivid must be down to Roon and I honestly found it was a chalk and cheese listening experience for me. I now find the V6 Vivid equally as musical and long session are not tiring in the slightest which means I can enjoy that extra level of resolve and speed the Vivid brings to the table a very unexpected and ultimately very enjoyable result.

Its very commendable of Burson to reach out to ordinary diy headfiers and give the chance to try out their products I very much appreciated the opportunity to try their V6 Vivid and Classic Op amps once again.


----------



## Jbucla2005 (Feb 11, 2020)

I love this amp, I use it for headphones but also as a pre amp. I prefer the LM833N op amp to the OPA2107A because it is warmer to my ears.


----------



## Ad-Astra

I have a whammy amp for sale if anyone is interested. I'm located in the US


----------



## gaz2613

Hey all I made a few different designs based on Wayne's power supply for the whammy. The one shown is a single rail positive CRCRC filtered linear supply. This board is already in the fabrication house and I'll be fully testing when they arrive.



I have also made a board based on the pilot light schematic submitted by 6L6 which allows you to easily add a pilot or power LED to the whammy or any other amp that doesn't have the provision for a power LED. Simply tap into the transformers AC output or the power supplys DC output. I made an alteration to the original circuit by adding a variable resistor to allow you to adjust the brightness of the power LED indicator for your build. These are also in the fabrication house.


----------



## JamieMcC

gaz2613 said:


> Hey all I made a few different designs based on Wayne's power supply for the whammy. The one shown is a single rail positive CRCRC filtered linear supply. This board is already in the fabrication house and I'll be fully testing when they arrive.
> 
> 
> 
> I have also made a board based on the pilot light schematic submitted by 6L6 which allows you to easily add a pilot or power LED to the whammy or any other amp that doesn't have the provision for a power LED. Simply tap into the transformers AC output or the power supplys DC output. I made an alteration to the original circuit by adding a variable resistor to allow you to adjust the brightness of the power LED indicator for your build. These are also in the fabrication house.


Those boards could prove handy for all sorts of projects. Keep us updated
Cheers


----------



## gaz2613

JamieMcC said:


> Those boards could prove handy for all sorts of projects. Keep us updated
> Cheers



Will do. I'll post my other designs at some point in the next few days.


----------



## gaz2613

Here are my other designs. First up we have the traditional dual rail positive and negative power supply which can be useful for many projects:




I have modified the design from the one on the whammy where by the LEDs on the output are used to provide the regulators with an idle load and there is also provision to attach a single LED for use as a power on indicator. Other than that the design is practically the same.

The next one is very similar being dual rail but this time it provides 2x positive rails so you can build a power supply with dual outputs to power multiple devices.


You may not be able to see well in the images but there is provision for a power on LED indicator for each rail so you can easily see that both outputs are powered up.

Finally I also quickly made a board for the 15/25VA transformers so you can add to your own projects. I know these are readily available but I made mine easier to understand for wiring to either 120v or 240v depending on your country's voltage specification.



If you have any more ideas then let me know.


----------



## gaz2613

Here is the single rail PSU I built. Working nicely I might add. I need 2 of these boards for testing so I have 8 available.


----------



## gaz2613

Got some dual rail boards if anyone is after any? This is pretty much the PSU section of the whammy but with a couple of design changes.


----------



## penmarker

Very fun build, loving the sound.
I'm letting this go if anyone is interested.


----------



## Avinunca1 (Jun 2, 2020)

penmarker said:


> Very fun build, loving the sound.
> I'm letting this go if anyone is interested.




Nice build and case but It would be good to see some insulation on the mains connectors.


----------



## JamieMcC

penmarker said:


> Very fun build, loving the sound.
> I'm letting this go if anyone is interested.



Was that a full kit and enclosure from the diyaudio store?


----------



## penmarker

The case is from AliExpress and laser engraved. The rear looks better because the laser can burn off the black anodization cleanly. The front is highlighted with some black graphite or else it wouldn't have the same contrast.

I'm not worried about the inlet connectors, just don't stuff your pokey bits into the receptacle or open it.


----------



## Avinunca1 (Jun 3, 2020)

penmarker said:


> I'm not worried about the inlet connectors, just don't stuff your pokey bits into the receptacle or open it.



Scenario - Dad's taken the lid off to roll some op-amps. He has been listening to LMxxx vs ADxxxx and pops to the kitchen to make coffee. Little Jimmy wonders in.........
Okay, with valve(tube) kit there's HT all over the place. With most semiconductor kit however there are only dangerous voltages up to the transformer primary.
It's so easy to make them (much) safer with a bit of sleeving. We cannot assume that any future owner will be as sensible (or sober).

Listening on my Whammy as I type..... love it.


----------



## penmarker

Thanks for the input, but little Jimmy is just as likely to poke a screwdriver around until he reaches the exposed solder points behind the transformer. I'll still update the connectors once I get suitable replacement shrouded crimp connectors though just in case.


----------



## individual6891

penmarker said:


> The case is from AliExpress and laser engraved.



Where did you get the laser engraving done from? If local, what price for the engraving? Trying to figure out my options in UK!


----------



## penmarker

individual6891 said:


> Where did you get the laser engraving done from? If local, what price for the engraving? Trying to figure out my options in UK!


It was done locally, *very* cheap. They charge about MYR15 per 10 minutes but the engraving took less than that so it was MYR15. Just prepare the vector file very well.


----------



## John Massaria

penmarker said:


> Very fun build, loving the sound.
> I'm letting this go if anyone is interested.


what are you using to replace it? is it still for sale and what OPA did you use?


----------



## penmarker

I still have my old Lehmann Black Cube Linear clone that I use as preamp and headphone amp duty. I was mainly thinking about selling it for the cash not because I found an upgrade.
Yes still for sale, there's a Burson V5 in it and a LM4562NA that I haven't tried yet. Initially built I used the cheap opamp from the BOM, it does its job but any better opamp will sound better.


----------



## Bhk1004

penmarker said:


> The case is from AliExpress and laser engraved. The rear looks better because the laser can burn off the black anodization cleanly. The front is highlighted with some black graphite or else it wouldn't have the same contrast.
> 
> I'm not worried about the inlet connectors, just don't stuff your pokey bits into the receptacle or open it.


 would you be able to link the case or maybe the name? it looks really clean. contemplating building one of these.


----------



## penmarker

Bhk1004 said:


> would you be able to link the case or maybe the name? it looks really clean. contemplating building one of these.


https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1028967209.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.51bf4c4dlLuUj3

I flipped the front panel because the power button doesn't clear the heatsinks if i mount the volume pot on the amp board


----------



## John Massaria

penmarker said:


> I still have my old Lehmann Black Cube Linear clone that I use as preamp and headphone amp duty. I was mainly thinking about selling it for the cash not because I found an upgrade.
> Yes still for sale, there's a Burson V5 in it and a LM4562NA that I haven't tried yet. Initially built I used the cheap opamp from the BOM, it does its job but any better opamp will sound better.


What are you asking for the PASS WHAMMY $ ?


----------



## penmarker

John Massaria said:


> What are you asking for the PASS WHAMMY $ ?


I thought about anything between $3-400, but after rethinking I'll be sticking to local sales.


----------



## Jimmy24

Does anyone have any spare 71-RN55D3300FTR? It's all sold out online. I just need 2 thanks!


----------



## hmscott (Oct 17, 2020)

Jimmy24 said:


> Does anyone have any spare 71-RN55D3300FTR? It's all sold out online. I just need 2 thanks!


It looks like that number is the Mouser Stock number, while the Vishay Dale part number is: RN55D3300FRE6

Mouser has 952 in stock for immediate shipping.  21 cents each, 42 cents total + shipping $7.99:


Spoiler: Order Cart details







Here's the aggregate link where I found the correlation, top line in the listing:
https://www.trustedparts.com/en/part/vishay-dale/RN55D3300FRE6

Datasheet    71-RN55D3300FTR
Vishay Dale RN55D3300FRE6
Res Metal Film 330 Ohm 1% 1/8W Â±100ppm/Â°C Conformal AXL Thru-Hole T/R

Here is the Mouser part page:
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay-Dale/RN55D3300FRE6


Spoiler: 2 pages of details, click to expand, click image to fullsize


----------



## Superpong

How do you think about the combo of Whammy and Hifiman Arya or Audeze LCD-X? How well does Whammy drive these two headphones?


----------



## joshUKUSA

Has anyone got a recommendation for a good dac pairing with this amp? Would it work better with an r2r like the ares 2 or something more like the topping d90


----------



## Paladin79

joshUKUSA said:


> Has anyone got a recommendation for a good dac pairing with this amp? Would it work better with an r2r like the ares 2 or something more like the topping d90


I was involved in some DAC testing involving 20 high quality DAC’s and Topping did well against many more expensive DAC’s. Personally I like the Schiit Gungnir and Bifrost 2 with the Whammy.


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## miter53 (Jul 9, 2021)

Whammy up and running with an OPA2107. Waiting on a case to complete the build.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

You fit those Obbligatos in there, good for you!


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## puck

I finally got my Whammy together.  I designed and built the case myself.  It’s all CNC gunmetal grey anodizer aluminum and walnut.


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## HiGHFLYiN9 (Jul 9, 2021)

Gorgeous work Puck. If you decide to build any more I'd love to build a second Whammy in one


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## puck

Thanks!  It was certainly a fun project.  You can always shoot me a pm.  Not sure about building another but you never know!


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## Dukei

puck said:


> I finally got my Whammy together.  I designed and built the case myself.  It’s all CNC gunmetal grey anodizer aluminum and walnut.


Beautiful case work! I like that all screws holding it together are hidden. Do you have any vents on the bottom of the case?


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## JamieMcC

Puck your Whammy looks great that is very creative.


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## puck

Thanks!  I don’t have vents at this point.  I looked at a number of other people’s cases and it didn’t seem like many were vented so I figured I’d try it without.  The bottom panel comes off with 4 screws and nothing other than the feet are mounted to it so I can vent it pretty easily later if needed.



Dukei said:


> Beautiful case work! I like that all screws holding it together are hidden. Do you have any vents on the bottom of the case?


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## adydula

The Whammy is gorgeous Puck!!

I just popped the 883 back in from a 2134 and with the D8000 Pros its magnificent!!

I really like your walnut inset ! Its beautiful!!

Alex


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## adydula




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## adydula

After many, many amps of all sorts and prices this IMO is about as good as it gets for amplification.

The tube speaker amp has its left and right channels using the same ground so its an easy wiring up of adapters with step down resistors for SE and Balanced.

The pre-amp in the PassLabs HPA-1 is not an afterthought, but a world class pre-amp that I drive the speaker amp with and the sound is gorgeous with most headphones.
No worry about power etc..

I rotate thru the Whammy, HPA-1 and other amps with Y-cables from the Schiit B2 dac so I can easily have three amps on and running at the same time to quickly switch between them all very efficiently....IMO all three amps provide a great sound.

Alex


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## chaotic_angel

my Whammy amp with Burson amp V6 series inside.


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## JamieMcC

chaotic_angel said:


> my Whammy amp with Burson amp V6 series inside.



Congratulations Whammy with the V6 is a superb way to go.


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## Allanmarcus

chaotic_angel said:


> my Whammy amp with Burson amp V6 series inside.


what does the knob in the middle do?


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## Paladin79

adydula said:


>


I always thought the appearance of the headphone jack on the PASS to be interesting. I built a Whammy some time ago. I prefer tube sound but if there is one solid state headphone amp I might go to it is the Whammy. Most everything I own is Class A and I have done my own designs on headphone and power amps.



In the last one I had to use some WW2 vintage pentodes as triodes in order to win a bet. Naturally I did cover the transformer in the headphone amp picture after all tests were completed. I did an all copper faraday cage in order to stay with a steampunk design.


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## chaotic_angel

Allanmarcus said:


> what does the knob in the middle do?


It is a 6 steps bass switch


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## adydula

Paladin79 said:


> I always thought the appearance of the headphone jack on the PASS to be interesting


The jack according to the designer was picked because there were no better options out there...mechanically or electrically and they tried a bunch. They state that this xlr jack actually gets better conductivity with repeated insertions. Many hate the look...IMO its just fine...


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## Paladin79

adydula said:


> The jack according to the designer was picked because there were no better options out there...mechanically or electrically and they tried a bunch. They state that this xlr jack actually gets better conductivity with repeated insertions. Many hate the look...IMO its just fine...


I have no issue with the connector type.😀


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## adydula

Paladin79 said:


> I have no issue with the connector type.😀


Some folks think for $3500 retail it should be just a higher priced unit.....fyi....


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## Paladin79

adydula said:


> Some folks think for $3500 retail it should be just a higher priced unit.....fyi....


Any sentence starting with “some folks think” can be applied to most anything😀 I do not pay for most things electronic so price is moot to me. My solid state devices tend to sit on shelves in my shop.


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Well... it's just a Neutrik locking connector. It probably is the most expensive 1/4" panel mount on the market. Honestly you can open up any multi-thousand dollar piece of electronics and find things that cost pennies FWIW.


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## Paladin79 (Dec 9, 2021)

HiGHFLYiN9 said:


> Well... it's just a Neutrik locking connector. It probably is the most expensive 1/4" panel mount on the market. Honestly you can open up any multi-thousand dollar piece of electronics and find things that cost pennies FWIW.


Agreed, to me the front panel looks like it was made to match other equipment no matter what was added to the front plate lol. Just an impression. Appearance and SQ are important to me but also not building two things exactly alike so friends have a unique amp when I am done.


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## JamieMcC

I only found out recently the Neutrik UK headquarters and plant is about 3k from me I pass by it several times a week and have done so for years and never realised until they put a big sign up on the building


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## HiGHFLYiN9

Paladin79 said:


> Agreed, to me the front panel looks like it was made to match other equipment no matter what was added to the front plate lol. Just an impression. Appearance and SQ are important to me but also not building two things exactly alike so friends have a unique amp when I am done.


Yeah, the annoying thing about the Neutrik locking connector is you can only blind mount it with a thin front panel, otherwise you have to have the full unit exposed. Blind mount below for those who aren't familiar. I think it looks a little nicer. Most audiophile gear has a super thick front panel to make it look expensive, so it's a no go.


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## Paladin79 (Dec 9, 2021)

HiGHFLYiN9 said:


> Yeah, the annoying thing about the Neutrik locking connector is you can only blind mount it with a thin front panel, otherwise you have to have the full unit exposed. Blind mount below for those who aren't familiar. I think it looks a little nicer. Most audiophile gear has a super thick front panel to make it look expensive, so it's a no go.


I am mounting them to 3/4 inch hardwoods, I use Forstner bits from the back side before any cabinet assembly is done. It can take me three weekends to build the cabinet, the electronics is the easy part.   I often mount to copper plate that I either brush or add patina to.
 

I have made over 50 to date for friends and have received such things as complete sets of tubes for my Cary amp as well as Focal Utopia headphones. I generally send a loaner amp out and get an offer I cannot refuse after the first or second person hears it.



My hobby pays for any and all gear I buy so in that sense I have nothing invested in anything I buy. I also have close connections in the industry.


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## kingoftown1

This thread needs a bump.  I recently built a whammy as an impulse purchase, and with it in the chain I'm truly enjoying the HD800 for the first time.  The lean, bright tonality is gone while retaining all the staging, instrument separation and detail strengths.   No pictures yet since I don't have a chassis, but I'm running a stock build, minus the input capacitors and with an OPA2107AP.


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## JamieMcC

Bump for a super sounding and affordable diy headphone amp.


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## chaotic_angel

Hello, has any one compare WHAMMY vs Singxer SA1 and Jotunheim 2 ?

I have WHAMMY with series of Bursons V6 Dual, just curious on how it against the Singxer SA1 and Jotunheim 2


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## Mattyjm

Hi, all how did you guys go about designing your chassis? namely the ones that @chaotic_angel and @puck made.


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## puck

Mattyjm said:


> Hi, all how did you guys go about designing your chassis? namely the ones that @chaotic_angel and @puck made.


I'm a mechanical engineer doing product design as my day job so I modeled everything in CAD and then CNC machined the parts.  There aren't a lot of people out there that have access to the equipment to do that though.


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## Mattyjm

puck said:


> I'm a mechanical engineer doing product design as my day job so I modeled everything in CAD and then CNC machined the parts.  There aren't a lot of people out there that have access to the equipment to do that though.


ill send a PM to you


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## chaotic_angel

Mattyjm said:


> Hi, all how did you guys go about designing your chassis? namely the ones that @chaotic_angel and @puck made.


mine is from Aliexpress


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## Mattyjm

chaotic_angel said:


> mine is from Aliexpress


do you have a link?


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## chaotic_angel

Mattyjm said:


> do you have a link?


not by specific, you start search by "amplifier case" the bass switch, on mine is drilled manually, the maker said.


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## JamieMcC (Oct 1, 2022)

This is the case I used from AliExpress

It's a fraction to wide for the PCB to slide into the internal grove both sides so I used a couple of small PCB standoffs to match the height on one side as these are secured with small bolts it also holds the PCB securely in place. If you go to page five of this thread you will find several pictures of the PCB mounted inside and how it looks all finished. This enclosure has a thick aluminium face plate so you need to be mindful of that and the length of the volume pot. I'm pretty sure the same kit was also offered with a thinner face plate for less which would have made life a bit easier on the flip side the case is a about two inches longer than necessary which gave more room both ends for working with which was nice. I think for the price paid I ended up with a nice enclosure.

https://redirect.viglink.com/?forma...plifier-case-AMP-Enclosure-case-DIY-box-172-6...

Base kit inside enclosure note room at front which allows fitting of upgrades like volume pot and output capacitors off board.  There are more pics on page five onwards 🙂

https://redirect.viglink.com/?forma...one Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org&txt=


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## mfadio

Mattyjm said:


> ill send a PM to you


I wouldn't if I were you, Puck's a madman.


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