Aerobat
Class A all the way
I just finished the build of this unit for Glenn and it went very well. The attention to detail and completeness of this kit is impressive. After building a number of Pass components that include nothing but a circuit board (and sometimes not even that) it was fun to do a paint-by-numbers project.
As received with upgraded caps, resistors, and opamps.
All of the parts. They are in many bags. 2 sets of very nice metallic stickers are included. The case has a nice heavy feel.
Progress. The PCB comes in one piece that snaps apart into 5. Each component has an individual checkbox on the instructions. You will use a lot of solder and will need a couple different sizes of iron tip between the ICs and the heavy AC connections.
This jack was the fussiest part, use a small tip to put a bit of solder on each pad, then lay the tabs on it and heat from the top.
The M-Caps are a snug fit, make sure they don't cover the slot on the right side.
The solder joints get a QC check with a magnifier and bright light to fix any bad ones or shorts. In goes the traffo and completed boards. Like putting together a puzzle.
It comes with Chinese 12AU7s, Glenn provided Sylvania which I installed and also a set of Phillips.
As they say on the DIYAudio Pass forum, We are Fearless Amplifier Builders. Power on, and the LED blinks 32 times and the relay clicks. There are pads to verify +-12v in the phono section and 140v B+. All looks good. I connected a DAC to the input and a headphone amp to the output and heard music, so the next step is to put it in the system in place of the BA-3 linestage.
Finally, Glenn asked me to do the grommet fix from @sanford12 and it worked well with some silicone grease.
To be continued...
As received with upgraded caps, resistors, and opamps.
All of the parts. They are in many bags. 2 sets of very nice metallic stickers are included. The case has a nice heavy feel.
Progress. The PCB comes in one piece that snaps apart into 5. Each component has an individual checkbox on the instructions. You will use a lot of solder and will need a couple different sizes of iron tip between the ICs and the heavy AC connections.
This jack was the fussiest part, use a small tip to put a bit of solder on each pad, then lay the tabs on it and heat from the top.
The M-Caps are a snug fit, make sure they don't cover the slot on the right side.
The solder joints get a QC check with a magnifier and bright light to fix any bad ones or shorts. In goes the traffo and completed boards. Like putting together a puzzle.
It comes with Chinese 12AU7s, Glenn provided Sylvania which I installed and also a set of Phillips.
As they say on the DIYAudio Pass forum, We are Fearless Amplifier Builders. Power on, and the LED blinks 32 times and the relay clicks. There are pads to verify +-12v in the phono section and 140v B+. All looks good. I connected a DAC to the input and a headphone amp to the output and heard music, so the next step is to put it in the system in place of the BA-3 linestage.
Finally, Glenn asked me to do the grommet fix from @sanford12 and it worked well with some silicone grease.
To be continued...