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HF-81 Progress Report


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Mdeneen said

quote:

Lotsa posts here about matched tubes again. I hate to even post about this again, but regardless of what Joe Guru does to "match" tubes on a tube tester - no matter what kind - no matter how exotic - no matter how well tuned - no matter what they charge -this doesn't in any way mean the tubes will draw "matched current" when installed in these overly-simplified PP vintage amps. All you have to do is measure it in-circuit to see this.


Amen to that been there and done that !!!!! In fact just did it on the EICO and found it was off tube to tube in spite of using a so called matched set of tubes LOL !!!

This is why I say (learned from Mdeneen) and now on my third amp that bias adjust means everything to fine tuning your output tubes.

Craig the bias junky

This message has been edited by NOS440 on 03-28-2002 at 01:38 PM

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Oooooohhhhh I wish I could make one sensible contribution to this erodite tube discussion. Ah well - such is life.

In the meantime NOS - I noticed you are running your Heresy's matched to the Klipsch KSW 15. Are you happy with it?

I only ask as it was one of the options I was considering before I bought the REL Strata 3. Sadly I could not get my hands on one to test and the only unit I did get - the KSW10 was not up to the job.

This is, of course, a silly question so let me ask it in another way. Can you tell where the speakers stop and the sub starts? The reason I bought the REL was simply because i couldn't (and still can't).

As a feature of the sub this is far more important to me than big explosions in movies and the like. I just wanted to extend the Heresy's - not blow the roof off (although you can always give the volume control on the REL a twist if you want to pound a bit).

I suppose an indication of the integration I have achieved was demonstrated by Aristidis when he came round. He plum forgot, at one point that the sub was on, or, in fact, that there was a sub at all.

Show signature - not show signature - oh hell - it is my first contribution to this thread...

------------------

2 * Heresy 2 (mains)

2 * Homemade horn speakers (rears)

1 * REL Strata 3 sub

Accuphase E211 amp.

Tube monoblocks with separate pre-amp (DECWARE ZTPRE with separate beefed up PSU)

Pro-ject 4 turntable with Pro-ject 9 arm and Pro-ject 6 head,

Marantz CD6000 player

Sony NS900 SACD/DVD player

Stax Headphones (on loan to a friend)

Humax 5400 digital satellite receiver

Sharp Video

32" Sony flat screen 16:9 TV

Mogami interconnects

Silver Synergistic speaker cable

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maxg

I'm running my KSW-15 with my Heresy's because its what I had available to use. I took it from my HT setup. I'm very happy with its transition. I had a few people over and comment on the good smooth base and mid range was from such a small set of speakers they didn't even realise there was a sub (its tucked away under my work bench and not easily noticed). For the $400 I spent on it I'm very happy !

I was very happy with it in my HT setup also but it was a little large for the room and even in the larger workshop/basement that its in I'm only at 40% output. I think I'm going to pickup a KSW-12 for my HT setup and call the workshop home for my 15.

Its funny you asked that. I was just thinking last night while I was working on the HF-81 and listening to CD's that I just love the sound of my 299, Heresy's and KSW-15 that I really don't need any upgrades at this time I'm satisfied. Its been I while since I said that to myself Smile.gif The sound is just amazing at low volume , high volume it doesn't matter it just sounds full and detailed to say it in one word RIGHT !

Now let me say that I'm sure that there are much better Subs to be had out there but I haven't reached the fanatical point where money is no issue. If I was going to spend $2000 on a sub I'd just buy some higher grade Klipsch Heritage speakers like cornwall's or Lascala's. Subs can be pretty expensive and with most speakers not necessary. In my HT room with my SF-2 and my 222C Amp I really don't miss the sub at all for music but these speakers reach down to 35 that's allot compared to 50 of the Heresy's.

Craig

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Craig,

I Emailed Antique Electronic Supply and JJ Tesla.

(You want answers, go to the source.)

AES carries CE manufacturing multisection capacitors.

They are going to be making a 40/20/20/20 mfd @ 525 volt sectioned cap, and currently has 20 mfd x 4 @ 475 volts.

And he claims you can tie two 20 mfd in parallel to get 40 mfd.

C-EC20x4-475 $32.95.

The JJ Tesla site can provide a 20/20/20/40 @ 500 volts.

And you just leave off a 20.

I didn't get no prices,(But tons of Pics) I'm pretty sure you can't order from them direct, because they hit me up on location.

Which is a good indicator that one will have to purchase JJ Tesla through a U.S Distributor.

Some options.

THANX!

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Oh man, I screwed up and Emailed these guys concerning 20/20/40 value instead of 40/40/20!

I even have the same value cap, DUHHH!

My bad, sorry!

It doesn't matter anyway, the JJ Telsa cap will work like you said, and the CE manufacturing caps that will soon be availible(40/20/20/20 @ 525)can be configured the same way.

{Snip}

{Snip}

Okay one more edit, because of brain death.

My mistake!

http//www.jj-electronic.sk/

It's JJ Electronic, OOPS!

It should work, and you can Email them.

If not, keyword 'JJ Electronic' on your browser.

THANX!

THANX!

This message has been edited by mike stehr on 03-27-2002 at 03:34 PM

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Mike

I found a source and its cheap !! Here's the email from them.

Hi Craig,

Thank you for your inquiry. Below is the pricing information you requested.

When you order, please send your

complete shipping address, including zip/country codes and telephone number.

If you are a previous customer, let us know and we can check our database

for this information.

Thank you,

Sales@vibroworld.com

Here is your price quote in US Dollars: (Price quote expires 30 days)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------

? qty. 40/40mfd @ 350vdc and 20mfd @ 400vdc, 3-section FP type twist prong,

electrolytic can capacitor.

@ US$ 20.48 each

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Cool!

I'll check it out!

Look at this wiring nightmare, Craig.

dont feel bad.

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=712655&uid=513870&members=1

It's a HF-81, setup for adjustable biasing.

It looks like a nasty example at that.

I'm sure this can be done better.

YIKES!

This message has been edited by mike stehr on 03-27-2002 at 10:44 PM

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That is so funny it makes me feel so much better ! I've been taking the hacks wiring out of mine on and off since 10:00 this morning. I'd really like to meet the Idiot that did this upgrade wire job on this unit. What really surprises me is that the entire thing didn't go up in flames LOL ! Some of the tube connection's were so close to one another you literally had to get a magnifying glass to see the separation.

If the chassis was in better condition I would of most likely stopped 8 hours ago and scrapped everything in it and started from scratch. The amp just isn't in good enough shape cosmetically to spend that kind of money on it.

I sure hope after I get it all done it sounds as good as everyone say's they do.

Craig

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Mike

I found another option for that Cap. This ones from AES and you use it and than buy another Axial lead 40mfd/500V sprague to do the other leg with still ends up cheaper by a few bucks.

Part Number : C-EC50-50-500

Price : $ 10.95 EA

Description : CAPACITOR, ELECROLYTIC, 2 SEC, 50/50 MFD @ 500V

This message has been edited by NOS440 on 03-27-2002 at 11:19 PM

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Yes but with it you have to buy a clamp for $2 and another axial lead Electrolytic for $5 so in the end its less than $2 and doesn't look stock. I emailed Vibraworld back to see if they have them in stock or what they didn't say.

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Well the saga rolls on !!!!

I have the entire amp rewired and much to my amazement it still works LOL !!!!!!

It did some good and seemed to quiet down some of the static but did nothing for the harshness or the Hum. My 15 yr old daughter discribed it as way to sharp.

So the quest went on. I went to the local part house and I was amazed again they had a NOS Sprague Can Cap that fit the Bill for a whopping $12 bucks. I installed it and it got rid of allot of the Hum and some more of the static. I also bought every other electrolytic for the amp at the same time. While I'll most likely change them later. I'm going to use them as a diagnosis tool at least the 2 large voltage filter caps that call for 30MFD at 450V I'll change. The one's I bought are those smaller Niconin brand but they should do just to see if it helps.

Oh and Mdeneen is right there is no way to test if a Electrolytic is bad the Can still tests fine out of circuit.

I'll post some pictures later

Craig

This message has been edited by NOS440 on 03-28-2002 at 09:37 PM

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quote:

Originally posted by mike stehr:

Cool!

I'll check it out!

Look at this wiring nightmare, Craig.

dont feel bad.

It's a HF-81, setup for adjustable biasing.

It looks like a nasty example at that.

I'm sure this can be done better.

YIKES!

HOLY CRAP! That's what my house wiring looked like after I gutted the place. Did you buy the amp from a guy in CT??cwm25.gif

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Yea I have pretty much got all the hum taken care of now that I have replaced every Electrolytic in the unit. All of the smaller Electrolytics tested way out of spec some were even double there intended value. The 2 30 MFD spague's were fine but I put the new ones in anyway.

The thing that I'm sorry to say is the staticky noise above 50% volume is still there and the Harshness of the sound is still there. I'm so tired at this point of working on it and not really making much progress for all my hours that I have cleaned the major mess I made up on my bench and put the ^%*&%)*&^ on the shelf for at least a few day's. Maybe if I go back at it fresh something will start paying off.

I begining to think that the Harshness is a tone control problem and think the next thing I'm going to do is bypass the tone controls and the Balance controls. I'll have to really dig thru the schematic and scratch my head a few times and then Call my good CA connection Mdennen help !!!!!

I think that's where the problem is because they act funky when you turn them and for that matter the volume Pot is shot too !!!! Speaker volume doesn't rise and fall any where near equal but sometimes if you hit the right spot its fine and yes I've sprayed them a number of times turning the nob and did get rid of the scratch sounds but they still don't work right. I think they were the cheapest parts money could buy all the way thru these amps.

Oh well if it cause me much more headache I'm going to scrap it and sell the tubes out of it for a profit and sell the Iron also.

Craig

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Craig,

Sorry I could not get to the Heresy test for you. Unfortunately I lost my step sister to cancer the other day and have been very tied up with family matters. I played CD's and LPs through Cornwalls today and harsh sounds would surely be heard on the Cornwalls. I promise to get it done within the next 24 hrs.

Klipsch out

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