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Hi folks
Marc is my name and I started a build of the 6SN7 pre.
I got started with the PCBs as that is the first thing up in Jim’s video’s.
First off I want to just state that Jim has been so helpful and encouraging along the way. The parts are beautiful, especially the boards.
I am a novice at this but learning fast. I have built one amp so far and it is running and sounding beautiful. My soldering skills are getting pretty darn good.
Ok, as Jim says enough blah, blah, blah.
The PCBs went perfectly as all I had to do was follow Jim’s vid build. I did vary a little bit and built two boards at once. I found that to be pretty easy. So PCBs went together no sweat.
I then got a little antsy and started in on then signal boards. Jim doesn’t have a video out yet so I took a look at the E80CC vid and figured it looked pretty easy also. I knew that certain parts and places would change and was prepared for that. I did mess up one thing and that might have been fortuitous. I installed the jumper in the center of the board used in the E80CC kit. It’s not used in this kit. Oops.
But it did show that using the octal socket instead of the nine pin may (if forced down onto the board by a grizzly) come dangerously close to the pads for the jumper. I knew this because in installing the jumper the reverse side pads where the wire came through and the solder volcano was causing interference with the octal socket sitting flat. After Jim corrected me that the jumper is not used, I took it out and made sure the pads were clean and laying low. I have checked and checked mine and the octal leads are well clear of the pads. So my accident/mistake gave Jim and Charles a heads up to a “maybe” problem. Don’t be a grizzly!!!
Today I started in on the chassis/plinth. I gave it a very lightly stained oil rub and it really brought out the grain.
Looks beautiful.
More to come.Hi Marc!
Thanks for building one of the first kits. It sounds like you’re having fun with it.
When Jim brought the PCB issue to me it was a bit of a “duh” moment. I spent so much time trying to get the board design perfect, I hadn’t considered that the socket pins could be cutting it close to shorting on the jumpers. We’re going to provide some electrical isolation on future kits and the issue is going to be fixed on the next board revision.
So this was great feedback and exactly the reason why we want to work with test builders first. An extra set of eyes will often see something we missed.
More build videos coming soon (though at this point we might have to catch up to you!).
Have fun and stay safe,
CharlesHi Marc,
Yup, you’ve got the right idea. You should be able follow most of the e80cc build and apply it to the 6or12sn7 universal kit. The capacitor mounting method is the same as on the Yuri as well. Just watch the length of your leads.
The biggest differences are the DC in resistor to drop 7v to 6.3v and the PCB.
Let us know if you have any more questions and we’ll help you along.
Charles
That 18mm pad was another mistake on my part, but we’re going to have that fixed for the main kits. You’ve been a great help to us already. I just finished uploading up to episode 8 on the channel so hopefully that will help you along.
Let us know if you need any more guidance in the meantime.
That’s great to hear Marc!
We like the extra set of inputs as well and think it adds some nice versatility, while saving a lot of cable swapping.
Thanks for being one of our first test builders and helping us make these kits even better.
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