ANK Audiokits Have Arrived! Follow the Build Here

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Raylinds, Feb 6, 2015.

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  1. triple

    triple Senior Member

    Location:
    Zagreb, Croatia
    I have no personal experience with the CuTF caps, only the OIMP caps that I have in my dac. These are very good, much, much better than the stock ones. However, even these required 600 hrs of burn-in and they sounded bad throughout.

    As far as teflon caps go, I have used Rel-cap TFT caps in several places, mainly due to their compact size. Again, they required 1000 hrs of burn-in time and they sounded bad throughout. These days I get around this problem by using an external burn-in device.

    I have no experience with AN caps, even though my preference is for PIO caps. My problem with AN caps is their huge size and their high price doesn't help either.
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2015
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  2. Don Parkhurst

    Don Parkhurst Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    I think those transformer covers you found look great. Definitely give you a more finished look. Preamp looks really good so far......
     
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  3. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer Thread Starter

    Thanks- I'm very happy with them. I told Brian (the owner of AN Kits), and he is considering offering them as an option.

    The preamp is something I am very excited about, but it is something of an unknown, as it veers the furthest from Audio Note design, but it is supposed to sound amazing according to those who have heard it. It uses triple C-Core output transformers and, though it is based on AN C-Core design, AN UK does not make triple core. The shunt power supply is an interesting design in that it holds power in reserve until a sudden loud passage requires it. It is supposed to be very fast and dynamic.

    From what Triple said (which is right on the money with what I had read elsewhere) the caps will take forever to break in and will sound bad for a while, so it will be a long time before I know what it is really capable of. I will have to figure out a way to play it around the clock for a while. It will also mean I will need to wait a long time before I should start tube rolling and upgrading cables (which will give me time to save up).
     
  4. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer Thread Starter

    So the build project for Sunday was to take the huge 8' X 4' sheet of Walnut Burl Veneer ( I erroneously referred to it as Maple in a previous post) and cut it roughly to size for the speakers. The idea is to cut it with about an inch of overlap on each side.

    The veneer cuts easily with kitchen sheers- here are the bottom pieces made of the least desirable grain pattern:

    [​IMG]

    Laying out the most important parts- the fronts and the tops. I wanted to center the burl pattern and laid out the top right above the front so the pattern matches and is a continuation:

    [​IMG]

    Here is the speaker with the front panel sitting on top:

    [​IMG]

    The yop:

    [​IMG]

    The side:

    [​IMG]

    The veneer comes unfinished. When finished properly, the burl pattern will be more prominent and three dimensional.
     
  5. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer Thread Starter

    A very productive day on the first monoblock. I got most of the power supply wired:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I also got the 300B filament PCB installed:

    [​IMG]

    Tomorrow I am planning to start applying the Veneer to the speaker cabinets. Now it's time for a beer.
     
  6. utahusker

    utahusker Senior Member

    If I could "like" you grain patterns a hundred times, I would do so. Wow, beautiful, and as you say, when the finish is applied it'll jump out at you.

    Tung oil would really make them stand out.
     
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  7. Coricama

    Coricama Classic Rocker

    Location:
    Marietta, GA
    You deserve a beer, nice work!
     
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  8. samurai

    samurai Step right up! See the glory, of the royal scam.

    Location:
    MINNESOTA
    Fun thread, thanks for sharing!
     
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  9. rbp

    rbp Forum Resident

    Is the veneer self adhesive or do you have to apply glue?
     
  10. nitsuj

    nitsuj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midwest
    Agreed, great veneer. Tung Oil is nice, used it on some oak furniture last summer.

    I am in the process of finishing a solid tiger maple and curly walnut audio rack built by a friend. I am using Minwax Antique Oil. It is basically a thinned wipe-on oil/varnish. It really "pops" the figure and enhances chatoyance. I would not hesitate to use it on that gorgeous veneer. Shellac/French Polish would also look fantastic. Avoid poly.
     
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  11. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer Thread Starter

    I spent extra to get the self adhesive backing. That doesn't work well on all surfaces but works great on the birch plywood that the cabinets are made of.
     
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  12. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer Thread Starter

    Thanks!
     
  13. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer Thread Starter

    I have plenty of spare pieces, so I am going to test several finishes, including a few oils and shellac.

    I have been reading that if I go for a gloss finish, that walnut has large pores and a sanding sealer can help- anybody have experience with that?
     
  14. The Good Guy

    The Good Guy Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    I just spent the last 40 minutes reading & enjoying this thread . I admire you for taking on this project. I hope it delivers the sound you want.
     
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  15. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer Thread Starter

    Thanks- I'm really enjoying this project. It is much easier than it appears and I anticipated it would be. The instructions are idiot-proof, as I am proving. :p
     
  16. nitsuj

    nitsuj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midwest
    Ray, Your veneer looks like the grain has been "knocked down" and finish sanded to at least 400-600 grit. Unless you can visually see open pores I would skip the sanding sealer. If you decide to test something like the Antique Oil: I would start by "flooding" your first coat (heavy application with foam brush, wait 5 minutes, follow with a single light pass of clean and dry rag/t-shirt). After 24 hours cure, rub it out with #00 steel wool backed with a firm sponge or scotchbrite pad until evenly dull in appearance/reflection. Repeat if pores are not filled to your satisfaction. Follow with lighter coats lightly rubbed in with #0000 steel wool, tip with a single pass of foam brush, wait 5 minutes, single light pass of clean and dry rag/t-shirt. Cure 24 hours, lightly rub out with #0000. Repeat with a minimum of 4-5 coats. After the last coat has cured for a week do a very light once over with #0000. Then get some burlap and burnish the finish with a small amount of paste wax (that contains a high quality pure carnuba). Put some muscle into it. let it set a couple minutes then buff it out with a lambswool mitt/pad.

    If this seems like a lot of time and work, it is. No shortcuts to a museum quality finish. I have been finishing my rack for over a month, on and off. 5 coats looked nice, but 13 coats was my magic number. Temperature and humidity will need to be factored as most varnish, shellac, etc. behave/cure differently as these fluctuate. I did all of my work in a 55 degree basement with maybe 20-30% humidity.

    My 2 cents. Good luck and have fun.
     
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  17. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I'd love to see a photo!
     
  18. psulioninks

    psulioninks Forum Resident

    Location:
    KC Chiefs Kingdom
    Audio PORN! :)
     
  19. Don Parkhurst

    Don Parkhurst Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Ray
    You are getting great advice! This is why I like this forum so much. Everyone is helpful and positive (most times). Going back to burning in the preamp, I would buy a good basic FM tuner, like the 30 year old Sansui that I recently bought. Tune to a local station and leave it playing. If you need tons of hours on the preamp but not the amp, then turn off the amp and only power the preamp. That will save on power amp tube wear.

    I love how the speakers look so far. Although it is hard work, the layers of finishing will really pay off. Threads like yours are helping me wait for my new AN E SPE HEs that are being built. It's tough to have patience!
     
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  20. beowulf

    beowulf Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chula Vista, CA
    I'm certainly in awe of the quality of parts, fit and finish in this kit. I've never seen any kit out there that can compete on a finished level such as this. When it's all said you will not only have a great system, but can also take extra pride in knowing that is was built by your own hands. And +1 to the transformer covers as they give a nice finished look.
     
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  21. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer Thread Starter

    I started working on the speakers yesterday at my friend's carpentry shop. I forgot my camera so didn't get any pictures, but I will next time. We built a box to practice applying the veneer scraps to, and it turned out really well. We then tested some rub-on satin poly finish on some scraps and man, did it look dreat. The walnut really darkens up and the burl pops! I am going to experiment with diferent finishes on scrap to see what looks the best, but the method nitsuj suggested sounds like some work, but would be worth it.

    I had read that the veneer probably won't stick well to the exposed plywood ends on the front of the speakers so, as advised, I applied bondo to the ends and am in the process of sanding them to prep for the veneer.
     
  22. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer Thread Starter

    The tuner sounds like a good idea, but I think I am going to put my music server on shuffle and run that through the preamp. Waiting for those speakers must be difficult but will be worth it!
     
  23. Don Parkhurst

    Don Parkhurst Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    That is also a terrific idea. I put about 22,000 songs on a Mac Mini with four SSDs in it and two external drives and sometimes it's nice just to let it play in the background.

    If you use your own music server, you will be able to enjoy the voyage of burn in and hear it improve every day (glass half full!), then you will know when it has reached its peak.
     
  24. moops

    moops Senior Member

    Location:
    Geebung, Australia
    Would love to see a parallel thread with the building and drinking combined.
    Would be interesting to see a comparison of the finished products. :)
     
  25. tim185

    tim185 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Errrr, what the hell is "burning in", in a computer system?
    There isnt any such thing occuring.
     
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