Nothing is Sacred

by cal3713 on Magna HifiAudio MirrorCoincidentWBTVH AudioSilverDuelundTempo ElectricDIYDiyaudio.comPeerlessAccutonDayton AudioOcelliaBalanced Audio TechnologyElgarfirst wattPass labsAudio KenesisShiny EyesEmission Labs
New House & Room
Old Room & System - 23' High Ceilings
Old Room
Coincident PRE Head Unit on Isoacoustics Isopods
Coincident PRE Head Unit with Tempo Electric Solid Silver Wiring, & External Duelund Crossover
Coincident PREs & First Watt F4
12" Peerless XXLS 1.5cuft Sealed Subwoofers
Duke 32 Wall-Loaded Subwoofer
Duke 32 Wall-Loaded Subwoofer
DIY First Watt F4 Monoblock and Power Supply
DIY First Watt F4 Monoblock & Associated Cables (Ocellia, Duelund, Tempo Electric, Acoustic BBQ)
F4 Special Edition - Nude Vishay Z-Foils Throughout the Signal Path & Harris IRFP9240s
F4 Monoblock with Dual Power Supplies
F4 Monoblock with Dual Independent Channels (one standard, one "SE")
Dayton Audio 1000W Monoblock Subwoofer Amplifiers
Shiny Eyes EML-20A Reference Preamplifier
Shiny Eyes EML-20A Reference Preamplifier
Modified Audio Mirror T3-SE
Modified Audio Mirror T3-SE
Magna Mano Ultra Streamer
Magna Mano Ultra Steamer with Upgraded SPDIF Output
4.7uf Capacitors for PRE's Tweeter Crossover (Duelund, Jupiter, & Stock Solen)
VH Audio DIY Silver Interconnects
KLEI Absolute Harmony RCA Connectors and VH Audio's UniCrystal OCC .99999 Solid Core Silver Wire w/ Cotton insulation
Elgar Power Conditioner
Some work I did on the topic in a previous life...

Description

My philosophy is to build, modify, break, and improve. 

The Coincident PREs can easily sound terrible, but they do let you hear every single change, from cables to capacitors and resistors to protective shrink wrap over cable terminations. They've taught me a ton as I've pulled more and more music out of them each step of the way. 

Toggle equipment details for more information about each system component.
Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 16’ × 19’  Medium
Ceiling: 23’

Components Toggle details

    • Coincident Speaker Technology Pure Reference Extreme with 99.99% Solid Core Silver Wiring & Duelund CAST High Pass Crossover
    Very revealing.  94db efficient, with a flat 8 ohm impedance.  Accuton ceramic drivers on the head units.  Two 12" Peerless aluminum bass drivers on each sub. 

    A single 4.7uF capacitor provides high pass for the tweeters.  The midrange connects to the amp through a single inductor. The bass units begin crossing over (via a single inductor, capacitor, and resistor network) at 125hz and play from 20Hz up into the bottom registers of the human voice.  All crossovers are first-order/phase correct. 

    I have upgraded the high-pass capacitor to a Duelund Tinned-Copper CAST and it was a wonderful change.  More clarity, better imaging, and more natural tonality over the stock Solen capacitors. I also replaced all binding posts with Wago high voltage pure copper wire clips and replaced all internal wiring with Tempo Electric solid core 99.99% silver in an oversized Teflon jacket (12ga for the bass, 14ga for the mid-range, & 20ga for the tweeters).

    • Audio Kenesis Distributed Bass Array (DIY)
    I augment my bottom end with a distributed bass array inspired by the Audio Kenesis SWARM.

    The DBA is completed by four units, two 1.5cuft sealed subs featuring the same 12" Peerless XXLS (835017) drivers used in the Coincident PREs and two "Duke 32" wall-loaded subwoofers using the 12" Dayton Audio RSS315HO-4 driver.  The system is run in a quasi-stereo setup by two Dayton Audio SA-1000 monoblocks, each amplifying a sealed sub and Duke 32" combo connected in series for an 8-ohm load. The sealed subs are located along the side walls of the room and the Duke 32s are in the front and rear corners.  Each amplifier handles a single channel and all crossover (24db BW @ 67hz) and EQ duties are handled by a miniDSP 2x4 HD.

    The "Duke 32" wall-loaded subwoofers are designed by Duke LeJune of Audio Kenesis and were purchased as kits from speakerhardware.com. 

    The subwoofer system is a key factor in overall system performance and the miniDSP is absolutely essential in allowing it fulfill this function. 

    Special thanks to Duke LeJune for encouraging DIY copying of his commercial design, and Linkwitz Labs, who's Thor subwoofer provided inspiration and eq guidance for the sealed subs.

    • First Watt F4 Monoblocks - "Special Edition" (DIY)
    A premium DIY build with help from Nelson Pass and the diyaudio.com/passlabs community.  Built with outboard power suppies using independent 400v transformers for both the + & - rails (1600v total), perfectly matched Harris IRFP9240 & Vishay IRFP240 MOSFETS, Vishay naked z-foil resistors throughout the signal path, VH Audio 28ga .99999 solid core silver input wire, Tempo Electric 14ga .9999 solid core silver output wire, 384,200uF of total power supply capacitance with inductor filters and 50uF film bypass capacitors, and pure silver WBT RCA connectors.

    From the F4 manual: "The combination of a simple Class A circuit operated without feedback and the good objective performance gives us a superb sounding amplifier. The low distortion, bandwidth extension, and high damping results in midrange clarity, treble detail, and control on the bottom end. While these are available from most good solid state amplifiers, the F4 also brings depth, imaging, midrange warmth and top-end sweetness. Overall, it is one of the best sounding amplifiers, and if you can live with unity voltage gain in your amplifier, it is possibly your best choice."  


    • Dayton Audio SA-1000 Subwoofer Amplifiers
    Class AB subwoofer amplifiers with their own built in crossover circuitry (bypassed in the current setup).  500W into 8 ohms, 1000 into 4. Each runs two of the four subwoofers in the distributed bass array. 

    • First Watt F4 Monoblocks (DIY)
    Currently unused, I also have a second First Watt F4 monoblock build with outboard power supplies and 144,000uF of total capacitance. They have a Nelson Pass designed BA-3 front end that provides additional gain in case a special use scenario arises (I previously used them to amplify single subwoofer channels).

    • Shiny Eyes EML-20A DHT Reference Dual Mono Preamplifier
    A three-chassis, custom built, single-stage preamplifier designed around the EML 20A-M tube by Radu Tarta of Simple Pleasure Tube Amps. The 20A is a low-distortion, high-gain modern DHT tube and drives the connected amplifier through high-quality amorphous core Monolith LTA 01/25mA output transformers. The pre uses the beautiful mesh version of the 20A tube, solid core silver signal wire (VH Audio silver in cotton), Lundahl power supply transformers and chokes, cathode bias, and DC coupled inputs. All AC/DC conversion occurs in separate power supply chasses to keep noise out of the sensitive DHTs. Each channel has its own power supply chassis. Volume is controlled by a silent-running Tortuga ePot.V3 Mini with its own independent power supply. It uses a discrete resistor ladder to provide attenuation and balance control. A swappable hardware module allows switching to LDR-based attenuation, although it sounds inferior to the resistor module.



    • Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE with Duelund CAST Caps, WBT Ag RCA Connectors, and 99.999% Silver Signal Wire
    A non-oversampling dac based on Analog Device's AD1865N-K R2R chip.  An output stage that can utilize 5977, 6N1P, 6DJ8, ECC88, 6922 and 6H23P tubes. Upgraded with VH Audio's 99.999% solid core silver wire and WBT pure silver RCA connectors

    • Magna Mano ULTRA Network Streamer with 99.999% Silver Signal Wire and a WBT Ag SPDIF Connector
    A highly modified raspberry pi based network streamer running logitech media server software.  Low noise, low jitter, with a linear power supply.  Lossless Tidal files are streamed via UPNP and fed to my DAC over a 1.5m 75-ohm VH Audio Pulsar pure silver digital cable.  Upgraded with a WBT Ag 75-ohm RCA SPDIF connector and VH Audio 75-ohm solid core 5N silver wiring.

    A huge added plus is that this system can be used to automatically record a history of everything you play.  See my list here: https://www.last.fm/user/cal3713
    • Ocellia Silver Reference RCA Interconnect
    99.99% pure silver wire shrouded in paper with a flexible natural rubber/mineral sheath.  2m connections to the monoblocks.

    • VH Audio DIY 28ga Fine Silver RCA Interconnect (w KLEI Absolute Harmony)
    Interconnects for the DAC -> Preamp connection.  Built using VH Audio's "UniCrystal OCC .99999 Solid Core Silver Wire w/ Cotton insulation" wrapped around a teflon tube core in a double-helix design and terminated with KLEI Absolute Harmony RCA connectors.  

    • VH Audio Pulsar Ag 75-ohm SPDIF Cable
    A solid core silver true 75-ohm digital cable. 1.5 meters long to prevent the signal reflection issues that arise in shorter cables.

    "The Pulsar Ag interconnect utilizes a single (unplated) high-purity, solid OCC Silver conductor of 24 AWG. The high-purity Silver conductor is produced by the Ohno Continuous Casting process, resulting in a single crystal structure, with none of the typical grain boundaries found with conventional processing methods."

    • Tempo Electric .9999 Solid Core Silver Wire
    .9999 pure silver solid core speaker cables in an oversized teflon jacket.  Used as amplifier output wire and both external and internal speaker wire.  Beautiful imaging and tonality with increased clarity and decreased distortion.  Everything just sounds more real and natural. 

    High quality solid core silver combined with the low dialect constant of the oversized teflon jacket used without termination is an outstanding sounding combination. Other companies may sell you more advanced geometry, but they're not going to beat the raw wire quality. These cables deserve more attention. 

    • Duelund Coherent Audio Tinned Copper CAST Capacitors
    The most beautiful tonality of any capacitor I've tried (Solen, Miflex, Jantzen Z-Cap, VH Audio TFTF, Jupiter Copper, ClarityCap, Mundorf Supreme, Mundorf Supreme Silver/Gold in Oil). Used as output capacitors in my DAC (1uF), former DS pre-amp (.47uF), and as the only component in the Coincident PRE high pass crossover (4.7uF).

    • Balanced Power Technologies BP-10.5 Ultra Balanced Power Conditioner
    Balanced power conditioner for cleaning up power for all digital components. Further refines the power provided by the Elgar.

    • Elgar 6006B Power Conditioner
    Industrial power conditioner... a great improvement to the front end components, but must be installed in a separate room. Provides power to all components except for amplifiers.
    • (SOLD) Thiel CS 1.6
    Paired with a Classe CAP-151 and fed via an Exemplar modified Denon DVD-2900.
    • (SOLD) Classe Audio CAP-151
    Paired with Thiel CS 1.6 speakers and fed via an Exemplar modified Denon DVD-2900 with tube output stage.
    • (SOLD) Exemplar Audio Denon DVD-2900
    A modified Denon DVD-2900 universal disk player with a tube output stage.  The source for a Thiel CS1.6 & Classe CAP-151 system.
    • (SOLD) Thiel CS 2.4
    Time and phase coherent speakers previously paired with a Pass Labs INT-30A and fed with a PS Audio Perfectwave DAC MkII.
    • (SOLD) Thiel Smart Sub SS1
    Subwoofer used to add further extension to Thiel CS 2.4s.
    • (SOLD) Pass Labs INT-30A
    Integrated amplifier previously paired with a pair of Thiel 2.4s and fed via a PS Audio Perfectwave DAC MkII.
    • (SOLD) Coincident Speaker Technology Super Eclipse III
    Efficienct 16ohm speakers paired with Coincident Frankenstein 300b monoblock amplifiers and fed via a PS Audio Perfectwave DAC MkII.
    • (SOLD) Coincident Speaker Technology M300B Frankenstein MK II Monoblock Amplifiers
    Wonderful 300b monoblock amplifiers, paired with Coincident Super Eclipse III speakers and fed via a PS Audio Perfectwave DAC MkII. Used with EML-XLS 300b power tubes.
    • (SOLD) PS Audio DirectStream & Perfectwave DACs
    A Perfectwave DAC, upgraded to MkII, and eventually to a DirectStream.  Used primarily with the Bridge II ethernet input.  Paired once with my Coincident Frankenstein 300b/Super Eclipse III system, and once with my current Coincident PRE system.
    • (SOLD) Don Sachs Audio DS-2 6SN7 Preamplifier with 99.999% Silver Wire, WBT Ag RCA Connectors, & Duelund CAST Caps
    Combined in a system with First Watt F4 monoblocks, Coincident PRE speakers, and an Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE DAC.

    ----

    Don's modification of the VTA SP-14 6SN7 circuit.  Upgraded with VH Audio's 28ga 99.999% solid core silver wire in cotton, WBT pure silver RCA connectors, and Duelund Tinned-Copper CAST output capacitors. 

Comments 55

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Owner
Hi Dan.  You can order the circuit boards, power supply boards, & chassis directly from the DIYaudio.com store.  Unfortunately there's no standard kit, but the parts list isn't too crazy.  I can e-mail you a spreadsheet with all parts sources listed.  It's also posted here:  https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/234355-guide-building-pass-f4-amplifier-134.html

If you go to the first page of that thread, you'll see the full build guide.  It's so well done, that you're basically building adult legos.  

Also, I'd be happy to help with ordering or parts questions if you decide to take the plunge.  I'd never built any electronics before making an F4, and it was very doable for me.  With all parts, it costs around $800 to make one.  Such a steal for a wonderful amp.  

cal3713

Cal, I'm wondering where you ordered your F4 amp kit from. That looks like something I'd really like to do. I know how much more enjoyable your system can be when you actually built a large part of it yourself.

I forgot to mention I built my own plinth for my Garrard 401, and mounted a Dynavector 501 arm. It is a joy to live with.

Regards,
Dan

islandmandan

Owner
@islandmandan & @jond.  Thanks for the comments.  Prior to this year I didn't really trust myself to open up any equipment, but thanks to a UPS/Fedex drop of my speakers, I was forced to learn.  I'm so glad I did.  That set me down a path that resulted in my amplifier build and my modification of every other piece of gear I own.  It's so much harder to hurt a component than I ever imagined, and learning about what's inside and how it impacts the sound has been incredibly rewarding.  I can't recommend it enough.

cal3713

As a sometimes DIY'er, I admire your efforts. I've built some kit amps and preamps, and mostly built my speakers (finished them anyway, wiring them, building my crossovers, and polishing the high gloss finish to a higher degree than when they arrived from the shop where they were actually built).

I also had the foam surrounds replaced with cones that were modified with "Hard Edge" surrounds. Drivers are 1975 Tannoy HPD 315's (12" Dual Concentric).

They seem to work well with pretty much any amp I've tried, SET 300B, SET 845, and even Class D. Fun stuff, especially when you can't really afford High-End gear, but want the sound.

Regards, and enjoy,
Dan

islandmandan

Cal thanks for posting gorgeous room and a very interesting system. Great write-up too now I totally understand your thinking and direction with your system. I am not a DIY guy myself and I envy you guys who are comparing caps sounds fun. Keep us posted on any new updates and happy listening!

jond

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