[Seano]

It's great to have the amp running again. In truth it wasn't down for that long (2 weeks?) but I was never happy with the look and layout of the original version. In truth it sounded way better than it looked. Now I think it looks as good as it sounds. I keep glancing over at it every time I walk past and smiling in satisfaction.

The GK-1M case will be a modified Altronics 2U rack case that I ordered yesterday. They are on special at the moment for $70.  The board layout of the GK-1 doesn't really favour the billet construction and, given the look of the amp, I figured a rack case was the place to start. I'll again ditch the aluminium fascia and go with jarrah and I've got some 40mm copper boiler pipe for the tube shields. I may also make a jarrah inlay for the area around the tubes too.  We'll see when I get the case and can have an optic.

Organoil is a great product. Actually a great range of product. We use a variety of their product on our furniture which we either restore or build from recycled timber. I like the hard burnishing oil (a mixture of tung oil and citrus oil) cause it is clear and doesn't appreciably darken the timber like their interior oil. It is also possible to get quite a shine up with it. All you have to do is sand down (using an orbital sander) to 800 or 1200 grit then apply the oil and wait 20 minutes. If all is absorbed then repeat and keep going until the surface is saturated.  Then using your last piece of used paper and sand the surface again, wiping the paper down to remove the debris as you go. With a close grained piece of timber you end up with a surface you can see your reflection in. Wait 24 hours then buff with lambswool or soft cloth then apply Organoil's furniture polish....you get a very good result that looks and smells fantastic.  www.organoil.com.au

[Rom]

Hi AKSAphiles and all,

I have added a few more pic of my almost finish but a fully working AKSA 55W N plus.

Enjoy!

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=442

Seano,

Nice job on your kit.

Cheers
Rom

[Noel T.]

Greetings Everybody,
My Aksa constructions so far.
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=456

[AKSA]

Hi Rom, Noel,

Many thanks for your beautiful AKSAs;  the photos are marvellous, and show the superb workmanship.  Thank you, and all others here, for posting them to the gallery.

My congratulations!

Cheers,

Hugh

[SamL]

Greetings Everybody,
My Aksa constructions so far.
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=456

Hi Noel,

Very nice work. Where did you get the case & heat sink? I am thinking about the same thing for my next project.

TIA,
Sam

[EchiDna]

all updated in the index post... sheesh, we better start warning the dialuppers...is there still any of them around?  

[Lost81]

Hey fellow AKSAphiles,

Just installed the Chris VenHaus V-Caps for the 2 AKSA 100W Monoblocks serving Treble / Midrange duty. They are breaking-in right now. It's been 2 hours so far, but the midrange is (as Hugh stated) unbelieveably sweet.

According to Chris, 75% of the burn in occurs after the 100 hour mark, but right off the bat the V-Caps are already incredible in the midrange and highs.

You can find pictures of them in the nested album in my gallery:

Lost81's Gallery

(And no, I haven't gotten round to installing the Nirvana Plus Upgrade Kit yet...  )


Cheers,
-Lost81

[Rod]

Hi Lost81,

Very nice work!  I particularly like the brushed fascia on the equipment. Did you get an engineering workshop to produce that sort of finish or source the materials yourself?

PS: I think you need a flexy rack for all that lovely equipment. Here's a pic of mine.  ( The sound improves in depth and resolution if the CD player is on it ).http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~rodneynoble/cabinet/images/15_finished_no_equip_a.jpg

Cheers
Rod

[Lost81]

Very nice work!  I particularly like the brushed fascia on the equipment. Did you get an engineering workshop to produce that sort of finish or source the materials yourself?

Hi Rob,

Thank you!

I presume you are talking about the chassis for the TLP Nirvana and ART DIO. These were done almost 2 years ago. The brushed fascia come stock. Here's information pertaining to the chassis. (They are the same chassis a number of manufacturers on this forum are using for their own products). Let me know if you need the company's contact information.

The face plates for my AKSAs are still at the machine shop, awaiting some CNC-ing, as well as brushing and anodizing.

PS: I think you need a flexy rack for all that lovely equipment. Here's a pic of mine.  ( The sound improves in depth and resolution if the CD player is on it ).http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~rodneynoble/cabinet/images/15_finished_no_equip_a.jpg

Yes, I have been thinking about that.
Home Depot sells finished MDF panels (veneered).
Some individual was letting go a black salamander rack for $75 last week, but it was a verticle stack configuration (which will ruin my soundstage).
I will probably need a rack that is wider than it is tall.

How did you find the construction experience of your flexy-rack?



Cheers,
-Lost81

[AKSA]

Benny,

Brilliant, neat work - well executed!  If you had any more turbos and superchargers on your AKSA 100N, you wouldn't be able to fit all the pipes and drive belts!!  A very tight installation indeed - do you find that the teflon caps completely understate the bass, but do something almost astral to the mids and highs?  I found it made the amp literally like a 2A3 SET with testicular augmentation....

Cheers,

Hugh

[Lost81]

Thank you, Hugh!

If you had any more turbos and superchargers on your AKSA 100N, you wouldn't be able to fit all the pipes and drive belts!!  A very tight installation indeed

Haha! Sounds like my car! I fitted 2 before-throttle fuel injectors to guarantee a rich-mixture at high-boost. Now installing them and trying to get them to work without burning my car to the ground was fun (They rarely come into operation though. Everytime I step on the gas pedal, dollar signs start floating before my eyes )

...do you find that the teflon caps completely understate the bass, but do something almost astral to the mids and highs?

I must admit I haven't got the chance to connect them to a full-range speaker, so I can't tell. They have been connected to an iPod and 2 satellite speakers (woofers--in separate enclosures--are in public storage), breaking in at low volume for the last 20 hours. If any bass is lost, it could be due to the substitution of the stock electrolytic bypass capacitors for the Elna Cerafines as well.

Since I have installed the Elna Cerafines outboard, there is space (drilling required as the lead spacing is 15mm) to install a Simens 1uF 100V stacked film, "naked" capacitor someone highly recommended to me, which are supposedly very low impedence. Have you ever experimented with them?

Update:[/u]
After some research, I discovered that these are the Siemens MKT Metalized Polypropylene resistors liked by many. Their dissipation factor, tan ? @ 20 degrees Celsius (68 F) is an impressive 0.008 @ 1kHz, and 0.015 @ 10kHz, for the capacitance value of 1uF. Service life is 200,000 hours @ 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) within stated voltage range. I may go ahead and install these sometime in future  

I noticed that the stock configuration of 100uF electrolytic and 100nF / 150nF film cap deviates from the general "rough and ready" rule of bypassing 1/100th of the value of the larger capacitor. I wonder if a 1uF cap will result in any improvement here.

I found it made the amp literally like a 2A3 SET with testicular augmentation....

As you predicted, the midrange and highs (particularly the midrange) are incredible. It is very, very sweet. Very, very palpable. When the trumpets come on, you can almost get a cavity listening to it, elephantitis in the scrotum notwithstanding (props to andyr for lifting his line)...  

And it just keeps improving with every passing hour



Cheers,
-Lost81

[SamL]

It's about time my Aksa gear was introduced to the world, so here's another gallery entry:

My Aksa Kit

If I can keep the GK-1 switched off for long enough, I'll get some pics of the internal layout.

Cheers!

Hi Ron,

How do you manage to get the clear alu heat sink cabinet? I search the Monacor site and all they have is black. The parts number I found is RC-112/SW. Also, how much is it? The site did not say anything about price.
I am thinking of building an intergrated amp using aksa55.

Cheers,
Sam

[RonR]

Sam,

I eventually got these cases from Germany, at: http://www.musicians-gear.com

RC-112/SW is the case I used, with an extra brushed ally front, RCP-2.

The Monacor website should have the ally fronts listed.

I was tempted to order an extra front panel, in case I made a complete pig's ear of the brushed ally one, but that's just a reflection on my metalworking skills.

Warning: The built-in Heatsinks on this case do not have the 'shelves' like on the Hugh-supplied Heatsinks, so you'll either have to:
1. Modify the AKSA heatsinks to fit (they are the correct size but with slightly larger fins, they will need rebates machining in them and tapping for mounting screws).
2. Make up the shelves from ally, fixing and thermally bonding to the Monacor heatsinks.
3. Mount the power transistors on the Monacor heatsinks and chop the AKSA boards (like I did).

I've just taken some more pics, so I'll be updating the Gallery in the next few days.

Cheers,

Ron.

[Rod]

Here is a pair of Hugh's cases that I bought for my (ongoing) active system.  They make a nice couple don't you think?

[Lost81]

Here is a pair of Hugh's cases that I bought for my (ongoing) active system.  They make a nice couple don't you think?

Very nice!
They do look like they are built like tanks


-Lost81

[SamL]

Warning: The built-in Heatsinks on this case do not have the 'shelves' like on the Hugh-supplied Heatsinks, so you'll either have to:
1. Modify the AKSA heatsinks to fit (they are the correct size but with slightly larger fins, they will need rebates machining in them and tapping for mounting screws).
2. Make up the shelves from ally, fixing and thermally bonding to the Monacor heatsinks.
3. Mount the power transistors on the Monacor heatsinks and chop the AKSA boards (like I did).
 ...

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the warning. I am aware about this. At the moment I am on option 2 & 3. Will check the web site again to see if I can find any aluminium finish.  Need to match my current aksa.

Cheers,
Sam

[Seano]

Here is a pair of Hugh's cases that I bought for my (ongoing) active system.  They make a nice couple don't you think?

They are built pretty well but I'm not sure that they'd cope with being driven over as Hugh suggests. The base is not fixed to the front or rear panels so the weight of a vehicle on it would probably bow the case like a banana. I suppose that's just splitting hairs

Mind you I did find that the base plate does bow slightly under the weight of the two toroids. I ended up fixing the base plate to the fascia.  Much better.

And I'm still not thrilled by the stock fascias but that's definitely a personal opinion. Which is probably why I sent mine back to Hugh and used a piece of Jarrah.

Overall, one of these jobbies is way easier to handle than a rack case for an AKSA.  For those of us close to the action, Hugh's case is well worth the expense.

[jules]

Hi all,

I've just posted a few pics of my wood hybrid Aksa 55N+ in the gallery ["Jules Aksa 55N+", sorry don't know how to make a link here though I've managed to elbow on to page one for the moment]. Some of the details are:-

  * Case is Huon pine. This is a rare and beautiful Tasmanian timber, slow growing with a very fine grain structure. I thought twice before using it and I hope the product is worthy of the wood. The sides are 23mm and the top is 27mm.

  * The floor is 1.8mm non-magnetic stainless steel. I designed this with a CAD program and had several laser cut. The price is not all that high and in fact the total cost of the case [excluding the zillions of hours work] was less than $150 ... I think. The front and back are both folded up to form a strong U profile and the heatsink is attached with 5 screws so that it is part of the structure rather than an add-on.

  * The step in the floor solves all manner of layout problems:- the wiring is very clean. The floor is absurdly strong and the outside of the case is totally clean.

  * The ventillation is very carefully thought out with lots of escape slots on the top and sides while the inlet slots [underneath] are specifically located so as to draw air past the toroids and pcbs.

  * speaker posts are Cardas and all screws and fasteners used are stainless [including the star post item which has been replaced with a 3/16 ss round head screw and dome nut]

Many thanks to Hugh for his willingness to answer all questions and also to all the other members of this forum who responded to my naive queries.

 

Jules

[lonewolfny42]

Jules.....looks great !!!

Link....

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=465[/list:u]

[Rom]

Jules,

Congratulations!

Very very nice , I like the design , excellent workmanship.


Cheers
Rom