[F-100]

Greetings to all TVC owners,

As much as I love the TVC in my system, I feel that the chassis doesn’t have the aesthetic look that I was looking for. I even tried to build my own DIY chassis with Ebony wood knobs but still not quite satisfied. My woodworking skill is horrible so I decided to recruit a professional woodworker on this forum to build a custom chassis for my TVC. That person is Chris, aka Christof, whom I have highly respected with his excellent craftsmanship and have built my custom subwoofers in the past and for other members here as well.


For the initial design, Chris proposes to use  mass-loaded bottom panel that has a low resonant frequency.  The panel would include a sheet of Black Hole pad sandwiched between two layers of ½” MDF. Then the transformers will be mounted on the top layer of the MDF. Vibrations will be trapped in the bottom layer of MDF and not be able to travel through the top layer which hold the transformers in place. See picture below:




At this point, we are still in a preliminary design stage and can use some more ideas, comments and suggestions from other TVC owners so please feel free to chime in.
Your input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Christof]

Here is a conceptual drawing of F-100's TVC preamp case. The case is approximately 14" wide and 12" deep and the rendering is done with solid Birds-eye Maple material.  I expect changes to the design to happen but this is our starting point.
 

[tanchiro58]

Hi Chris,

This is an excellent idea with an exotic look for the TVC's owners and lovers.

I will ask you later (when I get enough cash for exotic wood) to build a custom woodworks for my Altmann Attraction DAC and BYOB amp and my Promitheus Audio gears (Apollo preamp and SS DAC). Do you do exotic wood face plate for preamp and amp too? Let me know. Thanks.

Regards,
Tan

[Christof]

Tan

When time permits we can build nearly anything...just ask.

Regarding the TVC case I would like to hear any input you folks might have pertaining to the mounting platform.  After speaking with Derrick (F-100) about vibration damping and reading through many of the threads here in the Promitheus circle, I felt it would be important to build a platform using CLD construction.  It seems that most folks have had good luck using Black Hole Pad with their TVC's so it seems to me that using it between two layers of mdf would have a very good effect on damping.  Any thoughts?

c-

[F-100]

Chris,
  Do you have any rough dimension of the chassis and what do you plan for the top panel?

[Christof]

The overall dimensions that I modeled this enclosure at are 14" width and 12" depth.  The height will be somewhere around 4" for the face plate and 3.5" for the box.  I need to measure the trannies in my TVC to see what the minimum height requirement is.  Because of the thick platform on the bottom and 1/2" top panel, the height of the enclosure has to be a bit larger than the sock TVC case.  Here is a pic showing the top panel in place.

[some young guy]

That should look really nice! What are you using for a knob?

[Christof]

Thought about these until I read this 

Warning:
Injury may result from sticking Thingamaknobs in your eyes, nose or mouth. Do not swallow Thingamaknobs. Please do not throw Thingamaknobs, you could hurt somebody.

 

I'll contact you if the shoe fits

[some young guy]

Thought about these until I read this 

Warning:
Injury may result from sticking Thingamaknobs in your eyes, nose or mouth. Do not swallow Thingamaknobs. Please do not throw Thingamaknobs, you could hurt somebody.

 

I'll contact you if the shoe fits

That's cool, I'd be happy to help if needed. But I really only asked because the project looks great and I just finished something very similar and toiled over what wood I wanted to use to nicely accent the maple.

[Avalon]

Custom chassis = , many aesthetic variations possible to cater for different tastes, I'm thinking: Dodd.

Vibrational isolation - why reinvent the wheel? - Google for symposium fatpads or svelte platforms and incorporate them in the design. These use tried and tested combinations of layers converting kinetic (microvibrational) energy into heat, for such as this case. Try the smaller fatpads under any component within the box that needs isolation from the rest, plus say a svelte platform under the finished box aa.

I became a dealer for Symposium after i experienced what simple, inexpensive fatpads did under all sorts of things including a certain $12K preamplifier, no joke.  All materials will have some sort of sonic signature, MDF included, so you'll experience all sorts of effects otherwise.  Anyway, I bet more effective and faster than most DIY.

[Christof]

Avalon

You must be talking about these or the different variations thereof:

There are no US prices shown, unless I missed them. 

Vibrational isolation - why reinvent the wheel? - Google for symposium fatpads or svelte platforms and incorporate them in the design. These use tried and tested combinations of layers converting kinetic (microvibrational) energy into heat, for such as this case. Try the smaller fatpads under any component within the box that needs isolation from the rest, plus say a svelte platform under the finished box aa.

I don't think we are trying to reinvent anything, simply just trying to come up with a device that works well and stay within budget.  Derrick and the folks here seem to find that the BHP works well with these preamps but I would tend to think that the devices you mentioned would be more effective due to the more substantial "lossy" layer between the two rigid surfaces.

Custom chassis = Thumbs up, many aesthetic variations possible to cater for different tastes, I'm thinking: Dodd.

The sky is the limit

c.

[ecramer]

Avalon

You must be talking about these or the different variations thereof:

There are no US prices shown, unless I missed them. 

Vibrational isolation - why reinvent the wheel? - Google for symposium fatpads or svelte platforms and incorporate them in the design. These use tried and tested combinations of layers converting kinetic (microvibrational) energy into heat, for such as this case. Try the smaller fatpads under any component within the box that needs isolation from the rest, plus say a svelte platform under the finished box aa.

I don't think we are trying to reinvent anything, simply just trying to come up with a device that works well and stay within budget.  Derrick and the folks here seem to find that the BHP works well with these preamps but I would tend to think that the devices you mentioned would be more effective due to the more substantial "lossy" layer between the two rigid surfaces.

Custom chassis = Thumbs up, many aesthetic variations possible to cater for different tastes, I'm thinking: Dodd.

The sky is the limit

c.

Web sight says $159 set of 3 for the pads why are these pads so expensive, looks to me like a sheet of no rez with some sheet metal on each side not picking on this product. it just always has me scratching my head at the cost of these products

[tanchiro58]

I am satisfied with DH cones and some Shun-Mook footers. I tried Shelve and BDR platforms before the sound was dull and not musical in my system. My opinion is hard and exotic wood are best making platforms and cones. I have found the Black Delrin Acetal platforms are an excellent choice too but they are expensive.

[F-100]

Chris,
In the early version of the TVC,  the trannies were mounted with only two brass screws and and some black roofing tar. Most of the TVC owners including me, found that by using BH pad as a damping material underneath the TVC trannies really improve the sound. In matter of fact, Nick Chua is using the BH pad on all of his new TVC now. Just saw this at his website.
Furthermore, BH pad only cost $11 for a 12" x 18" sheet so it's still relative cheap.

[Avalon]

Christof - you got it!
And yes, ultrapads exist but not always visible on their website.
I simply thought I'd offer my experience to any who may be interested, as a *probable* major, and rapid step forward.

They run about $150 for 3, and the finer the equipment, the more mesmerising the difference, tho I'm sure this is not a rule of nature! - just a genuine observation.  After only the first 2 notes of music on a fatpad-ed high-end system, their effect has often been breathtakingly clear. 

I'm a British audiophile and ex-aerospace engineer who twigged stray energy effects and reflections when LP12's were first found to benefit from lossy, not rigid supports (70s, folks). The quest continued, thru platter and armboard material, spikes and cones of various types!

The science behind symposium products is genuine, even for their multi-$000 racks.
Not wishing to stray from the thread topic, I won't mention mechanical impedance, mechanical grounding and absorption (conversion to a harmless form) - as they can't really be covered in a paragraph or a minute's consideration.

And what fatpads look like tells you not a lot about their efficacy.
I'll just say that, similar to Nicholas in his quest for improvement, these products really have been developed and not just thrown together.
Talking of c-core trannied Apollos - and beautiful custom cases! - you'll be enjoying better music faster and laughing at such low cost!

[tanchiro58]

In matter of fact, Nick Chua is using the BH pad on all of his new TVC now. Just saw this at his website.

F100,

Nick's TVC is now black coated the covers. He would not use BH on the TVCs otherwise he will increase the price for sure.

Tan

[F-100]

In matter of fact, Nick Chua is using the BH pad on all of his new TVC now. Just saw this at his website.

F100,

Nick's TVC is now black coated the covers. He would not use BH on the TVCs otherwise he will increase the price for sure.

Tan

Tan,
I stand correct.  aa

Here is the description from promitheusaudio website:
http://www.promitheusaudio.com/referencetvc/index.htm
Reference  TVC                                                               

    * Using our EI core material for the TVC
    * REv3 TVC
    * The Reference C-cores plates are housed on 1.5mm Stainless Steel plate with Black Epoxy coating
    * The Stainless Steel plates are for good Radio Frequency shielding and magnetic shielding.
    * This version is house is our Merbau Hardwood
    * Ebony knobs
    * Internal wiring a choice of 7N copper
     * Comes with Black Hole Pad Damping for the transformers
    * Silver RCA jacks and Neutrik XLR jacks

Reference TVC REF3 ( 2inputs RCA, 2 output RCA)

 USD580

[tanchiro58]

Derrick,

Maybe he just updated. But I can see BHP is not padded the whole transformer (not what we have done).

[Christof]

Anyone know the height of the C-cores?

[tanchiro58]

Anyone know the height of the C-cores?

I only know the height of C-cores at the tube buffer stage in my Apollo preamp but I guess the TVC C-cores are taller and bigger.