[jseymour]

The Black Ice Audio appears to offer much for the price.  But I only want the tubes hidden (protected) in my guitar amps, not in stereo gear.  Glowing tubes make me happy.

[BrandonB]

Sure thing, here's the links for the parts:

VH Hookup Wire - https://www.vhaudio.com/unicrystal-occ-copper-wire.html - get the 18ga for the speaker wire and 24ga for the RCA wire.

ETI Cable Pod (Speaker Binding Posts) - https://www.vhaudio.com/connectors-speaker.html#EichmannCablePod

ETI Copper RCA Connector - https://www.vhaudio.com/eti-fr-tc07-rca-socket.html

Case bit (to enlarge the speaker binding post holes) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YK581VG/ref=emc_b_5_i

Nylon Spacers - I bought these at my local Ace Hardware.  They were necessary because the ETI Cable Pod speaker binding posts were too long.  I just took one of the binding posts into Ace and measured various nylon spacers until I found one that fit.  I needed 12 in total (3 per binding post).

Tyson when I go to the links to the binding post it takes me to a gold plated binding post.  It cost $119.  Is this the correct post.  I am confused because you said copper.

Tyson when I use the links above it takes me to a gold plated binding post.  It cost $119.  Is this the correct post.  I am confused because you said copper but it is saying gold plated. 

Do you remember the size of spacers?  I want to ship the parts to Class D Audio so I won't have a chance to take them into Ace.

Last question.  What length of wire should I get for each? 

I really appreciate all the help.

[Tyson]

Tyson when I use the links above it takes me to a gold plated binding post.  It cost $119.  Is this the correct post.  I am confused because you said copper but it is saying gold plated. 

Do you remember the size of spacers?  I want to ship the parts to Class D Audio so I won't have a chance to take them into Ace.

Last question.  What length of wire should I get for each? 

I really appreciate all the help.

The purity of the copper doesn't have anything to do with the plating.  Most of the time, other metals are mixed in with the copper to make it harder and stronger because pure copper is very soft.  The ETI copper is pure copper and you have to be careful with it, don't over-tighten it or it can break.  The gold plating is there only to prevent oxidation. 

For the wire, I'd say get 2 feet of the green 18ga and 2 feet of the red 18 ga.  That will wire the speaker signal.  And for the RCA wire, get 1 foot of 24ga.  The space is so small you don't need any more than that, it will wire up everything with plenty to spare. 

Don't remember the size of the spacers, sorry.

[2bigears]

  hay Tyson,,  do you need to soldier both ends of the speaker terminals ? Also the RCAs, do you need to soldier those too ?  Your pics are good but can't see that..  thanks. You did a good job.. 🎶🎶🎅🏻🎶🎶

[Tyson]

hay Tyson,,  do you need to soldier both ends of the speaker terminals ? Also the RCAs, do you need to soldier those too ?  Your pics are good but can't see that..  thanks. You did a good job.. 🎶🎶🎅🏻🎶🎶

I'm going to re-do some of the wiring in mine when some new VH Audio OCC 24ga hookup wire gets here and I'll take some close up photos when I get it.

[2bigears]

  ok, your not liking the wire you used ? You are a modder extreme ,,,, 

[genjamon]

Gear is too bright and needs to be relaxed a bit:
ETI copper binding posts and RCA connectors
VH Audio OCC hookup wire

Gear is Neutral but could use higher quality:
WBT copper binding posts/RCAs

Gear is too mellow and could use more liveliness:
ETI silver RCA
Fururtech copper binding posts/RCAs
WBT Silver binding posts/RCAs
Nemak silver hookup wire

Seems to me like Tyson still would like the MiniGan sound to be a touch more mellow.

[Tyson]

Seems to me like Tyson still would like the MiniGan sound to be a touch more mellow.

Precisely.  And I got my wish 

The VH Audio OCC 24 ga wire came today and I took pics of the work so people can see more clearly what I did.

These screws have to be removed:



And removed:


The screws on the board have to be removed (one screw at each of the 4 corners in the pic below):


Speaker wire, red on the right, green on the left.  The old speaker wire ran under the board.  I prefer to run the new speaker wire above the board because it looks cool:


Connected to the terminals.  Red wire to the top terminal, green wire to the bottom terminal:


After you remove the RCA plastic block, this is the board underneath.  Ground is top left.  Left signal is bottom left.  Right signal is bottom right. 


Wired up:





I was happy with the amp before the mods, because I was using it mainly as a Home Theater amp in my downstairs system.  It was great at that, perfect for it, really.  Massive soundstage, incredible detail.  But I didn't like music through it.  Too sibilant and tonally thin.  After the mods, the tonal balance is MUCH better and the sibilance is dramatically reduced.  I can now listen to (and enjoy) music through it. 

[jbl]

Tyson, have you ever tried using starquad twisted wire?  It can provide up to 50db of noise rejection at 60hz.  In the amp you could use it from the module to the binding posts.  Induction is also decreased with this wire geometry.  Given that it is a short run it may or may not make a difference but with the proximity of the power supply it might be worth trying out. 

I wonder if some of the sibilance you were hearing was because the factory wires were picking up electrical noise due to being run under the module and not being twisted together for electrical noise rejection.

[Daryl Zero]

So, a small interim report. The MiniGaN 5 and Freya + sound great with the KEF LS50s. I was excited and moved the Nola Boxer S3s in because, you know, if the KEFs sound great, the Nolas will sound incredible. Nope. And the Nolas had kicked the KEFs' butt on my secondary system and replaced them. Huh. I guess there still has to be some synergy.

Will be able to try the X5s in a week or so.

[Daryl Zero]

Second interim report. Finally got to get my X5s out and hooked up. My initial impression is that it isn't better than the LTA, similar tone and a bit less clarity and not pushing the bass somehow. Upper range sounds nice. But the worst part was sitting up close. With the LTA, I can sit 3 feet from the speakers and it doesn't sound like the sound is coming from the speakers. With the MiniGaN and the Freya + the sound is coming directly from the speakers. Not much imaging at this point.

So far, this is great with the KEF LS50 Meta speakers but not so much with the Nola Boxer or the X5s.

[lazbisme]

suggest you look to the Freya+ for problem and not the miniGAN! (monoblocks in my case) I just took the Freya out and put Black Ice Audio F 360 preamp in. Out of the box it is much more transparent and articulate and more complete top to bottom. I expect more improvement as it breaks in and I can play with some of the other features.

[Tyson]

Took the MiniGan 5 out and put back in a tube amp into my downstairs system and, well, the tube amp is staying.

[Daryl Zero]

Took the MiniGan 5 out and put back in a tube amp into my downstairs system and, well, the tube amp is staying.

Yeah. To me, the MiniGaN sounds like a regular SS amp, not bad but nothing special.

[Daryl Zero]

suggest you look to the Freya+ for problem and not the miniGAN! (monoblocks in my case) I just took the Freya out and put Black Ice Audio F 360 preamp in. Out of the box it is much more transparent and articulate and more complete top to bottom. I expect more improvement as it breaks in and I can play with some of the other features.

If it's the preamp which is bringing the magic, what's the point of the MiniGaN?
If I get a fantastic tube preamp, don't I basically have my LTA Z40+ integrated with a bit more power?

[Mr. Big]

Took the MiniGan 5 out and put back in a tube amp into my downstairs system and, well, the tube amp is staying.
[/quote

I am not surprised at your results. There is never a free lunch in audio.

[Mr. Big]

Took the MiniGan 5 out and put back in a tube amp into my downstairs system and, well, the tube amp is staying.

I am not at all surprised by your results. Sad to say in Audio there is no free lunch, x-amount of dollars equals sound quality until you start spending crazy money on gear that is as much part more of its looks as well as sound.

[musicdre]

Sad to say in Audio there is no free lunch, x-amount of dollars equals sound quality until you start spending crazy money on gear that is as much part more of its looks as well as sound.

agree in general, but respectfully disagree in particular cases.  to me, there are components which deliver sound quality which is in excess of their price range.  the elusive "giant killers."  for me, my nord ncore class d amp is in this category.  as is the ganfet amp that i tried on my M3's.  obviously, results on particular components will vary for others based on systems, tastes etc., but i find that there are exceptions to linearity on the price/quality spectrum.

[Tyson]

Best bargain SS amps I know of are the Odyssey line and the First Watt DIY amps. 

[Mr. Big]

Best bargain SS amps I know of are the Odyssey line and the First Watt DIY amps.

Odyssey amps are great after they break in. Pass Labs is a given, Nelson has more knowledge of SS amps than anyone in this hobby. Experience and knowledge matter. Stick with the pros. If you like class D then go with a company with many years of experience in building them. Bel Canto comes to mind.
https://belcantodesign.com/home/eone/ref601m-amplifier/