New! DigitalAnalogueDIY.com - UcD 400 Amp Group buy project

ken_diyzone.net · « **on:** 13 Jun 2005, 03:57 pm »

Hi,

2 * UcD 400AD (the version with input buffer AD8620)
400Wrms amplifier-module based on UCD-technology with special input buffer AD8620

1 * UcD supply HG
High-grade supply for 2 x UcD400 or 2 x UcD180. 4 x HYPEX Slit Foil capacitors 10.000uF mounted on this board. Additional DC-output 12-0-12 for pre-amplifiers and DC-protection.

2 * UcD signal cable
2-wire twisted shielded hi-end input cable. Length is 50 cm with 4-pins plug for the UcD module. This cable can be used for balanced input signal. There is an additional wire to switch the module on/off. The module will switch on upon connecting this wire.

1 * Our E100 Power Amp chassis with an upgraded 10 mm front plate, with all accessories.

1 * Power supply- avel lindberg Y23 Range Transformer Specifications - 500VA 40 + 40

I have this one working in my system, and I think this must be the best audio bargain of the year.

Total price: $650 vs. around $800 if you buy all these parts separately (plus all that individual shipping fee!).

Please let me know if there is any interest, and I can work on the details for a delivery date. Please do note: I would need sell around 15-20 of this to make it in the black for me, so if there are not enough interest, I will call this off.

I think it is reasonable to establish a cut off day for this project, how about June 30th? Don't want to drag this project too long.

Added on 6/20:

I'll do a group announcement on 6/30 and ask for 1/3 of the payment via Paypal (please add 3%) or MO. Please email me with payment confirmation when I do the announcement, and your are in the group buy.

Of course, you don't have to wait till 6/30 to send me the 1/3 of the payment ($650 *1/3 = $214 or $221 by Paypal); my id is ken_shih@DigitalAnalogueDIY.com

I am aiming for delivery out of NY on 7/9, and I’ll start mailing them out as soon as I received the other 2/3 of the payment plus shipping fee. Please note the shipping fee is a flat $18 to west cost, and $15 to the east cost. If you live anywhere in between, pick the closest coast. If you are ordering outside of US, please email me and we can make shipping arrangements.

Please let me know if any of this seem unreasonable, and I'll adjust accordingly.

Added on 6/30:

THE GROUP BUY is a go, please let me know in the next few days if you wish to join the group buy. You can join by sending 1/3 of the payment ($650 *1/3 = $214 or $221 by Paypal); my id is Ken_shih@DigitalAnalogueDIY.com

*** IMPORTANT:
Please make sure you get a reply from me with a UCD400_group_buy_ID! Too many email names and alias to keep track. If I have not respond with a UCD_GROUP_BUY_ID in 24 hours, please follow up with me, these email systems are not as stable as we think.

Please also tell the the color of the chassis you wish to buy (Black or Silver).

Please note I will be getting the chassis on the week of 7/18, and will start delivery that week.

Added on 7/1:

The close of this Group Buy is 7/7/05, this give me a week to prepare for shipping on 7/18/2005. if you wish to join the group buy, please order before 7/7/05.

After the close of the group buy, I am going to stock the UcD400AD modules, the HG Power supply and associated parts for sale on my site. I am going to the price the kit at $699 to reflect the cost of keeping items in stock. The good side is, the kit will be ready for immediate delivery.

Added on 7/7:

Last call.

For those who joined: I am placing orders later today, thank you for joining this group buy. Let me get the kit out to you, have it run in for a while, and we can start our "group tweak".

Added on 7/18:

Like to give a status report.

The Hypex parts are in, the transformers are being ship tomorrow, should be in on Weds. The chassis are being ship via DHL from Taiwan this Friday -- but they are having some weather conditions there, so there might be some shipping congestion issue, will report back as soon as the chassis get on the plane. I will ask for the balance for the kit once they are on the plane.

For the people that purchased only parts, I will be getting them ready to ship tomorrow, so please pay the balance of your bill today.

Added on 7/23:

Hopefully the last status report!

Jumped the gun on the “Hypex are in”, they were stuck in JFK custom till Friday, DHL said delivery will be on Monday. So now is just waiting for the E100 Power Amp chassis to get on the plane, I will let everyone know ASAP. Thank you for your patience, sometime international coordination projects are a bit hard to pull off quickly.

Added on 7/26:

The E100 Power Amp chassis is getting on the plane tomorrow via UPS Air Express, so get your paypal ready.

For the buyers that did not buy the E100 chassis, I am shipping your packages later today.

Add on 8/8

Sorry for the delay in this project. Here is where we stand: There are issues with the chassis from Taiwan, there were some mix-up at the factory, and they are not ready yet. However, I am getting seven E100 power amp chassis (all black ones) this week, but without the proper holes punched for UcD400 kit.

I know some are anxious to get the kit; here is what I can do:

1. Take a new E100 power amp chassis coming in this week, tap holes for UcD400, PS, and Transformer, and install. Please note these will go in the order of the buy_id.
2. Take an E130 Power amp chassis (Black or Silver), tap holes and install (take $20 off the group buy).
3. Take an E100 preamp chassis (Black or Silver), tap holes, and install (take $20 off the group buy). I will send the power camp accessories.
4. Wait for the "UcD400" E100 chassis to arrive (might take another 2-3 weeks).
5. Take the UcD 400 modules, Wires, HG Power Supply, and Transformer for $590.
6. Refund of the deposit.

Again, sorry for delay, will do better next time.

Add on 8/16

My supplier has gone belly-up on me, he will not deliver the chassis that we agree upon. Sorry to have drag this along for so long and not be able to deliver as I promised.

This is what I can do:

1. Take a new E100 power amp chassis coming in this week, tap holes for UcD400, PS, and Transformer, and install. Please note these will go in the order of the buy_id. -- There 5 of these chassis, the chassis are steel, not aluminum. All the chassis are Black, but I have 3 Silver and 2 black front plates, please let me know hat color front plate if you wish to choose this option.

2. Take an E130 Power amp chassis (Black or Silver), tap holes and install (take $30 off the group buy). I will send the power amp accessories.

3. Take an E100 preamp chassis (Black or Silver), tap holes, and install (take $30 off the group buy). I will send the power amp accessories.

4. Wait for the "UcD400" E100 chassis to arrive (might take another 2-3 weeks). -- NOT AVALIBLE ANYMORE.

5. Take the UcD 400 modules, Wires, HG Power Supply, and Transformer for $580.

6. Refund of the paid amount.

A couple of the group buy buyers have asked for refunds, that means I have a couple of extra sets of parts. Please let me know if anyone else want to buy them at this discount prices.

woodsyi · « **Reply #1 on:** 13 Jun 2005, 05:30 pm »

I am interested. I have been wanting to compare UcD and IcePower. I would be interested in building one and test with my eAR amps. Do you have mono kit?

ken_diyzone.net · « **Reply #2 on:** 13 Jun 2005, 05:41 pm »

Hi woodsyi,

Sorry, no mono kit in this group buy. Maybe when the UcD700 come out, we can do a group buy with Mono setup.

Thanks
Ken

mikef · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 Jun 2005, 06:59 pm »

If the amp is "foolproof" to put together (trust me, I can be a pretty big fool at DIY stuff) with clear and easy instructions, I'm interested.

Mike

JoshK · « **Reply #4 on:** 13 Jun 2005, 07:13 pm »

Quote from: mikef

If the amp is "foolproof" to put together (trust me, I can be a pretty big fool at DIY stuff) with clear and easy instructions, I'm interested.

Mike

That is what our constructor's thread in the lab is for, to ask questions if you have them. It would be pretty simple if you have all these parts. Can you crimp? Then you can build one.

ken_diyzone.net · « **Reply #5 on:** 13 Jun 2005, 07:36 pm »

Josh,

Pretty much what I did, plus drilling a few holes to mount the parts.

I must say, I have a pair of NAD S200 running in bridge mode (at 63 lbs per), and this little amp put out much better bass then them. Amazing! Totally go against my out-dated instinct of bigger and heaver the amp, the better the bass.

Now, what am I going to do with those big and heavy amps? I know, I'll put the next to my big and heavy IBM PC-AT that I bought in 1985 for $5,000!

tschanrm · « **Reply #6 on:** 13 Jun 2005, 07:54 pm »

seems like a great kit, only the transformer seems a little small for stereo ucd400's. Would there be any possibility of using a larger transformer, 700-750va at 43 or 45v maybe?

ken_diyzone.net · « **Reply #7 on:** 13 Jun 2005, 08:13 pm »

There is a 625VA 45 + 45 available from Avel Lindberg, the size still fit inside the E100 chassis.

Since nothing is ordered, if you want a different size transformer, just let me know, and I'll order it when the group buy is finalized. I'll just charge you the difference in price.

JoshK · « **Reply #8 on:** 13 Jun 2005, 08:34 pm »

IIRC, 45V is too high. 45*1.41 = 63.5V and 63V is the pole for the OVP. I think 43 is as high as you can go with 40-42 optimal.

MaxCast · « **Reply #9 on:** 13 Jun 2005, 08:40 pm »

Are there plans showing how to put this thing together?

ken_diyzone.net · « **Reply #10 on:** 13 Jun 2005, 08:46 pm »

Hi MaxCast,

Sure, there will be a manual on how to put this together. Won't be very long manual though.

CornellAlum · « **Reply #11 on:** 13 Jun 2005, 11:55 pm »

Sign me up sir..I love when guesswork is alleviated! Where do we send the money?

Daryan

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #12 on:** 14 Jun 2005, 12:02 am »

Just the group buy I wanted...only a year too early!

ken_diyzone.net · « **Reply #13 on:** 16 Jun 2005, 01:34 pm »

Hi,

There were a couple questions about the chassis with this kit. The E100 on our website now is in a preamp configuration. The chassis that will ship with this kit is an E100 with a power amp configuration -- one pair of RCA for input and two pairs of chassis binder for output. The chassis for this kit also come with an upgraded 10MM front plate, good-looking stuff.

Another idea: Over at DIYAUDIO, there are much talk about tweaking the UcD400 amp to get more out of it, maybe we can do a group tweak, I can get BG caps at a more reasonable price.

JoshK · « **Reply #14 on:** 16 Jun 2005, 01:52 pm »

I would be interested in the group tweaks. I also would be willing to experiment to test results.

woodsyi · « **Reply #15 on:** 16 Jun 2005, 04:26 pm »

I, too, would be interested in group upgrades. Why pay for parts you would replace?

ken_diyzone.net · « **Reply #16 on:** 16 Jun 2005, 05:56 pm »

Hi woodsyi,

Hum, my idea of group tweak is after trying out the factory UcD400, and then we get together and buy some interesting tweaks and try them out. You'll still end up paying for the "original" parts.

woodsyi · « **Reply #17 on:** 16 Jun 2005, 06:19 pm »

Uhhhhh,

I didn't know that PS was part of the UcD package. I had assumed that you were putting together the transformer, caps, connectors, chasis etc. to go with the module. Well, I am still interested.

ken_diyzone.net · « **Reply #18 on:** 16 Jun 2005, 06:29 pm »

Hi Woodsyi,

Yep, Hypex's HG Power Supply is included too in this package:

1 * UcD supply HG
High-grade supply for 2 x UcD400 or 2 x UcD180. 4 x HYPEX Slit Foil capacitors 10.000uF mounted on this board. Additional DC-output 12-0-12 for pre-amplifiers and DC-protection.

carlos spud · « **Reply #19 on:** 20 Jun 2005, 02:30 pm »

Ken what do i have to do to get in on this do you have a contact # on your website? that is a great deal!
Carlos