[L0rdGwyn]

Won’t a cast iron platter rule out the use of MC cartridges?

No, it's possible there might be a small degree of attraction between the cart and the platter that would require a VTF adjustment.

Is the LCR phono a DIY tube phono stage you have on the horizon?

Yessir, it will be my second DIY phono stage and will replace my current phono stage.

 

[AnyDave]

No, it's possible there might be a small degree of attraction between the cart and the platter that would require a VTF adjustment.



Yessir, it will be my second DIY phono stage and will replace my current phono stage.

Excellent.

I may build one to replace my old EAR 834P one of these years. It's just finding the time.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Excellent.

I may build one to replace my old EAR 834P one of these years. It's just finding the time.

Looks like a cool unit! I think there are some good DIY phono kits out there. Mind sounds good but the allure of the LCR RIAA is too powerful.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I'm considering just going all out with the HY69 amplifier and having Dave Slagle also wind me a pair of autoformer attenuators.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Alright I did it, ordered a set of autoformer volume controls. 47 steps with Elma switches. Dave has them in stock, so I'll get them shortly.



The AVC will go in a separate chassis enclosure and function as a passive preamp. RCA input to the amplifier will go right into the grid of the D3a rather than a potentiometer. I may add a switch onto the AVC box for different inputs since I'll have the real estate.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Other than finalizing the order for the mains and filament transformers, the thing that has been holding me up on planning for the HY69 amplifier is how to enclose the HY69 tubes themselves. As you can see, they have an anode top cap, meaning 300V will be sitting there outside of the chassis.



I'm not really comfortable leaving a high voltage like that out in the open for safety reasons, and especially if I were to ever bring this to a Head-Fi meet. So I've been trying to come up with a solution that is aesthetically pleasing but serves the purpose of isolating the tubes.

I bought a pair of these borosilicate glass candle enclosures, open at both ends. They have a 4 inch diameter and are 7 inches tall. I'll put some sort of ventilation material on top.



The next struggle was to figure out how to secure to the chassis in a non ugly way. I had a breakthrough today on how to do that. Rather than using a clamp of some sort (ugly), I am going to have a slot in the chassis that the glass tube drops down into. Here are my chicken scratch drawings.

There will be two circular plates, one that holds the tube socket, then a sub-plate that is recessed into the chassis. The socket plate is suspended over the sub-plate by more interior standoffs, and the sub-plate connects to the chassis top plate by a second set of exterior standoffs. This results in a "floating" tube socket plate with a circular slot around it for the glass tube to drop into (I didn't show it in my diagram, but the sub-plate would actually have to be a donut shape with a hole in the middle to run wires to the tube socket).



It would look sort of like this in a top down view.



This way, I can take off the cover when I want to and there won't be an ugly clamp sitting there. Should work pretty well and look nice!

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I found someone else to wind the mains and filament transformers for my HY69 amp Sowter is thinking it over, but I'll have to cancel. Rapid turn around time of one week too, heck yeah.

Got some PCBs for Zach's amp as well, nothing crazy, just made some adjustments for the circuit.



@EtyDave being a great guy saw I've been obsessing over cassettes lately and sent me some old Walkmen to play with! Likely they'll need repairs, but happy to work on it since it's something I'd like to learn to do. The WM-WE01 20th Anniversary is quite rare actually, made in Japan only, excited to get it fixed up and have a listen!

 

[AnyDave]

I found someone else to wind the mains and filament transformers for my HY69 amp Sowter is thinking it over, but I'll have to cancel. Rapid turn around time of one week too, heck yeah.

Got some PCBs for Zach's amp as well, nothing crazy, just made some adjustments for the circuit.



@EtyDave being a great guy saw I've been obsessing over cassettes lately and sent me some old Walkmen to play with! Likely they'll need repairs, but happy to work on it since it's something I'd like to learn to do. The WM-WE01 20th Anniversary is quite rare actually, made in Japan only, excited to get it fixed up and have a listen!

I probably should've sent you a DAT Recorder as well.

 

[Galapac]

I found someone else to wind the mains and filament transformers for my HY69 amp Sowter is thinking it over, but I'll have to cancel. Rapid turn around time of one week too, heck yeah.

Got some PCBs for Zach's amp as well, nothing crazy, just made some adjustments for the circuit.



@EtyDave being a great guy saw I've been obsessing over cassettes lately and sent me some old Walkmen to play with! Likely they'll need repairs, but happy to work on it since it's something I'd like to learn to do. The WM-WE01 20th Anniversary is quite rare actually, made in Japan only, excited to get it fixed up and have a listen!

You'll need your magnifiers for sure on those, pretty tiny circuits if I recall in my"open up to see how it works" days.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Had some time to mess around with the new Walkman, popped a tape in the WM-WE01, and it lives! The volume pot is pretty scratching with volume cutting in and out at certain points, so I'll have top open it up and get some contact cleaner on there.



I'm going to buy an after market gumstick battery so I don't have to use the AA adapter. There's some battery corrosion inside the rechargeable battery port I'll have to clean up as well.



This thing is absolutely tiny. I thought my Aiwa HS-PC202 was small, holy crap. Here they are side-by-side.



The sound is very good, listening with the VC. Definitely a cleaner, more neutral sound relative to the Aiwa, which is very warm. I like it, it's a nice counterpoint to the Aiwa. I love the aesthetics of this Sony too, really in immaculate condition and the 20th anniversary stickers are a nice touch. Been doing some research since this particular Walkman is very rare, others than came out around this time are the Sony WM-EX67X series, which appears to use a similar or even identical layout and mechanism, so I suspect they are part of the same family. More reading to do on that front.

Thanks again @EtyDave !

 

[AnyDave]

Had some time to mess around with the new Walkman, popped a tape in the WM-WE01, and it lives! The volume pot is pretty scratching with volume cutting in and out at certain points, so I'll have top open it up and get some contact cleaner on there.



I'm going to buy an after market gumstick battery so I don't have to sue the AA adapter. There's some battery corrosion inside the rechargeable battery port I'll have to clean up as well.



This thing is absolutely tiny. I thought my Aiwa HS-PC202 was small, holy crap. Here they are side-by-side.



The sound is very good, listening with the VC. Definitely a cleaner, more neutral sound relative to the Aiwa, which is very warm. I like it, it's a nice counterpoint to the Aiwa. I love the aesthetics of this Sony too, really in immaculate condition and the 20th anniversary stickers are a nice touch. Been doing some research since this particular Walkman is very rare, others than came out around this time are the Sony WM-EX67X series, which appears to use a similar or even identical layout and mechanism, so I suspect they are part of the same family. More reading to do on that front.

Thanks again @EtyDave !

Right on. Always nice to see gear find a home where it will be appreciated.

 

[EagleWings]

Alright I did it, ordered a set of autoformer volume controls. 47 steps with Elma switches. Dave has them in stock, so I'll get them shortly.



The AVC will go in a separate chassis enclosure and function as a passive preamp. RCA input to the amplifier will go right into the grid of the D3a rather than a potentiometer. I may add a switch onto the AVC box for different inputs since I'll have the real estate.

Welcome to the AVC club. I’ll be curious about how you will wire the input selection. I was envisioning to avoid a common ground for all the sources and switch both the signals as well as the ground at the switch. Just as an extra effort to prevent ground noise from one source polluting the rest. But one of my friends reported pops when switching inputs with that approach.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Welcome to the AVC club. I’ll be curious about how you will wire the input selection. I was envisioning to avoid a common ground for all the sources and switch both the signals as well as the ground at the switch. Just as an extra effort to prevent ground noise from one source polluting the rest. But one of my friends reported pops when switching inputs with that approach.

Thanks! I've actually walked back that idea.
Likely just going to do single inputs.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Slagle AVC arrived. Nice ELMA 47-step switch, like a Goldpoint.



No expense spared on this amplifier. My mains transformers are being built, my glass tubes are on the way. Like the 2A3 amp, waiting on the final transformer order so I can finalize the layout for this beast.

 

[Galapac]

Had some time to mess around with the new Walkman, popped a tape in the WM-WE01, and it lives! The volume pot is pretty scratching with volume cutting in and out at certain points, so I'll have top open it up and get some contact cleaner on there.



I'm going to buy an after market gumstick battery so I don't have to use the AA adapter. There's some battery corrosion inside the rechargeable battery port I'll have to clean up as well.



This thing is absolutely tiny. I thought my Aiwa HS-PC202 was small, holy crap. Here they are side-by-side.



The sound is very good, listening with the VC. Definitely a cleaner, more neutral sound relative to the Aiwa, which is very warm. I like it, it's a nice counterpoint to the Aiwa. I love the aesthetics of this Sony too, really in immaculate condition and the 20th anniversary stickers are a nice touch. Been doing some research since this particular Walkman is very rare, others than came out around this time are the Sony WM-EX67X series, which appears to use a similar or even identical layout and mechanism, so I suspect they are part of the same family. More reading to do on that front.

Thanks again @EtyDave !

That WM-WE01 is very cool if I must say. Looks not much bigger than the cassette itself. Can you show a pic of it open with the tape?
Just curious, what do you use to clean the battery contacts, if possible, or do you just replace them?