The Paul Hynes SR7

[mikey8811]

15 hours ago, Jiffi32 said:

@mikey8811 I used to have a lps-1 before I got an SR4 last April it's a marked improvement over the lps-1 and then another jump up when you use a good mains cable. Well worth getting, I think it would be easier to order a new one, Paul has a few spaces left on the march build if your quick.

@str-1 have you bought build 35?

 

Have you or any of the guys here compared the SR4 with the Wyred 4 Sound PS 1? The attraction with the W4S is that it is modular and accommodates 4 modules for light current usage by 4 devices. Very little seems to be said about it.

[TheAttorney]

On 1/12/2019 at 10:11 PM, Middy said:

 

My isolation trans was pulsing and getting worse over time i tryed rubber Car panel and PC rubber noise blocker.

I even have a mains DC blocker..

Off another issue i bought a mains pass through reader, i was getting the max UK voltage of 251V in Birmingham.

I added the Power inspired pre Isolation trans as it outputs 230V Sine. This pulsing has gone. Moving to another part of the national  grid might have solved this for you.

Most trans seem to be 110 220 230v.

I dont know and want an answer if its core saturation, mag flux with higher voltages over 230v causing hum pulsation??? , not sure what others abroad have 240+V as well as UK.

 

Hi Dave, I don't think that over-voltage was the cause of my SR7 transformer hum. My new location measures 240v, whereas previously I was getting typically 230-238v. One difference is that new location's voltage is much more constant: Over a few seconds, it changes by only 1 or 2 tenths of a volt, Whereas the old location could randomly change by 4 or 5 volts. The very constant 10 second transformer hum pulsing did not match the very random voltage fluctuation, but the latter suggests that the power supply was less than optimum in some way.

[auricgoldfinger]

Now that January 7th has come and gone, does anyone know if Paul is building SR7s again?

[spotforscott]

I've heard second hand that he is up and running. His shop has apparently passed all inspections. Again, heard this second hand so it may or may not accurate. Paul @paulhynes, can post a message here to update us? thx

[paulhynes]

Hi Auric and Scott,

 

The workshop is indeed operational now, however I am not at the workshop today.

 

I have been plagued with toothache for several months but I was too busy getting the workshop operational to go for treatment. It was manageable with paracetamol until this last weekend when the pain escalated to the point where even the maximum daily dose of Paracetamol was not enough to kill the pain.

 

I managed to get an appointment with a dentist off island for yesterday and two rear molars were identified as the cause of the problem. One molar had to be removed and the dentist did the best he could to save the other molar but this may also have to be removed as it is still very painful, although I am told that if the pain eases off over the next few days it should be ok. If not I can get another appointment early next week to deal with this. So best case I should be back in the workshop on Monday and worst case back later in the week.

 

Sorry folks but intense pain is not conducive to work concentration so I have remained at home so far this week. I have managed to clear some of the backlog of e-mail though and will continue with this while at home.

 

[spotforscott]

Hi Paul, thanks for the update. Sorry to hear about the pain, that really sucks. Good that you are getting it taken care of.

[auricgoldfinger]

2 hours ago, paulhynes said:

Hi Auric and Scott,

 

 

 

The workshop is indeed operational now, however I am not at the workshop today.

 

 

 

I have been plagued with toothache for several months but I was too busy getting the workshop operational to go for treatment. It was manageable with paracetamol until this last weekend when the pain escalated to the point where even the maximum daily dose of Paracetamol was not enough to kill the pain.

 

 

 

I managed to get an appointment with a dentist off island for yesterday and two rear molars were identified as the cause of the problem. One molar had to be removed and the dentist did the best he could to save the other molar but this may also have to be removed as it is still very painful, although I am told that if the pain eases off over the next few days it should be ok. If not I can get another appointment early next week to deal with this. So best case I should be back in the workshop on Monday and worst case back later in the week.

 

 

 

Sorry folks but intense pain is not conducive to work concentration so I have remained at home so far this week. I have managed to clear some of the backlog of e-mail though and will continue with this while at home.

 

 

 

 

I hope you're other molar will be saved.  Feel better soon.

[greenleo]

17 hours ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

I hope you're other molar will be saved.  Feel better soon.

X2

[auricgoldfinger]

Does anyone know if @paulhynes is back to building SR7s?

[TopQuark]

Yes, he's back.

[Dutch]

It’s quiet here. Did anyone receive anything from Paul this year?

[auricgoldfinger]

7 minutes ago, Dutch said:

It’s quiet here. Did anyone receive anything from Paul this year?

 

I'm guessing @TopQuark and @austinpop are next up on the list for a build/delivery.

[auricgoldfinger]

@paulhynes May we please have an update on the SR7 build schedule and your current status?  Thanks.

[oilpaint]

I have Build 16 and haven't received it yet. Hope Paul is OK.

[spotforscott]

6 hours ago, oilpaint said:

I have Build 16 and haven't received it yet. Hope Paul is OK.

Yeah, @paulhynes has been very quiet. Bit worried. Hopefully, we will hear from him soon...  

[HeeBroG]

Be patient all.

 

Paul is very busy with family commitments and building all the outstanding power supplies.

 

It took almost 12 months for my SR7 to be delivered and I am in a queue for a second one.

 

The wait is long and extended periods of "silence" can cause anxiety and frustration but I can assure you from personal experience that he is a very honourable man and trustworthy.

 

Geoff

 

 

[your momo]

Build 15 and 16 were supposed to be cleared for shipment on last week of October 2018, this is based on Paul's message (post #409) from October 22, 2018
...four months and still not received ?!?

 

Paul's hand build PSU rate is running pretty dry since September 2018, I wonder when last SR7 was received by a customer ?
We are very far from the "one per week", perhaps even "one per quarter" is already above reality...

 

Would really appreciate if this "honourable and trustworthy man" would donate 10 minutes of his busy time, chime in, and provide his customers with update regarding outstanding SR7 builds...

[Johnseye]

22 minutes ago, your momo said:

Build 15 and 16 were supposed to be cleared for shipment on last week of October 2018, this is based on Paul's message (post #409) from October 22, 2018
...four months and still not received ?!?

 

Paul's hand build PSU rate is running pretty dry since September 2018, I wonder when last SR7 was received by a customer ?
We are very far from the "one per week", perhaps even "one per quarter" is already above reality...

 

Would really appreciate if this "honourable and trustworthy man" would donate 10 minutes of his busy time, chime in, and provide his customers with update regarding outstanding SR7 builds...

 

Anyone putting an order in for a Hynes PSU must know before placing the order that A. it's going to take a long time, B. there are always delays. C. Paul isn't going to respond to every post and D. they're getting the best PSU made for audio.

 

I get the frustration, I really do because I felt it.  This is one of the ultimate tests of patience, but once you get it you'll be glad you waited.

[oilpaint]

I certainly knew it would take time to get my SR-7, but jumped on board anyway. And to be clear, I have no reason to question Paul’s integrity - sounds like he has gone through a lot in the past half year.

[flkin]

It's been 13 months since I paid in full to join the queue at the bottom (and not jump the queue obtained from others quitting). At the time of making the purchase the queue was #29.

 

From the above discussions, Paul is at around #14 or #15. This means he manufactured around one per month while I was told it would be one per week at the time of purchase. 

 

Given my queue number is #29, there is another 15 units to go before I get mine. And at a rate of 1/month that would mean I have another 15 months to go.

 

Total time from payment to delivery would then be 28 months....  

 

Some question why the fuss about Paul letting others jump the queue right to the top to replace orders that didn't want to wait and quit, this is one of the reasons why.

[paulhynes]

I guess its time for another update.

 

Firstly I have already posted information through Autumn and into January regarding the trials and tribulations occurring throughout this period.

 

Unfortunately these trials and tribulations are still occurring, albeit ones that are one off occurrences that should not re-occur once dealt with.

 

The beginning of the month was a jaw dropper as over 21,000 of the previous year’s business e-mails were accidentally deleted during preparation of a new holding page for www.paulhynesdesign.com prior to the development of the new website. Fortunately with the help of the service provider it was possible to retrieve most of the e-mail, but only up to the date of their last data backup point. We had a few days of communication blackout and lost e-mail throughput.

 

The following week there was a local power outage for over half a day. Not too much of a problem in itself, but for whatever reason, whether coincidental or not, the fibre optic broadband service collapsed for the whole area and was not reinstated until three days later. More communication blackout.

 

Last week I managed to trash software on the technical computer by installing the wrong updates and had to do a re-install to get operational again. Now the Win 10 on the computer will not boot on switch-on and I have to fiddle about with restart and repair to get it going. They say “To err is human; but to really foul things up requires a computer”. Is Win 10 prone to this sort of behaviour or is it just my lack of computer knowledge getting in the way?

 

Alongside all this computer mayhem I have been actively seeking help with the business for production and administration. I now have an Office Administrator called Mark who has IT experience and we are working on systems to streamline administration and make it easier to keep track of things. This will take some time as there is much to do, so I would not expect overnight changes.

 

I have also made contact with a local government initiative in Stornoway to help place apprenticeships for young school leavers who do not wish to leave the Island looking for work. So far, after a number of communications from me, there has been no return communication from them, so I am widening my search in other areas.

 

Following advice from my accountant, I have set up the company Paul Hynes Design Ltd to act as the vehicle for the business in the new premises. I have been trying, so far in vain, to set up a bank account for the Ltd Company. There are several bank branches along the island chain but none of them has a business manager to process a Limited Company account application and they do not appear to have a procedure to set up the account on-line because there are several shareholders involved, so it looks like we will have to go to the mainland to get the account set up. I could do without that at present, as it is more time lost here, but once it is done it is done.

 

Regarding the SR4 production delays, there was an additional issue to deal with this month on a batch of boards from the CMC (contract manufacturing company). The aluminium bar mounted on board the printed circuit board to provide a firm interface between the power supply power devices and the chassis was initially slightly out of alignment which prevented a sound thermal interface with the chassis. We fixed this but when it came time for final assembly into the chassis another issue was found in that the screw mounting holes were too small to take the screws, so we had to remove the aluminium bars again and get the holes re-machined. Production is now continuing and we expect to be shipping out all the remaining outstanding orders through next week. Then production should be back to normal for SR4 with orders shipped out as planned. The good news is that the CMC have achieved the same level of performance for sound quality as that achieved with SR4 units built here. I am very happy with this result as it means I can now confidently program a gradual increase in SR4 production from the CMC without stressing the workforce at this end.

 

Regarding SR custom build I have already outlined the delays in progress so far, however there is another additional reason I have not progressed the builds this last month.

 

There have been several regulator module failures on the Multirail power supplies this last year, usually the 3A modules. The failure mode has been a short between the input and output terminals of the regulator output device. The cause appears to be over dissipation (too much heat generation) in the output device. When I introduced the 10v adjustment range on the regulator modules I stated in the information sheet that it was necessary to de-rate the regulator output current specification when setting the output voltage at the lower end of the range. This is very important as the regulator input voltage remains the same when set to any voltage in the range. This means that at lower voltage settings there is a higher voltage across the regulator output device and this increases the heat generated within the device for a given output current. If you already have an SR5 or SR7 power supply with 3A modules, make sure you stay within the rail ratings and de-rate the output current for lower voltage settings as specified in the SR information sheet and all should be fine.

 

It is sometimes difficult to get actual load current specifications from equipment manufacturers as many do not usually publish this information. With this in mind I usually like to err on the conservative side with specifications, so I have re-specified all the outstanding custom build power supplies that have 3A rail modules specified for 3A or less in the original specification. The 3A modules will be upgraded to 6A module power ratings free of charge as the power devices used in the 6A modules are much more rugged. The original rail current specification will remain the same as originally specified, as the mains transformer dictates this specification. There are several additional component changes to make on the boards to allow the use of the 6A devices. I now have the materials in stock for these power device upgrades and will be progressing the module rebuild, for those custom build projects sat on my work bench awaiting completion. I can then continue with the custom build schedule.

 

I do appreciate that long delays can be very frustrating and I also appreciate the patience shown by the majority of customers as well as their continued support on these forum threads.

 

Regards

Paul

[auricgoldfinger]

19 minutes ago, paulhynes said:

I guess its time for another update.

 

 

 

Firstly I have already posted information through Autumn and into January regarding the trials and tribulations occurring throughout this period.

 

 

 

Unfortunately these trials and tribulations are still occurring, albeit ones that are one off occurrences that should not re-occur once dealt with.

 

 

 

The beginning of the month was a jaw dropper as over 21,000 of the previous year’s business e-mails were accidentally deleted during preparation of a new holding page for www.paulhynesdesign.com prior to the development of the new website. Fortunately with the help of the service provider it was possible to retrieve most of the e-mail, but only up to the date of their last data backup point. We had a few days of communication blackout and lost e-mail throughput.

 

 

 

The following week there was a local power outage for over half a day. Not too much of a problem in itself, but for whatever reason, whether coincidental or not, the fibre optic broadband service collapsed for the whole area and was not reinstated until three days later. More communication blackout.

 

 

 

Last week I managed to trash software on the technical computer by installing the wrong updates and had to do a re-install to get operational again. Now the Win 10 on the computer will not boot on switch-on and I have to fiddle about with restart and repair to get it going. They say “To err is human; but to really foul things up requires a computer”. Is Win 10 prone to this sort of behaviour or is it just my lack of computer knowledge getting in the way?

 

 

 

Alongside all this computer mayhem I have been actively seeking help with the business for production and administration. I now have an Office Administrator called Mark who has IT experience and we are working on systems to streamline administration and make it easier to keep track of things. This will take some time as there is much to do, so I would not expect overnight changes.

 

 

 

I have also made contact with a local government initiative in Stornoway to help place apprenticeships for young school leavers who do not wish to leave the Island looking for work. So far, after a number of communications from me, there has been no return communication from them, so I am widening my search in other areas.

 

 

 

Following advice from my accountant, I have set up the company Paul Hynes Design Ltd to act as the vehicle for the business in the new premises. I have been trying, so far in vain, to set up a bank account for the Ltd Company. There are several bank branches along the island chain but none of them has a business manager to process a Limited Company account application and they do not appear to have a procedure to set up the account on-line because there are several shareholders involved, so it looks like we will have to go to the mainland to get the account set up. I could do without that at present, as it is more time lost here, but once it is done it is done.

 

 

 

Regarding the SR4 production delays, there was an additional issue to deal with this month on a batch of boards from the CMC (contract manufacturing company). The aluminium bar mounted on board the printed circuit board to provide a firm interface between the power supply power devices and the chassis was initially slightly out of alignment which prevented a sound thermal interface with the chassis. We fixed this but when it came time for final assembly into the chassis another issue was found in that the screw mounting holes were too small to take the screws, so we had to remove the aluminium bars again and get the holes re-machined. Production is now continuing and we expect to be shipping out all the remaining outstanding orders through next week. Then production should be back to normal for SR4 with orders shipped out as planned. The good news is that the CMC have achieved the same level of performance for sound quality as that achieved with SR4 units built here. I am very happy with this result as it means I can now confidently program a gradual increase in SR4 production from the CMC without stressing the workforce at this end.

 

 

 

Regarding SR custom build I have already outlined the delays in progress so far, however there is another additional reason I have not progressed the builds this last month.

 

 

 

There have been several regulator module failures on the Multirail power supplies this last year, usually the 3A modules. The failure mode has been a short between the input and output terminals of the regulator output device. The cause appears to be over dissipation (too much heat generation) in the output device. When I introduced the 10v adjustment range on the regulator modules I stated in the information sheet that it was necessary to de-rate the regulator output current specification when setting the output voltage at the lower end of the range. This is very important as the regulator input voltage remains the same when set to any voltage in the range. This means that at lower voltage settings there is a higher voltage across the regulator output device and this increases the heat generated within the device for a given output current. If you already have an SR5 or SR7 power supply with 3A modules, make sure you stay within the rail ratings and de-rate the output current for lower voltage settings as specified in the SR information sheet and all should be fine.

 

 

 

It is sometimes difficult to get actual load current specifications from equipment manufacturers as many do not usually publish this information. With this in mind I usually like to err on the conservative side with specifications, so I have re-specified all the outstanding custom build power supplies that have 3A rail modules specified for 3A or less in the original specification. The 3A modules will be upgraded to 6A module power ratings free of charge as the power devices used in the 6A modules are much more rugged. The original rail current specification will remain the same as originally specified, as the mains transformer dictates this specification. There are several additional component changes to make on the boards to allow the use of the 6A devices. I now have the materials in stock for these power device upgrades and will be progressing the module rebuild, for those custom build projects sat on my work bench awaiting completion. I can then continue with the custom build schedule.

 

 

 

I do appreciate that long delays can be very frustrating and I also appreciate the patience shown by the majority of customers as well as their continued support on these forum threads.

 

 

 

Regards

 

Paul

 

 

Given the multiple computer failures of the past few months, how can we be certain that our power supplies will be produced according to our order specifications, especially considering that so many of them have been changed during the very prolonged wait?

[auricgoldfinger]

1 hour ago, paulhynes said:

I have also made contact with a local government initiative in Stornoway to help place apprenticeships for young school leavers who do not wish to leave the Island looking for work. So far, after a number of communications from me, there has been no return communication from them, so I am widening my search in other areas.

 

Following advice from my accountant, I have set up the company Paul Hynes Design Ltd to act as the vehicle for the business in the new premises. I have been trying, so far in vain, to set up a bank account for the Ltd Company. There are several bank branches along the island chain but none of them has a business manager to process a Limited Company account application and they do not appear to have a procedure to set up the account on-line because there are several shareholders involved, so it looks like we will have to go to the mainland to get the account set up. I could do without that at present, as it is more time lost here, but once it is done it is done.

 

Pardon my presumptuousness, but I think your time would be much better spent focusing on eliminating the SR7 backlog.  The best thing you can do for your business prospects is to prove that you are still capable of producing SR7s.  Until then, new buyers are likely to be far and few between.  Everyone is tired of the constant excuses.

[flkin]

Hi Paul

 

Sorry to hear about your life issues - but we all face them and have to adapt accordingly.

 

Your explanation above doesn't address the single most important matter - the SR queue status. May I suggest that you post once per month here about the current queue number and status of the units you are working on?

 

For example:

 

#11 -  completed, packaged and sent with tracking

#12 -  completed and currently bench testing

#13 -  assembly stage

#14 -  parts arrived

 

That way, fully paid customers are able to see where their SR build is at? This request for transparency is only fair, given the lengthy delays.

[paulhynes]

Flkin,

 

I hear you.

 

As I stated in my last post a system management regime is being designed to make administration easier this will remove much admin from my work load. I will still have to provide technical advice to customers until such time as we find and train a technician but most of the day to day admin will be in Mark’s hands once he is up to speed.

 

Part of Mark’s remit with regard to the admin system design is to instigate progress notifications to customers via e-mail.

 

Auric,

 

E-mail me with your order specifications so I can check the records for your build.

 

I am tired of the constant distractions that have occurred during the last few years too. Hiring staff in the new premises is designed to alleviate those distractions.

 

I understand you are tired of waiting from the various comments you have posted on CA. If you have run out of patience I have a number of people awaiting order cancellations who would be only too pleased to take over your order and I would be happy to facilitate the transfer for you and thus provide a refund for you.

 

Incidentally, I have noticed a number of comments criticising custom build order cancellation transfers. I should point out that the cancelled orders do not belong to me. They belong to the original customer who placed the order. If he no longer wishes to proceed to completion for any reason he is fully entitled to transfer his order to another person without losing his paid for place in the custom build queue. My involvement is purely as a facilitator and to ease the transfer by providing technical information if required. This is not a conspiracy to short circuit the custom build queue and it does not change anyone else’s position in the queue.

 

Regards

Paul