Inside High End Equipment

[marce]

On 11/01/2018 at 1:53 PM, PeterSt said:

 

So if I call in a contractor to work on my software (bug finding), do you think it is OK if he publishes the source code ?

The schematic is the source code, a pic of a PCB is not enough to reverse engineer from. Lots of manufacturers post pics of the insides and PCBs these days.

 

[marce]

On 12/01/2018 at 12:23 AM, mourip said:

 

The Yamamoto stuff is art...

No its a mess.

[marce]

That's neater.

[marce]

2 hours ago, mansr said:

Why not just use a PCB?

Would be better, but its not the true way, P to P is far better for interference and EMC problems... Hand wired in total darkness by dedicated masters of the soldering iron...

[marce]

1 hour ago, mordante said:

The inside of my dream power amp.

Can't guess who's this amp is so I'll Pass on this one...

[marce]

No an ancient old master has to solder the wires, virgins roll capacitors...

Yeah there are the odd occasions where a PCB wont do, getting fewer each year though, with new materials and in  y case the thickness copper I have used is 7 ounce.. double sided, most for a multi-layer was 6 ounce copper, 6 layer for a 14kW SMPS....

[marce]

Large caps supported only by their leads, high voltage smoothing caps with resistors almost touching them, if the power leads were twisted together to give a little homage to EMC etc. then I may be more impressed... I dare not ask how much it is.

[marce]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

New audiophile linear power supply perhaps allows only the best sounding electrons through.

[marce]

9 hours ago, semente said:

 

What about ventilation, isn't it an important requirement to ensure stable performance and longevity of components?

Using the case as a heatsink is common way of extracting heat from the electronics... 

[marce]

I would have used something a bit more up market for damping if it was required....

[marce]

19 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

you know, some PCD traces of DAC layouts might be interesting...

A lot of early ones were very simple boards, today's SMD DAC's and board probably have more going on on the inner layers that the outer and unless you have the schematic or data sheet then it isn't going to tell you a lot. Look at quite a few and they are all starting to look very similar (design guides from manufacturers) though there is a trend for large PTH decoupling caps on some designs!!!

[marce]

Must admit I enjoy seeing the old CEM boards, cheep, horrible. never liked them, it just speaks cost cuts when I see them.

[marce]

27 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

I was wondering about spacing the traces apart and various noise reduction techniques (?)

 

... based on reading the thread where people were planning their own builds of some equipment

The best source of that sort of information is online, many manufacturers app notes, design guides etc. then the likes of Ralph Morrison, Henry Ott etc. Or the likes of me I do plenty of high end layouts for ultimate signal integrity and EMC performance.

Building your own motherboard is a big project, like all digital designs getting the power delivery system right is paramount for keeping noise down, simultaneous switching noise is a main source of PC noise. Layers, lots of return planes, for some signals the best integrity is with two return planes 0V's and supply Voltage one above one below the critical signals (around DDR, will dig the info out if required, had a long day at work doing working on my nemesis project, been at it since 2014, the goalposts not only keep moving but changing size!). As I said on that thread one PC motherboard looks very similar to another, it's the fine details that make the difference, number of layers, how tight you control the signal skew, clocks NEXT to the relevant device, as close as possible, no clocks on wires! etc. etc. I do tend to find that a lot of the techniques we use in the real world for low noise/signal integrity are often at odd's with how some audiophile believe they should be done, especially one who don't believe bits are bits.

 

[marce]

One has to ask how good glass is at EMC screening!

 

[marce]

4 hours ago, STC said:

Klipsch Subwoofer

 

 

 Ahhh nothing beats the gentle aroma of frying PCB's. We got a VME rack back once, the end user plugged the mains into the keyboard connector, managed to connect it to the main 12V supply, results were interesting...

[marce]

It's bigger than some UK car engines... Over engineering at its best, though if I remember correctly when Jon Atkinson did the measurements the first one over heated... In fact i would need a bigger music room to house two of them.

[marce]

13 hours ago, fas42 said:

 

The presence of the 'wrong' metal, typically iron based, too close to sensitive circuitry can affect the sound - spacing is your friend. Sometimes, it will be a juggling act - you want the hardware to be sensible, but not at the expense of degrading the SQ.

Wot like say a pressed metal case...

[marce]

On 2/15/2020 at 3:29 PM, Barton said:

Probably not any sonic benefit to the bare wire but it's really not a safety concern nor code violation. There are always exposed terminals and often bussing as well inside enclosures. An open energized tube amp can really hurt you! Anyone comfortable enough to take a cover off should know to unplug and verify voltage before touching anything. With many electronic devices the biggest hazard is you'll fry it without anti static discharge care.

I would check EN/IEC 62368-1 the standard for audio visual and ICT equipement replacing 60950 and 60065...

[marce]

23 hours ago, Barton said:

modifying other people's work- warts, failures, and all. So go ahead and judge- but if you do let's see your work too. We can all learn something. 

 

 

 

Its not judging its safety... That must always come first, if in doubt especially where dangerous voltages are involved, leave it alone.

[marce]

4 minutes ago, mansr said:

Now you're being objective. Off to the naughty step!

LOL.

Personally if someone is going to mess about inside kit then at least a basic understanding of what SELV is would be a benefit, DIYAudio bans any references to modification of mains or high voltages...

Using un-insulated hook up wire for mains is incredibly stupid, the amount of exposed copper should always be minimised and any that is exposed should have very clear warning symbols, indicating high voltage present...