Master Clock for your EtherREGEN

[GMG]

Wow!

You are quick

Wonder what 2 cubes could do 😉

 

waiting to hear your update on this

By the way, I believe epoxy would do just fine, but you could also apply thermal paste or double sided thermal stickers. These are commonly used to attach heat sinks to electronic components 

 

 

thanks!

[lwr]

1 hour ago, MartinT said:

A modification for my OXCO master clock.  This was suggested in the thread above by @GMG.  The idea is to bond a cube of tungsten directly to the top of the Chinese oven-controlled clock module inside the BG7TBL.

 

I ordered a 20mm cube of tungsten on eBay and it arrived this morning.  I used 2-part epoxy to tightly bond it to the top of the DAPU OCXO can.  It didn't take long to harden as the clock runs at about 70°C.

 

It should provide two benefits: 1) vibration damping of the sensitive OCXO by dint of its heaviness; 2) temperature stability once the cube comes up to temperature, helping to prevent temperature variance distortions.

 

 

I've just had a listen to two tracks and my immediate impression is that dynamic transients have even more snap to them.  Donald Fagen's Nightfly and Kamakiriad are outstanding recordings and sounded pretty damned good, even cleaner than I remember and with outstanding starting and stopping of transients.

 

I'm leaving things to fully stabilise and will have another listen later this evening.

Could you provide a link to where you sourced the tungsten cube.  Thanks

[lwr]

1 hour ago, MartinT said:

 

[James Stephens]

If it wasn't for this Forum I wouldn't have my nice new BG7TBL Clock so please let me say a thank you to everyone!

 

I plan to line the case of my BG7TBL Clock with 1/4" Neoprene for insulation in order to try and keep the clock temperature as stable as possible but I haven't researched and purchased the right glue yet.

 

My goto for mass damping is to use a granite sample piece with some Herbies Fat Dots glued on as feet using Permatex Gasket Sealer.

 

In the meantime,  having ordered some more Herbies Fat Dots and while I also await some Herbies Tenderfeet to put on the bottom of the Clock, I am using 1/4" Neoprene beneath as well as on top of the clock and I have placed a 4"x4"x1" Granite sample piece on top of the neoprene.

 

 

[Superdad]

8 minutes ago, James Stephens said:

If it wasn't for this Forum I wouldn't have my nice new BG7TBL Clock so please let me say a thank you to everyone!

 

Looks great James!  And welcome to the Audiophile Style (and UpTone sponsored) forum!

Enjoy the tunes...

--Alex C.

[MartinT]

2 hours ago, GMG said:

Wonder what 2 cubes could do 😉believe epoxy would do just fine, but you could also apply thermal paste or double sided thermal stickers. These are commonly used to attach heat sinks to electronic components.

 

I do have double-sided thermal tape, but I didn't want it to be a lossy coupling, so I used epoxy. This way the cube has the full resonance damping effect.

[GMG]

I have no experience with thermal paste/glue so can’t say anything about its mechanical coupling in regards to resonance, where epoxy is definitely good,

But, epoxy has poor thermal conductivity. So heat will not travel efficiently through the epoxy to the Tubgsten cube. 
I don’t think it is an issue here since the you probably used a very thin layer of epoxy, plus the cube is very small so even if it does create a thermal deficiency it will be small and the oxco likes it warm anyway 🙂. 
I will definitely add one to mine

[FIndingit]

Think of the ocxo as you when you go out on a cold day. You want insulation, a warm jacket, not a piece of metal glued to your chest. 

[MartinT]

3 hours ago, lwr said:

Could you provide a link to where you sourced the tungsten cube.  Thanks

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Purity-99-99-Tungsten-Square-Metal-Cube-Element-Collection-Study-10-15-20-25MM/233670054424?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=533356120607&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

[MartinT]

1 hour ago, GMG said:

But, epoxy has poor thermal conductivity. So heat will not travel efficiently through the epoxy to the Tubgsten cube. 
I don’t think it is an issue here since the you probably used a very thin layer of epoxy, plus the cube is very small so even if it does create a thermal deficiency it will be small and the oxco likes it warm anyway 🙂.

 

Yes, I used a very thin layer of epoxy and squeezed it down, ensuring that the thermal barrier is thin.

[MartinT]

7 minutes ago, FIndingit said:

Think of the ocxo as you when you go out on a cold day. You want insulation, a warm jacket, not a piece of metal glued to your chest. 

 

If you could do such a thing, sure you'd be cold while you're warming up the piece of metal.  However, once you and the metal have thermal equilibrium, it would protect you by supplying heat back through any sudden cold snap.

 

Thermal stability.

[FIndingit]

Metals are good at dissipating heat, you have five extra surfaces exposed to cooler air than the ocxo core. The benefit comes from vibration management. 

[MartinT]

1 hour ago, FIndingit said:

Metals are good at dissipating heat, you have five extra surfaces exposed to cooler air than the ocxo core. The benefit comes from vibration management. 

 

It's in an enclosed environment, good for temperature control.

 

Regardless, the proof is in the listening and it's doing something good.

[MartinT]

On 11/7/2020 at 6:55 PM, GMG said:

waiting to hear your update on this

 

Listening to Late in the Evening by Paul Simon, there's a lot going on in the mix with percussion, bells, brass and his voice all vying for attention. It's all layered well so as to keep his vocals clear throughout, with thrilling levels of detail.

 

Another song, Strong by London Grammar, has a deep throbby bass line throughout. How well I can follow it beneath her extraordinarily powerful voice is now enhanced.

 

It's lots of little treats like this I am noticing.

[GMG]

That’s just great to hear @MartinT

Thanks for the update. 
 

Did you get the 20mm cube due to clearance of the box cover or would the pricier 25mm also fit?

[MartinT]

27 minutes ago, GMG said:

That’s just great to hear @MartinT

Thanks for the update. 
 

Did you get the 20mm cube due to clearance of the box cover or would the pricier 25mm also fit?

 

I'm glad you asked. The 20mm cube was admittedly less expensive but I did wonder at the clearance. I think an extra 5mm might just fit but it would be tight. Of course, the height of different OXCO cans would vary the clearance, too.

 

I was also wary of the greater warm-up time although I leave the clock running permanently.

[James Stephens]

 

Hi all. Mods completed.

 

1) 1/4" sticky-backed neoprene inside case lid, next to circuit board and on base of outside of case. I didn't go crazy ... one could do more .. maybe use 1/2" neoprene and/or build a little neoprene box to drop over the clock .. plus even cover more of the outside of the case...  the idea here is to insulate and therefore reduce the influence of external temperature variations on the clock.

 

2) 4x Herbies Tenderfeet on base of case for isolation from external vibrations.

 

3) 4"x4"x1" granite block (approx 700g) with Herbies Small Fat Dots affixed to base .... again for isolation, via mass loading.

 

Enjoy!

 

Best,

James

 

 

[jamesg11]

Ha! That reminded that a few years back I had granite blocks over Herbies on my Elacs ...

 

[jacquesr]

I love granite. It rocks. 

[jamesg11]

Then ... replaced the granite with similar weighted Elac 4pi plus.2 super tweeters. Though not similar cost $s-wise.

[Superdad]

14 hours ago, jacques_racine said:

I love granite. It rocks. 

But if it rocks you'd best shim it! 

 

[My wife is a gem, yet sometimes I take her for granite.]

[James Stephens]

12 minutes ago, Superdad said:

But if it rocks you'd best shim it! 

 

[My wife is a gem, yet sometimes I take her for granite.]

 

Just to clarify I can't report back yet as my little chunk of coarse grained igneous rock hasn't finished breaking in. 🤣

 

[Superdad]

45 minutes ago, James Stephens said:

Just to clarify I can't report back yet as my little chunk of coarse grained igneous rock hasn't finished breaking in. 

Well you just have to give it another 3 million years...

[PYP]

2 hours ago, Superdad said:

Well you just have to give it another 3 million years...

 

Doesn't this belong in the Objective-Fi forum?  

[jacquesr]

Don't forget to ground it.

 

BTW, I received my clock. Was ticking so loud my wife called 911.