How to get started in DIY audio?

Hi,

I've not no electronics knowledge but want to get into building my own (ss) amps. How should I start?
________
Asatru (Norse Paganism) Dicussion

 

good forum for DIY -

www.diyaudio.com

 

basic knowledge:

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/

 

Why not valve? Loads of scope for modding/upgrading and plenty of kits around like WAD's.

Rather than go streight for a build project why not mod something to get a feel for it? Re clocking a cd, changing op amps or fitting better caps?

 

There's two ways you can go about it....

There's the easy DIY approach where you buy a kit or you modify an existing piece of equipment by throwing expensive bits of pixie dust at it (and this can be very effective).

Or there's the difficult DIY approach where you sit down with a blank piece of paper and design a circuit, prototype it, blow it up, design a new one, prototype it, set fire to the cat, put it in a proper box, realise you could be making money off this, set up hifi company, etc....

The latter requires some electronics knowledge, so buy a kit or follow a common self-build (Aleph for example).

 

Thanks all, what essential tools do you recommend?

Btw, I'd chosen not to get into tubes as I read it's more risky for an electronics novice.
________
Jaguar x-type

 

Erm, a good quality soldering iron (I like Antex) plus assortment of decent screwdrivers, pliers, wire strippers, tweezers, magnifying glass, helping-hands, desoldering tool.....the list goes on!

You could go down the gainclone route, they are very simple and have a large following. Google 'gainclone'.

 

Hi,

I suggest you start to learn about soldering and building electronics from educational (non-audio) kits you can get for small money at Maplin.

Then see if you can get a basic book on electronics, so you are at least familiar with Ohms law, what different components do and how to troubleshoot things if your project does not work.

For a DIY SS Amp I would STRONGLY suggest you try one the of the various very well documented "gainclone" designs, as these keep things quite reasonable in terms of complexity and challenge to newbies and there is a lot of documented detail on-line. Oh yes, they don't sound halve bad either and you can build such an Amp on a shoestring for very little money, especially if you find yourself an old broken SS Amp from somewhere and use that as "body donor".

Ciao T

 

Buy yourself a GCSE level electronics book and learn the basics of theroy. Practice good soldering skills on few cheap and completely useless kits from Maplins (as suggested) – novelty door bell anyone? Acquire a good multimeter and learn how to fault find – important for when things don't work!

Avoid valve designs to begin with (lethal voltages) and stick with low voltage circuits. And try to avoid picking up a soldering iron with the hot end – doh!

 

Get a decent cheap multimeter too

 

Visit links at
http://www.hifiplus.org/forum/showthread.php?t=113

Section: HiFiPlus.org Forums > The HiFi > DIY Audio
thread: "Tutorials On Line for DIYers"

Have browse, choose a tutorial you like and suits you best to start off.

DIY is great fun and you save a packet

 

http://chipamp.com
http://www.decdun.fsnet.co.uk/gaincloneindex.html
http://c.webring.com/hub?ring=gaincloneamplifi

 

Thanks, loads, everyone.

I'm going to order some tools and books and get started asap!
________
HARLEY-DAVIDSON FLHS

 

Ahh, peranders, there's a name I recognise from diyaudio...

 

There is only one piece of advice I can give to a neewbie.

DO WEAR HEAVY CLOTHES WHEN SOLDERING.

If you solder late at night in your boxers you may endup with bleeding testicles.

 

Only if you are working on NADS