So yeah, I've been waiting for some stuff from Russia to arrive, and haven't wanted to miss the doorbell, as otherwise the evil postman from BPost takes my long awaited package, and then deposits it at the local Spar (read: slightly larger than corner shop (and not on a corner) of disappointment that is never open at any hours to make it useful). The problem with this is that I still don't have a local ID card (blame bureaucracy and software issues) and have just sent off my passport for renewal in ze motherland, (which I might get back in 2-4 weeks? I don't know...). Unfortunately (and rather annoyingly, going int passive aggressive rage inducing) the guy there doesn't seem to think a drivers license, which has a photo, of my head no less, and my name (amazing) is sufficient.
This Russian cargo, I might add, is exciting, and pertinent to this blog. Let me explain. After seeing how nice the chassis was for the current BE100 clone build, I had a look at his other stuff, and then "by accident" (I swear, it is always by accident, I have twitchy mousefinger) I order a JTM45 chassis, another slo chassis, and a slo headshell and some grills (my excuse here being I still have a spare slo100 board, and it could be fun to build another one). Couple with, well, I'd like to build a point to point wired amp at some point as well. And the JTM45, being back from the 60s, aka, golden age of tubes, aka, really really simple circuits, shouldn't be too hard to do (plus it'll generate some "oh look I can use a soldering iron, please marvel at my joints and carefully selected components" instagram posts).
All of this, you probably didn't need to know, and you've been wondering "what the hell ahs all that verbal diarrhoea got to do with the damn picture". So, back to the doorbell.
So the doorbell goes, and as I've been watching tracking like a hawk, i run downstairs thinking it is the above.
No such luck. Crappy Amazon parcel. Not very exciting. So I kind of gave up for the day, thinking, maybe tomorrow...
However, in my morning malaise (after feeding the chickens, henceforth referred to as the consumers of all things) walking back to the back of the house I noticed a box. On closer inspection, said box was heavy. I also had no idea of what was in it, or why it had Belgium misspelt as Belgio.
Suddenly, realisation, these are transformers! I'd literally forgotten I had ordered them from the rather excellent InMadOut. Only slight niggle is that he refused to paint them Donald Trump toilet seat gold (to match the chassis), but other than that, again, they look fantastic. Very pleased with them, even if they are still loose. They seem large and chunky which is nice as well.
Anyway, part of the BE100 build had a separate 14v transformer as a requirement. When I asked InMadOut about it, Magneto (forgotten real name, but as it's magnet related, the new name for him is apt) suggested he just added it as another tap on the mains transformer. So this has a 14V tap, which will be used for the relays I believe. Which is cool, as it'll be less clutter.
Choke looks quite chunky as well. As the BE100 chassis isn't as deep as the slo clone one from previous posts, I don't think I'll be able to mount it internally, but I figure as the amp will have solid front, and have air vents in top and rear, that I shouldn't really get too carried away by making things look pretty on the inside. Yes, contrary to popular belief, beauty is on the outside, not in.
The arrival of the tranformers also means that I now should really get the component order sorted out, as well as order tube sockets and various other bits and pieces from tube town.
On top of this, and I'd almost forgotten about it, a friend of mine sent me some extra infor on some choice mods he made to his BE100 build. I kind of like the idea of being able to switch between the 4 and 16ohm tap for the negative feedback loop. I also think that unless the BE100 already has it (haven't studied the schematic well enough) I'll add an elevated heater mod here as well.
In any case, amp build D Day is approaching, and I do plan to do some videos like last time, as they came out quite cool (well, I thought so anyway).
So, hopefully reading this inane drivel has kept you off the streets and out of trouble for a few minutes, and next time I might actually do an update that involves something other than "here's what I got in the mail"
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