Shailesh Dhodia
Member
The Pre-cursor
I have been a part of hifivision forum since 2012. I always dreamt of building something of my own. I got myself built a B1 and Amp Camp Amp. It was Raghu and Sachin who did it for me. The sound that comes out of B1 and Amp Camp Amp is fantastic.
Adding to it; last year, I got built TABAQ speakers (by a carpenter who builds PA speakers) using Tymphany drivers sold by Linuxguru.
But I was keen to do something on my own and my inclination is towards electronics rather than speakers. However lack of theoretical and practical knowledge were the hurdles that I faced like any new DIYer.
The Gensis
I was fortunate enough to have Sadik join the forum in 2015 who builds his own amps and speakers and is a very down to earth person. Just last month when I was browsing thru the DIY endeavors on the forum I came across the Bride of Zen preamp built by JP Singh of Delhi. Having glanced at the pics I could gauge that a very few components are required and seemed to be good candidate for my DiY journey. I called JP Singh and he agreed to ship me the components minus the transformer, the big capacitors and a couple of other components which were not handy with him. I decided to buy the kit with a firm belief that I have Sadik to help me out. Meanwhile, I requested JPS to look for send the missing components and send them to me along with the rest of the kit. He did that for me and he was graceful enough to remove the transformer form his pre amp and send it to me with the kit. Once I received the kit, I called up Sadik and told him that I have procured a kit for pre-amp and he immediate replied that appan banayenge.
The Execution
So one fine Saturday, I went to him with the kit. He has a room which is more of a workshop. He taught me how to solder. I soldered all the components and believe me it was a thrilling experience. Next step was to procure the cabinet. For that we went to the old city area of Baroda and procured a cabinet of 0.8mm thickness for Rs. 200. The original price was Rs. 250 but Sadiks bargaining skills were good enough to fetch me a good discount. Rest of the things were done by Sadik viz.
1. Drilling holes in the cabinet.
2. Getting the acrylic front and back fascia with engravings done.
3. Wiring.
While he did all the above things, he kept on explaining me the why part of what he did.
And finally the unit was assembled and testing was initiated. It was tested with the Cresendo ME amp and speakers made by Sadik.
Initially there was some hum. I had called up JPS and he told me that it might be some grounding problem. Meanwhile Sadik found out with his bros help that it was indeed grounding problem and he fixed it.
The Pics
The Result
Once the problem was fixed, we played it for some time and found the sound very clean. I kept the BOZ at Sadiks place for a few days. And then Sadik came to my place with the pre-amp. It was tested with phone>BoZ>Amp Camp Amp>Tabaqs. We listened to it for some time and Sadik was not very impressed. He then swapped the wires of one of the speakers and suddenly there was a significant change in the sound quality for the good. Later on after Sadik went, I connected my Technics cd player as an input and played Jaane do na from Sagar movie. The instruments were so beautifully separated and as JPS says there is a sparkling clarity. The set up was sounding very open. BOZ has got a good gain which is a blessing for my set up with amp camp and tabaq (with 83db sensitivity). My wife also listened to it and she also admitted that the separation and soundstage are beautiful. However, after a few days I removed the BoZ and connected B1. When my wife listened to it she said that the B1 is much warmer. And I do admit that she is right. A few days passed, kept on using BoZ and today when I listened to the same song it was sounding warmer. I have not yet used the BoZ for more than 50 hours. Hope it will sound warmer as it breaks in.
The Verdict
I like the sound from BOZ and am absolutely delighted having built it. I would encourage esp. all the noobs and novices to take up this project as the starting point. Even the pros can take up this project and see how a simple preamp can make the music so interesting.
Additionally, I found JPS very helpful. He kept on calling me at regular intervals to check my progress.
However, please be noted that getting resources is not very easy. It is only because of Sadik that I could complete the project successfully.
The BoM
Kit (including Transfomer) =Rs. 1300
Enclosure (11x3x8 inches) = Rs.200
Front and Back acrylic plates = Rs. 300
Aluminum Feet = Rs. 200 (Sadik bought the rod and got them machined)
IEC socket with inbuilt RFI filter = Rs. 280 (Elcom)
Shielded Wire used for wiring = Rs 70 (Rs. 35/meter)
Input (2-in) & output sockets = Rs. 90 (MX)
Standoffs, nuts, bolts, screws= Rs. 0 (provided by Sadik)
Power Switch = Rs. 15 (Elcom - Provided by Sadik for no money)
Power Cable = Rs. 150
Total cost = Rs. 2605 (USD 41)
Next on the Anvil
Power Amp from kit provided by Aniket
My Sincere thanks to
Sachin, Raghu, Sumanta, Sadik, Aniket, Sandeep (Sann), Om Mishra & JP Singh
I have been a part of hifivision forum since 2012. I always dreamt of building something of my own. I got myself built a B1 and Amp Camp Amp. It was Raghu and Sachin who did it for me. The sound that comes out of B1 and Amp Camp Amp is fantastic.
Adding to it; last year, I got built TABAQ speakers (by a carpenter who builds PA speakers) using Tymphany drivers sold by Linuxguru.
But I was keen to do something on my own and my inclination is towards electronics rather than speakers. However lack of theoretical and practical knowledge were the hurdles that I faced like any new DIYer.
The Gensis
I was fortunate enough to have Sadik join the forum in 2015 who builds his own amps and speakers and is a very down to earth person. Just last month when I was browsing thru the DIY endeavors on the forum I came across the Bride of Zen preamp built by JP Singh of Delhi. Having glanced at the pics I could gauge that a very few components are required and seemed to be good candidate for my DiY journey. I called JP Singh and he agreed to ship me the components minus the transformer, the big capacitors and a couple of other components which were not handy with him. I decided to buy the kit with a firm belief that I have Sadik to help me out. Meanwhile, I requested JPS to look for send the missing components and send them to me along with the rest of the kit. He did that for me and he was graceful enough to remove the transformer form his pre amp and send it to me with the kit. Once I received the kit, I called up Sadik and told him that I have procured a kit for pre-amp and he immediate replied that appan banayenge.
The Execution
So one fine Saturday, I went to him with the kit. He has a room which is more of a workshop. He taught me how to solder. I soldered all the components and believe me it was a thrilling experience. Next step was to procure the cabinet. For that we went to the old city area of Baroda and procured a cabinet of 0.8mm thickness for Rs. 200. The original price was Rs. 250 but Sadiks bargaining skills were good enough to fetch me a good discount. Rest of the things were done by Sadik viz.
1. Drilling holes in the cabinet.
2. Getting the acrylic front and back fascia with engravings done.
3. Wiring.
While he did all the above things, he kept on explaining me the why part of what he did.
And finally the unit was assembled and testing was initiated. It was tested with the Cresendo ME amp and speakers made by Sadik.
Initially there was some hum. I had called up JPS and he told me that it might be some grounding problem. Meanwhile Sadik found out with his bros help that it was indeed grounding problem and he fixed it.
The Pics
The Result
Once the problem was fixed, we played it for some time and found the sound very clean. I kept the BOZ at Sadiks place for a few days. And then Sadik came to my place with the pre-amp. It was tested with phone>BoZ>Amp Camp Amp>Tabaqs. We listened to it for some time and Sadik was not very impressed. He then swapped the wires of one of the speakers and suddenly there was a significant change in the sound quality for the good. Later on after Sadik went, I connected my Technics cd player as an input and played Jaane do na from Sagar movie. The instruments were so beautifully separated and as JPS says there is a sparkling clarity. The set up was sounding very open. BOZ has got a good gain which is a blessing for my set up with amp camp and tabaq (with 83db sensitivity). My wife also listened to it and she also admitted that the separation and soundstage are beautiful. However, after a few days I removed the BoZ and connected B1. When my wife listened to it she said that the B1 is much warmer. And I do admit that she is right. A few days passed, kept on using BoZ and today when I listened to the same song it was sounding warmer. I have not yet used the BoZ for more than 50 hours. Hope it will sound warmer as it breaks in.
The Verdict
I like the sound from BOZ and am absolutely delighted having built it. I would encourage esp. all the noobs and novices to take up this project as the starting point. Even the pros can take up this project and see how a simple preamp can make the music so interesting.
Additionally, I found JPS very helpful. He kept on calling me at regular intervals to check my progress.
However, please be noted that getting resources is not very easy. It is only because of Sadik that I could complete the project successfully.
The BoM
Kit (including Transfomer) =Rs. 1300
Enclosure (11x3x8 inches) = Rs.200
Front and Back acrylic plates = Rs. 300
Aluminum Feet = Rs. 200 (Sadik bought the rod and got them machined)
IEC socket with inbuilt RFI filter = Rs. 280 (Elcom)
Shielded Wire used for wiring = Rs 70 (Rs. 35/meter)
Input (2-in) & output sockets = Rs. 90 (MX)
Standoffs, nuts, bolts, screws= Rs. 0 (provided by Sadik)
Power Switch = Rs. 15 (Elcom - Provided by Sadik for no money)
Power Cable = Rs. 150
Total cost = Rs. 2605 (USD 41)
Next on the Anvil
Power Amp from kit provided by Aniket
My Sincere thanks to
Sachin, Raghu, Sumanta, Sadik, Aniket, Sandeep (Sann), Om Mishra & JP Singh
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