Hello DIYer

[badrisuper]

Hi All,

I like to build audio related things myself to satisfy my taste which are not only cheaper but comes out very well and to say everyone that I have a hobby.

I have built myself Linuxguru's Myref C and Dario Insero's Myref C. I am very happy with the output. Even both are running at home for more than 2 years. Very recently magic smoke came out from Dario Insero's Myref when I was trying to pair it with my newly built Frugal Horn MK3 designed by Dave, Chrisb, Scot Moose and co and built by Bibin N Bijin.

I want to DIY many things, like me many are out there who even dont know basic electronics. I have a suggestion to enlighten people like us for example if i want to build a simple design amplifier in a vero board I struggle even dont know where to start. If we conduct a meet often or whenever possible a group of people agree to have a meet on one selected topic by inviting subject knowledge experts [ Forum member who has got knowledge and experience or active volunteers ] to talk about basic things and if possible to give a practical demo may help us to pursue our hobby in a more interesting way and cost effective.

I think there are threads started for wood works, room acoustic and other stuffs where volunteers had done and tried practically. I am proposing to conduct a meet like Amp Camp Amp but in a simple and cost effective way. Hope you all will be interested to have meet like this. Please chime in your suggestions.

Thanks
badrisuper

 

[sbg]

I'll be there! ( hope I'm not travelling around )

In fact I had suggested the same in one of the earlier Hifi meets at bangalore.
Amp Camp Amp sounds good.

 

[gobble]

I think a Hifi meet only for DIY with everybody bringing the parts and soldering them at the spot while enjoying some demo listening of other FM's gear is a good idea. A well organized event could have a individual table for each FM/build.

There could be some demo's about how to correctly wire a transformer and how to do a neat job with wiring and mounting sockets etc.


G0bble

 

[badrisuper]

the important point to note is DIY is not cheaper option than the commercial sector. Sometimes its more than 3 to 5 times and horrifically 10 times. The main advantage of DIY is to make things better than what manufacturers omit because of cost reasons which in general degrades the sound quality.

I accept.

Keep it simple

 

[keith_correa]

Sandyhifiguru - very generous of you. Thanks!

 

[gobble]

the important point to note is DIY is not cheaper option than the commercial sector. Sometimes its more than 3 to 5 times and horrifically 10 times. The main advantage of DIY is to make things better than what manufacturers omit because of cost reasons which in general degrades the sound quality. If you want to do better than commercial products do look at DIY and hence not cheap. Lots of things do dont etc will come.

I would rather suggest you is to buy finished boards rather than soldiering everything by yourself and miss that capacitor inverted polarity and burn your speakers and amp if not your room.

Keep it simple and believe me sound and electronics are oceans dont underestimate it as it takes years and years of solid understanding before you get to do something confidently.

Sound advise there. I chose the middle path..
Commercial DIY. Every single nut screw and electronic component is accounted for in the readymade package including chassis. No headache running in the heat and dust to source small parts and excellent workmanship in the kits design and attention to detail. Just sit at your desk solder and assemble.
Negative? Can cost much more than your flea market dream components. Almost as much as mid priced budget gear.

G0bble

 

[keith_correa]

.... No headache running in the heat and dust to source small parts...

+100. In India, it's a bloody PITA

 

[noknor]

Can anyone help me out on DIY speaker cabinet, please?.
Is there someone in Chennai who makes speaker cabinets?

 

[gobble]

Can anyone help me out on DIY speaker cabinet, please?.
Is there someone in Chennai who makes speaker cabinets?

Thats DIO (Do It Others ) not DIY.

G0bble

 

[noknor]

Oh I did not know, I thought maybe cutting the wood planks, joining them together, cutting holes to place the drivers etc. was done by someone else.
Then this is too much for me. I cannot work on plywood cutting at my home.

 

[badrisuper]

We dont need to do everything. If we have the plans we can take it to a good carpenter and do as you want.

Any chennai hifiers who participated and done speaker built from Speaker Kit GB can help or give pointers to where to start?

Thanks
Badri

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Oh I did not know, I thought maybe cutting the wood planks, joining them together, cutting holes to place the drivers etc. was done by someone else.
Then this is too much for me. I cannot work on plywood cutting at my home.

Don't worry about it!

A lot of Do It Yourself here seems to be Manage It Yourself. Hands-off DIY

Somebody else does the carpentry; somebody else does the soldering. I'm not knocking it! Among the many things that I'm not very good at are electrical soldering and wood work, so these arrangements mean that I might, one day, be able to own something from the available selection of very fine "DIY" designs. That would be impossible if I actually had to Do It Myself

On the other hand, I guess there is plenty of stress in finding the right people to do this work. I will never forget the kitchen carpenter who told me, "You never said you wanted it done properly!"

In theory, I'm all for DIY. In practice, at least for some of us, ODI is a much better idea

 

[rbalu72]

Well said, most of us are assemble it yourelf (AIY) sort of and not 100% DIY. There is nothing like a starting point for DIY.. get whatever you can do by yourself and rest with whoever can. As someone said, DIY not necessarily economical all the time.. sometimes it becomes even more expensive than an off the shelf item.

 

[koushik]

In most of my DIY effort I am the Director.

I prefer getting it done by professional than MIY (Mess It Yourself) :lol:

 

[grubyhalo]

To me, this is the essence of AmpCamp. Something like this would go a long way in de-mystifying electronics and encourage interested bystanders to try DIY at a relatively uncomplicated level. The help available on-hand to cure the beginner's hiccups would help quite a lot as well. Hopefully, a meet like this would encourage atleast some to start a journey towards much more complex and higher value builds. It would be great if the event starts off with an introduction to electronics and cover a few basics like Ohm's and Kirschoff's laws, identifying components etc., and leave us with atleast 4-6 hours to get some hands-on time. Something like a simple power supply and a chip amp build would be a good start I'm thinking. Ofcourse the chance to meet and learn from the DIY elders would be a bonus. It's just like summer camp, with resistors and caps instead of play dough and hopefully a nice lager (or 2) instead of lemonade during the breaks...

 

[MJ23Bulls]

Can anyone help me out on DIY speaker cabinet, please?.
Is there someone in Chennai who makes speaker cabinets?

Hi,
Right now, I'm working on a pseudo DIY speaker project for myself (Xover & Cab design by Bijin). Just getting the cabs done by the carpenter. If you want I can get the cab built by the carpenter for you. Please let me know. If interested, please pm me.

Regards,
BK

 

[jls001]

It's OK to have others make parts you cannot possibly make yourself. For example, speaker cabinets or amplifier cabinets are specialist items and there are professional people who do such things to earn a living. Even painting/varnishing/anodising are specialist jobs.

What a DIY-er can concentrate on is assembling the circuitry/drivers/crossovers, and integrating it with the the cabinet.

Some essential things to know when starting out:
1) how to read circuit diagrams - this entails an understanding of all types of components and their symbols (or at least the more commonly used ones).
2) the concept of polarity of some electronic components.
3) the concept of correct alignment of electronic components on a circuit board, like how to correctly insert an IC or transistor or diode or electrolytic capacitor.
4) basic testing methods to understand if a circuit has been wired correctly, and to avoid harmful and costly accidents (like a wrongly wired electrolytic capacitors that zooms off like a small rocket).
5) basics of power supply and how to correctly wire it up without blowing it up - very important.
6) grounding practices.
7) tidy wiring and layout

I will not suggest basic circuit theory as it can get too mathematical for the uninitiated. But it is a good "further reading" as a person progresses to more advanced things.