They are PET I guess. They are very nicely designed (loved the grub screw). But sorry to mention that the front face of the knobs appeared a lot faded. So much so that it looks like all the scratches caused by machining is showing up clearly- as if the varnish is gone. Not 'shining' as much as its sides. What I state is not evident from that pic though.:indifferent14:
Pass B1
- Thread starter sachu888
- Start date
They are PET I guess. They are very nicely designed (loved the grub screw). But sorry to mention that the front face of the knobs appeared a lot faded. So much so that it looks like all the scratches caused by machining is showing up clearly- as if the varnish is gone. Not 'shining' as much as its sides. What I state is not evident from that pic though.:indifferent14:
sachu888
Well-Known Member
sachu888
Well-Known Member
Sachu
There seems to be some confusion. I was replying to magma thinking that he was asking about the knobs used by thecoolestone, which is plastic.
Raghu's knobs are surely solid metal for sure.
sachu888
Well-Known Member
I and coolestone together sat and completed his B1 connections last Sunday. It was fun to do something again which I already enjoyed, especially with a good companyWaiting for pics from him
EDIT: I will just post one pic. Can't resist.Wire management 'not' done at this time.
I used 4 shirt buttons and pushed the led leads through two of the holes of the shirt button. Then stuck the shirt button using fevibond, behind the led holes on the B1 cab.
spirovious
Well-Known Member
Congrats Santy & Thecoolestone,so finally all stuffs got fitted in the cabinate.I and coolestone together sat and completed his B1 connections last Sunday. It was fun to do something again which I already enjoyed, especially with a good company
EDIT: I will just post one pic. Can't resist.
Would like to hear your 1st impression.
Nice idea, but when I simply applied glue on the circumference of the LED, it seated in the hole just fine!
TheCoolestOne
Active Member
Raghu great looking cabinet and wood finish. The texture and grains of the wood look really nice and the contrasting silver knobs look different.
Congrats Santy and thecoolestone.
Sir, Pictures?
Here they are
Attachments
TheCoolestOne
Active Member
Finally my Pass B1 has been completed last Sunday. Posting of pics and initial review of the B1 was long overdue but busy work schedule kept me occupied.
A Very special thanks to Santy for taking the time out and helping me with the final bits of wiring and assembly and clicking some great pics with his new camera. It was great fun working with him and without his help I would have struggled with the final set of connections. It took us a couple of hours to have it up and running as we were not in a rush and preferred to get things done correctly to save us time later. The Pass B1 fired up at the first shot so it was a happy moment for both of us.
Some pics from Santy (before cable management):
Thanks are also due once again (and in no particular order) to the following to make this build possible.
Sachin, Om, Quad (Prasad), Bibin, Jayant and Keith. (hope I have not missed out anyone). You guys rock and thanks to all of you that this build was possible with relative ease. Especially to Sachin and Om for patiently responding to all my queries throughout this built.
I will be posting some more pics (post cable management) along with my brief review of the Pass B1 in my chain.
A Very special thanks to Santy for taking the time out and helping me with the final bits of wiring and assembly and clicking some great pics with his new camera. It was great fun working with him and without his help I would have struggled with the final set of connections. It took us a couple of hours to have it up and running as we were not in a rush and preferred to get things done correctly to save us time later. The Pass B1 fired up at the first shot so it was a happy moment for both of us.
Some pics from Santy (before cable management):
Thanks are also due once again (and in no particular order) to the following to make this build possible.
Sachin, Om, Quad (Prasad), Bibin, Jayant and Keith. (hope I have not missed out anyone). You guys rock and thanks to all of you that this build was possible with relative ease. Especially to Sachin and Om for patiently responding to all my queries throughout this built.
I will be posting some more pics (post cable management) along with my brief review of the Pass B1 in my chain.
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apk
Well-Known Member
I like the button idea.......good inovation!
Even I was wondering on how to fix the LEDs. Maybe I will try your option.
Thanks,
APK
TheCoolestOne
Active Member
Some pics from my iphone post completing the cable management at my home. I Tried my best to manage the cables as efficiently as possible but could not eradicate the clutter completely. Pulling wires for the LEDs from the Source Selector (SS) has added to the clutter. I liked how in Rohits build, Om has connected the LEDs to the Source Selector knob itself thus saving additional wires to be pulled from the SS board. I will try that sometime down the line. Thankfully, I have used terminal blocks wherever possible in all the boards and this has helped tremendously.
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There are some queries I have regarding the final settings and I would appreciate inputs on them:
(1) We have tweaked the power for the source Selector to 15v and 20v for the B1 board. (are these ideal or any changes required)
(2) The LED for the SS in the first position does not seem to come on even though the connection works flawlessly. All other LEDs switch on as the selector knob is moved to the appropriate position. Only this particular LED does not seem to work. So far I have changed the LED and rechecked the soldering but the problem persists. Any suggestions?
There are some queries I have regarding the final settings and I would appreciate inputs on them:
(1) We have tweaked the power for the source Selector to 15v and 20v for the B1 board. (are these ideal or any changes required)
(2) The LED for the SS in the first position does not seem to come on even though the connection works flawlessly. All other LEDs switch on as the selector knob is moved to the appropriate position. Only this particular LED does not seem to work. So far I have changed the LED and rechecked the soldering but the problem persists. Any suggestions?
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TheCoolestOne
Active Member
Now moving to my take on the Pass B1. Well the Pass B1 was built to replace my existing Rotel Pre. The pass B1 was connected to my Rotel Power Amp RB970BX. The source were WAV files played thru a CD on my Sony BDP. Not an ideal player I know but I wanted to do an apples to apples comparison using my existing setup. My immediate observations about the Pass B1 were:
(1) It is very neutral and silent. At times I feel it does not exist in my chain.
(2) It is very transparent in nature which could be good and bad. Good in the sense that it does not alter the source track (at least I found no or very very little coloration) and bad in the sense that a bad recording it will not just sound bad it will sound worse.
(3) The Sound Stage was much wider and separation and detailing slightly better than my Rotel Pre.
(4) Vocals were sweet and bang in the center.
(5) I felt a bit disappointed in the lows (and depth to some extent) as compared to my Rotel Pre. I like my music to have a bit of a bass. Call me a bass and coloration freak but to me some songs dont sound that great without that extra thump / punch to it.
(6) Another thing I noticed right away was that in my Rotel the volume knob at 9 10 oclock position was sufficient for me but in the Pass B1 I had to crank it up to 12 oclock position. Maybe due the Pass B1 having a no or a low gain. I am not an expert to comment on this and would appreciate if someone could throw some light on this.
The above mentioned observations are subjective and partial to my ears only. The review was done with only 15 20 mins of listening so it is very early to comment on whether or not the Pass B1 will replace my existing Rotel Pre but as of now I am very satisfied with this amazing piece of equipment.
Brickbats / Bouquets / Suggestions are welcome !!
(1) It is very neutral and silent. At times I feel it does not exist in my chain.
(2) It is very transparent in nature which could be good and bad. Good in the sense that it does not alter the source track (at least I found no or very very little coloration) and bad in the sense that a bad recording it will not just sound bad it will sound worse.
(3) The Sound Stage was much wider and separation and detailing slightly better than my Rotel Pre.
(4) Vocals were sweet and bang in the center.
(5) I felt a bit disappointed in the lows (and depth to some extent) as compared to my Rotel Pre. I like my music to have a bit of a bass. Call me a bass and coloration freak but to me some songs dont sound that great without that extra thump / punch to it.
(6) Another thing I noticed right away was that in my Rotel the volume knob at 9 10 oclock position was sufficient for me but in the Pass B1 I had to crank it up to 12 oclock position. Maybe due the Pass B1 having a no or a low gain. I am not an expert to comment on this and would appreciate if someone could throw some light on this.
The above mentioned observations are subjective and partial to my ears only. The review was done with only 15 20 mins of listening so it is very early to comment on whether or not the Pass B1 will replace my existing Rotel Pre but as of now I am very satisfied with this amazing piece of equipment.
Brickbats / Bouquets / Suggestions are welcome !!
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bibin3210
Well-Known Member
Finally my Pass B1 has been completed last Sunday. Posting of pics and initial review of the B1 was long overdue but busy work schedule kept me occupied.
A Very special thanks to Santy for taking the time out and helping me with the final bits of wiring and assembly and clicking some great pics with his new camera. It was great fun working with him and without his help I would have struggled with the final set of connections. It took us a couple of hours to have it up and running as we were not in a rush and preferred to get things done correctly to save us time later. The Pass B1 fired up at the first shot so it was a happy moment for both of us.
Some pics from Santy (before cable management):
Thanks are also due once again (and in no particular order) to the following to make this build possible.
Sachin, Om, Quad (Prasad), Bibin, Jayant and Keith. (hope I have not missed out anyone). You guys rock and thanks to all of you that this build was possible with relative ease. Especially to Sachin and Om for patiently responding to all my queries throughout this built.
I will be posting some more pics (post cable management) along with my brief review of the Pass B1 in my chain.
Hi Shams & Santhosh,
Great Job....:clapping:
Please peal off the protective paper layer from the acrylic (at least from front panel) and try to use shielded wire for signals.
Thanks,
Bibin
TheCoolestOne
Active Member
The Button Idea is indeed very innovative and very different. I too was wondering on how to fix the LED's. Currently a drop of fevikwick did the job for me but I do Like your idea.
TheCoolestOne
Active Member
I will keep that in mind Bibin. Have a few ends to wrap up internally. I was too anxious to try out the Pass B1 in my chain to look into the tit bits at that moment
1. The source selector board has 7812 regulator. You can also have the voltage as 13v to waste less heat.
2. This could be issue with the transistor. I am also having some issue where 3 leds light up and they become ok after 30 minutes of use.
Being a buffer it has no gain and just acts as an impedance matching device with a volume control. It is really a source follower and outputs less than its input at less than full volume.
Purchase the Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier at a special offer price.
