I bought some NE5532 opamps on Amazon last week. They turned out to be fake, but I kind of figured they would be. I have the real deal coming from Mouser.
Going through boxes & bags of parts today, I found the bits I didn’t use on the 2nd 6J1 preamp kit I built. I decided to see what the Chongx 470uf caps looked like on a new little LCR meter I got. Most were a little low, a few a little high, but 3 of the 9 in the bag were really high and already venting. These caps have never been used and the kits were purchased in Nov of 2023. I suppose it’s to be expected considering the low prices for these kits. At least the boards are decent quality.
How do you like that LCR vs a DATS?
I have looked at it a few times but havent really needed one beyond the few I have.
What other boards did you buy? I have been looking into the accuphase clone that Michael Beany did a review on. Thinking about putting that in a case with a few other boards to build a simple preamp that I can continue to mod. Ill add my pi streamer and a dac, this should make it easier for me to swap out amplifiers.
No bulging caps here. Rubycon polarized, wima films, dale resistors, don’t remember which pot. Really like the way it sounds especially with the tung-sols. Don’t remember what the kit cost, but the upgraded parts were way more $ than the kit.
I just got that meter last week as a birthday present. I like to so far because it grabs resistance faster than any of my other handheld meters and much faster than the DATS v3. I just compared it to my Keithley 199 bench meter for resistance and it seems to be at least in the same ballpark, which is close enough for my needs. I’m sure not one to sweat a few hundredths of an ohm.
TBH, if I ever get around to adding more inputs and putting it in a nicer case, it’ll take the place of my old Parasound AV preamp because I can’t hear much difference between the two.
That looks great! I think that’s the stock pot. That’s the same one I my first kit, pictured above.
It’s strange, but the one I built with the stock PS caps doesn’t have any bulging. They are all a little low, but still within 20% tolerance. I checked a few new 470uf Nichicons of various voltages and they are about 15 - 20% low. I have read some manufacturers now deliver caps that are lower in value than the stated rating. Their form of shrink-flation.
