DIY Sony VFET Builders thread

Are Tango now those called ISO or ISO-Tango like these:
SINGLE ENDED OUTPUT TRANSFORMERS. By ISO transformers from Japan, formerly TANGO transformers.

My 300B amp is more or less DIY as it is modified a lot and will compare with VFET to check how close there are. I managed to get the 300B "hum free" with help from some "tube gurus".

The good thing with low voltage amps is that 1. time builders can do it. With tube amps more care has to be taken. 1000 uF 550VDC can give a "good" kick.
 
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this was mine for my Vfet Nemesis. big beast :D
 
I have now prepared for a re-flow job this evening. Then I also made this modification I have seen other been doing so it is easier to mount again. Then I don't have to fiddle with the plastic spacers.

Can you, please, describe a bit what this helps with? I am still waiting on the parts, but would be useful to know before hand. Thanks.
 
Can you, please, describe a bit what this helps with? I am still waiting on the parts, but would be useful to know before hand. Thanks.

The solder re-flow was to check if the very faint noise I had in R-channel was caused by a bad solder joint. I don't expect it but I try it out. It is very faint noise not audible with year 20cm from tweeter but L-channel is 100% silent with ear few cm from tweeter. I am just obsessed by symmetry :)
Then I also made some small adjustments on chassis. Rail adjustment etc. so chassis looks nicer when assembled. Not finished yet.....but almost there......

I was surprised that the nuts that secures the TO-3's to PCB and also should make electrical contact to PCB seems a bit on the loose side......so I made them a bit more tight. Maybe for this job people here talked a lot of torque screwdrivers?
 
Regarding the metal stand offs I reverted back to the originals and it was not that hard to get it fit.

The stand offs I mounted......the screws was not able to get through the holes in PCB. Then I tried 3mm hardware.....but it did not work well.....so went back to the original.
Think 4mm hardware should do it and the first stand offs I used must have been larger.
 
...I was surprised that the nuts that secures the TO-3's to PCB and also should make electrical contact to PCB seems a bit on the loose side......so I made them a bit more tight. Maybe for this job people here talked a lot of torque screwdrivers?
I understood that, one of the reason for Mr. Pass pre-assembling the VFETs was, precisely, to avoid torque forces on the fet due to over-tension on the nuts. Was it really lose? I would be afraid of damaging the unobtanium. I probably would check the bolts myself, but not tight them when they have been torqued-calibrated screwed in.
 
R-channel still makes a bit of "flicker-noise".
They funny thing is that suddenly it is gone and total silence even with ear close to tweeter. Is that the nature of this kind of noise?

But it does not affect quality of the music.

If I was not trying out passive pre i would probably never have experienced it. With passive pre I have low amplification in the chain and then also very low noise level.
 
I will order some 25k pots.....only have 5k and 10k of those types.
It would make sense if this pot is noisy as the wiper of the pot goes to the gate of the VFET. The 20V seems very stable after warm up but pot can still make some troubles it seems. It is not the most funny to unsolder......but let's see.....

Amp has played some nice music during the evening. It is silent now (switched off).
 
R-channel still makes a bit of "flicker-noise".
They funny thing is that suddenly it is gone and total silence even with ear close to tweeter. Is that the nature of this kind of noise?

But it does not affect quality of the music.

If I was not trying out passive pre i would probably never have experienced it. With passive pre I have low amplification in the chain and then also very low noise level.
In my ACA I had something similar. Replaced all active divices; replaced output resistors. In the end someone gave the tip: the input coupling cap. And yes, that gave that intermittent clicking hushy flickering noise. Replaced it. It was gone. So I'd say: look at C4 (D- input) or C1 grand input or C2 (buffer, unlikely).

It puzzles me that it is dependent on the preamp (passive you hear it, active not). Then it looks like the vol pot.
imho Trimpot noise is totally blanked out by the C2/1000uF.
 
With active preamp the preamp also contributes to the audible noise in tweeter so when the passive was installed I noticed the "silence" apart from the "clicking" noise from time to time. It is the same with input shorted. But to get a feeling for if the noise could be from the trimpot I used my old amplifying device and coupled it to speaker out. Then I can hear the output noise in 5m distance instead of 5cm. Then I "played" with trimpot. And it is very obvious that just touching the white trim screw with screwdriver creates this noise. And of course turning it creates a lot of noise. I think there is a high probability that trimpot is "noisy". It may also explain why noise can come and go.

Think I will get some 25k pots and see if it cures it.

To unsolder the old I may use a SMD "heat gun" which has some attachments that can direct the heat at a concentrated spot.....or is that a bad idea?

The idea was to heat all 3 terminal at same time for a quick easy removal.
 

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