my version of the ST120

this is my updated chassis and panels of the ST120.
The chassis is made by a guy in Bozeman who really does excellent work. If anyone is interested, 'pm' me and I'll give you his contact details.

Great look like all your amps an pres... wood sweet ....tone wise
Can you give some input on the 6SN7 frontend sound?....
an your input on the 12AU7-12BH7 frontend sound...

thanks for the pic.........


Thanks for the site Bob..................

Stunning!

Classic elegance ... but

WHERE'S THE NUDIE SHOTS??

sKiZo wrote:Classic elegance ... but

WHERE'S THE NUDIE SHOTS??  

heck...ya gotta pay for those man!!!

she's getting dressed or un dressed...whichever you prefer!!!!!!!

zx wrote:Great look like all your amps an pres... wood sweet ....tone wise
Can you give some input on the 6SN7 frontend sound?....
an your input on the 12AU7-12BH7 frontend sound...

thanks for the pic.........


Thanks for the site Bob..................

all I can say, to my ears, the 6SN7's sound fuller, so do the 12BH7, but I also like the 12AU7 or 5963's in the front end

Those panels are spectacular! Who is your source? Did they make the top plate too?

kaner wrote:Those panels are spectacular!  Who is your source?  Did they make the top plate too?

thanks! I get FPE, Front Panel Express, to make all my panels. They also have a free design software, for both MAC and Windows, which I use to design the panels, really easy to use.

Another vote for FPE ... CNC machining is definitely the way to go for a professional looking result. The free design software DOES take a bit of practice, but I like being able to do "what if" changes on the fly. Here's my ST-120 chassis plate as ordered - I went through several versions before I was satisfied ...



Once you've finalized the layout and selected the material, just click the buy button. In my case, I ordered the machining that would be either exposed after assembly or what would have been hard to cut here. I find that things like mounting holes for socket tabs, transformers and VTA boards, meters, etc. are easier to get right if you can put the parts in and mark the exact spots.

I keep seeing "Free Design Software" with FPE, but what would such a panel cost to fabricate? I might want to try one in the future. And by the way, MontanaWay, your workmanship, and attention to detail is nothing short of fantastic!

Mike

mazeeff wrote:I keep seeing "Free Design Software" with FPE, but what would such a panel cost to fabricate? I might want to try one in the future. And by the way, MontanaWay, your workmanship, and attention to detail is nothing short of fantastic!

Mike

its a bit like asking how long is a piece of string, it really depends so much on the size and complexity. A top panel for my ST120 version costs about $125. It falls into the category of not super expensive but not really cheap either. I find FPE's quality to be excellent, so far have not had issues. I have used another manufacturer based in CA, who are about 15-20% cheaper than FPE, BUT, I've had so many issues with them in the end that saving made no difference at all!

Yes ... it does cost, so you have to figure out whether it's worth it ...

That said, there's no way I would have been able to get this quality of workmanship hacking away at a slab of metal in the garage.



Total cost for the panels around $160, including the printing. Hey, you only live once ...

here's the inside of the ST120....its a busy little place!!

Can you describe the boards that we are looking at? One must be for driving the VU meters, but what is the red board (with transformer)? I really like those mini-fans that you are using. Are you pushing or pulling air from the chassis? I noticed air vents next to the fan.  Does this prevent the air from getting pulled through the tube vent holes? Your attention to detail in the undercarriage is stunning!!! The Octopus ground lug is a nice touch!

Mike

Beautiful !! The extra room is very nice!

mazeeff wrote:Can you describe the boards that we are looking at? One must be for driving the VU meters, but what is the red board (with transformer)? I really like those mini-fans that you are using. Are you pushing or pulling air from the chassis? I noticed air vents next to the fan.  Does this prevent the air from getting pulled through the tube vent holes? Your attention to detail in the undercarriage is stunning!!! The Octopus ground lug is a nice touch!

Mike

yes, the large pcb is the VTA octal driver board, on the left, one is the VU meter driver pcb, the red pcb is the mini transformer for the VU & mini fan supply pcb, the pcb with the grenn LED on is the time delay unit, and the vero board is the variable power supply to drive the mini fan.
Why variable power supply you ask?...glad you did! The mini fans are rated at 12VDC and are supposed to be quiet...well they are not quiet enough for my liking, so I use a small variable power supply based on the LM317 to cut the supply down below 10VDC, at which stage the fan is quiet enough.
I am using the fan to push ambient air into the chassis to aid in the convection effect the hot tubes create as they pull air up through the vent holes. Probably not really necessary, but I feel better for it and you can actually feel air moving through those vent holes.
Yes, I found that two grounding lugs are just not enough, so I use a bunch of 'Y' grounding lugs and arrange them in 'petal' form, much easier and neater!
Thanks for the positive comments

Really admire the attention to detail and quality craftsmanship, thanks for sharing the under hood pic's!

Don't I get a hug for making him post the nudie pic?

I appreciate that this build was identified as an ST-120. Not much resemblance to a REAL ST-120 ... don't know about people just can't leave well enough alone!

With all the extra digital hardware under the hood, (and no noise I assUme?) I'm half tempted to dig out that 24v power supply I was gonna install to light the on/off switch ... maybe even light the meters ... and put some sound active LEDs underneath to pulse with the music ...

Somebody stops me!

sKiZo is you're middle name agitator  
I always look forward to the usual suspects (You know who you are ) and your posts!

Why don't we all switch to ham radio and dump all this audio crap?

sKiZo wrote:Don't I get a hug for making him post the nudie pic?  

I appreciate that this build was identified as an ST-120. Not much resemblance to a REAL ST-120 ... don't know about people just can't leave well enough alone!

With all the extra digital hardware under the hood, (and no noise I assUme?) I'm half tempted to dig out that 24v power supply I was gonna install to light the on/off switch ... maybe even light the meters ... and put some sound active LEDs underneath to pulse with the music ...

Somebody stops me!

digital hardware?????HUH!....wash your mouth out with soap and water mister!!!!! ....there are no 1's and 0's in this baby!
oh...no noise...since everything is ANALOG!!!!!

deepee99 wrote:Why don't we all switch to ham radio and dump all this audio crap?

10-4 good buddy..................

MontanaWay wrote:

deepee99 wrote:Why don't we all switch to ham radio and dump all this audio crap?

10-4 good buddy..................

That's just crazy.

Besides, I'm only about a year away from transferring all of my CDs to 78s one song at a time....the Victrola rules!

10-4 good buddy? That's CBer talk and not welcome on the ham bands.

Main difference between a hammer and CBer? An agitated hammer will remark on someone's resemblance to the posterior portions of a member of the genus Equus in the family Equidae, where a CBer will just call them a horse's ass ...  

MontanaWay wrote:digital hardware?????HUH!....wash your mouth out with soap and water mister!!!!! ....there are no 1's and 0's in this baby!
oh...no noise...since everything is ANALOG!!!!!

I see what looks to be a suspicious amount of silicon in there, and if that ain't 1's and 0's, I'll eat my hat!

(I better run down to the bakery and order up a frosted double chocolate hat just in case you decide to take me up on that.

Reason I mentioned noise is it's not uncommon to get some crosstalk between silicon in close proximity to old school line level components. If that happens, usually as simple as adding a metal divider (similar to what you'd see in a tuner) to keep the circuits from interacting.

On that power supply for accessory circuits ... this one taps out for 24v and 12v. I went as far as making the mounting plate and evarthang, then decided against it.

sKiZo wrote:10-4 good buddy? That's CBer talk and not welcome on the ham bands.

Main difference between a hammer and CBer? An agitated hammer will remark on someone's resemblance to the posterior portions of a member of the genus Equus in the family Equidae, where a CBer will just call them a horse's ass ...  

MontanaWay wrote:digital hardware?????HUH!....wash your mouth out with soap and water mister!!!!! ....there are no 1's and 0's in this baby!
oh...no noise...since everything is ANALOG!!!!!

I see what looks to be a suspicious amount of silicon in there, and if that ain't 1's and 0's, I'll eat my hat!

(I better run down to the bakery and order up a frosted double chocolate hat just in case you decide to take me up on that.

Reason I mentioned noise is it's not uncommon to get some crosstalk between silicon in close proximity to old school line level components. If that happens, usually as simple as adding a metal divider (similar to what you'd see in a tuner) to keep the circuits from interacting.

On that power supply for accessory circuits ... this one taps out for 24v and 12v. I went as far as making the mounting plate and evarthang, then decided against it.

silicon yes...but all analog....no gates 'n such things...all nice uuuup and then doooown.....so no 1's and 0's