Keyaki ST-120 build

Hi all.  I have been reading this forum for a few years now dreaming about building one of Bob's ST-120 kits.  This year I finally made the leap and ordered the ST-120 kit.  I live and work in Japan and thought it only relevant to change out the stainless chassis and construct my own using Japanese Keyaki Wood.  Its a beautiful hardwood only grown and available in Japan.  The top plate of the chassis is 4mm aluminum plate.  Using the original ST-120 stainless chassis as a template, the top was hand-cut using a drill and dremel.

Thank you Bob for the great support along the way.  It sounds truly amazing....better than my expectations.

Here are some photos...I would love to hear your thoughts.  

Note:  the photo of the wiring is not the final product, but gives an idea of how it was constructed.  I can upload more photos later.

Best regards,
Bill

Updated photos of the rear panel and completed wiring.

I think that's probably the prettiest VTA ST 70/120 I've seen posted here.
Congrats!

That's very pretty.

Gorgeous! I have the same SS rectifier. I peeled the labels off and polished it. Turned into some real bling.

Looks amazing, nice work! The extra couple of inches makes this model look so much cleaner underneath. I wonder if Bob offered a plate like that as an available option if it would sell. So in Japan it's 100 VAC for Utility voltage, are you boosting it up a bit? Are you in the 50HZ or 60HZ?

Congratulations on a superb implementation of a wonderful amplifier!

cci1492 wrote:Looks amazing, nice work! The extra couple of inches makes this model look so much cleaner underneath. I wonder if Bob offered a plate like that as an available option if it would sell. So in Japan it's 100 VAC for Utility voltage, are you boosting it up a bit? Are you in the 50HZ or 60HZ?

I considered making and offering such an aftermarket plate set for the amp. It was going to be offered in polished Aluminum, Brass or Stainless steel and was proposed to be CNC Waterjet cut from sheet-stock and silk-screen printed in the necessary areas.  The materials and process in itself was very costly, then there would be exorbitant shipping charges from the Caribbean.  So, another nice project was shelved.

Amazing work. Congratulations!

That is simply amazing!!!! One question what is the knob on the top of the chassis connected to the RCA jacks on the back with shielded wire for?

Do you have speakers for that Heresy box?

baseballhack wrote:That is simply amazing!!!!  One question what is the knob on the top of the chassis connected to the RCA jacks on the back with shielded wire for?

That is probably a volume control.

Nicely built!

Thanks for all the kind comments on my build. I really enjoyed building it and wanted somewhat of a showpiece in my living room.

I hand cut the top plate using regular old drill bits, hole bits, and a dremel cutting wheel. If you get up close there are some flaws in my cuts which is why I used a hammered look spray paint to cover up any imperfections. I had thought about drawing this up in CAD to have someone laser cut the plate. Of course that would look really good, but it didn't seem cost effective. Cutting by hand took me 3 days, but was well worth it.

The knob is Bob's stepped attenuator option. Since the RCA jacks were relocated to the rear of the cabinet, I used shielded microphone cable to protect the line input signal from unwanted EMI to get the attenuator in the front. Bob recommended the shield be grounded to the driver board and it worked magnificently; no noise, dead silent. I use a Audioengine B1 bluetooth receiver as my line in and play most of my music from the Tidal app. If you have not tried this yet, the premium subscription has HiFi and Master quality music which is quite good. This also allows me to change music and adjust volume from my phone or ipad while sitting on the sofa. The attenuator is almost not necessary using this bluetooth setup.

Voltage in Japan is 100VAC @ 50hz. I have not noticed any degradation with this voltage/freq.

I am using a set of Heresy III speakers and they sound amazing with this amp. However, my ears prefer a little more bottom end than these speakers produce and considering adding a subwoofer or two to the set up. Right now I a mulling over what sub and how to tap off the line input to connect them. At the moment I do not use a preamp but probably will build one sometime down the line.

Absolutely beautiful build et1bill ! The cutting is hard work when done by hand , not easy to get as neat as you have done .

You have done an outstanding job on building your amp. I really like the wood framework. I could only hope to have mine come out as nice. I just received mine and readding thew the forum for ideas and info before I start my build. May I ask what you used to cut the holes in the plate? Great build. Wish they had that wood here in the U.S.A.