Copper Lined Avel Box

MillerLiteScott
MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
edited February 2009 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
The past two weeks my roofers have been putting a cedar shake roof on the house I am building for a client. As promised I scarfed up a few copper scraps and lined my DIY Avel isolation transformer enclosure for my AI-1 interconnect.

I have not had a chance to listen to see if there were any improvements but here are a few pictures.

Scott
I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
Post edited by MillerLiteScott on
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Comments

  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited February 2009
    Nice job Scott, you're hired.
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited February 2009
    That's tight.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • nikolas812
    nikolas812 Posts: 2,915
    edited February 2009
    Looks cool if nothing else...









    Nick
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited February 2009
    Nice work Scott,, very nice indeed.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited February 2009
    Purdy!
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,338
    edited February 2009
    The DIY A1-1 interconnect has come a long way!
    Carl

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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,647
    edited February 2009
    Me like. :)
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited February 2009
    Ok...newb question here.

    I've seen mention of these before...though I'm not sure what they are exactly.

    I assume that they're an upgraded SDA IC?

    How does the toroid come into play? Or is that even a toroid? Is this something that goes inside of the speaker? I assume it's external since you finished the cabinet on it so nicely.

    Looks like quality work either way though, nice job.:)
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited February 2009
    it's a AI-1 "dreadnought" that is used for non common ground amplification with SDA's. And perform well,they do.:)
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited February 2009
    Ahh...I see. Thanks for clearing that up for me George and Sal.:)

    I may be looking into this myself eventually when I get some SDA's of my own. Unfortunately that's probably still a 2-3 years down the road though. I'll get there eventually.:)
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited February 2009
    Thanks guys.

    I was very easy to do and took me about 45 minutes even with my 4 year old helper. The copper sheets I used are 20 oz. copper which is probably twice as thick as the aluminum sheeting I was using before. I believe the properties and thickness of this copper should offer quite a bit more shielding over the aluminum.

    I did listen to a bit of music last night and I do not know if it made any improvement over my previous aluminum shielding but it did sound pretty good last night until my Valentine came down to the basement.:D

    Scott
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • unc2701
    unc2701 Posts: 3,587
    edited February 2009
    Probably work better if you attached the copper to ground.
    Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
    Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
    Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
    Backburner:Krell KAV-300i
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited February 2009
    Lasareath wrote: »
    One day I will make one like DK made. Right now I don't even own Mono Blocks.

    That type of situation never stopped you before.;)
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  • ShinAce
    ShinAce Posts: 1,194
    edited February 2009
    unc2701 wrote: »
    Probably work better if you attached the copper to ground.

    Ditto.
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited February 2009
    ShinAce wrote: »
    Ditto.

    Why? If I am shielding from RF?

    Scott
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • unc2701
    unc2701 Posts: 3,587
    edited February 2009
    MillerLiteScott wrote: »
    Why? If I am shielding from RF?

    Scott

    Good point, but lower frequencies are probably more of an issue for your application & your cage will be more effective on them when grounded.
    Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
    Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
    Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
    Backburner:Krell KAV-300i
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  • ShinAce
    ShinAce Posts: 1,194
    edited February 2009
    The toroid's field is internal, so that's good.

    The shield is shunting EMI and dissipating some energy as eddies. By connecting it to a ground, you're now excluding most and shunting some of the EMI to ground.

    I see it as a guaranteed good choice.

    p.s. Have you tried it yet? Do it!!!
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited February 2009
    I have not tried it. I assume I should connect both of my negative terminals to the copper shield? Correct?

    Scott
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • ShinAce
    ShinAce Posts: 1,194
    edited February 2009
    MillerLiteScott wrote: »
    I have not tried it. I assume I should connect both of my negative terminals to the copper shield? Correct?

    Scott

    I'd ground it to the nearest case of a piece of equipment that has an earth ground connected to the case. But that's just me.

    If you have a piece of equipment with 3-prong outlets on the back, you could snip a cheap 3 prong cord and use that as a ground wire.

    Do not use the negative terminals, since the point of the transformer is for non-common ground amps(right?). It's not even worth researching, as it depends ultimately on your amp.
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited February 2009
    All of my 2 channel pieces have ground lugs on the back an I have them all tied together and connected to my Panamax ground lug on the back.

    Should I just run a ground wire from the copper shielding to the ground lug on my Panamax?

    Scott
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • unc2701
    unc2701 Posts: 3,587
    edited February 2009
    That'll do it.
    Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
    Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
    Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
    Backburner:Krell KAV-300i
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter