How To Build Low Noise Tube Amp Turret Boards - W.I.S.C - GT5 'Halcyon' Build 2 

Thanks Bill! It may be just a case of my OCD ha ha. Cheers!

Thank you! well said!

@@elams1894 I worked in an electronics manufacturing “sweatshop” at the age of 12. Probably shortened my life a few years from the heavy burning of flux. They handed me a soldering iron, bottle of flux, and a wet sponge and said go! I probably soldered close to 300-500K connections. That was long ago and now I’m in AI and business development. Your level of detail, care, and mindfulness makes me want to pickup a soldering iron again and make something beautiful and meaningful this time around. All your videos are a great contribution to humanity. Cheers!🍻

The Hiwatt 100 custom was my 1st band amp(overkill), it handled everything thrown at it till( me being absent) some-one used a guitar lead as a speaker lead which among other things rang the final bell on that work of art, it went out with a giant blue flash which was remarked upon for years afterwards. I also think our rehearsal space(a dress making factory) was wired for industrial machines but in the cheap, the place burned down a few months later. Have'nt seen an amp as well made since 1981.

@@giulioluzzardi7632 Unloaded output transformer is a common cause of premature death worth tube amps. It's still easy to repair.

I don't think anyone is claiming tube equipment is less reliable than SS because of layout or wiring method. What they're usually referring to is the tubes themselves, which are somewhat fragile and now quite expensive. It's hard to argue against that. But I'd much rather service a tube amp than a SS amp built on a pcb with tiny SMD components.

You can toast an electrolytic capacitor if you wire it too close to a cathode bias resistor, either on PCB or turret board. I'd say it's probably easier to design a good layout on PCB, because it doesn't cost extra time or money to use longer tracks to separate components. But I do agree with the above, they can be far harder to modify and service. I've got a hybrid Trace Elliott that needs fixing and I'm not looking forward to cracking that one open.

Thats very kind. Ha ha, im sure there are better jobs out but I do appreciate your kind words! Cheers

Really appreciate it bb!. Indeed, the video took maybe 4 x as long as the build part. Something like 350 clips, however i'm finding the video and editing side almost as enjoyable as the build. Cheers!

@@elams1894 The video looked as great as the amp.

It really is up to the individual builder. If one ensures that significant magnetic fields have the least possible chance of induction, then that is your goal. How you achieve that goal is up to you. I prefer neatness and attention to detail, others not so much, and to each their own.. as with anything in life.

Thanks Ek! Much appreciated

Thanks Philip! I'm more in favour of field theory rather than a particle based model. Particles interacting in some way to create an electrical system just doesn't seem plausible in my opinion. Good for math, but not for wisdom. Have a great day!

Thats fantastic! Glad to hear Matt, indeed it makes a monster difference when you get it right. I was wiring it wrong for so long until my father set me straight. Cheers!

Can you please explain on the heater wire routing ?

Thanks Greg! Hope you are doing good over there. Love you alloy machine vids, very cool. I want one but my wife says otherwise ha ha.

Youre welcome Ek! Thanks for checking in.

Thanks Vin!

Very wise words indeed. It definitely pays to protect the joint of the component lead. I've had a few break myself. Thanks Joel, much appreciated.

Thanks so much Dave! Much appreciated!

Thanks Mikey!

Thanks Vincent!! Really appreciate it!

Thanks VA! and thanks for stopping by again, much apprecited!

Glad you enjoyed it Tempbond, much appreciated!

Thanks heaps Rob! Hope you are going well and thanks for stopping by again, have a good one!

Thank you!

Thanks Kevin!

Thank you!

Thats very kind of you to say thanks Mike, glad you enjoyed the vids. The neat and tidy process was drilled into by my father from early on so I guess its in the genes ha ha. Thanks again Mike and have a good one!!

@@elams1894 you’re welcome man. You do amazing videos. Your close ups are amazing. You have the patience of a saint to video this stuff while building this detailed. Someday I might get into making videos of my builds but I just need to find the patience and time for the video part of it as well. Thanks for sharing. I hope more people subscribe to your channel. This is super helpful.

@@DeathCapAmplification Indeed the videography and audio in particular take forever, way longer than the building ha ha. But I'm learning all the time and every vid is a challenge, but the video side is most rewarding, thanks again Mike and best of' for your own builds!!

Thanks Ian! Will do!

Thanks Monte!

Thank you! Cheers!

Thanks for your reply. Some good points. Resolder any stressed joints indeed. Try not to stress leads of capacitors is a good practice, yes. I dissagree with you regarding your earth theory, particularly with regard to can caps. Introducing multiple earth points on the chassis, as you have suggested using can cap earths, close to the tubes is not recommended. There should only be, at most, two earth points, one for the audio (or even preamp only) and one for the power circuit (sometimes including PI and tonestck). Earth is earth. It matters not how long the earth cable is, however it matters where the earth is located. Multiple earth points introduce multiple points at which the magnetic field is eliminated, which absolutely causes unwanted noise points all over your chassis. Hence it is far adventageous if the magnetic field is eliminated in one place only, away from the tubes. Having a high frequency, large amplitude magnetic field (as in can caps) eliminated next to a tube is the last place you want it, as the high frequency is amplified through your tube. I agree that a well thought out earth plan is essential, however certainly not with multiple earths as you have suggested. Using a bus is a good idea as the axial electrolytic capacitors act as an interim star point, and neatly introduce one earth potential away from the tubes. Cheers.

@@elams1894 You got me wrong here. Old practice to connect ground to chassis on filter caps is far from being noiseless friendly. No, you run cathode resistor (with eventual cap) directly to cancap minus pole), and from there run wire to starground point - and there it connects to chassis /earth (I differentiate earth and ground here to be clear about it). So each segment is a star in itself and those segments form another star; it may sound complicated, but tube amps generally have very simple circuitry, so it's easily achievable with some planning. Older cancaps were made in a way that they were mounted via flaps with soldering, negative directly to the chassis - newer ones are mounted in such a way they can be isolated from the chassis (and they should be). My reference in this field is "Valve Wizard"'s article on the topic, www.valvewizard.co.uk/Grounding.pdf This approach has never failed me. Long ground wires in your design are calling for potential to develop over them. Cancap in direct vicinity of the end of cathode resistor (resistors in double triode design) can also be pretty close to the input jack and ends of shield sleeves, so you have all the preamp grounded in a breeze with minimal wiring. Axial caps, because of their size, introduce long wire and component runs, so they are not really noiseless friendly. For the illustration, a snip from my unfinished project (components are further apart here for clarity and the wires made longer). mega.nz/file/vwd1zDSS#KGw6Pkmuuo74GfHo4ysNbKehVT_2TAFZkm7j9IZKIV0 The only downside of it all is it can get pretty crowded doing it that way ...

@@jernejkurincic9050 I think, from reading your post, you are most concerned about axial caps in comparison to can caps, with regard to earth wire length. From studying your linked diagram, our layouts are the similar. That is, the cathode resistor earth lead goes to electrolytic star ground. From a schematic (and magnetic field theory) point of view, it does not matter the length of the cathode resistor earth lead, as long as it goes to electrolytic star ground. This is because they are the same point. They are connected. Magnetic field elimination is exactly the same across the whole lead length (they are at the same potential as this star ground point also is connected to earth, let's say at input). There is no time difference as mag field elimination is instantaneous. Potential cannot develop across this lead as it is earth, and earth is earth. Even if your dual triode cathode resistor leads were short, and connected to a can cap star ground, as you have illustrated, you will still need another cable to eventual earth at input, or wherever. If the resistor lead were somehow looped, then the loop will form a larger magnetic field, and as Merlin Valve Wizard states, avoid loops are not good and must be avoided at all cost. If you have managed a layout that enables you the shortest earth leads possible in a star ground formation, then that is great as you have achieved the best possible layout. If can caps enable you to achieve this more effectively, then absolutely fantastic as I have no issues with can caps used in this way. I prefer to use axial caps as it enables me to reach a compromise between neatness and sound earthing. In conclusion I think we are achieving the same goal, however you perhaps are achieving a more robust grounding plan due to the use of can caps and that's great. Everything in tube amp building is a compromise and no path is simple that is for certain. Thanks for your input, you obviously give this a great deal of thought.

Thank you!

Thanks KL! Really appreciate it!

I agree, They are fantastic caps. I have found that they have superior note separation to others that I have tried. I wouldn't have believed there was that much of a difference until I made my experiments. i was surprised. I'm interested to try the ClarityCaps. This will be the first time I try them.

Cheers!!

Thank you!!

Thanks for kind words Justin. I'm the same, a bit OCD actually, but it's a fun ride. All the best.

Thanks Rob!

Really appreciate it, thank you!

Any time!

Thank you Antonio!

Thanks S.C!

Thanks! Will do!

Thank you!

Thank you!!

Thanks Alex! cheers

I use solid core for filaments and hookup. I use stranded for shielded cable as I find shielded cable for the reasons you have stated. I find there is enough slack in the socket lugs to avoid any issues with component leads. Cheers

Solid core sounds better.

Really appreciate it DA! I used to get my turrets from Watts Tube Audio but that website is discontinued. The same turrets can now be obtained from AmplifiedParts.com - Item ID 040351. Pack of 10 costs about $4:50. I found the original manufacturer at one stage but couldn't make contact, I must try again.

Thanks Per. The turrets are the slightly bigger ones that are designed to fit 3mm turret board. Check the info in the description as that contains the ID number for the turret on AmplifiedParts.com. The website, for whatever reason, wont allow me to make a link directly to the page, however the ID number will get you there, cheers.

Thanks Tattoo! Glad you liked the vid and thanks for kind words, have a good one!

Thanks G! I would prefer to demo it with the Saturn, but 'Bad News Brown' will have to do ha ha. I have a mate who can play and I'll tee up a demo with him for sure, cheers!

@@elams1894 if it wasn't for the overkill price I'd ship that fucker to you tomorrow... Bad news brown is a killer name 😂

Thanks for kind words. Re capacitor theory.. I could go into it, however my theory is not mainstream, so I doubt it would be well received, unfortunately. However I'm contemplating it. Cheers

Thinking the same, a little z bend.

I try to leave a tiny bit of slack in the lead around the turret before soldering. The most stress is placed on the lead of the component when wrapping the lead around a turret with too much tension, or leverage off the turret. If you are careful at this stage of turret wrapping then the expansion and contraction becomes minimal in my opinion. I have never had to change a component due to expansion contraction issues. I have, however, killed many a component with over vigorous lead wrapping. Z bend is also good option if really concerned.

That is why I don't use PCB's, cheers

Yes, wrapped and soldered. Cheers

Thank you! Cheers!

Thanks for that, some good tips. I'll steal the rubber band trick thank you, that's a good one, cheers!!

Yes, two turrets with a 2 mm bolt through them. Cheers

谢谢，真的很感激！