Ok I'm just about getting ready to power up the power supplies, but I'm a bit unsure about the placid hd. I was only able to find a manual for the placid PCB rev 2.0.1, while I have the placid hd v1.0. The link on the product page points to the HD BP manual.

In the 2.0.1 manual, it said that before connecting anything, the resistance of VR1 should be 100 ohm, and VR2 should be around 10K. So I set VR1 to 100, but I could only get VR2 to about 5k before it started getting tight, and stopped going higher. Is this a difference between the different versions of the boards? Is there a manual for placid hd 1.0 somewhere?

For the placid hd bp, I assume that after I power it up (without the legato 3.1 connected), I need to adjust the VR2 until the output voltage is 15V, and adjust the VR1 until the voltage between TP_VIN & TP_CCS is 0.350V. Correct?

What value should I go for between the TP_OUT and TP_SHUNT terminals? And should this be with the legato connected?

Ok I turned the power supplies on, and no smoke :D

I can only get up to 4.97V on the placid hd, though. If I keep turning, the voltage started dropping instead, so it seems like there's a maximum there. I set the CCS to 490 mV (translated to 490mA afaik).

On the bp, I could reach 14.26V on the minus part, and 13.62 on the plus part. This seems a bit low, does it now?

Also, the legato needs about 350mA, is that the total? So that each "rail" needs 175mA? Or is it 350mA on each rail?

Edited by user Monday, December 19, 2011 1:24:31 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Ok, but how exactly do I feed more current? Does it mean that if I can't get the VDC of the placid hd higher than 4.97V, I need to allocate more current through increasing the CCS?

Yay! I have everything connected now, the placid hd voltage at 5.25v, the bp at 14.90 x2, and the shunt amount is 50 mV all 3 places.

All the diodes on the tridents are lighting up too. The toslink module has 5.25v. The 2bit selector has the 2nd source, the toslink, selected.

But, when I connect a toslink cable to the module and play music, and turn on the power of the dac, the A_MUTE led lights up and there is no music.

Any idea what's wrong, and what to do?

Edit: When I shut off the power, after a few seconds I can hear a "click" which I imagine is a relay. Could it be that the sidecar is active, and blocking the spdif signal? There is a potential between the "B" and "GND" on the sidecar of 1.5V. Should I connect the "B" to something that is 0V when the sidecar is not selected? E.g. if I connected the "B" to the led position 1 of the 2-bit selector switch, would this switch off the sidecar when not selected?

Edit2: Ok I tried connecting a wire from the "B" to the 1st LED position on the 2-bit selector board. The voltage between "B" and gnd is now 0V, but there is still no music, no lock, still A_MUTE lighted.

What to do?

Edit3: Ok I tried taking the sidecar out of the circuit, so that the 4xspdif board is now directly connected to the buffalo board through flat cable. No difference.

Edited by user Monday, December 19, 2011 4:45:56 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I'm not using the pc as a source at the moment, but instead my cd player which has an optical out that is always on.

Edit: And it SINGS! :D

I had missed a dip switch setting that made the difference. It sounds very detailed, but maybe a bit harsh/aggressive? Is this a subjective thing, or maybe a general thing followed by it getting softer after it's been through a burn-in period?

Edit2: Ok I listened to some more music, and some of it seems to be significantly more pleasurable to listen to. Seems I need to listen a lot before judging!

Also, a big THANK YOU to everyone who has helped me here! :D

Now I can't wait till I get the ncore...

Edited by user Tuesday, December 20, 2011 10:31:58 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I know, I got in on the first wave ;)

Sounds good!

I'm thinking my credit card won't survive the speakers needed for this combo to reach its full potential...

Speaking of which, what speakers could actually be worthy? And how much simply depends on preference with that level of speakers?

Ncore is the amp-module mentioned in the first posting of this thread! I did put the same question myself. This is not a T.P. device.....
Look here:
===========================================
My Hyped UcD power amp is currently in single-ended configuration, and I'm considering just taking the insides, changing it to balanced, and stuffing it into a new enclosure. Would this be a good enough match for the B3, or would I get a significant advantage by building a new power amp from scratch? And if so, which one? My suspicion is that at this level, it starts becoming more preference than consensus - is this correct?

Thanks in advance to anyone who will give a hand!
Back to top
============================================
Ed

Edited by user Tuesday, December 20, 2011 5:27:46 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Ok thanks Leon, I think I'm going to see if I can listen to as many different speakers as possible, and see what happens.

A few more questions:

- should I connect the mains GND to the case?

- should I connect the GND on xlr in/out to the case?
- and if so, should the GND on the xlr balanced output be connected both to GND on the legato and to the case?

Btw merry christmas to everyone!!

Edit:

I would like to use Bulgin Vandal blue LED ring switches for both DAC and power amp, but I don't know how to do this in the best way. The switch is not meant for 230V switching, so I am considering using the emb.org epsilon-24 board to provide a way to use the vandal switch.

Is there a better way? Will using this board potentially introduce problems?

Edited by user Friday, December 23, 2011 4:37:52 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Great idea, but also look at your room and try to figure out what would be a good match. If you can't get the speakers you want to perform where you want to use them, what good is it all?
And a DIY meet is always a place to start, and I'm sure you've looked at this site: http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/