BeePre2 Build

[Audionut]

So I am working on my first bottlehead kit build and have been having a great time (so long as voltage or resistance checks match). I hit a bit of a wall on my resistance checks for pages 52/53. A4 was good (447), A1 was off (591).
B4 and B1 were both off at 247 (should be around 445). I checked back at the DC bird and the measure the same there (beginning of green wire). Can’t load iPhone pic (jpeg).Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Can you hop on a computer and post some build photos?

 

[Audionut]

I was able to convert the format.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

If I had to guess, you've swapped a pair of resistors. What DC resistances do you get at 25 and 30?  (They will take a bit of time to stabilize as the cap charges up from your meter).

It seems likely that you have three 130 ohm resistors on the B side and two 330s and one 130 on the A side.

 

[Audionut]

327 on 25, 129 on 30.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Those should both be 330.  You have a 130 ohm resistor installed where it shouldn't be on the B side.

 

[Audionut]

A big thank you! I will go back and check the resistors. Here are a couple pics I was going to post. Thought I had the right ones in place.

 

[Audionut]

Success! That fixed the issue and after some additional soldering I have sound! Substantially better drive and dynamics than my prior pre (Schiit Freya) in my early listening. However, the balance does not seem right. The left is much stronger and I need to turn the knob to nearly 3pm to more or less be even. I swapped rca cables, signal source, even HF drivers and no dice so thinking it is the balance pot? Thanks in advance.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

What are your DC voltages?  Are you certain you have the pots in the correct holes?

 

[Audionut]

They weren’t spot on but close. I’ll turn it off and check shortly.

 

[Audionut]

First one is 9.78, second is 9.85, the third is 99.5, fourth is 99.7.
I installed giant jantzen supreme z caps, one lead is close to the edge of its own casing, I doubt that would be the issue?

 

[Paul Birkeland]

I would check to be sure the 10K log pot made it into the volume control hole and the 100K linear made it into the balance spot.  You'll get really wonky channel balance if they are swapped.

 

[Audionut]

And you are right again! I must have mixed them up when looking at the orientation (they are clearly marked on the front but not backside). Thanks again! I’ll post some build pics so it’s not just a trouble shoot thread.

 

[Audionut]

A big thanks again for all the help (hand holding). I’ve been really enjoying this preamp and almost forgot about the upgrade. I’ll be taking it out of commission to install the bee quiet. I’’ll also be building a custom base in an exotic wood (TBD).

 

[2wo]

Nice, I like the top plate finish...John

 

[Audionut]

Nice, I like the top plate finish...John

Thank you, John. I decided to polish the aluminum plate to a mirror finish. I was surprised as to how close it looks like chrome. It will look quite nice once the base is finished. I’ll post pics once that is done too.

 

[Karl5150]

Must have taken a fair amount of elbow-grease, nice work. Looking forward to your base upgrade.
Karl

 

[Audionut]

It did indeed, I used an electric drill but also did some of the work by hand. I had to sand the plate smooth first with several steps in grit before getting to the polishing stage. I don’t think I saved any of the before photos, but I do have this after. The holes and slot cuts made for good fun when polishing the plate.

 

[Audionut]

Coming back to this thread on the new forum. Very happy that you guys switched over. It will be a breeze loading photos and doing other stuff. I’ve also edited a few of my posts where it showed weird letters anywhere that there was an apostrophe.

Here are the latest pics and where it resides (between two paramounts no less). I am also getting ready to install the latest upgrade, just need to carve out some time.