how not to build your bee pre

[xcortes]

the bee pre design is awesome. i don't need to listen to one to know it's got to be special. the engineering and design behind it will give the builder the best amplifier out there period. bottlehead kits are shipped with parts tested to sound very, very good. so there's no need to replace anything. even more so, if someone has to replace parts my advice is to build the kit stock and only the. start experimenting. that way the builder will not only have an easier build and a simpler troubleshooting but will also benefit of comparing the sound before and after every change.

ok. but i'm weird and stubborn and here i'll show some parts changes, just to make the doc uncomfortable

first of all an elma selector switch:

 

[johnsonad]

Xavier, are you only using two inputs correct?

 

[xcortes]

yep

 

[xcortes]

wiring the inputs. belden 89259 instead of the cat5:

 

[xcortes]

the other end:

 

[johnsonad]

That looks like a PITA to work with.

 

[xcortes]

actually it's not that bad

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Good call on the black jacks, this will be a neat build in the end!

I'm surprised you didn't go for the black connex UX-4 sockets to top it off!

-PB

 

[xcortes]

actually i had the two pairs of black ones and used those for the input. used the four pairs in the kit for the outputs. i'm cheap, you know?

 

[xcortes]

the soldering of the second input to the selector was indeed a b@tch!

 

[Wormwood]

See as a total N00b all I am seeing is some cthulhulitic tentacle horror eating your poor little Bee.



Stephen

 

[jrebman]

PB,

You wrote:

I'm surprised you didn't go for the black connex UX-4 sockets to top it off!

Can you tell me which ones those are?  I've been looking for black ux-4s and none of the descriptions on pcx tell what colors things are.

Sorry for the O/T...

-- Jim

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Can you tell me which ones those are?  I've been looking for black ux-4s and none of the descriptions on pcx tell what colors things are.

http://www.partsconnexion.com/CONNEX-76733.html

 

[jrebman]

Thanks PB,

They were hiding in with the bakelite listings, not the connex listings .  I see they're made by CMC, so they can probably be had from VT4C -- which means thy'll typically get here much faster. ;-)

Now back to regularly scheduled program...

-- Jim

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Yeah, isn't it funny how quickly things come from VT4C?  The store format is funky, but he has some good stuff!

 

[STURMJ]

So the big question is....Now that you have done it, was working with the coax worth it? ( I have some, and have a Prebee coming) I have some silver wire, that I would normally use to wire inputs (shielded), But I would consider the coax.

 

[xcortes]

was working with the coax worth it?

We'll never know, I gues. I'm sure the Pre would sound fine with either cable. What I do know is that replacing CAT5 interconnects with 85259 ones was a move in the right direction. The CAT5 ones didn't sound bad, I lived with them for many years. And the change wasn't huge. The effect was positive but small. In the BeePre case the lengths are so short that the effect is probably even less. It took me maybe a couple of extra hours to wire the inputs. Hopefully this weekend I'll do the outputs. Worth it? Hard to measure.

 

[Grainger49]

Xavier, 

I haven't been on line much because I'm contracting for K-C in Loudon TN. 

The Belden 89259 is a newer version of 9259 I have been using for 20 years.  Great stuff but a booger to work with.  It is the best RG-59 I have ever found.  I have a number of cables made from it.  Low capacitance, stranded center conductor, easy to bend (compared with a solid conductor).  Not to mention it really sounds good, great soundstage.

I see that you are taking your time and doing it your way. 

Congratulations!

 

[Maxwell_E]

That coax looks intriguing. It seems like a nice thing to have around for interconnects and projects like this. I found it on Markertek and Mouser and the smallest I'm finding is a 500 foot box. Is there anywhere that would have it in smaller packages or even by the foot?

 

[jrebman]

Maxwell,

Right in your own backyard:

http://www.rawcable.com

A division of bluejeanscables.com, and much cheaper than Mouser, etc.  and yes, you can buy by the foot.

-- Jim