Quickie - Little Red Sportscar Edition

adamct

New member
My Quickie v1.0 came with a red chassis plate. So I decided to run with it.  ;) ;D

Here is a list of my mods as compared to stock:

1. I mounted the batteries on the underside. - This was necessary to give me room on the top of the chassis to mount the large film caps. This worked out quite well. I was able to use the extra holes from the 9V battery mounts to run the the leads from the capacitors on the top.

2. Installed a "ladder-style" stepped attenuator. - I chose the one sold by Vintage Audio Lab (VALab) on eBay. Note that VALab is located in Taiwan, not China. I don't say that to make a political point, but broadly speaking Taiwan tends to have better products (as a general rule -- exceptions exist on both sides, and obviously China is also capable of producing highly sophisticated gear). I have a couple of Chinese stepped attenuators and the VALab attenuator is obviously of higher quality, and very easy to wire (the Chinese ones are much less clear). The hole in the chassis only has to be widened by a tiny, tiny bit. The anti-rotation pin fit the stock chassis hole perfectly. For $25, these attenuators are an absolute steal. I have a couple of Alps Blue Velvet pots that will probably never get used now...

3. Installed 2.2uf ClarityCap ESA caps on the outputs. - Thankfully, these didn't need to be mounted or otherwise supported. The leads are stiff and there is plenty of clearance, so I just installed them and they are fine.

4. Replaced the 1,000uf electrolytic caps with 100uf ClarityCap SAs. - I love the fact that these match the chassis plate. Madisound has them on sale for a song. I put felt tabs on the bottom of the caps to protect them from the exposed bolts and nuts from the battery holders underneath. I mounted the caps using 8" mending plates on the back, coupled with zip ties.

5. Installed "upgraded" RCA jacks. - Nothing particularly special, but I like the longer contacts as compared to the stock jacks.

6. I swapped the power and input selector switches. - I don't change sources very often, and I hate reaching behind the tubes to flip the power switch. This is a pet peeve on my Crack as well, although my Decware Taboo is the worst offender here (the power switch is located all the way at the back of a very long chassis, sandwiched between the transformer and IEC. Almost impossible to reach. Dumb.). I'm waiting on my S.E.X. 2.1 kit with C4S and impedance switches, which will probably replace the Taboo.

7. Installed a power LED. - I used this LED. It only draws 2mA, and the luminosity is 1.2 to 2.0 mcd, so it definitely isn't bright at all. Please note that the LED appears much, much brighter in the pictures than it is in real life. In real life, it just gives off a dull glow (the last, dark picture comes closest to how it appears in real life). This is a high efficiency LED. Compare to most "bright" LEDs which are in the range of 350+ mcd. The forward voltage drop is 1.9V. I used a black plastic LED mounting bezel to support it. This is installed in series with the 9V power supply, as suggested by Paul. On the underside, in put shrink tube over the leads, just because I'm a nervous nellie. I installed the LED toward the rear for two reasons: (i) to keep it further away from me, in case it was distractingly bright (it isn't), and (ii) to throw some light on the caps.  ;)

To do:

- I'm waiting for my PJCCS kit to arrive. I just hope my mods don't make installation difficult.

- I still need to finish the base. I was originally planning on a dark burgundy stain, coupled with about 100 coats of high-gloss poly (to match my Crack), but I'm rethinking that a bit. I'm trying to decide between bright red enamel, or shiny black lacquer. Your thoughts are appreciated!

- I've ordered a replacement, solid aluminum knob for the attenuator, but it hasn't arrived yet. I prefer round (not wavy) knobs.

- Right now, I just covered the solder joints between the large caps and the leads into the case with electrical tape (ugly). This is only temporary until the  PJCSS is installed, at which point I will cover the joint with shrink tube.

- I left the cable tie leads a bit long until the PJCSS is installed, at which point I will really cinch the tubes and clip the cable tie leads.

- ....and finally....I still need to install my Bottlehead flair!

Best regards,
Adam

Underside of chassis plate. The large red caps on the side are 100uf ClarityCap SAs. The smaller silver caps are 2.2uf Clarity Cap ESAs. Note the swapped power and input selector switches.
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Underside of chassis plate.
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Vintage Audio Lab (VALab) ladder-style stepped attenuator.
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LED underside with shrink tube over the leads:
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The LED is not as bright in real life as it appears here:
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8" mending plates with cable tie mounts.
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LED off:
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LED on (LED is not as bright in "real life" as it appears):
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Upgraded RCA jacks:
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This is close to how the LED looks in "real life":
900x900px-LL-5f0e4f8d_P1020693.jpeg
 
As far as base color, I would choose black. Too much red is too much red. The amount of red is good now. A complimentary color is needed.
 
4krow said:
As far as base color, I would choose black. Too much red is too much red. The amount of red is good now. A complimentary color is needed.

I tend to agree. So I'm leaning toward a nice glossy black for the base...
 
Even though I would lean towards the gloss black, try to visualize other colors that you might not normally use. I wonder what a dark blue or green would add?
 
4krow said:
Even though I would lean towards the gloss black, try to visualize other colors that you might not normally use. I wonder what a dark blue or green would add?

I'm a fan of bold colors (my Sennheiser HD800s are recabled with gray and orange wire sleeving, my HiFiMAN HE-6s are recabled with with electric blue and purple sleeving, my Denon D7000s are recabled with burgundy and gold sleeving and my Ultrasone Signature Pros are recabled with black, bright red and white sleeving), but since the labels on the ClarityCaps and the zip ties are already black, I think I will stick to a black/red color scheme. From home projects gone awry, I already know the risks of too many colors...

Best,
Adam
 
Got my replacement volume knob today. Large, 48mm solid aluminum knob. Glossy black with a red stripe around the side.  :D

The large knob makes the stepped attenuator MUCH easier to turn. Big ergonomic improvement. And doesn't look too shabby, either...  ::)
 
And ya know, if the new knob just doesn't do the job, that's what Vise-Grips were made for !  ;D But seriously folks, knobs really can change/accent a style. I keep quite a few on hand just switch out before making a final decision. More fotos dude...
 
More pictures will come after I've painted the base and installed the PJCCS. I hope both will happen fairly soon. Right now I'm still considering my options for feet.... Maybe I should install these:o ??? :-[ :'(

Needless to say, that is the last time I search for "silicone feet"...
 
adamct said:
More pictures will come after I've painted the base and installed the PJCCS. I hope both will happen fairly soon. Right now I'm still considering my options for feet.... Maybe I should install these:o ??? :-[ :'(

Needless to say, that is the last time I search for "silicone feet"...

Haha!  I kind of knew what I was about to see, but I still laughed out loud.

BTW, the big knob sounds interesting, where did you get it?
 
Adam HOLY COW!! what a stunningly clean and beautiful build... Super impressive!.. I am the lone one out on the color thing.. I always love the color of the natural alder tones bordering the red....again SUPER job and the volume pot does look quality...
 
You might want to look into Herbies 'Tenderfeet' . They will not marr or mark what they are sitting on. I have used Sorbothane many times, but sometimes forget that is has a mold release or something that ruins finishes!
 
The knob I bought is available here. The red rubber insert is a little darker than I'd like, but I'll survive.  ;)

FWIW, the listed price is for two complete knobs, and includes shipping, which makes them a very good (albeit slow) deal. They have a variety of other knobs available. I also bought the same knobs in blue, and in solid black without an insert. I'm pretty picky about knobs. I like them to be large, round, have some sort of grip (but not as deep a profile as the stock Bottlehead knobs), to clearly indicate what position they're in (through an arrow or line) and be heavy, so these fit the bill perfectly.  Note that mine came with a hex wrench, and a selection of extra rubber inserts, but the hex wrench seemed slightly too small. I had to use my own in order to really tighten the knob to the potentiometer shaft.

Hmmmmmm......it is nice to be able to talk about large knobs and not have that be a euphemism!

I'll check out the tenderfeet,  but since I'm only using the Quickie to feed a headphone amp, microphonics aren't a problem, so I may just go with something generic.

Best,
Adam
 
Heh heh, you dodged a bullet there...knob.... anyway, I wholeheartedly agree. It's something you can just pass up thinking one is as good as another. But consider how much thought CAN go into details that make it 'feel' right. Personally, I like that back in the ol' days things were often made heavier just by default. Accordingly, I often old knobs just for the feel of them.
 
Haha, yeah, there are some pretty funny images that come to mind.. That is the cool thing about English, it is so descriptive.... You can be serious or silly with it... My future Quickie will just HAVE to have that Les Paul "11" knob....
 
http://www.needledoctor.com/Bright-Star-Isonods-Small?sc=2&category=88
Re feet: I recently bought some of these for my PreeBee.
(The showroom is down the road from the home brew store I shop at)
I can recomend them, adhesive back, fairly squishy, about half inch tall. Im not sure what exact material they are.  For your build I would be most concered about weight imbalance.  Those caps at the back might be pretty heavy compared to the weight at the front. With tall-ish round squishy feet , things might get unstable.  Might apply to other feet you are looking at too.
I love the look of the hot rodded quickie!
 
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