Here's a picture of the UcD180HG driving the speakers... Onken bass bin with Altec woofers, and Goto mid and high frequency horns.

This is the interim setup as the active crossovers are still a WIP and the whole setup would be shipped to another country. I had the opportunity to listen to it, but unfortunately, the bass was not crossed optimally. But still, there is no denying the potential in this setup. The mids and highs were crossed correctly though, image and soundstage were superb. I thought the UcDs could do with some running in or the bass could be dialed in better as they were a little lumpy. Does not have the snap and attack that I thought it would have.

The setup will eventually be driven by a front end that could consist of a hard disk based system, 6 channel pro audio sound card, the Sabre 32 bit dac and a 6 channel preamp. Phew.... This will be a totally <span style="font-style:italic;">ka ching</span> setup.

Totally esoteric... more pics here.

Finally got it done! Yeah! Tested working with all 6 channels. I did not really run it in as I do not have XLR inputs nor Speakon outputs.

It was a good learning experience for me. The main aim was not to drill too many holes onto the bottom of the chassis when mounting the UcD and SMPS modules. I guess this has been accomplished. I had 6 holes in total at the bottom. 2 for each SMPS module. A 5mm aluminium plate was used as the heatsink for the UcDs. This plate was mounted securely via the vertical slots on the bottom plate. Another aluminium plate was used as a shield between the 3 x SMPS modules and the 6 x UcD modules. This, according to the SMPS manual, would not be required as the SMPS is supposed to have low EMF/RFI radiation. Well, I did not have the luxury to read the SMPS manual prior to ordering the aluminium.

Next project would be to try out John Broskie's Janus Shunt Regulator on my preamp.

One channel of the UcD in test tonight. Took me some time to find the connectors for the input. The are supposed to be Molex KK 2.54mm or 0.1" series. I did not have enough quantity to order online from RS or Farnell, so had to search for compatible ones from Koba. Found the connectors there, but eventually, had to use them without the housing as this offered better connection. The mechanical construct of the housing did not render it to reuse that well after stripping the previous wires and replacing them with the mundorf silver/gold wires.

Then, it was the single ended RCA to XLR connections that caused me to search high and low for the reason why no sound is coming out from the speaker... I shorted pins 1 and 3 and used it as ground. Pin 2 was signal. But no effect. Actually it was because there was a internal lift up /ON pin on the UcD module that had to be grounded or connected to J2, pin 5 of the SMPS module. Need to get some more connectors to do this nicely.

Well... at least it is almost there... Before Chinese New Year.

Some pics here.

Progress is rather slow on the UcD. Took some time to put in the shield as it will not fit. The aluminum piece is a little too large. Had to round the corners off. Then, with the screw below, it is a little too high. Had to file off the top portion where the wiring is supposed to connect to the UcD modules. Then, one of the psu harness is too short. Had to route by the side... so much for consistency.

I hope to be able to start on the signal wiring when I have time. Now currently finding out more of Steve Millett's 6T10 Mighty Midget. Heard Tony's version of this 3 watter at NoiSing08 and was very impressed by it.

Just over the weekend, I heard it at William's place with the actual 300v PSU on his 9" field coil Feastrex. First up was the driver-tormenting Sheffield Lab Drum and Track Disc.

Silence(from me)... Wow(from me)... it was just incredible...

Field coil drivers aside, I've already ordered the Takman resistors for the 6T10. The GE tube and sockets for this baby will be arriving soon as well. Will be mono blocks and using 6X4 rectifier tubes and probably my stock of Mundorf M-lytic HV cap or a combination of a GE oil cap plus the Nippon Chemi-con cap that I got from HK.

Hmm... question is, with my backlog of projects, should I start on this first? Perhaps so... it satisfies my requirements of low wattage, and esoteric (I did consider building something like the Fi 421A).

The SMPS modules for the 180UCD HG modules arrived like a month or so ago. This is for the very nice chassis meant for a 6 channel UCD amplifier. Just did not have the mood nor time. Luckily the CDPRO2 put me into the mood of thinking about how I want to mount the UCDs onto the very nice chassis.

The aim is not to drill too many holes onto the chassis. I elected to get two aluminium plates. One to mount the UCD modules onto for additional heat-sinking, and the other to act as a shield against EMF/RFI emitting from the SMPS power supplies.

I did the measurement and drilling of the aluminium plates and also the bottom plate of the chassis, only to realise that I forgot to buy the M3 screws required to mount the modules.

Went to Poey Huat, intending to get those stainless steel button head allen key screws, but the guy went 2 trips and got me the normal allen key ones instead. Too <span style="font-style:italic;">paiseh</span> to ask him to change, so I accepted whatever I was given.

Looks like wiring is next.

More pics here.

This handsome chassis came delivered to me... From Europe... The shipping alone is already 50 odd euros!

Wish it was mine, but I'm gonna fix up a 6 channel UcD180HG amplifier for a friend. There will be 2 blank channels for when he is ready to move to a 4 way setup. I'm sure even at 3 ways, it will sound fantastic... given that a Goto driver is somewhere in one of those channels. ;)

More pics here.