Initial observations;
- PCB, while clean and neat looking, has some minor points that I would have done differently. These points basically revolve around some wiring connection points and jumpers. Perhaps nitpicking on my part I suppose, but there you have it.
- Layouts are.... alright, I suppose. But, you need to do quite a bit of back and forthing with other layouts to decipher proper grounding points.
- BOM's are lacking. You'll have to go through the project item by item and figure out the parts list and sources before you begin.
Insofar as the BOM is concerned, I took the liberty of updating the AAE 183 Excel file that I was sent. Keep in mind that this is for the #183 build, but there are parts that cross reference to the #102 and #124 builds. While the parts are what I've chosen to use in my build, it may help you narrow down to similar parts that you may wish to use instead. I also made a point of indicating the supplier, and alternates if possible. Note that I'm in Canada, so the suppliers are mainly located in North America. Apologies to the Euro crowd. Also, due to availability issues, many of the parts in my BOM may be from different manufacturers than what is called for. If this presents an OCD issue for you, look away now.
Chassis-wise, I opted for the SOLandFA chassis. Sacrilege here, I know, but I've covered the offending TM infringement with a P-Touch label. Infringement aside, if I may say one good thing, it would be that the gentleman that I dealt with is a more than fair vendor. The chassis that he sent me had a verrry minor blemish on the face plate, right between the input jacks, due to the spot welding. Nothing earth shattering for most, but once I saw it, it was hard to unsee. Anywho, I email him about it, simply to point it out for his own QC reference in the future. He promptly emailed me back that he would gladly refund my money, or send me a new chassis at no charge. I was shocked. Since I had bought two PCB's (second one for a future build) I took the free chassis. Kudos to the customer service, for sure.
So, this is where I'm at so far....
Right now I'm waiting on the tube sockets and transformers to move on to the next step of dropping the PCB into the chassis and wiring. Transformers will be Edcor's for this build, and Heyboer's for the second build. Edcor doesn't make a 240v primary for the PT, and the second amp will be going to my pal in the UK, hence the Heyboer's for build two.
