Answers to Phaez criticisms for dummies

[LPV]

The acid test for idiots when it comes to older Phaez amps is citing the unused secondaries on the PT that he has clipped as massive safety hazards. They are not able to contact anything nor do they flop around. Now, you know someone doesn't know shit when they think they need to be wrapped when all over the amp there are exposed HT solder joints (as in ANY tube amp) that can kill you with the amp off! Bottom line, don't screw around in there.

(Edit: removed heater comment. Ed's right. elevated ac -not DC. My bad) Same guy complained about the filter caps being close together. Some of the greatest amps ever made use multi-section caps and you don't get any closer than that.

Glued in caps, I had my doubts myself but it seems quite solid. Probably more so than some filter caps held in by dubious solder joints on the - side. My only complaint there would be hard to swap out down the road.

Chassis, give a me friggin' break. My aluminum and wood chassis is as solid as any other amp I have and more so than most. You can't twist that thing at all.

The most important safety factor once designed properly is grounding. Don't forget that.

[kingedb]

Nice! Too bad the critics have abandoned skepticism. They know everything already. God bless Google Images.

[eddy999]

I don't believe Randy uses DC heaters, he usually just elevates them from what I've seen. You are more likely to get heater hum induced into the signal from the filament itself onto the cathode. Elevating the heater voltage helps to reduce this diode effect. As long as you don't run your heater wires right next/parallel to very sensitive signal wires it doesn't really seem to matter if they are twisted, and having built several high gain builds with the Soldano style heater bus approach i've never had issues with heater hum (and not all of those were elevated either).

[singlecut]

dummies?
count me in
finally a thread just for me

this is the best day ever

[LPV]

Originally Posted by eddy999

I don't believe Randy uses DC heaters, he usually just elevates them from what I've seen. You are more likely to get heater hum induced into the signal from the filament itself onto the cathode. Elevating the heater voltage helps to reduce this diode effect. As long as you don't run your heater wires right next/parallel to very sensitive signal wires it doesn't really seem to matter if they are twisted, and having built several high gain builds with the Soldano style heater bus approach i've never had issues with heater hum (and not all of those were elevated either).

You could be right Ed. I went back and took another look at an older schematic for the Daisycutter.

[coldengray]

Eddy, based on the various gut shots available do you see any major safety hazards with Randy's recent work? I want a builders input, to put this to bed once and for all.

[Falconbill]

Originally Posted by singlecut

dummies?
count me in
finally a thread just for me

this is the best day ever

No kidding. I read LPV's post 3x and still have no clue. But I have no interest in poking around under the hood of a Phaez amp. I did fantasize the idea of mixing and matching NOS tubes, based on some stuff Rich Rockinghorse posted, but I'm having second thoughts about that now.

[wrc73]

Originally Posted by coldengray

Eddy, based on the various gut shots available do you see any major safety hazards with Randy's recent work? I want a builders input, to put this to bed once and for all.

Or for that matter anything that would negatively impact tone or generate noise?

[V2]

I think I saw a recent board (phaez-made DC10) with the HV secondaries soldered to diodes that were hanging off the turret board. Safety concern?

[coldengray]

Gut shots

[LPV]

Originally Posted by V2

I think I saw a recent board (phaez-made DC10) with the HV secondaries soldered to diodes that were hanging off the turret board. Safety concern?

Not if done correctly.

[V2]

Originally Posted by LPV

Not if done correctly.

I'm not sure it is that clear cut, i.e., whether you can hang stuff off the board correctly or incorrectly. My own preference is to have secure mechanical connections on both sides whenever possible. Things do not have to look neat and parallel, but I do worry when things appear to lack a secure mechanical connection.

[redking]

Where is this all coming from all of a sudden? I'm lost...

[Chop'emDown]

Marshall JCM1 or Phaez Amp

I think it starts around thread 38.

[Olds442]

Originally Posted by redking

Where is this all coming from all of a sudden? I'm lost...

some people here on MLP got butt hurt because people on another forum were critical of gutshots of phaez amps.

or something.

[redking]

Not this prototype picture thing again... LOL!

Who gives a shizzle... I just peeled paint off the walls with my JTM 25 on the weekend!

You either get it, or you don't.... You can't open a closed mind, even with a can opener....

Alex B is kicking ass with these amps on tour, Rosco is using them to make middle aged bra-less ladies dance their asses off at backwoods barbecues and juke joints, and I peel paint off walls with them. At the end of the day, we are all happy and will likely buy another because they sound that good.

[redking]

Originally Posted by Olds442

some people here on MLP got butt hurt because people on another forum were critical of gutshots of phaez amps.

or something.

I see you have a Peters amp... are you from Winnipeg by chance?

[eddy999]

Originally Posted by coldengray

Eddy, based on the various gut shots available do you see any major safety hazards with Randy's recent work? I want a builders input, to put this to bed once and for all.

Like LPV says, tube amps are a huge safety hazard once you open them up due to the exposed solder contacts, socket pins etc. There's nothing in a Phaez build that makes it inherently unsafe from what i've seen. Randy is a much more experienced builder than I, and I'm sure safety is a huge concern for him. Public liability can be a huge issue for a small business and I'm sure he does what he can to ensure it doesn't come to that.

The thing with point-to-point style builds is that your components aren't often anchored both sides, but this doesn't necessarily make them unsafe. PTP layouts can be very rigid structures. I like to use a tag strip to anchor one side of the components to help with this. One thing I don't like about the picture above is the amount of wire used - perphaps a more efficient layout would minimise this, but then again the layout has likely been tuned by Randy to minimise noise etc. Really a circuit should be judged by it's performance, not it's looks.

[mudfinger]

I noticed this thread earlier, and I was wondering what had pissed yall off!

I see a couple things in Coldengray's pics upthread that I wouldn't personally like to see inside one of my stage rigs, but it's my understanding that Phaez is able to build amps to spec, and charge accordingly, right?

I'd love to see some gutshots of a Phaez turretboard build, anybody got one?

[Olds442]

Originally Posted by redking

I see you have a Peters amp... are you from Winnipeg by chance?

no Chicago, do you have a peters as well?

[eddy999]

As for gluing caps, that's something i've done myself. Typically they are held in place anyway by the structure they are soldered too, but the glue just stops them from vibrating etc. Again with a point to point layout you don't always have a traditional board/location for mounting larger caps. Another very good point made by LPV is grounding. The safety ground that connects the IEC ground to the chassis will ensure that even if the amp were to take a bash and something shorted out to the chassis that it would find it's path to ground here safely, rather than being a risk to the user.

[mudfinger]

Originally Posted by eddy999

As for gluing caps, that's something i've done myself. Typically they are held in place anyway by the structure they are soldered too, but the glue just stops them from vibrating etc. Again with a point to point layout you don't always have a traditional board/location for mounting larger caps. Another very good point made by LPV is grounding. The safety ground that connects the IEC ground to the chassis will ensure that even if the amp were to take a bash and something shorted out to the chassis that it would find it's path to ground here safely, rather than being a risk to the user.

Dumble glued caps to the chassis on some of his builds.

I still don't like it myself, but I'm also well aware it has more to do with form than function. I have a similar attitude towards PCBs, which have been in use since the early 20th century, and some of those old ones still work!.

People are concerned with safety issues? I'm not a builder, but it's a pretty straightforward deal, and I don't see the problem.

[redking]

Originally Posted by Olds442

no Chicago, do you have a peters as well?

No. I used to live in Winnipeg, and thought you might be from there if you had a Peters amp since that is where they are built...

[Thumpalumpacus]

That thread over at UGh was just pathetic. Much more heat than light.

[matmont1305]

Originally Posted by mudfinger

I'd love to see some gutshots of a Phaez turretboard build, anybody got one?

10 watt Daisycutter.

[BigAl]

Christ... I just took a look back at that "JCM-1 vs. Phaez" thread which lead me to the UG thread... What a fvcking mess.

It makes me wonder what Randy would think reading those "criticisms" (aside from "what a bunch of morons ") and responding to them in a well-mannered and reasoned fashion to defend his work.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Originally Posted by BigAl

Christ... I just took a look back at that "JCM-1 vs. Phaez" thread which lead me to the UG thread... What a fvcking mess.

It makes me wonder what Randy would think reading those "criticisms" (aside from "what a bunch of morons ") and responding to them in a well-mannered and reasoned fashion to defend his work.

I don't have a dog in the fight either way, I've never played through a Phaez and I detest the hipster-wannabes over at UGh ... but the irony of one of their builders criticizing Randy's early build when his own looks like this shit is just boggling, to me:

[BigAl]

Originally Posted by Thumpalumpacus

I don't have a dog in the fight either way, I've never played through a Phaez and I detest the hipster-wannabes over at UGh ... but the irony of one of their builders criticizing Randy's early build when his own looks like this shit is just boggling, to me:

Funny you should mention that, because from what I understood in reading that thread (admittedly though I was only skimming through it), this was one of that builder's earlier works. I found it amusing that it should come up when people were bashing a prototype by Randy - then seeing the double standard go into effect when they defended this work.

I too don't have a dog in this hunt, but it's interesting to see how these things (read: shitstorms) play out over the Internet sometimes - through a relatively objective lens.

[LPV]

Originally Posted by V2

I'm not sure it is that clear cut, i.e., whether you can hang stuff off the board correctly or incorrectly. My own preference is to have secure mechanical connections on both sides whenever possible. Things do not have to look neat and parallel, but I do worry when things appear to lack a secure mechanical connection.

The reason I am saying that is because its such a common practice. Marshall used 1/4 watt carbon comp grid stoppers hanging there like that on maybe a hundred thousand amps that traveled and rattled all over the place. A 1/4w carbon comp is pretty damn flimsy.

I don't think it would pass modern certification, true. But do I personally think its dangerous? It comes down to how good that solder joint is and how much mass vs. inertia is involved. But you have to assess that for yourself. I'm fine with mine.

One safety hazard that I caught with the woody chassis mounts was this: I built a metal headshell for mine originally. To avoid any shock hazard and noise I ran a wire securely grounding the chassis to the shell.

[wrc73]

Originally Posted by mudfinger

I noticed this thread earlier, and I was wondering what had pissed yall off!

I see a couple things in Coldengray's pics upthread that I wouldn't personally like to see inside one of my stage rigs, but it's my understanding that Phaez is able to build amps to spec, and charge accordingly, right?

I'd love to see some gutshots of a Phaez turretboard build, anybody got one?

Here you go.