Proud DAK Novo owner
Printed From: Graham Slee Hifi System Components
Category: DIY AUDIO
Forum Name: DIY Audio questions and answers
Forum Description: www.diy-audio-kits.com ... superb audio kits for experienced constructors
URL: https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=553
Printed Date: 27 Mar 2026 at 2:12am
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Topic: Proud DAK Novo owner
Posted By: mikebailey61
Subject: Proud DAK Novo owner
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2009 at 11:55am
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Complete Novo kit (PCB, case and PSU) arrived at work on Friday. Couldn't wait to get home and get started. However, I decided to fully digest GS's excellent manual (and a couple of beers) first and allocated Saturday morning to the fun part of soldering, building and testing. As an aging EE engineer I've had more soldering experience than most so it only took me just a little over three hours (with several breaks) to get from three boxes of bits to a working audiophile standard headphone amp, including the small amount of metalworking. I was dreading the metalworking. I usually make such a dog's dinner of it all; but this was plain easy-peasy. I don't have a centre punch so I used a sharp bradawl and a couple of light taps of the hammer to lightly pierce the anodising around the countersinks and voila! all front and rear panel screws to phono ground and ground post just a gnat's away from zero ohms on the trusty Fluke DVM. The whole unit fitted together perfectly. How does it sound? Well, I'm not very good at describing the sound in an audiophile-friendly way but what I can say is 'it sounds bloody lovely to me'. Well done Graham and team !  My other gear: I have a humble ION TTUSB turntable at the moment, so not particularly high-end at all there, although it is dragging an original and mighty fine Audio Technica AT115E MC with a brand new elliptical stylus. I need to check the VTF, overhang etc but visually it all looks good to me. I'm beginning to wish now that I hadn't put the old faithful Pioneer PL-whatever-it-was on the skip when we moved house! The cart is fed through the TTs hard-wired phono leads (yuk), via a recently acquired GS Gram Amp 2 Communicator (very nice indeed and now entering week two of burn-in) through some budget OFC interconnects to the Novo. Phones are four year old well-driven Grado SR80s. After about twenty or so years of mainly CD (and more recently an excursion into compressed audio - eeeeek) I have begun to seen the light and started to enjoy some of my ageing vinyl collection like I never have before. I'm starting to hear more layers of instruments and vocals that just were not in the image before. The Who now sound almost as powerful as I remember them live. Chris Squire's bass sounds faster and more precise than ever. The acoustic sound of Neil Young and his band is so full of his country you can almost smell the pine. The soaring guitars of messrs. Howe, Hackett and Gilmour are ageless, haunting, moving, almost tear-making. Emerson and Wakeman show how close to DC you really can go with a Moog and the analogue sequencers and synths of Tangerine Dream now sound very comfortably analogue again, but now even more so. I could go on ... but my only recommendation is to have a go at building one yourself! It's a lot of fun and you can take your time building it, say an hour each evening, and probably complete one in a week. Graham, any ideas what's next? A DAK pre/power amp would be good !  I still need to cure the slight hum coming from my TT/ICs .. but that's another story and Ive read everyone's comments here about hum problems. ------------- To err is human, to really mess things up takes a software engineer |
Replies:
Posted By: tg [RIP]
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2009 at 10:41am
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Good to read that you are pleased with the results, if it follows the Novo, which I have had the pleasure of having for some weeks when it was new, then you have plenty to look forward to as it "matures" and comes fully into its musical stride. I must admit to being tempted to build one myself even though I already have a Solo and another quality headphone amp. You may be in trouble with the "vinyl revival" - but you knew that didn't you ? Enjoy. |
Posted By: mikebailey61
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2009 at 12:31pm
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Thanks tg, if I understand what you mean by 'trouble' correctly ... as a not-so-well-paid software engineer I envisage having very little 'trouble' ! I've lived in Huntingdon which, I'm sure you know, along with Cambridge, is one of the recognised homes of the UK HiFi industry (QUAD/Meridian/Mission etc etc) for almost 15 years now but have so far resisted the temptation to splash out on the big stuff yet - or indeed seek employment with them. I have always looked at the boutique gear with a divided opinion. It's a combination of 'Yes, I want one and I want it now' and 'How can anyone justify charging/paying that much for a handful of components'. Yes indeed, I think that my vinyl rebirth will be a long, gradual one. I'm sure my wife, and ex-wife/CSA, will all be glad to hear that too  If you meant the great analogue/digital debate, then, as I think someone on here quite rightly said, 'if it sounds good then it is good'. I'm very pleased that GSP have been able to produce such a high quality kit like the Novo. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with next! No pressure there Graham  And yes, the Novo is beginning to mature. The Gram Amp 2 Communicator seemed to mature a lot very quickly. The Novo seems to be a lot slower and more subtle. ------------- To err is human, to really mess things up takes a software engineer |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2009 at 11:47pm
The other one being Yorkshire  ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
mikebailey61 wrote:Posted By: mikebailey61
Date Posted: 16 Jul 2009 at 9:40am
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[/QUOTE] The other one being Yorkshire [/QUOTE]Oh yes, and God's Country too! How careless of me to forget Yorkshire I lived and worked in West Yorks for a long time before I moved down to these flooded lowlands in search of financial gold. "Look, Lad. We live in a bloody swamp. " (Couldn't resist the Python extract). I'm still looking for that gold and still sadly miss the 'Wind and Wuthering' of Airedale and the friendly (but straight talking) nature of all the folks up there. ------------- To err is human, to really mess things up takes a software engineer |
Posted By: less
Date Posted: 08 Aug 2009 at 2:57pm
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Hi all, I have finally been able to order my Novo Kit (having been a beta tester) and a pair of Cusat 50 interconnects. Thanks to all who have posted in this thread for the useful info on construction of the kits. I'll let you know how I get on  Regards Les ------------- I don't do mediocrity! Les Sutherland |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 08 Aug 2009 at 4:19pm
Good luck Les! I have been a lazy one and have yet to build the kit I received several months ago.  ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: less
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2009 at 4:00pm
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Hi Miguel, I thought you were supposed to have started it? Too busy with the Solo i guess Regards Les ------------- I don't do mediocrity! Les Sutherland |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2009 at 9:50pm
Thanks Les, it'll be on the road tomorrow. G ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: less
Date Posted: 11 Aug 2009 at 3:10pm
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Thanks Graham, Kit arrived a couple of hours ago. Just going through the instructions and checking my multi-meter etc. Will try and post my progress as it happens. Regards Les ------------- I don't do mediocrity! Les Sutherland |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2009 at 12:15am
------------- Miguel |
Posted By: less
Date Posted: 30 Sep 2009 at 7:11pm
Please forgive my ignorance but having just populated the Novo board with resistors (yes I only just got around to it!), I notice that resistor R7B has one end attached to a pad that has no other connections . The pad looks as though it is designed that way so I was wondering if someone would enlighten me....Thanks Les ------------- I don't do mediocrity! Les Sutherland |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 30 Sep 2009 at 10:40pm
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Less, Please read the instructions. There is a jumper wire to connect the circuit at that point to the rest of the circuit further across the PCB. Graham Quote from book... "An insulated wire flying lead is used to make the link between R7B and C3B beneath the board and short solder-spills from the adjacent pads are provided for this purpose." It's on page 14 - and there is a photo too. ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: less
Date Posted: 01 Oct 2009 at 9:32am
 Thanks Graham. I do now recall having read that. It was just that as I was inspecting the solder joints for the resistors this pad stuck out like a sore thumb. I did go back to the circuit diagram but as this is a B component that part of the circuit was not immediately obvious to me. As you rightly say, RTFM. I will now start on the diodes  Regards Les ------------- I don't do mediocrity! Les Sutherland |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 01 Oct 2009 at 10:37am
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We're all the same you know? The number of times I've "not needed" the instructions.... In my case it is usually impatience... In times like these I always remember this gem from an old mentor... "Patience is a virtue but I want mine now!"  ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: less
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2009 at 6:03pm
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I still haven't managed to finish it! And now we are away for a couple of weeks. Perhaps I'll take it with me
I'll definitely finish it before Christmas
Les ------------- I don't do mediocrity! Les Sutherland |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 29 Nov 2009 at 2:48pm
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Well I finally got of my "phat a$$" and started populating the board. It only took me 8+ months to do so. The work you see below took me about 1 hour and 20 minutes to solder after I had set up.
Pic deleted by MRA.
I hope to devote another hour or so today to installed the transistors, maybe even the caps. My goal is to have it completed by December (wont specify the year  ).------------- Miguel |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 29 Nov 2009 at 5:45pm
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Well, I did get around to adding the transistors. Boy, with a failing eyesight I sure hope I did not mess up any of the solder joints.
Pic deleted by MRA. ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: less
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2009 at 5:36pm
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Looking nice so far Miguel. Know what you mean about the eyesight, I had to go out and buy an illuminated magnifier to finish mine!
Hope you don't have the same problem as me when it's finished
(Just waiting for it to come back from you know where )
Les ------------- I don't do mediocrity! Les Sutherland |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2009 at 12:09am
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Them pictures got me sweating a bit. No more hi-rez than that please - best stood on something darker so as not to give away too much track detail. Thanks. Otherwise a nice job so far Miguel
------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2009 at 12:57am
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Sorry about that, I have removed the pictures. I will post lower resolution ones next time. ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2009 at 1:11am
It seems a shame to remove them fully - perhaps shrink them a bit? Or monochrome them? ------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 03 Dec 2009 at 2:04am
I have resized the image!
 ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: RobW
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2010 at 5:23am
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Hmmm ... that circuit looks oddly familiar
I'm curious about something. There are a couple of unlabeled circuit points (holes in the board with corresponding termination points on the bottom side) right above each of the thermally couple transistor pairs. What are/were these intended for? |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2010 at 8:49am
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On the "rev 1" PCB they were used for a stabilization capacitor in the current source, but I didn't like that solution - it seemed untidy, a bit of a cheat from an engineering point of view. Stabilization is used in all amplifier circuits to prevent oscillation. The "rev 2" PCB uses a different regime. Stabilization is a topic I will cover to a degree in the mag. The Art of Electronics goes into quite a bit of detail on this subject, and tons more of detail is available from other sources - I have several hundred pages on this very important (for audio) subject.
------------- That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |