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New big trafo for little headphone amp

Posted by mr.bear (A) on November 3, 2017 at 15:14:09

Thanks for all your interesting insights on the subject of transformer and PS tweaks and upgrades. Chopping into my little Schiit "Magni" and running a new DC supply into it seemed overkill but I wanted to explore replacing the external transformer that was feeding it 16VAC. This all stemmed from the comment by Paul McGowan (link below) about lowering the transformer impedance making things sound nice. Makes all the sense in the world to me.

Anyhoo, I found a suitable transformer sold as surplus on trashBay. It's a Hammond rated at 100VA- actually intended as a boost-buck so it has 2, nominal 120V primary windings and 2, 16V secondaries. Paralleling each pair, careful to observe the phase, it measures 16.4VAC with a nameplate capacity of 7.0A. About 2Kg of trafo versus a little plastic wart under 10VA. The trans has a nice steel junction box on the back too, so it doesn't need an enclosure. A little solder here and there, trip to the hardware store, power it up on the bench for a week, and it's cool and quiet- Voila!

The sound is quite nice, feeding it from my Bifrost Multibit. I'm still in a state of solder-fume-induced euphoria, but it swapping the wart and the Big Boy back-'n-forth, it seems to "flesh out" the instruments a little better, maybe preserving the harmonic structure a bit better. No spectacular change but a small, discernable notch. It's stuck under my equipment shelf but I know it's there... Worth $36?- yeah.

Regardless, that Magni's a darn good headphone amp- bought in a hock shop in Beverly Hills. And I'm ready with the power supply for my new-and-improved Magni 3 should I find an extra C-note in the sofa cushions...

I was undeterred by the Schiit team who have the following intelligent commentary regarding people modding their gear- these guys are good and have a sense of humor:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-happened-the-story-of-the-worlds-most-improbable-start-up.701900/page-705#post_12555875

• https://db.audioasylum.com/mhtml/m.html?forum=tweaks&n=18508   (Open in New Window)

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