Hi all,
Based on my own difficulties in finding audio-grade components in this country I have decided to take the plunge: I will very soon be offering crossover components for sale.
I am not sure of the demand at this point, so I am not going to be importing an entire container worth of components just yet.
Capacitors: I currently have a number of ClarityCap PX capacitors which I will use to test the market with. The PX range seems to be quite well received over-all, and while they are audio grade
Polypropylene capacitors, they are not overly expensive. Check them out on Madisound's website: http://www.madisound.com/manufacturers/claritycap/px.php
Inductors: I am at a point where I feel confident enough in my coil winding skills to start selling them.
Air core inductors no problem. The tricky part has always been the iron core inductors. I am happy to anounce that I have found a company who is willing to make iron cores and bobbins for me in smallish quantities for the time being. With these I will be able to make "professional" looking inductors - as good as any you can import. I placed an order for 20 units today - should have them in my hands in a week or two at most. The bobbin size I have selected is 60mm x 23mm x 23mm. We should be able to get up to about 7mH out of one of those. They are able to make much bigger bobbins, so I would say that we could wind just about any size inductor. Practically I would like to limit it to about 15mH or so.
The inside the bobbin will be packed with 20mm x 20mm high quality M5 Grain Oriented Silicone Steel (GOSS) strips each 0.3mm thick. You can read more about Silicone steel on WikiPedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_steel. The company doing the cutting for me guarantees that each piece will be cut to very close tolerances, and will be perfectly flat. This means we get more laminations into the bobbin. More laminations means less opportunity for saturation to occur.
Just to give you an idea - I have a 6.0mH coil from Madisound here. The iron core is about 20mm x 13mm thick, and is not made from M5 GOSS. That means I will be using about 40% more steel, and of a higher quality for the specific application.
Resistors:
Not too sure whether or not to worry about resistors at this point, but if there is enough interest I will make a plan with these as well.
Crossovers
As an additional service for those who are not entering the DIY Audio circuit for fear of crossovers, I will offer a XO design service as well. If possible, I will measure the drivers in the cabinets for the XO design, otherwise I will use FRD information from the web for the drivers.
I am not sure about the final pricing etc yet, but everything should start getting together in the next couple of weeks. I would like to say for the record that I intend to be as realistic as possible with the pricing - I am not in the business of ripping anyone off. I also know that this venture will never replace my day job as a source of income, so I will mostly be doing it for the love of it, and also to allow easier access to "hard to find" items in this country to fellow DIY nutters like me.
Please let me know what you think. Would you be willing to support me in this venture? Any input, comments, or questions welcome.
Thanks,
Ian.
Based on my own difficulties in finding audio-grade components in this country I have decided to take the plunge: I will very soon be offering crossover components for sale.
I am not sure of the demand at this point, so I am not going to be importing an entire container worth of components just yet.
Capacitors: I currently have a number of ClarityCap PX capacitors which I will use to test the market with. The PX range seems to be quite well received over-all, and while they are audio grade
Polypropylene capacitors, they are not overly expensive. Check them out on Madisound's website: http://www.madisound.com/manufacturers/claritycap/px.php
Inductors: I am at a point where I feel confident enough in my coil winding skills to start selling them.
Air core inductors no problem. The tricky part has always been the iron core inductors. I am happy to anounce that I have found a company who is willing to make iron cores and bobbins for me in smallish quantities for the time being. With these I will be able to make "professional" looking inductors - as good as any you can import. I placed an order for 20 units today - should have them in my hands in a week or two at most. The bobbin size I have selected is 60mm x 23mm x 23mm. We should be able to get up to about 7mH out of one of those. They are able to make much bigger bobbins, so I would say that we could wind just about any size inductor. Practically I would like to limit it to about 15mH or so.
The inside the bobbin will be packed with 20mm x 20mm high quality M5 Grain Oriented Silicone Steel (GOSS) strips each 0.3mm thick. You can read more about Silicone steel on WikiPedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_steel. The company doing the cutting for me guarantees that each piece will be cut to very close tolerances, and will be perfectly flat. This means we get more laminations into the bobbin. More laminations means less opportunity for saturation to occur.
Just to give you an idea - I have a 6.0mH coil from Madisound here. The iron core is about 20mm x 13mm thick, and is not made from M5 GOSS. That means I will be using about 40% more steel, and of a higher quality for the specific application.
Resistors:
Not too sure whether or not to worry about resistors at this point, but if there is enough interest I will make a plan with these as well.
Crossovers
As an additional service for those who are not entering the DIY Audio circuit for fear of crossovers, I will offer a XO design service as well. If possible, I will measure the drivers in the cabinets for the XO design, otherwise I will use FRD information from the web for the drivers.
I am not sure about the final pricing etc yet, but everything should start getting together in the next couple of weeks. I would like to say for the record that I intend to be as realistic as possible with the pricing - I am not in the business of ripping anyone off. I also know that this venture will never replace my day job as a source of income, so I will mostly be doing it for the love of it, and also to allow easier access to "hard to find" items in this country to fellow DIY nutters like me.
Please let me know what you think. Would you be willing to support me in this venture? Any input, comments, or questions welcome.
Thanks,
Ian.
