Brass

[tony]

On the scientific logic I wouldn't want to be second guessing Dave but on the hunch/gut instinct and when assessing Adam's set up from photo's supplied and logic applied I am happy to apply some of the myriad tweaks he has applied to his transport.

Very much wish he was within reaching distance to try and get to hear does stacked 57 Quads supplied by GNSC(unfortunately no more) tweaked Wadia kit and some cadbury's aero bar amps.
BTW the 57's are tweaked also with some special additions. When I win the lotto I will be paying him a visit.

Still prepared to admit his 100 sheets of EMI paper is probably a step too far!!

[sima66]

Since we are having fun on this brass topic, let's take it to the limit!!!
Here are my Frankenstein tube rings!
Definetly not a WAF, but this was one of the bigest improvement, beside spending thousands!

[nige2000]

forgot about the brass rings
dont forget the brass wall sockets their great too
think ill mount my mobo on a brass sheet and put a block on the cpu which will double as a heatsink

[tony]

forgot about the brass rings
dont forget the brass wall sockets their great too
think ill mount my mobo on a brass sheet and put a block on the cpu which will double as a heatsink

Very worthwhile especially if it blows Dave's mind into European space. The density and weight of the material in flat bar form
is really something to behold. Picking up a 75mm=x25mm bar that was approx a foot long was funny. Very heavy.

What thickness are you thinking about Nigel? I was thinking about it as a damper for the top of the dac. Problem is in big sizes prices
start increasing. For me the picoless and lifepo4 work comes first.

Maybe Dave might get a brass puck made for his stone age Sony?

[sima66]

Thanks, Nigel, I completely forgot about the wall sockets! :))
Maybe because is only the top side brass, the rest is aluminium and, of course either brass, or SS bolts and washers (non-magnetic)!
Again......YOU will not believe the difference!!! :)))))

[Sligolad]

Can't help but feel this thread could take on a whole life of its own and while I am more in Dave's camp from a scientific point of view I am not averse to trying out something off the wall if it does not cost much.
I have yet to try out all this vibration damping lark on electronics but cant help but wonder if there is something to it given Paul Pang and othere are convinced by it.

The Brass on the Valves is one I would definitely be into trying since it is amazing that particularly on the Big7 how sensitive the power valves are to the slightest vibration.

Not to derail the thread but now that we are in full flow I have some sheets of copper i bought some time ago for passive cooling tests which I did not get too far with but for shielding, grounding and damping maybe a whole new world of opportunity :-))

Go Adam, you brought a smile to my face with those pics.

[sima66]

Can't help but feel this thread could take on a whole life of its own and while I am more in Dave's camp from a scientific point of view I am not averse to trying out something off the wall if it does not cost much.
I have yet to try out all this vibration damping lark on electronics but cant help but wonder if there is something to it given Paul Pang and othere are convinced by it.

The Brass on the Valves is one I would definitely be into trying since it is amazing that particularly on the Big7 how sensitive the power valves are to the slightest vibration.

Not to derail the thread but now that we are in full flow I have some sheets of copper i bought some time ago for passive cooling tests which I did not get too far with but for shielding, grounding and damping maybe a whole new world of opportunity :-))

Go Adam, you brought a smile to my face with those pics.

Glad for the smile Pearse! :) In the end that's all what matters.......one way or another!

Just for the record, I never like it copper for damping, not on top and not under! It's deadening the sound, sucks all the highs!
For damping brass is the best, without a competition!
I will use cooper only for shielding and grounding.

[markof]

Just can't get me enough of that good ol' brass.

Love to see/own a brass-steampunk CA server.



or



Mark

[jkeny]

I'm not saying that I agree one way or the other that a brass block on a CPU will make change something about it's operational characteristics that may make a noticeable difference but there are well known & scientifically agreed influences on electronics that may have some bearing.

The idea that ICs & cables are inert devices, not subject to influence by forces is not an accepted scientific principle, I believe.
The tribolelectric http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboelectric_effect effect is one such effect where bending a cable can cause a static charge from the rubbing of the dielectric gainst the copper wire.
ICs are often also offered in metal can versions - the so called military spec - probably for isolation from electrical fields & vibration effects?

Example metal can IC with it's top cut open


Remember also that some seemingly inert looking devices are actually cans or containers for the circuitry inside - for instance clocks are usually metal cans that contain a crystal (typically quartz) cut along a certain lattice which is suspended at it's mounting points & a circuit attached which resonates it at a known frequency. This mounting & vibration is prone to effects from G forces in X, Y, & Z directions.


I'm sure there are lots of other examples that I'm not citing - these are just off the top of head thoughts.

Whether any of these effects are significant enough to cause audible differences, I don't know but the differences can & do exist.
Anyway, continue as before.

[DaveF]

ICs are often also offered in metal can versions - the so called military spec - probably for isolation from electrical fields & vibration effects?

For EMI isolation and to also protect against the IC's giving off emissions themselves. You'll see plenty of this type of metal canned or sheilded versions for military & aerospace applications.
If these devices are operating in hazardous enviroments where they might get kicked around then yeah isolation or bracing etc can be applied to the devices/pcbs to alleviate mechanical problems.

Some Optics on the other hand are prone to vibration: lasers, inferometers and fibre optic cabling but only at frequencies in the THz range.