PDA

View Full Version : Home made DIY disco....


nigelwright7557
28-01-2009, 10:26 PM
When I started DJing for myself I built my disco from Maplin kits.

I bought the record deck case from Maplin along with 2 belt drive turtables.
I built two cartridge amplifiers in the record deck case along with a simple mixer with crossfader.

I built Maplins 225WRMS mono amplifier and this ran into 2 cabinets each with 2 * 50WRMS Fane speakers.

Lighting was 3 channel spotlights run from a Maplin kit sound to light unit.

I also designed a 25 way lightbox that was run by a sequencer.
With this you could display patterns or letters.
Solitaire Events Ltd
28-01-2009, 10:53 PM
What do you mean "When you started?" :sj:
nigelwright7557
28-01-2009, 10:57 PM
What do you mean "When you started?" :sj:

I meant when I started working for myself.

Previously I worked for someone elses disco.
rob1963
28-01-2009, 10:57 PM
What do you mean "When you started?" :sj:

:jawdrop:
Solitaire Events Ltd
28-01-2009, 10:58 PM
....way over some people's head...
rob1963
28-01-2009, 11:01 PM
:rofl:
sleah
29-01-2009, 12:09 PM
When I started DJing for myself I built my disco from Maplin kits.

I bought the record deck case from Maplin along with 2 belt drive turtables.
I built two cartridge amplifiers in the record deck case along with a simple mixer with crossfader.

I built Maplins 225WRMS mono amplifier and this ran into 2 cabinets each with 2 * 50WRMS Fane speakers.

Lighting was 3 channel spotlights run from a Maplin kit sound to light unit.

I also designed a 25 way lightbox that was run by a sequencer.
With this you could display patterns or letters.

Yay! So did I! Well similar. I too had Maplins sound to light kits:)
I bought the 225W amp kit too but could never get the bugger to work:(
Had sucess with the 150w mosfets they did though:)

You cheapskate:p I had 200w Fane 15inchers:p:p:p:D:D
"Big Cat" IIRC, I did aquire a pair of Colosus 400w 15's at one point.:D

I once built a stereo mixer from the Maplin kits but it sounded pants, so I scrapped it and got a cheap decent second hand mixer from Squires in Manchester.
Vectis
29-01-2009, 12:16 PM
Apart from my Citronic Thames (also obtained via Squires :cool: ) and a pair of secondhand speakers from a band, I made all my own gear too.

I added horns to the speakers to get a better all-round sound out of them, I built my own FAL-alikes and lightscreens, even the chasers to go with them.

At one point I remember having an old TV wedged under the deck stand (which was a matt blacked Black & Decker Workmate :D ) connected to a ZX Spectrum running some sound-activated (via line input lead) graphics software which was basically some coloured moving lines.

I remember arriving at gigs, setting everything up and then getting the software to load off of a microdrive - remember them?

Oh happy days...
sleah
29-01-2009, 12:33 PM
I remember arriving at gigs, setting everything up and then getting the software to load off of a microdrive - remember them?


Remember them? Still got mine....:D
nigelwright7557
29-01-2009, 03:03 PM
Yay! So did I! Well similar. I too had Maplins sound to light kits:)
I bought the 225W amp kit too but could never get the bugger to work:(
Had sucess with the 150w mosfets they did though:)

You cheapskate:p I had 200w Fane 15inchers:p:p:p:D:D
"Big Cat" IIRC, I did aquire a pair of Colosus 400w 15's at one point.:D

I once built a stereo mixer from the Maplin kits but it sounded pants, so I scrapped it and got a cheap decent second hand mixer from Squires in Manchester.

The first time I built the 225WRMS amp I just put it on a slab of chipboard.
Highly dangerous as it had a mains transformer on it !
I later boxed it up properly with a huge vent on the back to keep it cool.
The amp was very loud for the power it had, it filled any venue I went to really well, in fact got told to turn it down a few times.

The Maplin kits were good but if you made a mistake the job was a bad one.
Didnt Maplin allow you send a faulty kit to them to be repaired ?

I started off with a 4 by 12 inch cabinet but found I couldnt lift it !
So made 2 cabinets with 2 by 12 inch speakers in them.
Excalibur
29-01-2009, 07:14 PM
You may not remember or believe this, but back in the old days, Comet sold turntables and speaker kits! :eek: Two Garrard SP25 Mk 3's with shure magnetic cartridges, a Tandberg TA300M amplifier, and two Wharfedale speaker kits. The next upgrade came courtesy of RSC, in the days when there were very few suppliers.
nigelwright7557
29-01-2009, 07:21 PM
You may not remember or believe this, but back in the old days, Comet sold turntables and speaker kits! :eek: Two Garrard SP25 Mk 3's with shure magnetic cartridges, a Tandberg TA300M amplifier, and two Wharfedale speaker kits. The next upgrade came courtesy of RSC, in the days when there were very few suppliers.

Maplin did a huge range of kits at one time.

Sadly they stopped the 75W and 225W amps although I still have the circuit diagram for the 225WRMS amp.

They still sell a 200W kit but its only 200W peak, not really loud enough.

I suppose they do sell loads of ready made kit now.
Jiggles
29-01-2009, 07:26 PM
Would love to know how to make an amp out of these: http://www.classd.ltd.uk/product.php?productid=16270&cat=257&page=1
Excalibur
29-01-2009, 07:35 PM
Would love to know how to make an amp out of these: http://www.classd.ltd.uk/product.php?productid=16270&cat=257&page=1

You and me both mate. ;) Fortunately, they are supposed to be coming out fully built at some point. 1U high, drive anything.
Tom
29-01-2009, 07:39 PM
You and me both mate. ;) Fortunately, they are supposed to be coming out fully built at some point. 1U high, drive anything.
Would be interesting to see. :)

Be be interesting to see if they can build something thats a few thousand watts bridge mode for 4 ohm. ;):D
Excalibur
29-01-2009, 07:46 PM
Would be interesting to see. :)

Be be interesting to see if they can build something thats a few thousand watts bridge mode for 4 ohm. ;):D

They say they can, and have run it on soak for hours. ;)
nigelwright7557
29-01-2009, 07:58 PM
Would love to know how to make an amp out of these: http://www.classd.ltd.uk/product.php?productid=16270&cat=257&page=1

It needs a power supply and a decent heatsink and enclosure.

Will be interesting to see the spec sheet when its ready.
Tom
29-01-2009, 07:59 PM
They say they can, and have run it on soak for hours. ;)

Nice. lol.

Now, about the price.....;):D
Tony Scott
29-01-2009, 08:54 PM
Would love to know how to make an amp out of these: http://www.classd.ltd.uk/product.php?productid=16270&cat=257&page=1


Simple, all you need is a power supply, heatsink and compound, a fan and some sort of case. You could also add a potentiometer as a gain, I'd just use it as a slave and control the input via the DSP or x-over.

Power supply - (transformer about 45-0-45v, nice big bridge rectifier and a couple of 10'000mfd capacitors)

The signal and speaker +ve & -ve's solder to the board. A nice little project for a lazy Sunday. :)


EDIT: ........or you could just spend a little more and get something about twice as powerful and ready built..... http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tamp_e800.htm :D
Jiggles
29-01-2009, 09:09 PM
Easy enough to say! :D
nigelwright7557
29-01-2009, 09:16 PM
Easy enough to say! :D

With my home build amps I also add a speaker protector.
It drops out a relay connected to the speaker if it sees a DC fault on the amp output.
Not nice for an amp to go wrong but for the speakers to go wrong as well sounds expensive !

As someone else said its probably better to just go for a mass produced one with built in protection.

I had an old valve amp go wrong and damage a speaker.
Oddly it didnt completely fry the whole speaker but just half of it reducing the volume in the speaker.
Excalibur
29-01-2009, 09:16 PM
Simple, all you need is a power supply, heatsink and compound, a fan and some sort of case. You could also add a potentiometer as a gain, I'd just use it as a slave and control the input via the DSP or x-over.

Power supply - (transformer, about 45-0-45v, nice big bridge rectifier and a couple of 10'000mfd capacitors)

The signal and speaker +ve & -ve's solder to the board. A nice little project for a lazy Sunday. :)


EDIT: ........or you could just spent the £100 on something about twice as powerful and ready built! :D

Ah Tony, you've obviously never made the pilgrimage to Mansfield. ;) :p

A power supply about the size of a box of matches. :eek: That's how it will apparently fit in a 1U case. It's a bit different to the huge toroidal transformer that's the heavy bit in our amps.
Jiggles
29-01-2009, 09:18 PM
SOO its a digital amp then!
nigelwright7557
29-01-2009, 09:21 PM
SOO its a digital amp then!

Its will be a switch mode power supply if its the size of a box of matches !
Penfold42
29-01-2009, 09:28 PM
Ah Tony, you've obviously never made the pilgrimage to Mansfield. ;) :p

Pilgrimage.....I've heard your looking for a house there!
Tony Scott
29-01-2009, 09:29 PM
Ah Tony, you've obviously never made the pilgrimage to Mansfield. ;) :p

A power supply about the size of a box of matches. :eek: That's how it will apparently fit in a 1U case. It's a bit different to the huge toroidal transformer that's the heavy bit in our amps.

Oh right....so they're going to power it with a switch mode, that's a bit trickier then, never built a switch mode supply.....probably be a 'wife gone to her mum's' weekend-job in that case! :D

This module could be still be powered with a conventional supply I would think, as long as it was well regulated with good ripple rejection? :)