Pass Labs PassDIY Headphone Amp/ PreAmp

Edit : Changed the title of the thread, as it is no longer a group buy, but a thread to perhaps document the progress of this project that I've embarked on (probably due to boredom, or more time being spent on headphones now).

Please read below for more information, will update this as time goes. Thanks!

I have on hand 19 of these PCB (see below),

And as of 28/4/2020 - There's another remaining 15 boards. Thanks

It will be more interesting if you sell it as complete products here, because most of the hifi kakis here dont have the tools to solder and multimeter to troubleshoot. 

But they are a lot of fanz out there. 

I have decided to get someone to manufacture the PCB to the specified specs by Wayne from Pass Labs. I ordered 10 of it. I just can't seem to get enough people for a group buy and shipping cost from the US is too expensive and not worth it considering I can get this made to very high quality at a cost much lower than buying straight from the US. I do intend to sell off the remaining boards at cost + some shipping and handling. This all of course with Wayne's permission. It has not arrived yet. I can offer guidance if there's interest to building it  A multimeter + tools for soldering is just less than rm300 for reasonably good working ones. Your ROI will be many many times more in terms of the sound quality you get + the learning process will definitely help you appreciate hifi better .

Also, it's WHAMMY (Wayne's Headphone Amplifier Must Make Yourself)   . The whole entire build is very doable and can be done in less than a day.

Nevertheless, this project would cost very little. BOM is about RM550 not including transformer + chassis (which should set you back another RM300. So this project is very doable below RM1000.
Update, 11/5/2020 : After many many hours of researching of where to get certain parts at certain prices in order to achieve the best bang buck, this entire project including chassis can be done BELOW RM700. Please PM me for more details. Thanks

It could set you back another RM300-400 if you wish to go for the best sounding opamps (BTW, e14 has a 15% off for the past 1-2 weeks, I'm not sure if there still is, but i bought some OPA627BP <- very good specs and very close to Burson according to many forummers in Diyaudio forum).

Anyways, regarding selling it as a complete product, I don't think that's possible. Have too many things going on with life right now. And hifi is mostly a hobby than bread and butter for me. Perhaps if you are keen I can point you towards sourcing all the BOM and you can get someone to build it? I reckon it might set you back another rm1,000 on just workmanship (unsure, but I see people in SG charging approximately about $SGD200 just for workmaship alone for the Crack which has much lesser components to solder and no work on chassis required. Link : https://sg.carousell.com/p/bottlehead-crack-otl-tube-headphone-amplifier-121164984/ )

Cheers!

These boards came through my doorstep today (hopefully Covid-19 free) - packaging sanitized.

So I posted above, i decided to get it manufactured to Wayne's specification. FR-4, HASL, 2oz copper boards. And they came through pretty high quality.

Now, I have 19 boards (keeping one for myself or maybe a few? not sure, but don't see the point of building more than 1).

Anyways, out of the 19 boards, there are 9 boards where the silkscreen is printed on the bottom layer instead of the top (this isn't an issue naturally but may be annoying to work with and extra caution have to be given).

I'll be selling off the boards where the printing is wrongly done (at the bottom) for RM30 (9, 7 left)

and the boards that are correct at RM50 (10, 7 left)

These are all sold to just recoup my cost to manufacture this and hardly any profit is made. These boards sells for 15-20UKP on forums. and you can buy the official boards at diyaudiostore at 30USD but shipping will kill you.

I have the BOM (readily available with some googling actually) and I have ordered my parts from Mouser (they are due for delivery next week or so). You can piggyback on my order if you are buying the boards but this offer is only available until Mouser ships out my parts (i.e i bear all the shipping cost, if you wish to share out the shipping cost idm either), PM me and we can arrange and I can walk you through the cost, and what parts to order from where. Cost build should be less than RM600 (closer to RM500) including pcb stock build (excluding transformers, panel mount connectors, hook up wires and chassis.

You can order some of the parts from elsewhere as you see fit but I have done the comparisons, it is most expensive to order from RS/Farnell compared to Mouser + Shipping.

These arrived yesterday afternoon,

Completed it and tested, it works! sounds pretty good stock. Will be waiting for my chassis to arrive. and to be mounted  . Will be playing with it a few days and roll some op amps meanwhile. Will be more than happy if anyone is interested to audition it. (of course only when MCO is over and when my chassis arrives so everything can be mounted on properly)

I still have 14 boards left!

Thanks!

After many hours of researching and looking for where I could get the best bang for buck to make this as cheap as possible and not compromising on quality (i.e. looking for suitable parts, same parts from different trusted sources), I've managed to bring the BOM down to around RM600-700 (including chassis, transformers and all panel mounts) which is very very low (which is cheaper than the DIYAudiostore in the US about RM800 and that does not include chassis+shipping+tax+handling. As always, no problem sharing the BOM, just PM me. 

Link: https://diyaudiostore.com/products/whammy?variant=15367043448866

A fellow forummer just bought 2 boards from me and just managed a fantastic build!