Front Panel Express

[mayfly]

Hi Folks,

As many of you know, I like to build stuff.  I'm especially a fan of building electronics for music.  Some times kits, sometimes my own design, some times point to point, sometimes PCB.  But I always end up with the same problem - the finished product ends up looking like crap.  I'm not great at wood working, marginal at metal working, and let's not bring up tolex or other upholstery stuff.

But I think I found a solution.  I recently designed/built a preamp for my stereo, which is constantly evolving.  But as usual the metalwork looked like crap and I had no way of clearly labeling the thing.  Then I found Front Panel Express:

http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/?gclid=CMfvv7-kpMgCFQiOaQodciwGfg

I thought "what the hell".  So I designed a 1RU box for the preamp.  the bits arrived today.  They came extremely well packed and the quality is very high.  I like it!  Attached are some shots.

So if you find yourself in this sort of situation, give them a try.

 

[jmcecil]

I've used them for modular panels.  They do a great job.

 

[Cagey]

That looks very good, and professional as well. Is that engraved or silkscreened or what?

 

[jmcecil]

That looks very good, and professional as well. Is that engraved or silkscreened or what?

I have mine engraved. And you can choose fill colors. 

 

[mayfly]

Yepper - it's engraved.  I chose 'silver' for my fill colour  :glasses9:

 

[jmcecil]

They even have a free CAD-lite builder piece of software that lets you design the panel using spec spacings, so it is exact.  Then it will price it for you based on all the options you pick.

 

[mayfly]

All done.  Went together without issues.  10k Alps pot with a gold contact Grayhill switch.  Gold RCA jacks and a little time with a soldering iron. 

Sounds very, er, transparent. 

 

[fdesalvo]

Yeah, FP is rad.  Nice work.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Nice resource, thanks for posting.
Passed the link onto my son who builds class A tube amps, mostly for stereo applications, but he's working on a BriTweed 18 watt design to complement my BariTele, going for a plug & play SRV voiced amp with an effects loop so I can occasionally stick my POD HD500X in front of the power amp section & just use it for a power amp/Cab.

 

[mayfly]

Nice resource, thanks for posting.
Passed the link onto my son who builds class A tube amps, mostly for stereo applications, but he's working on a BriTweed 18 watt design to complement my BariTele, going for a plug & play SRV voiced amp with an effects loop so I can occasionally stick my POD HD500X in front of the power amp section & just use it for a power amp/Cab.

Very cool.  There are several folks out there who are using FPE for stereo tube amps.  They just attach everything to the top plate (which is nicely labeled and engraved) and hand wire the circuit below.  I'll see if I can find some pictures of a build.

 

[mayfly]

well, that didn't take long:

Also ran into this video:

[youtube]dwH_UiwLCjc[/youtube]

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Now that's dang cool! :kewlpics:

 

[mayfly]

Update:  Just received a little "thank you" card from them.  Hand written and everything.

Nice gesture.  I'll use them again.

 

[Kostas]

Looks good, simple and classy. I like passive preamps for their no frills sound, even cheap ones do not color the sound as much as actives.

I like that you put phono first, that's always how I think sources should be in a amp as not only I prefer vinyl but I have more records than tapes and CD's together. BTW, I know there are all line sources but why you named the second input Airplay?

...I recently designed/built a preamp for my stereo, which is constantly evolving...

What is the rest of the system? The Manley phono looks old, it doesn't have their current look. I've always liked Manley products, both aesthetically and sonically but there are out of my price range.

 

[mayfly]

The Manley is indeed an old one.  It's from their original line of products - long out of production.  Sounds great mind you.  I bought it directly from EveAnna herself when I bought an original "gold front" Manley stingray.  The stingray is gone, but the phono pre remains.  I have several phono pres, including one I made.  This one is the best.

The turntable is a Rega planar III with a middle of the road ortofon cartridge.  Old school and reliable! 

CD player is a Harman/Kardon. nothing spectacular there.

Airplay is just that  - apple airplay through a good quality DAC via the optical output.  Yep, I listen to stuff using my iPhone AND a turntable.  So there  :icon_biggrin:

The speakers are a pair of linkwitz plutos.  They are freaking spectacular.  They are the reason why the stingray got sold.  I've posted about the plutos before - I'll dig up the link for them.

 

[mayfly]

Here's the original link on the Plutos, but the photos are gone.  Damn Facebook

http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=23050.0

I'll see if I can get a photo of the setup later.

 

[mayfly]

Update - I've tweaked my home made phono pre so that it's as good as the Manley (at least to my ears, which are the only ones that matter around here)

To make it match everything else in the stereo rack, I did another front panel express design!

For this one I used FPS's standoff option to place standoffs exactly where they are required for the PCB.  It worked out very well.  They also cut a perfect D hole for the power input jack.  I've never had metalwork this nice for a home project!

BTW, the phono pre is a bugle2 by hagerman:  http://hagerman-audio-labs.myshopify.com/collections/phono-preamps/products/bugle2
Turns out that I used 1.3K resistors instead of 13K in one critical spot in the preamp EQ.  That made it sound very, er, funny.  I didn't have 13K resistors so I made them up out of some 12K and 1K in series (see the right hand side of the PCB).

It's gonna look/sound nice in the rack with the passive preamp  :headbang:

 

[GilgaFrank]

I've used Feontpanel Express to experiment with designs for modular synth components but never got round to actually paying for fabrication. So all my home made synth modules look like this MIDI to CV interface, bits of roughly-sawn acrylic with random holes drilled in them.

 

[Kostas]

...BTW, the phono pre is a bugle2 by hagerman...

If you ever have the time and most important the money check the Dact CT100 http://www.dact.com/html/phono_stages.html  It's expensive for a kit but when completed it's in the top, I've never heard something I liked more even preamps that cost 20 times more. The power supply is important, the best I've heard had a power supply sized like a 100 watt power amp! If you ever find someone who has built it, it's worth to listen and compare. This phono plays every cartridge it exists and will exist!