Tonight I assembled one of the main SC-1 preamp boards. It was also cool to try out my new temperature controlled soldering station… *so* much better than the old Antex iron! I did have one mishap though. I managed to snap the leg off a ceramic capacitor as I was pushing it home into it’s holes on the PCB… means I’ve now got to flipping well either drive 10 miles to the nearest Maplin store or order a single ceramic...

I have now assembled the first board: the PSU board. All components installed except the power LEDs which I’m currently thinking may be best mounted on the front panel. Whilst taking it steady and double checking the value and orientation of each component as it is installed and soldered,the build time for this board was about 90 minutes. Have also finished assembling the floor standing rack, next job is to paint it. I’ve...

OK, I bit the bullet and ordered a full kit of parts to build a stereo SC-1 preamp with DI module and LED VU meters on both channels a couple of weeks ago. Today the box arrived and the photos below give you an idea of the contents. Over the next few weeks I shall be building the preamp and will post updates as I go. First off, what I ordered was: 2 x SC-1 preamp kit 2 x Mini IO kit 2 x VU meter kit 1 x PSU kit 1 x toroidal mains...