I finally got a free minute to sit down and go through my notes and I'd like to share some observations I made while installing the new back planes (White Oak Audio Design rev C back plane boards) into Ronnie's beautiful 700B I finished a few days ago. The first thing I noticed was during the population phase of these new boards. As always, the packaging and marking of the components was spot on when compared to the new documentation (the BOM is Da Bomb).
All packaged parts were preformed to ensure the finished product looked professional (providing our soldering is done in a nice neat manner). All of us who have assembled a kit from Joe has become accustomed to that.
The next thing that jumped out at me was a few of the component locations on the boards have been moved a bit. It may not sound like much, but laying the AC wiring out has been made easier just by moving C8. It was positioned down lower on the board so when you lay your AC wiring out, it is a much easier task of getting those wires to make that 90 degree bend at the top right hand corner of the right channel back plane. It was kind of tight to run those up around C8 and the input RCA's but now there is enough room to make that corner with an 18 wheeler. You can see the room available if you look at the picture of the wiring on "Ronnie's Hat Trick" thread. Awe hell, I'll just post it again. If you look close, you'll see that C8 is down lower instead of being u in the top right corner where the wires run over the top of the amp.
The next thing is the elimination of the Pico Fuses and now we have cartridge type fuses. And, as Joe says, if you happen to have an issue during application of power, these are a snap to change should you need it. LOVE THAT FEATURE TOO.
I didn't see it until I started wiring, but Joe eliminated some of the interconnecting wires which went from the left board, to the right board. Very nice.
Then, I can't help myself since I was a Lifer in the Military, but it has a Nice BIG Silk Screened American Flag printed on the boards. I heard it was made with Oxygen Free Ink
I didn't measure, but it appeared that the dimensions of the board has changed and I think it will make it easier on us folks building the 700 Series II's since the earlier rev's can be a tight fit due to the irregularities of the Series II chassis'. Some were fine and some chassis' were tight but I do believe the Rev C boards will slide right in with ZERO fitment issues. I'll verify that since I have 2 Series II WOPL's in the works right now (and 2 more sitting here complete). One of them will get the new back planes, the other has already been fitted with Rev B. Both will get the Mono Control Boards (Rev G1).
There are quite a few changes to these boards and I have only touched on a few. Score a pair for your next build and you can judge for yourself. Damn, buy a pair, build them and put them on your coffee table... They are cool to look at and will be a killer conversation piece too (for us Tron Geeks anyway).
Thanks Joe for letting me get my hands on the new Back Planes (even if you weren't ready)..... I get antsy at times.
All packaged parts were preformed to ensure the finished product looked professional (providing our soldering is done in a nice neat manner). All of us who have assembled a kit from Joe has become accustomed to that.
The next thing that jumped out at me was a few of the component locations on the boards have been moved a bit. It may not sound like much, but laying the AC wiring out has been made easier just by moving C8. It was positioned down lower on the board so when you lay your AC wiring out, it is a much easier task of getting those wires to make that 90 degree bend at the top right hand corner of the right channel back plane. It was kind of tight to run those up around C8 and the input RCA's but now there is enough room to make that corner with an 18 wheeler. You can see the room available if you look at the picture of the wiring on "Ronnie's Hat Trick" thread. Awe hell, I'll just post it again. If you look close, you'll see that C8 is down lower instead of being u in the top right corner where the wires run over the top of the amp.
The next thing is the elimination of the Pico Fuses and now we have cartridge type fuses. And, as Joe says, if you happen to have an issue during application of power, these are a snap to change should you need it. LOVE THAT FEATURE TOO.
I didn't see it until I started wiring, but Joe eliminated some of the interconnecting wires which went from the left board, to the right board. Very nice.
Then, I can't help myself since I was a Lifer in the Military, but it has a Nice BIG Silk Screened American Flag printed on the boards. I heard it was made with Oxygen Free Ink
I didn't measure, but it appeared that the dimensions of the board has changed and I think it will make it easier on us folks building the 700 Series II's since the earlier rev's can be a tight fit due to the irregularities of the Series II chassis'. Some were fine and some chassis' were tight but I do believe the Rev C boards will slide right in with ZERO fitment issues. I'll verify that since I have 2 Series II WOPL's in the works right now (and 2 more sitting here complete). One of them will get the new back planes, the other has already been fitted with Rev B. Both will get the Mono Control Boards (Rev G1).
There are quite a few changes to these boards and I have only touched on a few. Score a pair for your next build and you can judge for yourself. Damn, buy a pair, build them and put them on your coffee table... They are cool to look at and will be a killer conversation piece too (for us Tron Geeks anyway).
Thanks Joe for letting me get my hands on the new Back Planes (even if you weren't ready)..... I get antsy at times.
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