CK²III gallery - Page 1Here is an area showcasing CK²III amplifiers from people like you! The unusual, the exotic, even the mundane... As long as you like what you built, then why not show it off? To have your CK²III featured here, contact AMB.New photos are added often, so come back to see the creative work of the CK²III builders community. Have fun! Click on any image to see a larger version.
AMB's CK²IIIAMB's own CK²III is housed in a modified Hammond 1455Q1602BK enclosure. Only the Hammond's base was used. The front and rear end-caps were replaced with custom 3/8" thick clear acrylic panels, painted matte black. The panel edges were finished in frosted translucent with rounded corners. An aluminum accent piece was added to each side. The top cover is a 1/16" thick clear acrylic sheet to display the amp's interior. The overall appearance matches those of AMB's other headphone amps.The power transformer is located in a separate "wallwart" to eliminate magnetic field interference to the amp; it is connected to the main enclosure via an umbilical cable wrapped in Techflex and terminated with a 4-pin mini DIN plug. The volume control is a Noble AP25Y 50KΩ stereo potentiometer, the headphone jack is a Switchcraft 152B for thick panels. All resistors (except the metal-oxide output resistors) are Vishay-Dale RN55D, the electrolytic capacitors are Nichicon UPW and UHE, film caps are Wima MKP2, Vishay-Roederstein MKT1817 and AVX BF/BQ series. Small heatsinks were added to the output transistors and the quiescent current was set to 35mA.
CK²III by steinchenSteinchen's CK²III is housed in a Hammond 1455Q2202BK enclosure with custom front panel fabricated by Front Panel Express. The output transistors (Toshiba 2SC3422/2SA1359, biased to 40mA quiescent) are mounted on the bottom of the board and bolted to the bottom of the enclosure with polyamide hardware. An oversized 30VA toroidal power transformer is used because he already had it in his parts bin.Wima film capacitors (FKP / MKS / FKS / MKT) are used throughout, the electrolytic capacitors are Panasonic (FC and FM series), and a Alps RK27 50K stereo pot controls the volume. Steinchen describes the CK²III's sound as "very easy to listen to, relaxed, no fatigue, yet detailed and airy."
CK²III by MisterXHere are two of MisterX's CK²IIIs. The first one was built according to the default parts specifications, and adjusted to 30mA quiescent current. The case looks deceptively large in the picture, but a look at the interior reveals that the small CK²III board fits snugly in the fore-aft dimension, and the left-right width allows a bit of room between the power transformer and the amp board to minimize interference. Two jacks are mounted on the front panel for simultaneous use of two pairs of headphones. A pushbutton switch is used for power, and the volume control is an Alps RK27.The second CK²III is housed in a Hammond 1455T2202BK case, with the Alps RK27 volume control pot mounted on a custom PCB.
Ferrari's CK²IIIThis elegant CK²III by Ferrari is housed in an ATI-735U enclosure. The power transformer, AC line filter and fuse are located in a separate "wallwart" to minimize magnetic field interference. Clip-on heatsinks are applied to the output transistors (Toshiba 2SC2238/2SA968) and the quiescent current was set to 40mA.The electrolytic capacitors are Nichicon Muse FX, FW and HN. Philips (BC) MKC/MKT film caps and polystyrene are used throughout. Vishay-Dale RN55D resistors are used in most part of the amp and the volume control is an Alps RK27 50K stereo potentiometer. A nice touch is the integrated indicator LED on the volume knob. Besides the usual RCA input jacks, a 3.5mm stereo jack was also added to support easy connection from portable devices.
set300b's CK²IIIThis CK²III by set300b uses a single case from Context Engineering. The parts selection is mostly according to the defaults in the parts list.
CK²III by coffinAn exotic-looking case, made of anodized alunimum adorns coffin's CK²III. It prominently features a round pillar at each corner and deeply-sculpted panels. There are multiple inputs, controlled by a front panel rotary switch operating a rear-panel relay-based selector board. The case and relay board are from hohodiy.com of Taiwan.Instead of CK²III's onboard voltage regulators, coffin used a Ultimate Mini Regulator board to supply power to the amplifier. An oversized toroidal power transformer feeds the PSU. The amplifier output transistors and the PSU's pass transistors are bolted to the bottom of the case (with isolating pads) for heat dissipation.
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