What's the hardest part about making your own amplifier? Depending on what your shed looks like and how many tools you have, it's probably going to be the chassis.
And what's the hardest part about the chassis? Drilling a sequence of mounting and transistor holes while you carefully avoid...
- Slipping or sliding while making pilot holes on a slick anodized aluminum surface
- Drilling through the heatsink when you drill the starter holes
- Not keeping the drill perfectly perpendicular
- Destroying the threads or shearing your tap off when you're tapping the threads
And then do it all over again. 10 or 20 times in a row. Per heatsink. Without making one mistake.
Yep, it's a tough gig, we know!
If this sounds like something that might give you an aneurism or pull you off the wagon, we have the solution! In 2012, we embarked on a mission to make available to the diyAudio community:
- The best amplifier chassis in the world, loaded with features every DIY amp builder needs
- PCBs that would mount straight on to them
The result was the creation of the Universal Mounting Specification
, production of UMS heatsinks for our Deluxe Chassis, and sourcing UMS friendly circuit boards. The pattern is in the public domain, we hope it catches on and welcome other DIYers to start making boards using this flexible layout.
- Save time: If you mess up a heatsink, you'll need to re-order and wait all over again
- Save money: No need to buy expensive equipment like a drill press
- Save stress: You have enough in your life already, right? Get back to the zen-like joy of soldering already!
The UMS heatsinks on our Deluxe Chassis are meticulously pre-drilled and pre-tapped, and then re-anodized by our artisanal Italian chassis fabrication house for a slick professional look. Most of the boards we sell will bolt straight on, and of course so will the transistors.
Now there's no more excuses not to build your next amplifier - grab a chassis and some boards and start building!