QUDOS - the brilliant new amplifier boards from Avondale

[Bill Colledge]

There is no sonic benefit IMO for driving the bias outside the 100mA other than waist energy as unwanted heat. The 100-120mA does seem to be the sweet spot. Leave as is and enjoy.[/QUOTE)

Thanks for that info I will leave well alone at 100Ma then.

 

[robdeszan]

Hello all, I went through the thread and noted people's approaches to dealing with varying spade width types - the best seems to solder thinner ones onto the boards - but also found a post mentioning the split type spades which Avondale started installing around 2018/2019.

Has anyone had any issues fitting the original Naim female connectors (the narrow ones) to the Qudos current split spade type ones?

Avondale suggest simply pushing them in (despite a fairly tight fit) and while the outer plastic plug of the female spade connector can be squeezed in, the connector inside is bent out of shape as a consequence as it is considerably thicker than the original one and yields a very loose fit after you plug it back into the NAP board.

https://flic.kr/p/2pseQ4R

The other advice I received from them was to restore the original shape with a piece of pliers (sounds like a good approach) if required but this is a 40 year old plastic plug, not rubber, I am a bit concerned it will simply crumble. Unless the plastic sheath/plug can be simply (?) slid off - how simple is it on shorter terminations within the wire loom though?

https://flic.kr/p/2psdxUg

 

[Mike Hanson]

I would just replace the female crimp connectors on the wires.

 

[robdeszan]

I would just replace the female crimp connectors on the wires.

Thanks Mike, to wider ones? Not sure I am for this one, probably easier to resolder the spades on the boards than re terminate all the wires should I ever choose to revert to the original NAP boards.

 

[Avon]

I just cut off and disposed of those white plastic shrouds from the female Naim connectors. It was a bit of a squeeze to fit them onto the split connectors on the Qudos boards, but they did go on cleanly with a good mating. The shrouds serve no purpose other than making things difficult.

That way, I didn't need to replace the female crimp connectors, so they would go back onto the Naim boards if needed.

 

[Jipper]

I just cut off and disposed of those white plastic shrouds from the female Naim connectors. It was a bit of a squeeze to fit them onto the split connectors on the Qudos boards, but they did go on cleanly with a good mating. The shrouds serve no purpose other than making things difficult.

That way, I didn't need to replace the female crimp connectors, so they would go back onto the Naim boards if needed.

I asked Avondale the same question, about the SE200 and HCR200 boards, here's the reply;

"To remove the terminals from their housing, you can push them from the open end with a small screwdriver, they come out fairly easy.

The SE200 and most of the HCR200's come with dual terminals so you wouldn't need to change the original naim connectors, but you would need to "open them up" slightly with a small bladed screwdriver, this will make it easier to push over the board terminals as they are thicker than the originals."

I followed their advice, and all went well, great idea to fit the dual terminals. I found the white shrouds helped with pushing the spades back on.

 

[Avon]

"To remove the terminals from their housing, you can push them from the open end with a small screwdriver, they come out fairly easy.

Thanks but I don't understand what that means. Does it mean pry the shroud up from the bottom end with a screw driver, so it slides back along the cable?

Do the shrouds fit between the two prongs of the male connector?

 

[robdeszan]

I wonder if installed different shrouds and some are more difficult to remove than the others. I can certainly feel some movement and then a point of resistance which probably means there is a metal tab securing the terminal and they will not come out by pushing the metal connector back as in this type:

https://flic.kr/p/2psmoBc

Or moving to the front as the open end of the plastic shroud has a little plastic lip preventing the metal connector from sliding too far out. They were designed to be secure that way.

It is a real shame as if it wasn't for the whole connector faff this would be in fact an easy swap. If you do not have direct access to the metal connector it cannot be easily bent back into shape to fit the original tab otherwise. Any modification of the original wiring, including forcing the plastic shrouds out, means you end up with something which is not easily reversible.

 

[Jipper]

Thanks but I don't understand what that means. Does it mean pry the shroud up from the bottom end with a screw driver, so it slides back along the cable?

Do the shrouds fit between the two prongs of the male connector?

I can't remember exactly, I think you could push the shroud up the cable, Avondale said the terminals would be a tight fit, so I did as suggested and prised them open a bit. It was very easy to use the original terminals, with the shrouds in place, it was just a matter of pulling the terminals and shrouds off, swapping the boards, and pushing the terminals plus shrouds back on. The shrouds fitted fine.

 

[Avon]

All I can say is that, the first connector (with shroud in place) I tried to pull off, snapped off the pin from the Naim board. I therefore removed the shrouds with wire cutters and they were then much easier to remove. That was four years ago now though.

There certainly wasn’t a locking tab as in the picture above. Perhaps Avondale meant “push a small screwdriver into the top of the shroud to release it”. Who knows? I agree this makes the process far less trivial than, as was stated, “changing an electric plug”.

 

[rexel]

Confirmation from Himself:

No need to remove the shroud - simply insert a flat bladed screwdriver into the connector as far as it will go to expand the opening. It then pushes on tightly - no problem.