Soldano kits

[GilmourD]

Hello all! Intarwebnetz oldtimer, new to the forum!

Five years ago, I built a 50 watt SLO kit from C3 Amps with excellent results. C3 Amps is located in Texas, and the owner is Rob Reeder. It’s a one man operation and you can expect up to a week before you get a reply from Rob. IMO, it’s the best SLO kit out there, especially if authenticity is desirable.

http://www.c3amps.com/index.html

Mine…:
IMG_2498.jpeg

That's good to know that Rob's not too quick to respond. I purchased a C3 chassis on eBay the other day and sent him a message regarding dimensions of the chassis but he's neither responded to it nor shipped the chassis (although the estimated arrival date is a bit away considering I'm in New Jersey, so that's cool).

I'm not sure if it is still around or active but there used to be a "SloClone" forum.

http://www.slocloneforums.com/index.php

I've been poking around over there since I'm also in the process of researching parts for a SLO50 build and... Lots of builds but it seems like all the SLO50 builders didn't exactly drop the details. The forum isn't very active these days, so having started a thread over there, it's not getting many eyes on it.

So, the dilemma I've come up against is that there's lots of options that ship from outside the US, but being in the US... I have no idea how much getting it shipped here will actually cost. Rosamp.com has a set of transformers for the SLO50, but will I get hit with import fees in 2026? I ended up having to pay DHL $20 in fees for $5 of PCBs from PCBWay last week, so... Yeah. And it doesn't help that I'm not sure if what C3 has listed as in stock is really in stock since he doesn't seem to be really that active anymore.

The big question mark is the output transformer. Hammond has stuff that would do the job for the PT and choke, but I'm not 100% sure about the OT. The SLO50 is spec'd for a wider bandwidth OT that's overkill for 50W so it doesn't saturate and keeps the power section clean along with a 4.4K primary.

Ironically the the Mercury Magnetics OT for the Jet City JCA50H is the same spec, but RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I might have a line on an original JCA50H OT, but in case that falls through: What would you guys be looking at in my situation?

[M Fowler]

I'm using Heyboer transformers their
SLO 100W Set.

PT HTS-9741
OT HTS-9740
Choke HTS-9742

Mark

[solderhead]

Regarding those PCBs that people are selling -- how do they do the switching? Are they still selling the old PCB designs that use Vactrols, or have they updated the boards to use parts that are commonly available?

I corresponded with a couple of of board makers about this a couple of years ago. They were eager to sell me boards that were designed to use Vactrols, which are pretty much impossible to find. I had to pass. One of the board sellers understood my reluctance to purchase an out of date board design, but he said he could have a new relay-type board out in a month or so... but it never materialized and I lost interest.

I might get interested in an SLO project again if some of the suppliers have updated their boards.

[mhuss]

Xvive is making Vactrols currently:
https://stompboxparts.com/ldrs-optocoup ... tocoupler/

[solderhead]

Interesting. Thank you Mark for the heads-up.

Do you have any experience with them?