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An update to the mods on my Caiman :eyebrows:
Still needs a little time to burn in though but there are some subtle improvements thus far.
I cannot believe how good my Caiman is now, it sounds absolutely sublime. I'm picking up more and more details and much improved imaging all the time. :)
http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/2755/p1020817m.jpg
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Carson,
Like you I've done the Voltage Regulators and the Rubycon. Interested to know what Elna Silmic II caps/value/voltage you put in which circuit locations. Please list them for us ?
Did you do all the mods in one go or did you burn-in and listen before adding the next mod. What did the Elna upgrades do by comparison the the Regulators/Rubycons
Frizzup
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I have attached an edited version of my last photo, only this time with the values for the replaced capacitors and their locations.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/4...escription.jpg
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/6...escription.jpg
The caps I used are all Elna Silmic II, and are 220uF 25v, 100uF 16v & 10uF 16v.
The swap was pretty simple and straight forward. The only real complications were:
- Ensuring electrolytic replacements for the tantalum capacitors (larger yellow ones around the DAC chip) were the right way around. :eyebrows:
- Ensuring the remaining 3 significantly larger replacement caps fitted nicely into the case and didn't poke out of the top. :doh:
The mods were performed as below, and in the following order:
- Rubycon Caps
- Murata Regs (About 3-4 months after Rubycon caps)
- Elna Silmic II Caps (About 1 1/2 months after Murata Regs)
The Elna caps have now had about 4 hrs of burn in time, though I noticed a different after just 1 hr of burn in.)
As for the improvements...I am not sure if it is me, but the Elna caps have made what I would consider a rather significant improvement in both details and depth of music. :eek:
Even with my rather cheap Goldring DR150 headphones, I am picking up more and more details, recording echo's, minute string details on acoustic guitars, etc.
Honestly.....I think this has been a worthwhile upgrade :)
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Top banana!
I'm getting more and more tempted... Where will the madness end! :lol:
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Oh no! I thought it would be a few months before we were discussing more mods. I won't be able to rest until I get this one done. It all too much......:mental:
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I'm looking up Elna Silmics now...
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Wow, this little mod of mine (can I claim this to be my idea :lol:) has got more of a reaction that I thought.
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The thing is, James, some of us know what the regulator and coupling cap mods achieved and you've just given us the hunger for another step change like that. So thanks :)
Elnas now ordered.
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Hi Martin,
Where did you order them from - quite tricky to find them.
Regards
Chris
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I always get my quality components from Parts Connexion in Canada (including the rather nice Dexa regulators that I'm using in the Caiman):
http://www.partsconnexion.com/