Mod your Beresford TC-7510

[makruiten]

Which other caps are in the audio signal path besides the four I just replaced? (Ok, I admit, I'm already thinking of modding it further).

[pcourtney]

my original PSU on the 7510 DAC has stopped working, but reading through 28 pages about this venerable DAC I see that many users have seen an improvement using a Linear 12v supply, would I be right in assuming the current needed (or preferred ) is about 1a ??

is Maplin still the only source for quality 12v Linear in the UK ?

[StanleyB]

You need at least 500mA.
You can use the Maplin CB radio one, but the Chinese 12 V ones with a display are only a bit more expensive than the simple Maplin unit.

[pcourtney]

evening Stan, may I say that is pretty amazing customer service, thank you - will get one tomorrow

by the way, my AKG K-340 headphones from the early eighties sound magnificent using the 7510 :-)

http://www.headfonia.com/akg-k340-bass-heavy-version/

playing mainly wav files on four ipods that I have collected over the years !

[electronlibre]

Hello!!


I recently decided to buy the Caiman Seg, but meanwhile I saw a TC-7510 selling for such a nice price that it was impossible not to buy it.
I did it just for fun, after all it is a very old dac. I like to tweak and I want a decent converter to my TV box. I said to myself.
The surprise was when I made a few mods and hear it with a modest old Arcam player and my best Gaincard clone.
I have other very DIY sophisticated dacs, like the Soekris, powered with supercaps, and folowed by the K buffer, so I have a good idea about what a good dac is.
I will post some pictures here, and hopefully, someone will answer to my outdated questions.

[electronlibre]

I almost finished my mods:


- External 12V Battery with Nover 3300uF capacitor in parallel, and one styroflex cap (in parallel) This gives power reserve among other things. The result is quick attack and smooth treble. Fast fast fast. Later I'll try supercaps instead. It should be even better.

- All caps are Audio Note Kaisei, some are standard, because kaisei had not the necessary values or they are to big. 4700uF is to big, so I use standard, coupled with smaller Kaiseis... One or two litle caps are not replaced, but they will. Some caps don't need to be replaced, but I did, because I am a maniac.

- Those four 47uF lytics in the output were replaced by two 220pF styroflex and two Silver Mica 220pF Charcoft. There is no better for me (until now), in my experience, and for my taste. The remaining styros will be replaced. They are very good, transparent, but the charcoft are better, no harsh at all.

- Mod 21 and Mod 21pt2 are done! Uf!!! I didn't damage the circuit...

The 5volt regulator is a Belleson. This is not necessary, because now the external PSU is batteries. Unnecessary, crippling. I will put back the 7805 reg and keep the Bell for eventual future mods.

One of these days I will take care of the phone output, but it does not matter for me in this moment.

COMMENTS :

I am amazed by the sound of this litle thing. Musical, big, smooth, fast, tonally balanced, spacial. Voices and instruments have a good level of presence and body. Treble is of high quality and bass is deep and "dry". I am surprised with the quality of the analogue output, but I added a second output based on the "K Buffer. It added more "meat" and a litle bit of everything to the sound.

The noise is very low, I can now turn the volume much more to the right. Now I can hear much more louder, without distortion. Better dac, "better amp".

The background is black as a black hole.

As soon as I can, I will post photos of the mods and the the "K Buffer".

I can't wait to hear the Caiman Seg. If it is so much better, I really want to have one!

Stanley, thank you for making such a good dac to allowd me have so much fun, and thank you for answering to a few questions of mine, as well as having all the information in your website, namely, the Mods 21.

[electronlibre]

Hello!

I am finally posting some photos from my mods. Nothing original, I just want to share it. I choosed premium parts, as stated in the second post.
I had to remove the caps of the phones output, because I decided to solder two dip/8soics adapters. I have a few op amps from past mods in my draws. Two of them are Sparkos, but I have others, not so expensive, and may be they work as well as sparkos or better. I'll see it later. I wonder if Linear Tec are compatible. These are maybe the best op amps in the market, for me. I'll try them.

I orderd two 1100pf silver mica Charcrofts to solder in parallel with the original caps of the phono amp. These caps will be underneath the board, they are very small, soldered to the silver mica legs. I have to order two extra caps, those with 10uF, in the output, to solder underneath the board too, so I'll have space for the op amps. Some are big. I will also change the 220uF lytic caps of the amp, putting them in a better position. I'll order some new ones, (I need bigger bigger legs), so I can solder them in a way that they will be far from the op amps. Just simple mechanicals.

You can see a photo of a 220pf styroflex, the same that I'm using in the output stage. They give lots of detail, but they will be replaced by two more silver micas, because I feel that styros can give some subtle harsh sound. I am getting a sound that is very very detailed, but not cold at all. Every litle detail of the system must be taken with lots of care. This dac is followed by two gainclones with nacked foils resistors in the signal. The psu caps of this amps make a big difference in the sound. Mundorfs are so far the best, or Silmics. I am using Mundorfs. Silmics need a good burn in. They are not harsh at all, as many people say, they just need burn in. Even so, I will also try some Kaisei here, (two 4700uF/25V). I want to know, once for all, if the kaisei are really better than mundorfs or silmics.


Now I can hear Chet Baker trumpet very loud, but sweet, that's a very direct sound, but smooth. You can also see a photo of a silver mica cap.
In the psu I have one AN standard 4700uF cap. It will be replaced by a 4700 kaisei. It is big but it will be possible to install it. I will post more photos when all the mods will be finished. These mods have been very rewarding. I am crazy spending all this money, I am not rich, but...it gives me a lot of pleasure! This project costs more than a Caiman Seg, (that will be ordered soon), it is not reasonable, but who cares???
I tryed several caps after the 12V battery. One Gold Tune 2200uF works very well, two 1000uF silmics even better.
Of course, it will be replaced by the Dorado. It will be interesting to hear the difference between the Dorado and the battery with caps.

https://www.casimages.com/i/19030312...43695.jpg.html
https://www.casimages.com/i/19030312...43696.jpg.html
https://www.casimages.com/i/19030312...43698.jpg.html
https://www.casimages.com/i/19030312...43699.jpg.html
https://www.casimages.com/i/19030312...43700.jpg.html
https://www.casimages.com/i/19030312...43701.jpg.html
https://www.casimages.com/i/19030312...43702.jpg.html
https://www.casimages.com/i/19030312...43703.jpg.html
https://www.casimages.com/i/19030312...43705.jpg.html

[electronlibre]

Can you please share your opinions? Don't hesitate, if you disagree with these mods, may be I can learn a litle bit more with you.
I know that some caps are not important for the sound, what a waste of money, may be not, I am not sure, that's why I decided to change them all.
May be you have a good suggestion for the op amps and for a nice pair of not very expensive headphones.
What about some RE400 from Hifiman?
Thank you for reading!

[electronlibre]

I forgot to mention that the 5Volt Belleson regulator will be replaced by a normal 7805 regulator. I once decided to change the regs, but since I replaced the external psu by a battery and the battery will be replaced by the Dorado, I thing that there is no sense in having those fancy regs, they will not minimize noise.

I would like to know if I can use this dac with the the 15volt of the Dorado. Will it sound better than the 12 volt option? Thank you.

I removed the K buffer of the system. It ois not necessary. The Caiman TC-7510 output alone is enough.

[struth]

Had one of those back in the day; was a good dac. YOUR MODS SHOULD BRING IT UP TO A NEW LEVEL... good job