Caiman passive output mod revealed

[Usernametaken]

Awesome, thank you

[Usernametaken]

I'm on the list!
Now just to wait for my caps to arrive and be burnt in so I can figure out which ones I like the sound of the best.
I have a number of other hobbies and it's extremely rare to get this level of support for a product, let alone having a manufacturer not just OKing, but actively participating in the modification of their products.
Stan, absolutely brilliant service mate, I am extremely happy that I decided to get myself a Caiman.
Outstanding.

[Usernametaken]

Nichicon caps arrived and I'm now burning them in.
Noticing the same sibilance that had started to fade slightly on the old caps, I suspect burning these in will have the same effect.
Really liking the Nichicons for a first listen. Warmer than the caps I nicked from the opamp board and more defined. Looks like my bass is a bit louder as well.

[MartinT]

Yes, of all the electrolytics I liked the Nichicons best for coupling and Elna Cerafine II best for replacing all the PCB caps.

[Usernametaken]

So my Caiman board arrived less than a week after I ordered it!
Is it OK to replace the four 50v/47uF caps on the "output" half of the board with 10V/10uF Nichicons?
There are also four of the same type around the headphone opamp bit as I don't use the headphone out, I see no reason to replace these.
Incidentally, using the 10uF caps in the passive mod instead of the 47uF removed all popping between tracks and a nasty pop I had from new on system power on.

[HighFidelityGuy]

Do you mean Gator board? If so I don't think there will be a lot of point from a sound quality point of view. I know Stan tried a lot of different cap makes and values on the Gator and settled on the ones that gave the best all round performance.

I'm not sure if 10V caps will be up to the job as well. You'd have to ask Stan or measure how much DC is across them somehow. On the subject of popping, that shouldn't happen if you still have the output muting relays in place. However it could be that your amp is particularly sensitive to very low frequencies. So by using a high cap value in the passive mod you may have been allowing single digit frequencies to reach the amp. Which is usually not a problem. The 10uF caps may have attenuated these enough to remove the problem.

You may find that the Gator board doesn't have this problem. If that's the case then I'd leave the stock caps in place. If you still get the pops then I would just try replacing the pair of caps that are after the output stage. I think the other pair are before this and will probably just be to prevent the output transistors from seeing the slight DC offset on the DAC chip output. The caps around the headphone opamp won't affect the line output.

[Usernametaken]

Sorry, yes. Gator board.

[LittleTone]

Hi Chaps

Anyone interested in these http://sdrv.ms/10aVqQe
A pair of Auricap 2.2uF 200V Capacitors; used for the passive mod in a Beresford 7520 DAC.
£30.00 inc postage

Tony

[Usernametaken]

Am I correct in thinking I have lost a bit of bass since installing the Gator?

[Alex_UK]

How many hours has it been playing for? If it is only new, then quite possibly - IME (and others) around 200 hours and it will be fully burnt in. I didn't believe in burn in until I bought a Caiman and then the Gator (and some caps with the passive mod.)