hi all :)

[sparky68]

hey chaps
another one who arrived here following links looking for info on Mr Beresfords dac's
looks a great site lots of info

I'm Mark
and i have some old Musical Fidelity gear which are my baby's i love to bits. listen to them everyday without fail
MF Preamp8 and x2 MA65's - Arcam cdp alph8 - old i know but still great gear.
hoping to learn enough to update the amps myself :scratch: and invest in a dac
undecided on which 1 yet
MF M1
Beresford Caiman
V-dac
so hard to decide without demo'ing :(

anyway nice to be here

Mark

[The Grand Wazoo]

Good afternoon Mark and welcome to The Art of Sound.
You've obviously discovered that there's plenty of interest to you as an owner of one of Stan's machines & no doubt after a while you'll find that we've got all sorts of other goodies here too.
The best bit is the members!
What music are you currently listening to on your equipment?
Oh, yes & piccies we need piccies - there's a Sparky68 shaped place waiting for you in the Gallery area!

Cheers & welcome, once again.

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi Mark, welcome to AoS from another Mark :eyebrows:

Probably the first thing you'll need to do to update the MF amps is change the PSU capacitors, if they are anything like other older MF gear then they'll likely be pretty bu**ered. For some totally stupid reason they had a tendancy to fit capacitors that were rated under the rail voltage when idling :mental:

Those fitted in my P150s were 63V & at idle the rails are each at 69V :eek:

They also make things run a tad warm (which significantly shortens electrolytic capacitors life) so i think you'd probably get an improvement just by fitting new capacitors ;)

All the best & i hope you enjoy your stay :wave:

[sparky68]

thanks for the greetings fella's

@Chris
my music tastes are very broad
lots of Pink Floyd
waterboys
schiller
chicane
fleet foxes
list goes on really bit of a mixed bag when it comes to music i like it all, not so keen on classical but some i like, the more well known stuff really.
will definatley get some pics up for you no problem :)

@Mark
thanks for the tips for the updates those are the ones ive read about changing, problem is ive never tried it before so will be a new venture for me but cant wait to give it a go, got to find out where and what bits i actually need first tho

quote from another site;


It was time to upgrade the capacitors to something better than the Jamicon electrolytic capacitors Musical Fidelity used in their older amplifiers. I ordered from Percy Audio USA, Blackgate STD electrolytic capacitors for the signal path, and Nichicon Gold Tune capacitors for the power supply. I de-soldered all the jamicon capacitors and replaced them with Blackgate (for signal path) and Nichicon Gold Tune (power supply) capacitors.

if i were you i'd change those 1ufd electros C6, C7 with 1uf/50v polypropylene types, film and foil is best

this is along the lines of the updates id like to try pretty much the same as you mentioned ? OR are these not enough to handle the voltage ?

[DSJR]

Ello and welcome from me..

I haven't a clue if the upgrade may still be available somewhere, or how much it would cost on ten year old boards, but the "SE" upgrade to the Alpha 8 was always worthwhile - an easy sell-up when buying the player new. Of course, I have no idea how different a standard Caiman would be, but bearing in mind the imminent Gator output board (the last thing to look at now DAC chips are so similar - with one possiblke exception), the Caiman might just be a good deal.

[Alex_UK]

Hello Sparky Mark, watt brings you here - ah, I see, you wish to be illuminated on all things Beresford. Well don't worry, we'll socket too you, now you are switched on to us. Resistance is futile, we all sit at ohm waiting to help.

I'm going to stop now... mainly because I've run out of electrifying gags, and I wouldn't want to shock you too much on your first day! ;)

We do have some members in Southampton, but off the top of my head I can't recall if any have a Caiman you could listen too - presume the others should be reasonably easy to get a demo of?

I've always lusted after MF gear, though never owned any - I'm a Beresford owner (and Caiman lover) but I must admit I would like to try the M1 (the DAC, not the motorway, obviously, been there, done that...)

Good shout on the Chicane, especially - love the new album - have you got it yet? If not - do!

Welcome to the forum, and please don't let me scare you off, the rest of them aren't nearly as wired as I am!

[sparky68]

ok bitten the bullet and bought the caiman + (dont need usb)
took a lot of persuading of the Guvn'r tho :lol:
i so hope it does the arcam justice or im going to be gutted.

Alex yes mate got the new album (chicane) very nice, dont know if you have tried schiller but his Lebenalbum is very good.
'far from the maddening crowds' is still my favourite album tho.

Mark

[goraman]

Cheers,Mark!

[Techno Commander]

Hello Mark. :)