Am I giving away too many of my secret tweaks;)? You guys seem to having a great time with each component I recommend :guitar:.
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Am I giving away too many of my secret tweaks;)? You guys seem to having a great time with each component I recommend :guitar:.
It would be rude not to try them after your generosity in passing them on, Stan! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
Well...when they are good they are good!Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
The question I suppose is how GOOD are these Poly film caps in comparison to the likes of the AudiCap/ClarityCap etc...
One thing for sure, you can tell that film caps are better then 'lytics.
Told ya! :)
It's OK Stan, we won't tell anyone!Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
I really SHOULD start listening to you Ali... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali Tait
Well it's not me,I've just learned some stuff from other folk that know a lot more than I do!
every days a schoolday!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali Tait
one of these days i MIGHT even feel up to buying a soldering iron.... :)
Don't bother matey, I did - it's still in the packaging! :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
C'mon guys,give them a go! Good way to start is making some i/c's.Buy some cheap wire and plugs from fleabay. There's a lot of good stuff there for not a lot of dosh.
Saying that, some might be waiting for the Gator instead. It's a pity these caps are so big. You would need 4 of them in the Gator for the line out stage, which would be a real Houdini trick if you want to close the case afterwards...
Yes, I will be in a quandary when the Gator boards are released... will have to see how the 2 compare and then decide or else build a bigger case... I wonder if Carson (I think it was) is getting anywhere with his...?
Lots of cases on ebay Alex, you'd just need to drill the front plate to suit.
Or get a chassis built to order from modushop. Their stuff looks very good. They will be making the chassis for my direct coupled amps Nick is building for me.
I started on a drawing for a front panel that could fit in a bigger case, but after switching to a new laptop I haven't taken the time to install the relevant software to complete the job. I better get back on the case ( no pun intended. Honest...).
Anyone know where I can get those blue finned mains transformers that are often found in other DACs?
This what you're looking for Stan?
http://www.nuvotem.com/en/products/std_pcb2x115v.shtml
Cheers Ali. That's the one. I want to take the size of the PSU section into account in case anyone on AoS comes up with a design for a linear PSU that can fit inside the project case.
I'll concentrate on the front panel. We now need possible sources and suggestions for the main case.
any thoughts Stan on the "Gator" board as compared to Passive Mod?
(For us non headphone users that is...)
Mega happy with improvements with the Passive Mod "raw" signal coming from the Dac chip here.
No wish to change except for Red Sea parting/Veils lifted kinda thing ;):)
The passive mod is sufficient for those who are happy with the 1Vrms or so unbuffered output and don't need the headphone out. So you can quite happily continue with your passive mod. I only have enough Rubycon caps to make 200 Gators anyhow. So anyone who is happy with their passive mod should allow those who need the Gator to have a first pick of the cherries :).
Never been fond of cherries but ready to pick never the less...
Good thing that I never got around to modifying anything else than the voltage regs.
Happy to take a back seat on this one. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
Film Caps rock!
Thanks Stan - Been curious about this thread for weeks now wondering what to go for. I might go for one of the expensive caps later (Clarity / Auricaps) but in the meantime found this one by the same seller. As it's from the same company that's in my Heybrook crossovers I thought it worth a punt.Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
Got some caps for the passive mod yesterday at the Tonbridge Audiojumble.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2.../Ampohm001.jpg
Bit of a squeeze at nearly 4" and 1 3/4"!
Sound quite special though.
I want to see a photo with those installed!
So do Puffin :lol:
:eek:. The first name that springs to mind for that job is Frankenmod.
I am going to make a gallery page on my site.
Look like cans of Special Brew....
methinks a recase project is in the works... ;)
Haha. Frankenmod:lol::lol::lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
You can see the Elma Slimic's that I replaced on the left. look like Ants in comparison.
Gazjam. You could well be right. These caps are very very good.
If you like those,you'll love Audio Note copper in oils.
What about the Beresford Beast!Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
Regards
Chris
Just running the 2.2uf Auricaps in using the HD+ as a source, these caps seem pretty nice so far in the Caiman.
A simple yet extremely good idea with the separate audioboard Stan , it makes trying things like passive mod and alternative active audioboards much more convenient :)
Wow we those are big, at last some picturesQuote:
Originally Posted by Puffin
we want more pictures please
Gaz,
Having tried ClarityCaps 1.6uf and these yellow beauties ......
The ClarityCaps sound very slightly clearer in the upper ranges but, the yellow caps have it in the bass stakes. They are my favourites overall.
I wondered whether you had any luck squeezing them inside the case? I am going to extend the wires and try and place one next to the USB input, but i'm not sure where the other one will go?
Ade
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
Ade, what's the input impedance of your preamp? Just wondering whether that's a factor re the bass.Quote:
Originally Posted by apmusson
Put a 100nF cap across the 10uF yellow cap.Quote:
Originally Posted by apmusson
could you translate that one for us non soldering types? :)Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
Hi Gary,
It means solder an 0.1uF cap in parallel to your coupling cap.0.1uF =100nF.
Thanks Ali!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali Tait
learning slowly...::scratch:
It's a bypass cap that should give you a better frequency response.
I really doubt it'll make any difference at all as the 10uf cap (if it's a film type) will already have a very low esr right the way up to hundreds of KHz. If it was an electrolytic then it might well be worth a punt :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali Tait
Best to try it and see.
If you say so :eyebrows:
I do!
:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali Tait
I tell you what could well be worthwhile Ali. I know there are some very expensive capacitors that you guys are going on about. Now if someone couldn't afford to fit one of these large (say 2.2uf or bigger) expensive caps then it may very likely be worthwhile bypassing an MKT with something like a 100nf (which should be vastly cheaper) of the super expensive variety ;)
That way you'll get the best of both worlds with strong bass & the upper registers taking on more of the expensive caps characteristics :)
I suggest silver mica for the 100nF, RS do them, also hificollective.
Yes agreed,it's often done so a cheaper 'lytic can be used but you still get film cap performance.Some folk say it still improves a film cap though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reid Malenfant
No doubt it'll improve if used as a bypass for an electrolytic, but what i'm saying is that if you can only afford to buy a 10uf MKT & not some Teflon wonder cap it'd definately be worth bypassing the MKT with something smaller than you'd normally use (such as a 100nf) but of vastly superior quality (as these will be much more affordable).Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali Tait
Silvered Mica (as Clive suggested) or Polystyrene spring to mind ;) Or Teflon if you can find them.
I have no doubt it would improve things, what i was trying to say earlier is there is very little point in bypassing say a 10uf MKT with a 100nf MKT ;)
I am going to get my ears cleaned out tomorrow:eek: so if you can all wait I will add some to my "super expensive:stalks:" caps NOT (£20something each) down to a £Fiver at the 'Jumble:ner:
I will let you know. I have some old 0.1 KimberKaps to try.
Be interesting what the outcome will be.I have some tantalums somewhere,must look them out and give it a try.
If I had accepted other people's theory, I would never have tried some of the mods that have resulted in some great results.