Caiman passive output mod revealed

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Originally Posted by OLED

This can be perfectly matched to Clarity caps ESA which offer 1.6 uF, and they fit inside the Caiman box! I'll post a picture when I have time. You can get them from Hi-Fi Collective. And they do sound much better than electrolytics!

Cheers

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My Cambridge 640a amp is 47k Ohms impedance...pretty close to 50?
Would the 1.6uF Calrity ESA be ideal for me too?

Also,
I notice from the Claritycap Specs, the termination wire is 1mm diameter.
I noticed a problem fitting some 'lytic caps that the wire was too thick to slot into the holes in the opamp board socket on the Caiman board, and I had to file them back a bit to get them to fit.
With the ESA film caps, would this be a problem?
Or Would it be better (in sound quality/practicality terms) to solder some thinner hookup wire into the Clarity cap Termination wire and feed the thinner wire into the small opamp board socket holes?

Or would it not matter - just file them thinner so they fit?


thanks, ready to pull the trigger in this one if the film caps are better than 'lytics. :)

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Originally Posted by Canetoad

Just ordered 2 to try.:)

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What have you got in there at the moment Bernie?
I'm using Nicheon Muse ES (the green ones..)

Just a pair of 47uF Rubycons from Tirna. Haven't had them in for long but they sound OK. Thought I might as well try some nice film caps to see if the sound improves.:)

They do sound better IMO.I have some SCR Teflon in my 7510 at the moment.Very good indeed,though they cost more than the dac!

Gary,I'd say the same value should be ok,and yes,just file the leads.

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Originally Posted by Ali Tait

They do sound better IMO.I have some SCR Teflon in my 7510 at the moment.Very good indeed,though they cost more than the dac!

Gary,I'd say the same value should be ok,and yes,just file the leads.

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Thanks Ali, top man as usual!
Sounds like a go-er then (like my ex...but thats ANOTHER story...):)

Oh Ali, I just realised that my Caiman is a fair bit different to how it was when we had that "Dac off" with your 7510..

Its now had the passive mod done and had a linear supply fitted. Both these things have made good improvements over what you heard before..

even without that foo mains lead I had!

I'd be thinking about the Caiman again....:eyebrows:
Next up, after trying film caps, is upgrading components in my linear PSU.
Its the Maplin CB radio one tweaked to 15v HERE: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...=linear+caiman

any pointers to what I should be looking for?

Cool,maybe I could come over sometime.I could bring the AN dac and my linear supply for the Standac to compare.I could bring the MLTL's too if you like? Oh,and the Pre 2 if you like?

Sorry to all for not replying sooner, just not enough hours in each day at the moment....

Here's a photo of the Caiman with it's ESA's etc. Cheers.

Looks good :) Well done.
What are the values of the caps?
Can you describe the sound?

Thank you RobboCopper. The Coupling caps are 1.6 uF (Clarity Cap ESA). The power input cap is an Mundorf MKP 10uF. In terms of sound, all most all harshness has gone from the high frequency (compared to electrolytics, previously I used black gates). The sound is just bigger, much more natural such that you can start to forget about the electronics and listen to the music (better mid range I think). They take a good half hour of actual playing to really come to life, I leave something playing in the background for a while before really listening. They have been in for two weeks and more and more I am getting 'spookey' 3D on certain tracks, that's when it gets really good. One slight draw back, my system now really shows up poor recordings or rather bad production.

Cheers Andy

Seems a good description of what a decent film cap does.I can relate to that.