Caiman passive output mod revealed

[chrism]

Hi Sonny,

The solution does not need any soldering just board pulling (cutting or melting the glue). The new caps should just push into the slots but larger caps with thick legs may need a bit of filing down. I used the grey Rubycon caps and they fitted in easily. You will lose the headphone capability but not the variable output. I still use mine as a preamp as well.

Regards

Chris

[OLED]

Sonni,

If you mean that you want to replace all the capacitors with Elnas' etc, the hard part is desoldering the originals. If you just want to go passive output, as Chris says, that's much easier.

Good luck, Andy

[sum1]

Yeah i just wanted to try the passive output mod so i guess it should be pretty easy.

Just wondering what to look for when shopping for the capacitor.

If i know the compatible specs for it then i might even try asking some shops around to see if they have some exotic caps like claritycaps and such.
I'm trying to see if i can get some from the local farnell shop instead of importing from Tirna but i am perplexed by the options. Will all of these work??? I cant seem to find one that look like the one from Tirna


http://au.farnell.com/jsp/search/bro...lues%3D1000095

[Ali Tait]

If you are planning to use film caps,be aware that you will struggle to find any at 47uF that will fit in the case.However,if you know the input impedance of your amp/preamp,a smaller value can be used,allowing them to fit.They do sound better than electrolytics IMO.

[OLED]

Sonni,

If your (pre) amp has an input impedance of 50k ohm (standardish), then Clarity Caps at 1, 1.5 or 1.6 uF are fine. The 1.6uF fit in the case nicely as well. You can get them mail order if you can not find a local supplier. Other links on this thread will direct you to a calculator to get a good idea of what you might need if your amp has a vastly different input impedance.

Cheers Andy

[OLED]

First impressions of the ClarityCaps are good: highly transparent, extended treble, good soundstage. I'm hoping that the bass will extend out as it is a little light at the moment compared with the Rubycons.

Hi Martin,

Hows the bass? Mine has grown a lot but in a nice controlled fashion. The 'native' drums on Belakis Queen of Sheeba really sound spot on now, you can almost picture a bit of skin being hit by something!

Cheers Andy

[Ali Tait]

Clarity Caps can be bought from Hi-Fi Collective.

[Clive]

Take a look at the calculators on this page: http://www.v-cap.com/coupling-capacitor-calculator.php

If you take a couple of minutes to read the text and understand the 2 calculators you'll see why the values can vary depending for your situation. There is no "right" value as such, just a range as Martin said.

For me with 100k input impedance 0.8uF is recommended (I have 1uF in there). For a 10k input impedance you need more like 8uF.

Running the more typical amp input impedances through the calculator gives:

for 10k use 8uF
for 20k use 4uF
for 50k use 1.6uF
for 100k use 0.8uF

Simply use the value that corresponds to you amp's input impedance, where the capacitor is not available in the correct value then increase the value, eg 1uF in for 0.8uF.

Large values such as 47uF are used to ensure compatibility with any amp but such values are way over the top.

What's really scary is how much sonic damage a well executed opamp does vs a capacitor.....and capacitors are not exactly straightwire perfect in the first place!

[Ali Tait]

Though I am using 0.47uF into 100k and it sounds fine.

[Clive]

Though I am using 0.47uF into 100k and it sounds fine.

Ali, I know you're aware this fairly approximate stuff anyway.

Your 0.47uF seems to give a -3db frequency of 7Hz with possible ringing occurring up to 70Hz. It may be the ringing only goes up to say 30Hz, which for most people would be totally acceptable. The values are really just a best guess starting point. Experimenting with capacitors you already have that aren't miles out in value is a good way to go.

Cheers,

Clive