Caiman passive output mod revealed

[u070125]

Hi

You might want to try the following that have reviewed various capacitors


http://http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

http://www.ecp.cc/cap-notes.html

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=54218.0

[Marco]

Hi 'u070125',

Welcome to AOS

Could you please pop into the Welcome area and introduce yourself to our community by supplying your first name, basic geographic location, system details and music tastes, as this is the requirement for all new members joining AOS.

Cheers!

Marco.

[Gazjam]

Hi

You might want to try the following that have reviewed various capacitors


http://http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

http://www.ecp.cc/cap-notes.html

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=54218.0

Great links!
the first one doesnt work though?

[u070125]

Hi
Ive updated the first link. I hope it works ok

http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

[Gazjam]

Hi
Ive updated the first link. I hope it works ok

http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

Wha-hey!
Great first post by the way

[RoboCopper]

These are subtle differences, guys, not night and day!

The ClarityCap ESA sounded very clean with transparent midrange, extended highs and a non-harsh overall sound but slightly light in the bass. Note that I was using 1uF 600V but into a 47k load so plenty of bass extension. They were better than the Rubycons but not by so much that the Rubycons are embarrassed.

The AuriCaps better the ClarityCaps by a small amount of midrange transparency and liquidity (female voice is truly beautiful), very wide soundstage and a very tight but extended and slightly weightier bass. Note that mine are 2.2uF 200V but I don't think the value differences account for the difference in quality of the bass.

Does that help? I say again, SUBTLE differences. All of these caps are good!

Martin,
Thanks for this, but the little one in me can not resist but to ask you if you have compared your Ayre C-5xe MP universal player with Caiman in passive mode with Auricaps?
I remember that Ayre was better against Clarity caps, but is the difference smaller now?
Thanks

[squeezethatbuffalo]

Hi

You might want to try the following that have reviewed various capacitors


http://http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

http://www.ecp.cc/cap-notes.html

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=54218.0

Another good read:
http://www.laventure.net/tourist/caps.htm#A

[RoboCopper]

All excellent links, but I prefer this last one as the photo from the top (burning in) page, reminds me of burning/testing of passive mod of Beresford

[MartinT]

Thanks for this, but the little one in me can not resist but to ask you if you have compared your Ayre C-5xe MP universal player with Caiman in passive mode with Auricaps?
I remember that Ayre was better against Clarity caps, but is the difference smaller now?

The difference is still there, but ever diminishing! The Caiman+AuriCaps is doing an extremely fine job and, if I were looking for a CD solution now, it would be a definite purchase with a decent transport (say, a CEC or Teac). Do bear in mind, though, that my Caiman is extensively modified with Elna Silmic II caps and a SuperTeddy power supply, so add this into the cost. Nevertheless, it creates a killer CD player for very much less than a thousand Pounds.

The Ayre C-5xe MP is a bit special; where it gains is in the sheer structural solidity of the soundstage and the extremely extended bass, not to mention shades of fine detail and resolution of harmonics (I love choral music and this is important as the CD format is not good for massed choral vocals). It's also very non-harsh and this is where the MP upgrade made gains. Without MP, the Caiman+AuriCaps would be pretty much its equal. However, the Ayre is not inexpensive and so you pay a lot of money for a small gain, as ever in hi-fi.

I cannot praise the Caiman highly enough; it represents STUNNING value for money as well as having been a very pleasant upgrading project.

[lemon]

(Sorry for my english…it is not my native language)
I was very curious to see any frequency response differences (passive mode) with resistance load vs capacitors values to my lab.

Three preamp input resistance: 10K, 20K, 47K
vs
Three Capacitor Values: 2.2/10/47uF

Equipment: Caiman, emu 0404 usb 2.0 sound card
Software: RightMarkAudio Analyser Pro.
Bit/Resolution of Measures: 24bit/96KHz.

Comparative Table with Capacitor of 10uF


Frequency Response with Capacitor of 10uF



Comparative Table with Capacitor of 47uF


Frequency Response with with Capacitor of 47uF


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