Caiman passive output mod revealed

[NRG]

I've had a fun time with this, more caps than I can shake a stick at!

Bottom line for me: If you can get away with using a film cap do so 'cause every 'lytic is flawed in some way, they all seem to have an uneven freq response that even a humble metallised polyester cap shows up.

So I'm no longer wasting time with them and have moved on to some old Orange drop polyester caps that have a much better presentation. In the pipe will be some Multicap RTX, AudioLinks and Soniqs film caps.

[leo]

Hmm, those 10uf polyesters I tried wasn't that great sounding tbh, I think they are wound types which may be a problem in this application, the 10uf Arcotronics MKP's was better but music sounded slightly strained , their also huge.

Those orange drops may be interesting Neal, I always remember when Richard was cap rolling in his WAD amp, I'm sure those orange drops proved to be pretty good for coupling, I think their low inductance too

I've got a couple of RTX's but their only 1uf, values higher than that would cost more than the Caiman
I got a pair of Siemans MKV's too, those used to get a lot of hype so will add some leads and try them for the grins

[MartinT]

I tried a couple of Sanyo Os-Con SEPC polymers, the only value I could get are 470uF 6V, but they're tiny! They sound very good indeed with clear and dynamic midrange, no nasties and they only lose slightly to the Rubycons in the bass. I probably didn't run them for long enough and I'm reluctant to leave such high value caps in place for fear of switch-on thumps.

[HighFidelityGuy]

I've noticed something odd today. My left and right channels seem to be swapped around. I'm sure I didn't have this problem before I did the passive mod and I've checked that all my wiring is correct. Could somebody else that's done the passive mod as Stan first suggested (soldering to the via's between the ribbons) please check to see if your channels are the right way round? I've connected the right channel to the via on the right and vice versa as in this pic:



Cheers.

[Ali Tait]

I've had a fun time with this, more caps than I can shake a stick at!

Bottom line for me: If you can get away with using a film cap do so 'cause every 'lytic is flawed in some way, they all seem to have an uneven freq response that even a humble metallised polyester cap shows up.

So I'm no longer wasting time with them and have moved on to some old Orange drop polyester caps that have a much better presentation. In the pipe will be some Multicap RTX, AudioLinks and Soniqs film caps.

What value Sonique are you using Neal?

[Ali Tait]

I've noticed something odd today. My left and right channels seem to be swapped around. I'm sure I didn't have this problem before I did the passive mod and I've checked that all my wiring is correct. Could somebody else that's done the passive mod as Stan first suggested (soldering to the via's between the ribbons) please check to see if your channels are the right way round? I've connected the right channel to the via on the right and vice versa as in this pic:



Cheers.

Dave,have you got an actual pic of yours? I've done mine the same way (it's a 7510 though) and channels seem fine.

[leo]

I think those grey caps L&R need swapping over.

Check the pcb print see if either left or right track is on the top board, follow it around and it should be marked left and right near that grey ribbon cable.
Failing that it'll need checking with a multi meter

[HighFidelityGuy]

Dave,have you got an actual pic of yours? I've done mine the same way (it's a 7510 though) and channels seem fine.

Afraid not, I don't have a camera good enough to do decent macro shots. They come out all fuzzy.

I think those grey caps L&R need swapping over.

Check the pcb print see if either left or right track is on the top board, follow it around and it should be marked left and right near that grey ribbon cable.
Failing that it'll need checking with a multi meter

You've cracked it Leo, the right via is for the left channel and vice versa. Balls! Oh well, when I start cap rolling I'll sort that out. Until then I'll just swap the cables round between Caiman and my preamp. Cheers.

So doing the soldering as per Stan's photos causes the channels get swapped round. Oops. Ah well, everyone makes mistakes.
It serves me right for not double checking though. At least it's easy to fix.

[Ali Tait]

I'll have to do mine too.Funny though,I hadn't noticed.Watching films,sounds panned across in the right way.Maybe the 7510 is different.I'll have to meter it and check.

[MartinT]

I prefer the socket approach as I'd rather keep the muting relay in circuit.