Caiman passive output mod revealed

[MartinT]

I'm in a quandary about the Wolfson though, is it any smoother than the 7520 DAC? More detailed yes, but if it's not smoother I might not be happy.

Will the cap upgrades reduce harshness? I must add, the DAC is not especially harsh, indeed it's harsh of me to compare it to a £5k vinyl front end.

The Wolfson DAC is both detailed and smooth and the Elna Silmic II caps to replace the tants improve the bloom and midrange transparency. Better regs (in my case Dexa) also help. In no way is the Caiman harsh, just very detailed and dynamic.

[Clive]

The Wolfson DAC is both detailed and smooth and the Elna Silmic II caps to replace the tants improve the bloom and midrange transparency. Better regs (in my case Dexa) also help. In no way is the Caiman harsh, just very detailed and dynamic.

OK, you've sold me. I'll decide on whether to use my Bursons or Murata, the Bursons are a little large, the one near the phonos would be tight.

[amdismal]

I've just got some caps (and a solder station, since my iron broke) for this, and was about to crack on. However it is a long thread, and while I think I've read it all, can anyone confirm:
- Is the summary on the first page by Stan still up to date?
- Do I need to reverse the channels from his photo?

Cheers

[Ali Tait]

Having done the mod and been pleased with the results on my 7510,today I wired up a regulated linear power supply,similar to this.I managed to liberate a few from work,and I've got one feeding the Touch also-

http://uk.farnell.com/tdk-lambda/sws...-nw/dp/1817240


I've not modded the dac before apart from part of mod21,fitting some BG caps,and of course the passive mod,but fitting the linear supply has really made a difference.In fact the Beresford is now approaching the AN dac,though that is still better.Gary has been kind enough to agree to come over with his modded Caiman to compare tomorrow,so we'll see how that goes.It'll be interesting to see if this linear supply makes a difference to it,fitted as it is with the Murata regs.

[Clive]

With a linear reg supply of 15V, especially if this is a Teddyreg, Burson, Dexa, MuRata etc, shouldn't we be removing the 10,000uF cap in the DAC and replacing with a 10uF film type?

[AndrewR]

I've just got some caps (and a solder station, since my iron broke) for this, and was about to crack on. However it is a long thread, and while I think I've read it all, can anyone confirm:
- Is the summary on the first page by Stan still up to date?
- Do I need to reverse the channels from his photo?

Cheers

If you are running a 7520 or Caiman, you may prefer the approach described in the following links:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showp...&postcount=117

and

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showp...&postcount=381

By the way, still loving the Rubycon NA's - great weight and body while sounding even more tuneful and more open than before (starting to approach the Black Gates in that respect).

Andrew

[Butuz]

Oo Oo Oo I am liking this mod. Only got a few cheapy polarised caps my dad had hanging around but so far so good!!!

Leaving on tonight to burn in methinks.

Butuz

[Frizzup]

Well maybe one mod too many.

Caiman just gone really faint after changing capacitors for this passive mod. Was using Rubycon non-polar CA's the grey ones, the same as I used on the op amp board mod 7 months ago. I used the version of the mod that pushed the caps into the PIN3B sockets. It was working great, loved the improvement. But you know how the life of a modder goes, someone suggest some slif=ght change and you know you have to try it.

I saw a post 2 or 3 days ago that showed a picture of laying one capacitor to the right and one to the left. Supposedly gave better channel seperation. Well changed one over to try that and now the music is really really faint. So tried putting the op amp board back in, but still really really faint.

Obviously somethings wrong. Checked both PCB's top and bottom looking for signs of burning, broken traces, loose components, cannot find a thing wrong.

Any suggestions guys how to start diagnosing the problem ?

Help !!!!
Frizzup

[AndrewR]

Hmmmm... Have you plugged the DAC in via its variable output and with its volume knob turned down?

The other culprit could be PIN3B socket as it is a bit delicate, although you have checked the board. Might you have wobbled it when changing caps and loosened its soldering joints underneath? If it is not faint over the headphone output (via the op amp board), then that could also indicate you've cracked one or more solder joints under PIN3B.

The only other thought is static, or if you made the change when the unit was powered up.

Andrew

[StanleyB]

I would check that you have plugged your amp into the fixed output of the DAC, just in case it is the volume control.
But my biggest fear is that you might have swapped the caps round whilst the DAC was still connected to the mains supply. The WM8716 might have been knocked out. It's a 15 minutes job to change the WM8716, if you have steady hands like a surgeon, nerves of steel, and eagle sharp eyes.