Caiman passive output mod revealed

[OLED]

Is that your final statement Martin?

[MartinT]

[RoboCopper]

I did the mod from the post 1 of this thread.

After messing up 7520 with my bad soldering skills and killing it, I got lucky as my friend (experienced DIY electrician) found what the problem was with the 7520 board. He solder it back. (picture 1, circled).
Not just that, he also replaced and upgraded the DAC chip from Burr Brown PCM1716 DAC chip to a Wolfson WM8716 (he needed only 7 minutes for that job, pic 2)!!!
Thanks to all who helped with advices.

Now I am in a hunt for perfect capacitor as I can do the passive mod the easy way as suggested in post 117 (thanks AndrewR)http://theartofsound.net/forum/showp...&postcount=117.

[Gazjam]

hey Roberto,

I've tried quite a few different capacitors for the passive mod, all rated at 47uF but with differing voltages;

Nicheon Muse FG 10v
Nicheon Muse ES 6.3v
Elna Skimic II 10v
Nicheon Muse KZ 25v
Nicheon Muse KZ 50v

I gave each one a couple of weeks "burn in" where I noticed that the sound changed over time till it finally settled down.

Best one for me was the Nicheon Muse KZ 50v, great all rounder but the kicker for me was it made music sound "alive", with it the music just seems to make a direct connection to your ears...and the good hifi stuff didnt matter.

Only thing with the KZ is that the metal legs are slightly thicker than the other caps, and have to be filed back a bit to fit in the socket holes on the Dac pcb.
5 minute job not a problem, and NO soldering involved!

A few of the other guys have tried different caps too, but its system dependant I suppose, so its worth trying different ones to see what suits you and your system.

I'm looking at Film capacitors, apparently a big step up from electrolytic ones.
The ClarityCaps ESA range is what Im looking at.

Maybe thats the "ultimate" capacitor for the passive mod?

[RoboCopper]

Thanks for the suggestions Gazjam,
As I decided to read all this LOOOONG but important thread I am also coming to conclusion that Clarity ESA Caps are the most mentioned as most suitable for this mod. It seems that voltage and uF value is of importance too in relation to SQ and different systems? Too many choices

[Gazjam]

Thanks for the suggestions Gazjam,
As I decided to read all this LOOOONG but important thread I am also coming to conclusion that Clarity ESA Caps are the most mentioned as most suitable for this mod. It seems that voltage and uF value is of importance too in relation to SQ and different systems? Too many choices

Aye..too many choices,
BUT..with the Clarity Caps your limited by the physical SIZE of the things, unless you want the caps to sit outside your dac.
You dont.

The 1.6Uf ones fit in the case quite well, but need some hookup wire soldered on to the metal legs for them to fit into the Dac properly.

Check back, theres a couple of photos posted in this thread showing what needs to be done.


Gaz.

[MartinT]

See my photo here, Roberto, even the 1uF ClarityCaps are big!

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showp...&postcount=654

[Ali Tait]

There are better caps than the Clarity Caps IMO,but they will cost significantly more.I am using some SCR teflons,as I had them spare,but these cost more than the dac.The CC's are very hard to beat for the money I think.

[Gazjam]

See my photo here, Roberto, even the 1uF ClarityCaps are big!

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showp...&postcount=654

looking good Martin!

Are the 1.6's MUCH bigger than these?
As long as they fit inside the case!


thanks.

[OLED]

looking good!
Are the 1.6's MUCH bigger than these?
As long as they fit inside the case!


thanks.

No, if anything they are very slightly smaller in diameter, they fit nicely (see the photo a couple of pages back in the thread)

Cheers Andy