Caiman passive output mod revealed

[OLED]

Looks very nice indeed Martin. Just found out that Plinius use AuriCaps in their Amplifiers and I am very happy with mine. Looks like an order tomorrow will be required to do the same comparison.

Cheers Andy

[MartinT]

Aren't you going to try the wire link instead of the resistor behind the 5V murata reg then?

Already done! My regs are Dexa, by the way.

[Gazjam]

The AuriCaps won the day. I've now soldered in the 2.2uF 200V AuriCaps in place of the 5-way socket. I did it this way as I wanted to retain the protection of the muting relay. I took care to have the signal input flow into the black leads and output from the red leads, as advised in the Audience application notes.

The PCB holes had to be opened up and I did this with a needle file as I didn't have the correct diameter drill. No worries about through-hole plating as this (front) PCB is single-sided. the caps are held lightly in place with small foam sticky pads to prevent them from vibrating.

The AuriCaps sound fantastic: highly transparent, deep and tight bass, wide soundstage. I am well pleased with my Caiman and use it every day with Sky HD and Blu-ray inputs. I don't intend opening it up again for a long time

Fantastic reference pic. Martin...especially with regards to placing the red and the black wire from the Caps, that one had me wondering.

Looking good.
The wire from the caps, was it stranded as you said? I'd like to try these with the five hole socket at first...and wonder about the guage of the wire.?


Ta.

[Ali Tait]

Doesn't matter which way round they go mate.

[MartinT]

Ali - according to Audience (maker of AuriCaps), it does matter. I followed their guideline of black-in and red-out.

Gaz - the wires are stranded and thick. You will either have to thin them down and poke a few strands in or solder thinner wires to them.

[Ali Tait]

Yes some manufacturers seem to say that.Never heard any difference myself.

[leo]

Sometimes rolled caps have the outer foil connected to one of the leads so running them a certain direction can have a small effect, I think its running the foil end to the lowest voltage potential is usually the preferred way.

I got a couple of Auricaps, not tried them yet in the Caiman
Nice job BTW Martin

[OLED]

Probably a question for Stan or Leo;

If you do not use the USB input on the Caiman, would there be anything to gain (thinking of noise back through the earth side) of removing the USB board? I am guessing not, but no one seems to have asked.

Cheers Andy

[Canetoad]

I'd be interested in knowing how much better the Auricaps sound compared with the ClarityCaps before buying a couple. I'm wondering if it's worth the effort?

[MartinT]

I'd be interested in knowing how much better the Auricaps sound compared with the ClarityCaps before buying a couple. I'm wondering if it's worth the effort?

There's only one way to find out
Seriously, it's no good taking my word for it. The ClarityCaps are excellent, the AuriCaps only just pip them - but that's in my system with my (47k input) preamp. Your findings may be different. The AuriCaps are about £12 each so worth taking a punt if you can stand the outlay.