Gator aid. Or how to get the most from your Gator.

[howlindawg]

I've had the Gator mod running in my Caiman for the last three weeks now and have to say I'm impressed. The change is evolution rather than revolution but the Caiman has definitely taken another step up the quality ladder. The slightly grainy sound that I always felt was present in the stock Caiman is gone and the Music is full and smooth without loosing any of the detail.

It's a well worthwhile mod for anyone running a stock Caiman.

[RoboCopper]

Hi,
I have made decision to mod my already good sounding Gator board.
I got suggestion that I should change for Panasonic Puerism caps and I am planning to change 4 of them, but original caps are bipolar, my ordered caps are electrolitic positive and negative ones.
As I do not have much experience in electronics I would ask kindly Stan or someone else how can I swap those bipolar caps to pos/neg ones?
Thanks

[tdog]

Hi,
I have made decision to mod my already good sounding Gator board.
I got suggestion that I should change for Panasonic Puerism caps and I am planning to change 4 of them, but original caps are bipolar, my ordered caps are electrolitic positive and negative ones.
As I do not have much experience in electronics I would ask kindly Stan or someone else how can I swap those bipolar caps to pos/neg ones?
Thanks

Nope, non-polar electrolytics cannot be replaced by polar in small signal circuits typically without creating distortion and changing the circuit characteristics... That said, in such a small signal circuit you will probably not cause any damage either. If there is a DC bias across the caps, make certain that you have the caps polarised correctly (ie, positive side of the cap goes to the more positive voltage) or else then you may cause some damage.

You do know that Stan listens to the parts he puts in there and choses the best he can? I'm very happy with My Gator, it's made a significant improvement to the Caiman.

[Reid Malenfant]

Nope, polar electrolytics cannot be replaced by non-polar in small signal circuits typically without creating distortion and changing the circuit characteristics...

Explain please, or do you mean non polar electrolytics are more problematic simply because effectively they are back to back standard electrolytics?

That said, in such a small signal circuit you will probably not cause any damage either. If there is a DC bias across the caps, make certain that you have the caps polarised correctly (ie, positive side of the cap goes to the more positive voltage) or else then you may cause some damage.

Agreed

[tdog]

Explain please, or do you mean non polar electrolytics are more problematic simply because effectively they are back to back standard electrolytics?

Agreed

just that non-polar electrolytics are typically used where there is not enough bias to keep the cap polarised through all signal conditions - therefore a non-polar is needed, else a polar cap becomes reverse-biased, which causes all sorts of problems. There are numerous studies, Bateman's and Doug Self's being some of the most rigorous.

[RoboCopper]

I have already replaced transistors Q1-Q4 to matched (ebay search name: 4 X MATCHED 2SC1775 2SC1775A 2SC1775A (E) TRANSISTOR!).
On the first glimpse, the sound seems tiniest bit fuller, deeper, with more extension at both side of sound spectrum with more details.
Maybe it is not worth the money as Stan's Gator is already excellent sounding board, but I had some spare time on my soldering iron

[RoboCopper]

I have already replaced transistors Q1-Q4 to matched (ebay search name: 4 X MATCHED 2SC1775 2SC1775A 2SC1775A (E) TRANSISTOR!).
On the first glimpse, the sound seems tiniest bit fuller, deeper, with more extension at both side of sound spectrum with more details.
Maybe it is not worth the money as Stan's Gator is already excellent sounding board, but I had some spare time on my soldering iron

I found a correct way (experienced friend helped) how the 4 grey Rubyicon bipolar caps can be replaced with polarised Caps.
I have put 4x 47uf 25v Panasonic Pureism caps.

IMO, by replacing matched transistors and Pureism caps, I have got deeper soundstage, sligthly more extensions at both extremas and bit more details. I hope it will improve by burn in. Must burn in with XHLO burnin CD few times.

[StanleyB]

I have had quite a few emails in the last week or two from people asking if the Gator is only for headphone users. Obviously somewhere along the line something went wrong in a thread and the Gator was suddenly transformed .

To make it clear to potential and current Gator owners: The Gator improves the fixed and variable output of the DAC.

Upgrading the headphone output does not require the purchase of a Gator PCB. You can upgrade the headphone output by just replacing the existing opamps in the original audio PCB.

But the Gator PCB replaces the existing audio PCB, which means that the headphone output will also be improved with the Gator as a bonus.

[barry-potter]

i've read quite a few(actually loads) of pages for mods for the caimen/gator but don't remember seeing anything about changing the resistors. I have a load of welwyn resistors lying about which are quite good. Has anyone tried replacing the resistors with higher grade ones?

[audionewbi]

can someone please help me on how to mod the gator board so I can get the most out of the akg k702? Thanks