tc7520 special edition caiman mods

[StanleyB]

The choice of opamp for the headphone is very much dependent on which headphone you are using. The choice of opamp for the line out is dependent on your speakers. I have been listening to Bela Fleck and the Flecktones through the HD650 and the NS1000M. With that combination, I like the LM4562HA/LM4562NA. But when I substitute the HD650 for the K701, then my choice is LM4562NA/THS4032CD.
So the opamp pairing is not so straight forward.

[sponge]

The choice of opamp for the headphone is very much dependent on which headphone you are using. The choice of opamp for the line out is dependent on your speakers. I have been listening to Bela Fleck and the Flecktones through the HD650 and the NS1000M. With that combination, I like the LM4562HA/LM4562NA. But when I substitute the HD650 for the K701, then my choice is LM4562NA/THS4032CD.
So the opamp pairing is not so straight forward.

That's true about the headphone pairing Stan. But I do seem to have hit a happy compromise with the AD826. I'll not say it's a "Jack of all trades" but for my K701's and HD600's it's pretty close. If you haven't tried an AD826, give it a go.
My concern is with the line-out Opamp. The LM4562NA works well with my external head amp, but will there be an improvement moving to the HA version - Or even another AD826 (I only have one). And what effect will this have on the 7520's headphone output which I use a lot? - I don't want an overly bright sound.

What we need is a whole bank of Opamp sockets and a couple of rotary switches to select different devices - Perm any 2 from 10 sort of thing
Now there's a mod and no mistake

Ken

[StanleyB]

My concern is with the line-out Opamp. The LM4562NA works well with my external head amp, but will there be an improvement moving to the HA version - Or even another AD826 (I only have one). And what effect will this have on the 7520's headphone output which I use a lot? - I don't want an overly bright sound.

Keep the rest of us in the picture with your findings.

Stan

[joshcloud9]

Hi all,

I have a pair of AD797AN's on a browndog adapter and am wondering if they will be suitable for the 7520 / Caiman I have yet to buy?

I am currently using a Musical Fidelity V-DAC which I am happy with for the time being, but upon the arrival of my Nuforce IA-7 V2 shortly I will be looking at Berersford to up the anti for me!

I am presuming that the Beresford does/can surpass the V-DAC?!

Any thoughts...

[apmusson]

I have tried quite a few opamps on my std 7520 without a hitch, but I'm afraid I cant comment on whether the AD797 will be compatible (although the browndog adaptor will at least make it pin compatable I assume). Anyone else like to comment?

Hi all,

I have a pair of AD797AN's on a browndog adapter and am wondering if they will be suitable for the 7520 / Caiman I have yet to buy?

I am currently using a Musical Fidelity V-DAC which I am happy with for the time being, but upon the arrival of my Nuforce IA-7 V2 shortly I will be looking at Berersford to up the anti for me!

I am presuming that the Beresford does/can surpass the V-DAC?!

Any thoughts...

[leo]

AD797 are great op-amps, unfortunately their not really suited in this app as is, may work with a few mods, I briefly tried them but had the occasional break up/distortion

[Chippy_boy]

Hello, I'm new here and this is my first post, so "Hello" from me :-)

I am getting a Caiman tomorrow and have great hopes for it - let's hope I am not disappointed.

One "mod" I thought of is, would there be any mileage in running it off a 12V battery instead of the little mains adapter? I see it only draws about 100mA, so at 1.2w a Li-ion battery (or even a car battery) could power it for hours with a rock solid, high current-capable power source. Surely some improvement to dynamics and transparency.

What do you reckon?

[StanleyB]

Hi Mark, well a battery is possible but a few people have had less than satisfying results with batteries compared to raw mains.