[Noodlz]

@genclaymore awesome thanks for the tips! So just to clarify, these are the ones i found:
 
LT1122 - digikey. I'm assuming all 3 of these work and that the "ACN" version is the best since its nearly double the price?
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/LT1122ACN8%23PBF/LT1122ACN8%23PBF-ND/963657
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/LT1122CCN8%23PBF/LT1122CCN8%23PBF-ND/890024
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/LT1122DCN8%23PBF/LT1122DCN8%23PBF-ND/889112
 
LT 1355 - digikey - this is the only one i found in stock
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/LT1355CN8%23PBF/LT1355CN8%23PBF-ND/888803
 
LT1489 - couldnt find it on digikey or mouser, i tried searching in the linear technology site but couldn't find anything there either. any tips on where i can get my hands on one?
 
AD797BRZ - will probably try them from here:
http://www.analogmetric.com/goods.php?id=2031
 
Thanks again!

 

[genclaymore]

The AD797 that you linked are the wrong ones, you linked a dual AD797 on a single adapter, you do not want to use that for the single op-amp sockets as it will cause damaged. You need this one http://www.analogmetric.com/goods.php?id=1720 which is the single AD797 on a soic to dip adapter, and you need one for each of the two single channel adapter. Putting a dual channel op-amp into the single channel socket will cause damage.
 
Linear.com are the maker of the LT op-amps and also sells them, then ebay also have them too.  The LT1155 and LT1489 are dual channel op-amps so make sure you don't install them into the single channel sockets.
 
Here a picture that I could find and edited it MSpaint to show where the dual and single sockets are.
 
Blue circled area = Two dual channel op-amp sockets - Where a pair of LT 1155, LT 1489 goes or any Dual channel op-amps. When you look at op-amp spec sheet if it says Channels = 2 then their Dual channel.
 
 
Red Circled Area = Two Single channel op-amp sockets - Where you place Single channel op-amps like LT1122,LME49990, Single AD797BRZ on SOIC to Dip Adapters and any other single channel op-amps.
When the spec sheet for the op-amp list channels = 1 then that's single channel.
 
 
 
 

 

[Walderstorn]

@genclaymore do you have any youtube channel with video tutorials? Cause i never changed opamps and wouldnt want to break my h10 on the first try. 
 
I would try ebaying (already know were to buy ad797brz from your previous post) for these:
 
2xLT1355+AD797BRZ=Smooth Detailed Highs,Neutral Mids with Tad bass impact,Tight Lows 3Dish medium Sound stage
2xLT1489+2xLT1357=Clean and clear highs that are airily, Clean mids with great voical, Tight Lows with a wide and big sound stage

 

[genclaymore]

Sadly I don't but I forgot to mention that  unless there soldied to adapters Dip type op-amps will come as / - \ and you will have to bent the legs so they are straight so they look like | - |  so they will slide into the socket. Also op-amps have a circle on them or a notched on the top of it some times both. You have to match that up with the notch on the op-amp socket which looks like a "u", its important that it matches the same directions.
 
A IC puller tool will come in hardly for removing the op-amps from the sockets. Also you will need a alan key to open the H10 up as it uses two different sizes of screws.
 
The closest video i can find is some one installing one into a matrix M-stage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d6uZeaEugI or this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d6uZeaEugI ,Its the same exact way to removing them from the Gustard H10 sockets. I haven't found videos showing it being done in the H10 but those two are the closest I found that should give you some idea's. I'll do it my self if I had a camera.

 

[Walderstorn]

@genclaymore thanks i will watch them carefully when i get home, that said theres an idea get a camera ehehhe.
 
I will first try to get the opamps and the puller, the alan i already have it will take a long time coming from china unforunately usually 1 month -.-
 
If i find sellers from europe i will compare prices and hopefully i can manage to get everything in 1 week instead of 4 and not pay 10x more.

 

[stuartmc]

  A IC puller tool will come in hardly for removing the op-amps from the sockets. Also you will need a alan key to open the H10 up as it uses two different sizes of screws.
 
The closest video i can find is some one installing one into a matrix M-stage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d6uZeaEugI or this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d6uZeaEugI ,Its the same exact way to removing them from the Gustard H10 sockets. I haven't found videos showing it being done in the H10 but those two are the closest I found that should give you some idea's. I'll do it my self if I had a camera.

 
Excellent opamp commentary 'mate! My hat is off to you for your "swabbing" diligence.  You have played with more than twice as many opamps as I have.
 
I found that I didn't need a special IC puller tool to safely remove the opamps from their sockets. I found that a small pair of pliers with more flattened, rather than pointed ends, works just fine on the tighter sockets.  Just carefully grip on the plastic sides of the opamp above the pins and lift straight up. When installing the new opamps, you need to have the pin ends lined up well with the socket holes before you attempt to press it down.  Improper alignment can lead to bent pins.  Some of these new opamps have their rows of pin legs splayed out wider than the corresponding rows of holes on the socket. When that was the case, I would carefully lay the opamp on its side on a flat surface and gently apply some pressure so as to bend one side of four pins uniformly inward. I then turned the opamp around and did the same thing to the other row of four pins. After doing this, a test fitting would show all 8 pins lining up with their corresponding socket holes.   There's also the simpler ham-fisted method, where you line up one row of pins with the tips actually in the socket holes and then use a little pressure to bend them just enough to get the other row to line up and push it down.

 

[Beamharit]

 
 
Has anyone ever change fuse?

 

[stuartmc]

 
 
 
Has anyone ever change fuse?

Yes, I have.  I have tried a few different fuses in the H10, X12, U12 and now X20.  I had a .5 amp fuse blow on me with just the turn on/ turn off spike, so I opted for 1.0 amp fuses throughout. I found some very affordable cryogenically treated ceramic fuses that sound every bit as good to me as some of the more expensive "audio jewelry" fuses I've tried. http://www.cryo-parts.com/product/short-fast-blow-fuses-3/    At this price, I think they are worthy of a try. If you don't hear any difference, then you really haven't lost much at all.
 
Since we're on the subject of tweaks, I would like to share with the swabbies a good deal I've found on some excellent emi/rfi shielding plugs for your unused rca's.  I'm a real stickler about eliminating stray emi/rfi from my system and part of my regimen has been to cap every single unused connector, be it rca, xlr or bnc.  All of these unused connectors can act as mini emi/rfi antennas, so I believe the use of shielding plugs is money well spent.  The Oyaide MWA-RC's  are made in Japan and have an excellent shielding metal amalgam built into a plastic cap. 
http://www.amazon.com/Mwa-rc-Pieces-Koyanagi-Electrical-Firm/dp/B008GJGU06/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&refRID=0BQ31N4VY7QZ4T3X25H8&ref_=pd_aw_sbs_328_1 They are found on amazon and ebay and ship from Japan.

 

[stuartmc]

Thank you Swabbies!
 
For the sake of full disclosure and also to thank my new friends here, I would like to let you all know that I have officially returned to Positive-Feedback.com. My re-introduction article has now been published-   http://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/the-return-of-stus-place/  I gave a hearty shout-out to head-fi.org and the swabbies right here on the H10 thread.  I am dead serious when I say that the fun and camaraderie I have experienced here has been almost exclusively responsible for me changing my mind about high-end audio and ending my self-imposed exile.  There are quite a few individuals I could thank by name, but I think you know who you are. The fact is, there are so many cool people here, both originals and newcomers, that it wouldn't make much sense to do so. 
 
This is the kind of friendly and helpful interaction that I had always hoped to experience in my little corner of the audio community.  Thank you Swabbies for tolerating my flaws and making audio fun again!  ARRRRR!

 

[MLegend]

Wow.....that was quite a read. Glad to hear you're having fun and enjoying yourself again. That's the way it should be. Thank you for all your contributions to this thread and all the help you've given. 

 

[jaywillin]

i started following this thread around page 8-10, something like that, but didn't pull the trigger on getting an h10 about two months ago.
i've always been  predominately a tube guy, the only solid state amp i really liked, and could have lived with in the long run was the bryston bha-1, until now.
the h10 best it by a pretty good margin. 
i've always had a view that burn in was more psychological than the actual piece of kit changing. i do NOT feel the same way with the h10.
boy, did this thing open up. i'm a believer !
 
now, what has prompted me to jump in here at this point was something @stuartmc just said. 
FUN AND CAMARADERIE of this thread. so many threads are filled with a good bit of acrimony. that's not very enjoyable.
i used to post in a lot of threads, not so much anymore, the only one i regularly take part in the grado thread and that's
for the exact reasons stuart mentioned. 
to me, our gear is an end to a means, which musical enjoyment, not to see how much i can spend to prove my "thing-a-ma-bob" sounds better than yours, and here's why i'm right.......
anyway, nice job guys, this what is good about head-fi !!

 

[olek]

Well said!
 
H10 with recent op-amp upgrade (797ANZ) is actually doing so well that it managed to outdo its long time rival (in my house) BottleHead Crack with Speedball, which I thought is never going to happen.
 
I am so happy with the sound I get now from my system, that I have started to sell out other equipment I have acquired in search of my preferred sound (not as easy as it sounds for a pack rat that I am). And H10 is sure to stay as main amp in my audio chain. What a shame, it is my least expensive amp as well, I must have no good taste in hifi at all!
 
Cheers to camaraderie!
 
-- Olek

 

[swannie007]

Amen to all the sentiments about camaraderie and friendship in this particular thread. It just pisses me off when a thread becomes a pissing contest about who has the best, biggest, baddest, etc. For me, this is a hobby that is very pleasurable and the gear is just a means to an end, the enjoyment of music. 
I am afraid though that our hobby may be heading down the same road as the one travelled by audiophile stereo in the past, i.e. ever increasing prices with ever diminishing returns. I certainly hope that this trend slows down and a sense of reality returns to this sector of music enjoyment. The elitist road/attitude is what, in my mind, killed stereo hi-fi for the masses. Christ, who needs a $50k pre-amp and a $30k DAC? Not to mention the price of speakers!! Good music reproduction can be had for a lot less. It seems to me that to play in the big sandbox of music reproduction one needs to bring a sizeable bank balance and the willingness to pay the simply outrageous prices asked by the vendors for their "superior" gear. The Gustard line of gear proves that the price of admittance to good music reproduction need not be silly and can be affordable to "normal" working class folk.
A disturbing trend I have noticed lately is the ever increasing cost of "headphile" gear and the inclusion of a number of stereo hi-fi vendors at some head-fi shows hawking their expensive gear. How long before this becomes the norm and we scare away the "newbies" to our hobby?(As well as some seasoned veterans).
Just my 2c worth and if I have offended anyone with my opinions, TOO BAD, they are MY opinions and in a free society I am entitled to them! So, if you want to spit the dummy, grow up and realise that most people have an opinion and they are entitled to it and some people even espouse them. Cheers from "The Bosun in the Bush". 

 

[stuartmc]

  i started following this thread around page 8-10, something like that, but didn't pull the trigger on getting an h10 about two months ago.
i've always been  predominately a tube guy, the only solid state amp i really liked, and could have lived with in the long run was the bryston bha-1, until now.
the h10 best it by a pretty good margin. 
i've always had a view that burn in was more psychological than the actual piece of kit changing. i do NOT feel the same way with the h10.
boy, did this thing open up. i'm a believer !
 
now, what has prompted me to jump in here at this point was something @stuartmc just said. 
FUN AND CAMARADERIE of this thread. so many threads are filled with a good bit of acrimony. that's not very enjoyable.
i used to post in a lot of threads, not so much anymore, the only one i regularly take part in the grado thread and that's
for the exact reasons stuart mentioned. 
to me, our gear is an end to a means, which musical enjoyment, not to see how much i can spend to prove my "thing-a-ma-bob" sounds better than yours, and here's why i'm right.......
anyway, nice job guys, this what is good about head-fi !!

Glad to see you join in jaywillin.....welcome aboard!  I'm a big tube guy too and I'm quite happy with the sound I'm getting from the H10.  It turns out that op-amp "swabbing" is just as fun and efficacious as tube rolling -- a wonderful opportunity to "tune your bow." 

 

[stuartmc]

 
Amen to all the sentiments about camaraderie and friendship in this particular thread. It just pisses me off when a thread becomes a pissing contest about who has the best, biggest, baddest, etc. For me, this is a hobby that is very pleasurable and the gear is just a means to an end, the enjoyment of music. 
......Cheers from "The Bosun in the Bush". 

Well said Bosun Swannie. Hey, I meant to tell ya that I gleaned some real gems from the huge list of "song birds" you sent me...thanks 'mate!  Patty Griffin, "Downtown Church" is one of my new favorites. It kind of reminds me of a better recorded Trinity Sessions.