So last post about the capacitor upgrade for the Aune T1... (Sorry in advance for posting quite a bit, just want to provide info to anyone who is interested in upgrading their T1).
I loved the sound coming from my T1, and I tried about a dozen or so different tubes... I narrowed down my two favourite tubes to a Siemens E88CC gold pin halo getter date code A0 1≠ 4F, and an Amperex 7308 gold pin halo getter date code delta3E2. I like the Siemens for it's incredible representation of female vocals and highs, and I like the Amperex for it's rich mids and fantastic imaging.
I read a bunch of posts about head-fi'ers opening up their T1's, and finding a mix of different capacitors inside... Nichicon, ELNA, Panasonic, etc which worried some of them because they'd been posting impressions of different tubes, and felt that the mix of capacitors affected the T1's representation with the same tube from member to member. They then collaborated on upgrading their T1's using some different capacitors, trying to figure out the best combination.
@CoiL in particular tried some different mixes, and here is a quote from him after his upgrade:
Holy crap how good this sounds now! Unbeliveable! Those caps made my Siemens E88CC sound like liquid gold! I can`t even describe how good mids section is - especially vocals, just breath taking! Not only vocals - everything! Piano sounds so lifelike that if I were sitting in concert room. The width, depth - horizontally & vertically - just amazing! For me, I think Aune T1 can`t get much better than that anymore. So dynamic and musical! And I haven`t burned those caps in yet but still pure eargasm!
Seriously, I recommend you to try ELNA SilmicII`s instead stock caps!
After reading his review, and looking at the price of new capacitors, I ended up going for the same upgrade on my T1.
Headphone amp board coupling caps > ELNA SilmicII 47uF 50V
Headphone amp board rail voltage caps > ELNA SilmicII 470uF 25V
Secondary power supply caps > ELNA SilmicII 470uF 25V
Main power supply caps > Panasonic FR 3300uF 25V
I bought all of the capacitors online from Digi-Key, since the capacitors are relatively cheap, and I was wary of buying from ebay due to fakes or old capacitors. (Digi-Key prints the date of manufacture on their invoice).
As for the sound, I definitely hear the same thing as CoiL. I thought that both tubes were as good as they could ever be, but the new capacitors have noticeably improved soundstaging (width and depth), bass (tighter impact), clarity across the lows, mids and highs, and overall warmth. Liquid gold is a good description... also silky, organic and capturing the emotion of the music. I love it.
For anyone interested in doing this upgrade, you'll need to be aware of a couple things... the capacitors that I used are larger than stock, and will most likely stick "out of the bottom" of the T1, unless they're routed creatively inside the unit. The bottom of my unit is now open, so I place it on its side... not a big deal for me. It probably improves the cooling inside, although it is open to dust now. Also, you'll need to be able to operate the soldering gun with patience, but overall it can be done by a beginner. Removing the old capacitors may require an extra set of hands.
Feel free to PM if you have any other questions, and a big thanks to CoiL and the others who posted previously about upgrading their units.
