[Didhefocus]

I don't know if it has been mentioned in this thread yet, but this document is where I got the most help and info for mods.
The Indeed G2 is the same as the V1 but with upgrades and extra features. I have the Little Bear P1 which is an almost identical clone to the Indeed G2.
 
 
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?648rn66jncce788

 

[Didhefocus]

  May I just ask why it's not recommended to change the blue led? If I have done something risky I want to know and want to learn the leasson from you guys before I learn it the hard way with a broken amp. As of right now it works flawlessly and i really don't understand why it could be a bad idea.
 
Note: The red LED is untouched and intact.

The blue LED is fine to replace. It's the red one that is critical for a constant voltage source. See the document I linked above.

 

[Didhefocus]

Now that my V3 is working again, I noticed it has a very much improved warm up time. It used to take what seemed like more than 30 seconds. It now takes only 5 seconds before sound is coming out of my cans!
 
How long does everyone else's take to get sound at first?
 
While it's very nice to have the amp start up that fast...I'm a little worried that the replacement LED is causing some dangerous over current or voltage situation. I haven't tried to check it out yet 'cause I'm enjoying listening to it too much right now.
 
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
Should I be finding a more suitable replacement LED or does it really matter?

 

[Didhefocus]

I finally found the V3 schematic in another thread so I thought I'd repost here. 
 

 

[Cirric]

Thanks for the schematic! I seem to remember the voltage drop over a simple diode was maybe a volt os so. (Shottsky diodea were about half of that or so.) This should affecr the output of the MOSFET (IFR630 ?) and the voltaghe of the LM317. Been a long time! Sorry!

 

[DecentLevi]

Hello guys, (besides the price difference), how would you say the Bravo amp compares with the Little Dot MK 3/4 and the Project Ember? These are both relatively similar amps, especially the P.E. - especially if somebody has tried either of these amps along with the Bravo then your impressions would be welcome. Thanks!
 
Also, would you know if these all use the same type of tubes? 

 

[Didhefocus]

I have no experience with those amps. The Little dots are full tube amps and much more expensive than the bravos so I would expect it to sound much better than the Bravo. The Project Ember looks like a hybrid like the Bravo but a completely different, more complicated design.

 

[Didhefocus]

I finally cut the top to accommodate the taller heat sinks. I completely covered the top acrylic piece with masking tape to protect it and allow me to mark the area to cut with a pencil. Drilled holes in the corners and used a simple jig saw with a fine-tooth blade for the rough cutting. Next used rough flat and round files to clean up and straighten up the jig saw cuts. Finished up with small, fine files. 
 
The larger heat sinks didn't fix my shut-down problem since the blue LED was the culprit but I feel better now about keeping the Bravo a little cooler!
 

 

 

 

[Cirric]

Hi. I picked up a pair of "2200 uF Gold caps" as it looked like they were recommended and some 510 MOSFETs. Have not started iinstalling the caps (and I noticed you did not). May I ask which MOSFETs you ended up with? And which you recommend? (I know which end end of a soldering iron gets hot but my body has outlived my skillset!) Thank you my friend.

 

[Didhefocus]

Hi. I picked up a pair of "2200 uF Gold caps" as it looked like they were recommended and some 510 MOSFETs. Have not started iinstalling the caps (and I noticed you did not). May I ask which MOSFETs you ended up with? And which you recommend? (I know which end end of a soldering iron gets hot but my body has outlived my skillset!) Thank you my friend.

I replaced the MOSFETs last year with IRL530 but switched to 510 shortly after when I realized I got the lesser of the two. To me they sound the same but the 510s should deliver better ultra treble. I recommend the IRL510 since there's almost no difference in price and a more extended high end is always a good thing!
I also replaced the caps but I couldn't say what value they are at the moment. I followed the recommended mods in the guide I linked in a previous post.

 

[Cirric]

Thank you sir!

 

[Didhefocus]

The caps I used are 2200uf 35v 105c, probably Panasonic brand but they don't say on them. The power cap is Rubicon 6800f 25v, 105c.

 

[andar]

Hey guys,

I bought a Bravo V3 about a year ago and decided to finally start modifying it. I work on with digital electronics for a living, but I have to say that I'm totally inexperienced with old school audio. 
 
Got a few questions for you guys,
 
Lately I've been hearing a lot of more noise through the amp. From the sound, I believe it is some sort of interference. It's a "digital" sounding noise, not a hum or hiss. I don't keep my phone too close, but my amp is right next to my computer. This is my office setup, so I don't really have too many places where I could move the amp. I've had this noise since day one, but it seems like it happens more and more often now. Any clue what could have changed to cause an increase in this noise? Maybe my office had some new electronics installed? WiFi?
 
Has anyone upgraded their power supply? Were the differences worth the upgrade? Please provide links if you bought something good. 
 
@Euf0ria, did you do each capacitor upgrade with a test in between to hear the differences? I'd be interested in hearing how each impacted the amplifier. How did you choose the values for your capacitors? I wouldn't know where to start myself. I'd be interested in your take on how the different values effect the circuit, especially the output capacitors.
 
I've started reading Bravo V1 tube rolling threads, but there is a ton of information. Have any of you guys found a suitable tube replacement that you really like? I'd love to start doing some rolling myself, but NOS prices are a bit much for experimentation. I'd like to see some improvements on the low end from the EH, as I listen to metal/hip-hop/techno which is all pretty bass heavy. 
 
I'm planning on doing the IRL510 upgrade first. I looked at upgrading the LM317, but I don't think this will benefit me too much. The TI LM317AT has slightly tighter specs than the original LM317T, but I really don't know how much that will effect things. 
 
@Didhefocus thanks for the EQ bypass switch pictures, I will most likely add that on there too!

 

[Euf0ria]

  Hey guys,

I bought a Bravo V3 about a year ago and decided to finally start modifying it....
 
@Euf0ria, did you do each capacitor upgrade with a test in between to hear the differences? I'd be interested in hearing how each impacted the amplifier. How did you choose the values for your capacitors? I wouldn't know where to start myself. I'd be interested in your take on how the different values effect the circuit, especially the output capacitors.

andar:
 
Sorry, I did not do any testing in between the change of caps for power and for the output. Actually I did all my mods in one go as per post:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/704243/bravo-audio-v3-discussion-and-mods/90#post_11527242
 
The values on my caps comes from my own decision after having read tons of older posts about modding the Bravo V2. I also read 2 or three pdfs about modding the bravos that some user had written and shared. So to answer your question: Start with reading a ton of posts about the subject and rely on the broscience or take the short route and follow my list of mods=) 
 
I'm still happy about the sound and the only thing I don't like is the faint hiss i hear in the background (mostly when music is paused) I have not tried to increase the bias voltage any further but believe that going up +1v could help but in the same time generate even some more heat on the voltage regulators.
And please correct me if I'm wrong here!

 

[andar]

@Euf0ria thanks for that info!
 
I decided to copy you on the Nichicon fine gold caps, however I stayed with 1000uF. I did some general research on output capacitors on tube amps. I saw one article that said 470uF was a typical tube amplifier output capacitor, and that as you increase the value you may increase the risk of damaging your attached headphone due to allowing more sub-sonic frequencies and the "pop" of the capacitor.
 
I did some calcs, and with the headphones I primarily use a 1000uF capacitor should off around 10Hz. Going up to a 2200uF would decrease this frequency and leave the lower frequencies un-attenuated. I would assume in a perfect case scenario where you know your exact load, you would tune the output capacitor value to attenuate earlier (maybe 20Hz). However, with using different headphones I figured 1000uF was a safe bet. If anyone thinks I am wrong, or am not understand this correctly, please correct me!
 
I ended up getting a bit trigger happy on a eBay bidding war and now I am the proud owner of an NOS Amperex D-Getter white label tube. I bought it without much research, so I hope I didn't go too wrong with the purchase. I'm going to do my mod's one stage at a time just so I can see the differences. I will post my results up here later!