Creek OBH 11 Capacitor Upgrade

[PinkFloyd]

I sold the Creek OBH 11 to a friend who asked me to upgrade the capacitors to the Cerafines I ordered for it weeks ago.

He has just been on the telephone absolutely "raving" about what an immense improvement they have made to the sound quality..... much along the lines of what I am experiencing with the cerafines on board the X-Can V2.

I only had a brief listen after fitting the caps to the Creek but will pop over and see him tomorrow and have a listen now the caps have had a week to form up (burn in) My initial impressions made me wish I'd kept the Creek... everything so much improved, in every respect, across the board.

I've got enough surplus Cerafines to upgrade another 3 Creek OBH 11's.

The caps required are:

ELNA Cerafine 35V 220uF x1
ELNA Cerafine 50V 47uF x1
ELNA Cerafine 25V 220uF x1
ELNA Cerafine 63V 47uF x3
ELNA Tonorex 35V 2200uF x 1 (Superb capacitor)

Pinkie

 

[jpelg]

That's cool.

Is that with the stock PS, or are you using the OBH-2 PS? If you have tried both, did you notice a big diff?

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Indecision Pinkie? I thought you're the same guy who just raved about how much he loved his X-Can with the new upgraded caps in it?

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally posted by ServinginEcuador Indecision Pinkie? I thought you're the same guy who just raved about how much he loved his X-Can with the new upgraded caps in it?

No indecision at all.... I am raving about both amps! But the x- can wins hands down. I'm saying the Creek sounds MUCH better with the cap upgrade but the X-can sounds MUCH better than the Creek.

Also, thought I'd mention the Creek as I have a load of surplus Cerafines for Creek amps (cough)



Pinkie

 

[mecano]

I m planning to change the caps on my Creek but does anyone knows if it is easy to replace the flimsy jack the creek has with
the gold NRJ6HM Neutrik?

 

[zoboomofo]

Hey, that's cool, Pink... I'm glad that there's interest in tweaking this amp. I've done a bit myself. Your tweaks sound encouraging, since I've got a few Cerafines for the job, too. I won't be able to replace all the caps though.

I started my tweaks with a socket for the opamp, so that I could do some rolling. The NE5532 is actually quite a nice opamp. It sounds less disjointed with polypropylenes on C1, C101. The sound is still dry with any of the opamps tried though. I've gone through the Burr Brown opa2132, 2 x BB opa627, 2 x BB opa637, and 2 x Elantec 2044. I like the last 3 pairs with the Creek most. The high end is a little more detailed. The Elantec was probably most impressive, but these are initial impressions. I'm not sure if these were burned in yet. My weak attempt at a sijosae style dual to 2 singles opamp adaptor may be compromising the sound along with the nickel socket among other things. Noise is almost nil when you crank it up though, so my soldering seems to work

.

Right now, I'm listening to the Creek with the 627s, and I'm digging it. The sound is smoothening, and the bass is starting to match the fatness of the 2132s. Its got a very nice bottom

.

I was trying to figure out the schematic for this amp, but I'm being sidetracked. I'll resume that quest next week, but I should point out that I was surprised to see electrolytics in the signal path (220 uFs) - isn't that a sin?. Also, I'd like to know what the hell those caps are that are clear and can shaped, with tapered cone ends. If those are upgradeable, I'd like to know the values.

It looks like those smaller caps are polyesters. If I'm right, the amp should benefit with a switch to polypropylenes, but I've still got homework to do. Ceramics may be better for some of them? Anyway, please inform us of any developments, and have fun! You too mecano.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

zoboomofo,

Have you tried out anything by Andalog Devices?? If not I reco their AD8610, AD843, and AD825 quite highly. I didn't like the OPA627 in my CDP, but loved both the AD843 and 825 quite a bit. They should be pretty cheap, so ask around on the forum and see if anyone has any sitting around. I did and got some really cheap.

 

[zoboomofo]

Hey!

Yes I've got some AD opamps. They're SOIC? but I'd like to keep everything DIPped, so I'll wait til I get some browndogs before I use 'em.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

The AD825 is SOIC, but teh 843 shoudl be DIP. I think that the 8610/20 is also SIOC, so you'll need the BrownDog adaptor to run it.

YMMV, but I reco starting with the 8610, then the 843, then 825. Try them in this order against your reference sounding OPAXXX chips and see what you think.

 

[zoboomofo]

Yup, I've got the 8610 x 2, and some 8620s, but no 843s. I also have some AD626s but I'm too lazy to make the adaptor for pin compatibility.

edit: cheese and crackers, I've been here an hour and a half.