[Canman]

Has anyone ever upgraded their KGSS or Gilmore Dynamic amp with Black Gate power supply capacitors?

The four Black Gate caps that would go into the KGSS are very expensive. With labor the upgrade would run about $500.

Has anyone ever done this upgrade and if you did was there a tangible improvement?

 

[gpalmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canman Has anyone ever upgraded their KGSS or Gilmore Dynamic amp with Black Gate power supply capacitors? The four Black Gate caps that would go into the KGSS are very expensive. With labor the upgrade would run about $500. Has anyone ever done this upgrade and if you did was there a tangible improvement?

Yes, Yes, Yes, ohhhh, yess, yesss, oops, sorry forgot where I was!

Anyways back to the Black Gate upgrade. Do it and don't look back. I have tried it with both the V2-SE and the Reference and the upgrade was quite noticeable in the smoothness and detail of the amplifer. Probably not the most cost effective part of the final sound, but they take it up that little bit that really makes them amplifers I can be satisfied with forever. I PM'd Dr. Gilmore about the Black Gates before I tried them in the Reference. His opinion was that the Black Gate upgrade would have a more pronounced effect with the KGSS since the caps are in the signal path, he wasn't sure about the Dynamic, but after hearing the results, I am!

 

[ayt999]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canman The four Black Gate caps that would go into the KGSS are very expensive. With labor the upgrade would run about $500.

I heard it was $500 just for the caps.

 

[Canman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayt999 I heard it was $500 just for the caps.

Either way its expensive for a set of caps! But gpalmer has me pretty convinced since I tend to trust his ears.

 

[ayt999]

I've compared gpalmer's modded gilmore reference to my stock gilmore reference and I did like the sound of his slightly more... but still deciding if the slight performance increase is worth the cost of the upgrades.

maybe I'll upgrade my blue hawaii.

 

[Lil_JV]

BTW, Black Gates are now out of production so if you want to do the upgrade, do it in the near future. Sorry, can't help you with the sonic difference. I can't even afford a $500 amp let alone $500 caps.

Good luck!

JV.

 

[bozebuttons]

I have Blackgates in my Kgss & replaced 43 caps in my Krell Ksa5 with NX blackgates.The Krell just sounds more right,less solid state then it did before.
Blackgates take a long time to fully break in,I haven't reached that point yet.
Things are still improving I highly recommend them.

 

[radrd]

My V2-SE with black gates is an amazing amp; I doubt I will every buy another solid state amp.

Though, I should mention that I've never heard a stock SE. I used to have a stock V2 though, and this SE is miles better.

 

[Natsuiro]

Just out of curiosity, how much is the parts cost for the BGs for the V2-SE?

 

[radrd]

Honestly, I cannot remember. You'll have to ask Justin; it was almost a year ago, and I would hate to tell you the wrong price. Not cheap though.