[briantf27]

Well its been a long time coming, but finally tonight, the festivities begin. Click the attached photo.... These will mark stage 1 of my long overdue MG Head DT mods.

Will report back on the aural impact shortly.

Initial observations: My my do those leads ever need to be cut down!! Ringing bass aint my cup of tea...

Brian.

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Plan to do the C4S mod like Videoshielded?

 

[lextek]

Interesting. What are the expected improvements??

 

[briantf27]

Well in about 5 minutes before I left work this evening, I slapped the Auricaps into the MG Head DT. I now have annoying transformer-like buzz in the left ear. No time to tweak before leaving the office, though. I think the leads on the auricaps can stand to be shortened some still. I'm also wondering about the polarity of these things. With C1 and C2 open circuited after removing the stock multicaps, i measured the voltages and soldered the caps in with the red lead wires at the higher positive voltage which is merely common sense but I don't know if it actually matters.

In any event, something is amiss and I'll be looking into it shortly.

As for a C4S mod, I didn't know what it was until you asked. After reading Videoshielded's experience I'm ambivalent. Already on the list however is Holco signal path resistors and the pot shunting already done by VS.... Power cap replacement is lower on the list, as I'm not sure I'm a believer that it would have much of an audible effect.

Brian.

 

[briantf27]

Update: Had ants in my pants this morning and since I live across the street from work, here I am.... So I've shortened the leads on the Auricaps to mere stubs that BARELY reach around the caps' girth to the C1 and C2 solder points... The aquarium pump like hum: almost gone. Almost but not entirely. At this point, with music off, I have to concentrate to hear it. Acceptable? For most people, probably so. For me, good enough for now. But of course this means more tweaking to come.

I'd probably suggest smaller caps to anyone considering this mod just so that you'll be able to eliminate this antenna effect as much as possible.

Now its time to let the Tungsrams heat up and do some listening!!

Brian.

 

[briantf27]

Quote:

Originally posted by lextek Interesting. What are the expected improvements??

Cleaner detail but mostly better bass extension. Remember the stock cap values in there are 0.22uF (despite the schematic specing 0.1uF). The 1.5uF caps should lower the frequency cutoff significantly while (hopefully) not smearing it...... Prior reports are positive and for a total of $18 and 4 solder joints without removing the board...... why not?

Brian.

 

[briantf27]

Initial Sound Report: This is proving to be a nice bang-for-the-buck mod to the MG Head. Bass response is improved and is still tight. The extra bass is certainly not dramatic, but these Tungsrams aren't bass champions to begin with, either. However the improved detail I'm hearing now, is quite impressive. There is definitely better separation of instruments, and better overall resolution. On my favorite tracks of my favorite CDs, things are catching my attention that I hadn't previously noticed, and that's exciting! The Tung Sol 5751 isn't as detailed as the top Sylvanias to begin with either, so tube rolling with the caps in place will certainly be interesting. But for now, I have to give this mod a thumbs up. Is it as significant as swapping the stock 12AX7 for a Sylvania Gold Brand 5751? No. It is cheaper and almost as easy, though, and it does provide an incremental improvement in sound for sure.

Next... Caddock pot shunt.

Brian.