[che15]

I have a balanced Havana , would you guys please guided me on what caps and anything else I can upgrade on it, I love a very detailed but sweet sound none of that harsh sound most DACs are known for.
Thank u so much
And also did u guys installed the caps your selves , I have no experience with soldering.

 

[mako44]

I think we all did it by ourselves but it's very easy most of the time, you just have to desolder and solder the new component : just be patient, careful and have good Tools. However you can break the circuit so you must take care if you don't feel confident enough ask a friend who could do it for you.
 
I can't tell you what to change on balanced havana but you can start by changing the chip and ouput caps for instance.
 
On normal havana output caps, input caps, c11 & c12, diodes around the tube and power supply caps are the main reactive points on my mind. Removing stock transformer by a more powerful one is also highly recomended but much more difficult (a pro did it for me).

 

[loserica]

  I saw these caps have good comments but i never heard of them before you mentionned them, happy to see you're satisfied of the results. This dac will never stop imrpoving !

Did you all changed the stock cap by something else on C5 by the way (auricap or another) ? I ordered an auricap xo because I noticed I still have the stock one here i don't know if it will change anything to the sound.

 
I had here before just Auricap, but... I say once again, the difference between Auricap and Rike (for me) it is really signficant

I put some pictures made tonight. Rike S-Cap are huge comparative with Auricap and the stock 0,10uF caps. I can say that they fully deserved the money (about $40/capacitor). Believe me, I would have given even double for this upgrade

(but then maybe I would have opted for CuTF...). However, Havana reacts incredible when changing all 0,10uF with some upper class capacitors. The differences are consistent (to not say huge..) at the level of texture, coherence, imaging, dynamics and resolution. For the first time since I felt this DAC, I perceive what it means "the tube": that warmth and refinement to die for!!
I'm hundred percent satisfied and highly recommend this upgrade!

 
PS: please, do not worry of what you see inside Havana

but really I didn't have another solution to put them.

 

 

[robeeert1]

Congratulations mate! The best tweaked Havana on this planet.

 

[loserica]

  Congratulations mate! The best tweaked Havana on this planet.

Thank you, Robert. This isn't a joke: http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html..
Rike S-Cap PIO ..."are very coherent, nothing is over high-lighted, they just do all things right. They are clear but never too bright and open things up nicely without any artificial emphasis on certain parts of the spectrum. They have depth that lets you look deep into the recorded information in a very natural and coherent way, seperating the individual instruments of an orchestra in a very convincing manner. Another thing that the Rike Audio S-Caps do well in making the music sound more realistic is dynamics.
... Compared to the Jupiter Condenser VT Stacked Cryo Capacitors (also an aluminium foil with paper capacitor) the S-Caps are more lively and open. They both give a nice "analogue" feel to the music but the Jupiter sounds a bit muffled, more "old school" if you like. Compared to very high-grade copper foil capacitors the Rike Audio S-Cap could do with a little more richness and tonal colour but then we are talking about capacitors that cost far more.
In general I consider the Rike Audio S-Cap to be one of the best capacitors I have tested in that it produces acoustic instruments and vocals in a very natural and convincing way, well detailed but never fatiguing. For example an Instanbul Mehmet Sultan 22" ride cymbal sounds like it should: a nice metal "ping" combined with a certain warmth. Piano music comes across very realisticly with a wide dynamic range, full-bodied and open".

 

 

[kimchee411]

Very nice!  I was debating between the Rike S-Cap and Audyn True Copper at the time as well, but ultimately got the impression that Audyn is warmer and "tubier", which is what I wanted for my speakers.  I'm going to have to queue up the Rike S-Cap 0.01uF upgrade for my main DAC.
 
I wish Tony Gee would review the V-Cap CuTF already so we can get an even better idea of how others sound by comparison.  The Duelund CAST Cu comparison isn't too helpful because it's head and shoulders above the rest.  

 

 

[loserica]

  Very nice!  I was debating between the Rike S-Cap and Audyn True Copper at the time as well, but ultimately got the impression that Audyn is warmer and "tubier", which is what I wanted for my speakers.  I'm going to have to queue up the Rike S-Cap 0.01uF upgrade for my main DAC.
 
I wish Tony Gee would review the V-Cap CuTF already so we can get an even better idea of how others sound by comparison.  The Duelund CAST Cu comparison isn't too helpful because it's head and shoulders above the rest.  

 

 
Yes, this is true about the comparative capacitors test. Something is missing there...CuTF.
I explored more than a half year with Audyn True Copper, but something seems stopped me. But I am absolutely convinced that I would have liked their sound. 

 

[mako44]

   

 
Very nice

 !  But no way iput them inside my havana when I'm already lacking of room Inside
 
If i'd know i would have ordered a 0.22uf audyn AND a Rike-S to compare 

 
Edit : By the way : I listened to my dac 30 mns this evening, after 30 hours or so of burning in Jupiter VT sounds more incisive and accurate, very nice

 

[s1rrah]

   
I had here before just Auricap, but... I say once again, the difference between Auricap and Rike (for me) is really significant

I put some pictures made tonight. Rike S-Cap are huge comparative with Auricap and the stock 0,10uF caps. I can say that they fully deserved the money (about $40/capacitor). Believe me, I would have given even double for this upgrade

(but then maybe I would have opted for CuTF...). However, Havana reacts incredible when changing all 0,10uF with some upper class capacitors. The differences are consistent (to not say huge..) at the level of texture, coherence, imaging, dynamics and resolution. For the first time since I felt this DAC, I perceive what it means "the tube": that warmth and refinement to die for!!
I'm hundred percent satisfied and highly recommend this upgrade!

 
 

 

[loserica]

So..after ten hours (pretty soon..), I can say that I never felt before such a substantial differences in sound and which impressed me so much; not even when I changed the chips, all electrolytic caps with Black Gate, not even when I switched to .. V-Cap CuTF

  and I think it is right now becouse all components are reinforce each others.
The sound texture seems to move toward something special, and the coherence and separation between instruments are unbelievable (for this DAC). The voice stepped in front and fills up much better on the audible spectrum, being rendered more spacious, more lush, more ample. It is what I call really believable. Voices are large, really large! Substantially increased the resolution also, being felt the finest details and voice inflections. The same thing can i say about imaging and depth.
Instruments are more articulated and trebles are extended and with a consistent decay. Audition is definitely more relaxed and everywhere there is space and air around, everything is coherent and airy. In a word, with these last changes Havana is a GREAT dac!

 

 

[mako44]

Must be really great, stop make me dreaming !...

 
How are bad recordings however, can you still listen to them with pleasure ? I mean music's must be incredible on good recordings but are all these improvements also ok to listen to common ones ? For example with mundorf sgo it was hardly possible on my system (this cap is too resolving and not sweet enough), with jupiter Vt it's better and I can listen to them with more pleasure (of course you hear the recording is bad but it can be ok).

 

[loserica]

  Must be really great, stop make me dreaming !...

 
How are bad recordings however, can you still listen to them with pleasure ? I mean music's must be incredible on good recordings but are all these improvements also ok to listen to common ones ? For example with mundorf sgo it was hardly possible on my system (this cap is too resolving and not sweet enough), with jupiter Vt it's better and I can listen to them with more pleasure (of course you hear the recording is bad but it can be ok).

 
yes, I understand what you say. You will not feel all these issues, I assure you. The key words coming to my mind regarding these capacitors are "friendly", "natural", "lifelike", "beautiful"...
It is a really pleasure to listen to music on this quality and I say again, I did't expected that Havana reacts so positively to the changing of these 0,10uF capacitors. I mean to say that is well above expectations and for me this upgrade has the greatest impact on the sound quality. Rike are surely a fair deal.

 

 

[che15]

I think we all did it by ourselves but it's very easy most of the time, you just have to desolder and solder the new component : just be patient, careful and have good Tools. However you can break the circuit so you must take care if you don't feel confident enough ask a friend who could do it for you.

I can't tell you what to change on balanced havana but you can start by changing the chip and ouput caps for instance.

On normal havana output caps, input caps, c11 & c12, diodes around the tube and power supply caps are the main reactive points on my mind. Removing stock transformer by a more powerful one is also highly recomended but much more difficult (a pro did it for me).

Thank u so much for your help, I don't like ess 32 bit chips, which other ones do u sudgest , do they all work with my balanced Havana ?

 

[loserica]

I think they will work perfectly.

 

[s1rrah]

 

 
That's just pornographic.