[loserica]

Hi, Ignat

I already ordered Vampire.., although these jacks are cheap, so there it's not a problem to buy another one. With this international trade, I wait some time, but this is the situation...
Besides BNC jacks, I will change all electrolytic Nichicon capacitors with ELNA, all stock film-capacitors with Auricap Audience (for 0,1/ 0,22 uf) and Russian Silver Mica capacitors (for 0,01 uf). I'm very curious how it sounds Havana after I complete these modification. I feel that LEGATO request these changes! I can confirm once again, the sound has improved substantially with this efficient transport (in terms of sound stamp and texture, refinement and higher decay&audio layering). Playing and placing instruments in depth, not only in width.., consistent and coherent playback, naturalness and relaxation listening, all these are present. I am very, very happy for that.

I will make an ample review after I finish.

 

[niamex]

Hi Mois,
I have warned you that the upgrading is an endless process , getting more and more costly but at the end of the day you have a feeling that something is improved..Frankly speaking I have already forgotten the original sound of the HAVANA so it doesn't matter anymore.
Anyhow I will not go so expensive like Robert with his Black Gate non polar caps /they are the best/ but recently found  some ELNA non polar which should be much better than the stock Nichikon's and better than mine - Nichikon's green non polar. Will send you four pieces as soon as I get them.
Cheers,

 

[niamex]

Quote:

Thanks for the info Robeert, I am also getting a lot of good information from Mdht about the caps / chips etc.
 
btw, you are right about c5 and c25, but apparently there is a cap next to c5 that can be changed to a higher value to get better bass response...original value of 47uf but can be changed to 100uf or more for better bass.  I also learned a lot about the PCM56P chips floating around as well as the newer production TI PCM56P chips.  I even saw the future of the Havana

Hi,
which one do you mean by next to C5 ?
 
 

 

[loserica]

 
Quote:

Hi Mois,
I have warned you that the upgrading is an endless process , getting more and more costly but at the end of the day you have a feeling that something is improved..Frankly speaking I have already forgotten the original sound of the HAVANA so it doesn't matter anymore.
Anyhow I will not go so expensive like Robert with his Black Gate non polar caps /they are the best/ but recently found  some ELNA non polar which should be much better than the stock Nichikon's and better than mine - Nichikon's green non polar. Will send you four pieces as soon as I get them.
Cheers,

 
Thank's. I already ordered the capacitors. I expect that ELNA to be more refined from Nichicon, and Auricap give me a touch of naturalness and at the same time a more dynamic in sound. I see after. A friend told me: " Once you have entered in "high-end" audio headphone, you will pay increasingly more for increasingly less!". Now , I don't know if it's "hi-fi" or "high-end" and  I don't like to consider me somewhere very high. But I'm happy with what I already have, that sounds pretty. High-end experience may cover an electrostatic amplifier that costs several thousand dollars and an SR-007 or 009 Stax headphone. I can not figure out how they would sound, but I wouldn't like it, the only reason being the financial. Otherwise you're out!

So, it is more convenient for more quality to change something into Havana. Especially as I get to be very ok! At least I hope so.
 
 

 

[niamex]

Quote:

Robeert
 
I'm thinking about an R-Core transformer....possibly two in a separate enclosure.
 
Any ideas??

Generally speaking you need three transformers - one for the receiver part, one for the DAC's and one for the analogue part. .So there are three separate PS /now you have two/ - you have to add four hyper fast soft recovery diodes and two filtering caps. Additionally I have installed trimmers in order to regulate the voltage of the PCM56 feeding - I have raised it from the original 9,5 V to 12,5 V in order to push the chips in higher class /OK not class A but still/. Now they get worm and theoretically work better. You will see some preliminary variant - still test run.
Cheers
 
 

 

[niamex]

Dynobot, I have found the bloody evil - 47 uf and imm changed it with some very ordinary 100 uf cap - UNBELIEVABLE Will go ahead and try some other values and finally install some quality cap there.
Thanks for the good suggestion !

 

[LionelH2]

Quote:

Hi,
which one do you mean by next to C5 ?
 
 

Sorry to be a pest, but could you please share the value and choice of Cap when you are satisfied?  Also, a picture with the location would be awesome.  Thanks in advance.  All the changes you guys have sugested have been wonderful improvements.
 

 

[robeeert1]

Some new high quality components have just arrived for the next upgrade. I wonder how Jupiter, Mundorf M-cap, FT-3 and the stock Havana 0,22uF caps compare to one another.
I'm going to upgrade the tube socket also. Will post impressions and pictures by the end of the week.
 

 

 

[niamex]

Quote:

Sorry to be a pest, but could you please share the value and choice of Cap when you are satisfied?  Also, a picture with the location would be awesome.  Thanks in advance.  All the changes you guys have sugested have been wonderful improvements.
 

I haven't decided yet for myself. First I have replaced it with a cheap 100 uf and there was a noticeable improvement as dinobot suggested. After I tried 220 uf but I couldn't hear an improvement - just the opposite IMHO. Let me listen some more time and let's see what is the impression of Robert - than we will decide.
Cheers

 

[kimchee411]

Hi, modding/soldering n00b here.  I've decided to be a little adventurous and try the PCM56P-K and output cap (Jupiter) mods myself.  Couple questions:
 
1.  How do you keep the caps and ICs in a stable position when soldering them to the PCB since you need 2 hands to do the soldering?
 
2.  Is it hard to unmount the PCB?  What tools are required?
 
3.  From the pics of the ICs, it looks like they are mounted by through hole soldering.  Is that right?  Probably a very dumb question, but better safe than sorry!
 
Any soldering tips/pitfalls I should be aware of?  I already have the iron and solder (Cardas tri-eutectic -- that should work, right?), just need a wick to clean up the old stuff.  I have soldered exactly once in my life, which was a pair of new tweeters (okay, 4 times if you count all the connections), never on a PCB.  Is it too risky to try it on this relatively expensive piece of equipment?  I have no problem taking it to my tech, but would rather avoid the travel and turnaround time.
 
Thanks!

 

[kimchee411]

I have decided against the Jupiter caps as I already have a rather dark sounding amp.  Has anybody tried the Mundorf Silver/Oil caps or know definitively that they will fit?

 

[kimchee411]

Nevermind, I think I got the answers to my questions.  No soldering required for the DAC chips!  Woo hoo!  I also saw what robeeert1 had to do to make the Mundorf caps fit -- no, thanks.
 
Has anybody had the chance to compare V-Cap OIMP to Jupiter HT yet?  Any other good caps that will fit without hacking?  I've spent a LOT of time reading this thread, but didn't notice mention of other similar or better grade caps.

 

[robeeert1]

Quote:

Nevermind, I think I got the answers to my questions.  No soldering required for the DAC chips!  Woo hoo!  I also saw what robeeert1 had to do to make the Mundorf caps fit -- no, thanks.
 
Has anybody had the chance to compare V-Cap OIMP to Jupiter HT yet?  Any other good caps that will fit without hacking?  I've spent a LOT of time reading this thread, but didn't notice mention of other similar or better grade caps.

M-caps silver/gold made by Mundorf are hard to fit, but they're worth the effort. The Jupiter HT may be great sounding also, it'll be not easy to fit them in, too. The same diameter as Mundor's silver/gold.
 
Jupiter HT 2,2uF   -     50mm x 35mm
Mundorf silver/gold -    56mm x 36mm
 
Diameter is more important in the case of Havana.
 

 

[korzena]

Anybody compared Havana to Rega DAC? What are the main sonic differences between the two DACs?
 
After reading many impressions/reviews of Rega and Havana DAC, the two seem to have lots of in common (sound earthy and organic, tonally dense, overall "rightness", musicality, good rhythm, not over-detailed). The differences I could spot after reading only (unfortunately I haven't listened to either of the DACs) are that Havana provides more delicate, subtle sound (which some people claim, might not be aggresive enough for rock music) and Havana has a wide and very deep soundstage (which I consider a big advantage - not sure about the soundstage of Rega DAC)
 
I am considering buying one of these DACs and it is difficult to decide which one will be better for me as I don't have a chance to listen to them beforehand.
(I'm mostly interested in sonic abilities. I will use coaxial input only).
 
Any help appreciated!

 

[niamex]

Quote:

Anybody compared Havana to Rega DAC? What are the main sonic differences between the two DACs?
 

IMHO that kind of comparison is not correct - they are completely different as architecture - NOS Single Ended  tube buffered against a digital filter and they sounds different - depends what your preferences are /mainly what kind of music you are listening to/. So instead of asking this you better find a way to listen to both of them and take your decision.
Cheers,