[]eep]

I haven't done anything to the layout, just changed the led to blue and added a power on/off switch. But the one i'm sending away next I'm going to change the voltage resistors so as to lower it to about 7.13V for the chips (510 Ohm> 470 Ohm gives 7.65V>7.13V).

Oh, and i gave it some little rubber feet (5mm sticky bumpers). I don't like it scratching sound. It's all just little touches, but that all makes it just a bit nicer.

So, done the volt-mod. I added a 4k resistor to the 510 Ohm on the side (see page 12)

1/510 + 1/4k= 1/455
1.25* (1+(455/100))=6.94 V
Just a little bit more safety-margin.

 

[scottiebabie]

Quote:

I have done a bit of poking around with the Muse since getting it up and running. First off I find that there appears to be more bass when I have a pair of Black Gates in the output cap spot than without(output caps shorted out). However with the output caps shorted out the soundstage is huge and there is so much more detail throughout that I went with the shorting out option.
 

i may be wrong here but me thinks u dont have moar bass with the BG caps. what u have is less highs which makes it seem like theres more bass. nothing beats a straight wire IMO. theres moar of everything which tends to deemphasis any 1 particular aspect.


Quote:

Nice to see another vintage Sansui owner in this thread   It's definitely worth adjusting the DC offset if your amp allows (which model do you have?)  Same goes for the bias.
 

im an avid vintage gearhead with about 8vintage amps/receivers in current possession. i really like the sound of my Sansui AU-517 with a pair of HE5-LEs & a JVC JR-S300 that recently took the main spot away from a Pioneer SA7500 & Technics SA400 duo to drive the HD650, PK1s & other lesser cans. 
 
yaa i adjusted both the DC offset & Bias current the other day. i found the Bias setting of 50-90mv (20mv factory spec) to sound better so am monitoring both amps for overheating issues. if none, im gonna keep this mod.
 
ps:im a big 'Sui fanboy with a 4000 & 350 receivers too that shares speaker duties with a Pioneer SX3600 fluroscan driving a set of vintage Pro linear Stage 3s & my recently acquired Realistic (yaaa Ratshack!!!) Mach Ones. boy do these Mach Ones rock! - one of the best sounding units i've heard...PERIOD! am also trying to score a set of Polk Audio Monitor 7s for jazz & accoustic duties too. dang i love vintage gear!!!
 

 

[petemac110]

Very nice... I've got a restored AU-517 myself, along with a AU-719 current undergoing repairs, and a modified AU-101. A restored Kenwood KA-6100 also gets a lot of work for general listening purposes via my PC.
 
I've been tempted to increase the bias a tad after reading recommendations on audiokarma.org. I have rigged up a quiet cooling fan for when I drive 4 ohm loads with this amp, so increasing the bias a tad should cause no heat-related issues for me. I will look into it further.
 
Regarding the Mach Ones, I have a pair myself! I have recent reworked the crossover in accordance with the detailed thread on audiokarma, and with the revised capacitor and inductor values they sound much better than in standard form. Pretty impressive for 33 year old Radio Shack speakers, that's for sure!
 
Again, sorry for drifting off-topic here. I must say that I'm really looking forwad to implementing the recommended mods on this little DAC. An acquaintence of mine (who runs www.digitalaudioreview.net.au) has recently posted about the Muse DAC in his blog, and has linked to this exact thread for ideas regarding modifications. He is hoping to undertake a review of bargain-priced DACs in the near future, hence his/our interest in the Muse. 

 

[scottiebabie]

nice to meet another fellow 'SuiHead even if we're separated by quite a few islands, ponds, land masses & great blue seas! i seriously would like to have a AU-919 & 9500/9900 to see if they are worth replacing the 517 with. ofcos i wouldnt kick a big G outta ma bed either! heh. theres a JVC A-X9 listed on my local Craigs that im keeping a watch on as i hear JVCs Super A isnt too bad. ahhhh so much gear so little time & most importantly....so little money!
 
back to topic, i think u'd be very impressed with the DC cap shortin mod. its certainly the most bang (regardless of any amt of time & money) mod IMO & any other mods would just be icing on the cake. im pretty sure its gonna be very safe with your Stax amp - just hook up a set of DMM leads to the amp outputs & monitoring it for excessive DC before the real Mccoy. for sure the 'Suis are kosher with the short Muse as i am using both the mod Muse & a short'd MF V-Dac to power the 517 & JVC.
 
ps:im surprised that u ozzies get realistic stuff down under. Ratshacks bigger than i thought!

 

[Chefano]

Well..The only amp I have right now is a headphone amp, and acording to my mesures there is no caps along the signal path. so no output cap shortcuts =(
I have just installed two precious black gate pk 47uF/25V I all I can tell is WOW!!! Omg!!!! This litle thing is a beast!! and Im using the default psu. Battery is recharging! =D
JelMax has to come back! =(

 

[scottiebabie]

47uf is rather 'big' as coupling caps so its no wonder u get the 'bigbass' effect. IMO its more a case of rolloff highs which serves to emphasize the bottom rather than any major sonic upgrade. im sure the BGs are a better cap than the ori nichicons (if im not mistaken) but compared with a decent film poly, it sounds rather harsh - IMO ofcos.
 
if u can find the space or better yet, run the Muse naaaakeeed (sans upper cover), hookup a decent poly or PIO (buuuuyaaaaah!), the improvements will put a much bigger smile on your face.

 

[T.IIZUKA]

 
So long, I forget if it is written everywhere. 
Using this configuration.
 
 

 
 

 
 
Audio-technica ATH-PRO700 mk2, ULTRASONE HFI-2200HFI are combined.
Tireless, even after hearing a long time.

 

[Chefano]

Well..I was wondering that big cacitance caps in a high pass filter just improve the bass a bit, moving the corner frequency down ( the highs are uneffected as a high pass)..just a litle phase issue, but BGs can handle beautifully thant.
I have some russian PIO here but I dont know if the values are ok to use in this setup ( K40Y-9 2200pF 200V). Gonna wait a batch comming from Russia with differents values, ultil then gonna stick using the Black Gates... as this dac cant handle lots of mods ( pcb really scks) =(
 
 

 

[scottiebabie]

hmmmm 2200pF = 2.2nF = 0.0000022uF! so im thinking thats wayyyyy to small to use as output HP caps. i could be wrong here but the inherent bass rolloff wouldnt be fun! me thinks atleast 2.2uF is the smallest i'd go but that would mean huuuuge asss caps if PIOs were to be used

. still it mite not be impossible if some outside the box (pun intended!) creativity were applied. hehe

 

[Chefano]

The highest value Im waiting from Russia is 0,68uF, would give me plenty room to change de resistor and improve the bass..but the the orange cap is huge, and I wanna keep things inside. Have to figure out how =D
I have some muse KZ 10uF/100V here, but Im lazy to try LOL

 

 

[Chefano]

Yeah.. I did the change. The muse kz has more bass I think, but the BG has muuch muchh more resolution, the mids and highs are amazing, the sound stage is very resolved.
Gonna give the KZ a burn in.. lets see what happens. =D

 

[]eep]

sorry, i did smth wrong

 

[scottiebabie]

dang they be rad stuff Jeep'man! more importantly how do they sound?? 
 
psls dont just say they're better than electrolytics!!

 

[]eep]

Russian PiO caps are not that big, 2.2µF are 1.5 x 2.5 x 5 cm. (0.6"x 1"x 2") but those are called MBGO-2 PiO capacitors. The 10µF are way bigger:

That is not going to fit (the higher the Voltage, the thicker they are). But they do fit in the Lite Dac.
They are also not expensive, but the postage gets steep rather quickly.

160V / 10uf / 10% MBGO-2 paper capacitor
Dimensions :diameter - 50mm(1.96''); height - 44mm(1.73''): width 15mm(0.6'')
This capacitor type sounded very nice, and provide good characteristics.
These capacitors are a waxed paper is used for dielectric and aluminum foil insulated by paper film

(not my picture btw, just linked it from somewhere)
You were thinking about the green ones (or the metal colored) on the right, (right?), I was thinking about the red ones on the left. There are no K40 or K42 that big.

Notice the blue LED :rolleyes: Sorry about the blurriness...

I do know how to take a good photo btw.

Here are the missing feet. Tsss. Why they ever thought that was a good way to save money...

So, this is my current setup. The Teradak is only 'till tomorrow when I send it away. I tweaked the voltage to 10,5V and changed the red light for a blue one. The DAC is mine that I set to 6.95V, so the total V with this PSU is 6V. I can't really say I hear much of a difference. But it doesn't get warm at all.
See the amp I'm playing with... what a heresy in audiophile terms, when 1' under it is a Audio Note amp. sitting there jobless for more than a 1/2 a year now.
I need to sell some more stuff. :blink:

listening to 東京事変 now
Album: 教育
I love Shiina.

Edit: seems i made a doublepost so I deleted the old one.

I haven't come around to buying any of those MBGO's yet. I wanted to try some in my Muse t-amp and then I killed it (static discharge I think it was). So I'm still a bit afraid to try and solder on those. And I'm not sure they'll fit in.

The good news is; today I got a new one. But I'll just leave this one as is.

 

[Chefano]

Yeah.. it simply cant handle a 3rd or more soldering rework... my traces are lifting up.