Nezer
Antibacterial soap... kills bacteria... bad karma?
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2001
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This weekend, after listeing to the Toshiba SD-2109 as a source I was reading another thread here and git the bright idea to replace the caps in the power supply of my Corda.
They have now burned in for over 24 hours and I'm happy to report... WOW! Maybe it's psycholoigical but the bass seems faster and the whole thing just seems more smooth.
What I did was remove the 2 2200uf caps and the 2 1000uf caps that came stock with the HA-1 and replaced all four of them with some Cerafine 1000uf 35V caps. Although techically it's a downgrade ( the 2200uf provide a better resivoir) sonically it seems to really have improved things. Oh, and now the unit doesnt stay powered on for a solid 20 seconds after the power is killed, now it's more like 3-5 seconds (not that it matters).
The only problem was making the Cerafines fit. I had to get a bit creative with how they were placed as the older caps were a LOT smaller (even the 2200uf). The front two are bent to lay on thier sides and the back two are bent back to make room for the case top.
I was never really sure that replacing the power supply caps would make that great of a difference but it really seems to!
I'm now toying with the idea of replacing the opamps (and subsequent changes to the circuit to match the current load of the newer ones to ensure proper class-a operation) to OPA627s. I might also go through and replace all the resistors with Vishay CMFs while I'm at it.
I'm also considering adding a buffer between the power rails after the voltage regulators to ensure the opamps are being fed *exactly* the same voltage on the + and -. While the voltage regulators are good they are speced to go a quarter of a volt either direction. The buffer would help balance any differences and ensure the voltage rails are always equidistant from the virtual ground. This may help the opamp perform a bit better but I doubt it would be that audible if at all.
Any thougsh or suggestions? Now that i've voided the warranty any other upgrade thoughts?
How hard would it be to replace the second stage with a buffer?
I'm afraid this simple idea has opened a whole can of worms and I'll never be able to leave well enough alone...
They have now burned in for over 24 hours and I'm happy to report... WOW! Maybe it's psycholoigical but the bass seems faster and the whole thing just seems more smooth.
What I did was remove the 2 2200uf caps and the 2 1000uf caps that came stock with the HA-1 and replaced all four of them with some Cerafine 1000uf 35V caps. Although techically it's a downgrade ( the 2200uf provide a better resivoir) sonically it seems to really have improved things. Oh, and now the unit doesnt stay powered on for a solid 20 seconds after the power is killed, now it's more like 3-5 seconds (not that it matters).
The only problem was making the Cerafines fit. I had to get a bit creative with how they were placed as the older caps were a LOT smaller (even the 2200uf). The front two are bent to lay on thier sides and the back two are bent back to make room for the case top.
I was never really sure that replacing the power supply caps would make that great of a difference but it really seems to!
I'm now toying with the idea of replacing the opamps (and subsequent changes to the circuit to match the current load of the newer ones to ensure proper class-a operation) to OPA627s. I might also go through and replace all the resistors with Vishay CMFs while I'm at it.
I'm also considering adding a buffer between the power rails after the voltage regulators to ensure the opamps are being fed *exactly* the same voltage on the + and -. While the voltage regulators are good they are speced to go a quarter of a volt either direction. The buffer would help balance any differences and ensure the voltage rails are always equidistant from the virtual ground. This may help the opamp perform a bit better but I doubt it would be that audible if at all.
Any thougsh or suggestions? Now that i've voided the warranty any other upgrade thoughts?
How hard would it be to replace the second stage with a buffer?
I'm afraid this simple idea has opened a whole can of worms and I'll never be able to leave well enough alone...