[calpernica]

Thank you @lithiumnk!

 

[kingoftown1]

@Xoverman @b0bb and anyone else who's done cap mods to the su-6 -- what kind of burn in timeline/changes did you notice with your units? I've done plenty of more boutique cap modding, but this is my first time subbing in aluminum/organic polymers. I've swapped out the supercaps & most of the through-hole caps others have done in this thread. About 50 hours in and it's pretty lackluster in the midrange and my stage is much more 2d. I know I should stick it out and give it 100-150 hours, but part of me just wants to start randomly subbing in Kaisei to try and correct the balance.

 

[Xoverman]

@Xoverman @b0bb and anyone else who's done cap mods to the su-6 -- what kind of burn in timeline/changes did you notice with your units? I've done plenty of more boutique cap modding, but this is my first time subbing in aluminum/organic polymers. I've swapped out the supercaps & most of the through-hole caps others have done in this thread. About 50 hours in and it's pretty lackluster in the midrange and my stage is much more 2d. I know I should stick it out and give it 100-150 hours, but part of me just wants to start randomly subbing in Kaisei to try and correct the balance.

Hello Kingoftown1,
i wouldn't worry too much about burn in. Just changing values and testing has a bigger impackt. Its a shame LKS don't put the power supply on a separate PCB.
The rectifying diodes and the capacitors produce a lot of vibrations which are transferred through the PCB to the XO wich is very very sensitive to vibration !!!
You can test the effect for yourself very easy by putting "Blue Tack" between the CAPS to dampen the vibrations. I found out, that some of the changing CAPS sound change was just because the vibration signature was different from that CAP.
For myself i decided to put the rectification and first CAP circuit on a extra mechanically isolated PCB for all 5 Voltages.

 

[Ian S]

LKS don't put the power supply on a separate PCB.

@Xoverman

Hi there, thanks for that info. Did you mean LKS and not Singxer SU-6? Does all that apply only to the LKS or to the Singxer too?

Could microphonics be why you filling your SU-6 with sand made a difference?

I presume Singxer doesn't have rectifier as it's fed by DC to the 30 Farad super caps.
I've not done the mod to my SU-6 yet, but I don't want any less midrange, system is a bit recessed as it is.
And the big improvement in imaging, with loudspeakers, not headphones, was one of the best things the SU-6 brought, so I don't want to loose that either.

But I did compare my Singxer SU-6 with a much more expensive Empirical Offramp and the Offramp was a lot nicer to listen to, didn't have that harshness. I hoped the mods would put that right.

 

[kingoftown1]

Fwiw, I should disclose my other su-6 mods. I'm using abs5100 and equivalents on most chips & the enclosure lid. Su-6 is powered by a hypsos w/ Sr purple fuse and Ghent Gotham jssg360 DC cable. Those mods had the su-6 performing exceptionally, and I truly only modded out of boredom. Don't take my experience as something set in stone quite yet. I think I'm going to order kaisei for a couple positions, but I'll still give the capsthat are in now another 50-100 hours

 

[Ian S]

@kingoftown1

Did you change the digital isolation chips? Or just the capacitors? If chips, what effect did that have with your system?

 

[kingoftown1]

Just capacitors & USB connector. I don't have any experience with surface mount parts and I like the SU-6 way too much to risk it. Fwiw things are sounding more balanced with a nice punch and less harshness today. I'm approaching 100 hours and 2 or 3 discharge cycles on the caps. I still went ahead and ordered bipolar Kaisei to replace the two 2200uF & three of the 470uF positions. I'll probably start with the 2x 2200 and then truly not touch it for a couple weeks. I figure between the originals, aluminum, & Kaisei options I'll eventually land on something I really like--it just takes time and listening.

 

[b0bb]

@Xoverman @b0bb and anyone else who's done cap mods to the su-6 -- what kind of burn in timeline/changes did you notice with your units? I've done plenty of more boutique cap modding, but this is my first time subbing in aluminum/organic polymers. I've swapped out the supercaps & most of the through-hole caps others have done in this thread. About 50 hours in and it's pretty lackluster in the midrange and my stage is much more 2d. I know I should stick it out and give it 100-150 hours, but part of me just wants to start randomly subbing in Kaisei to try and correct the balance.

Took about 2weeks, left on 24x7 in that time.

Increasing the size of the supercap increases the transient current demand from the power supply, ditto using low ESR polymers.
The stock 3A supply is adequate without mods, try a higher current supply say 5A or more to see if it makes a difference.
(The PSU you are using delivers up to 6A, if the meter stays at 6A more than 1-2 seconds when powering up SU-6, you might need something bigger)

The supercap has to charge for 72hours or more before it reaches spec, evaluate any changes only after this time has elapsed.
Check the voltages across the pair of supercaps, they should be within 5% of each other.

Bipolar caps are useful if the voltage across its terminals changes polarity continuously like an AC signal.
On a DC power supply this is of little benefit, ESR is 2x of a polar cap as most bipolar caps are 2 polar caps connected in series internally, it has to be 2x the capacitance to achieve the same performance as a polar cap.

Post a few pictures of your work.

 

[Xoverman]

@Xoverman

Hi there, thanks for that info. Did you mean LKS and not Singxer SU-6? Does all that apply only to the LKS or to the Singxer too?

Could microphonics be why you filling your SU-6 with sand made a difference?

I presume Singxer doesn't have rectifier as it's fed by DC to the 30 Farad super caps.
I've not done the mod to my SU-6 yet, but I don't want any less midrange, system is a bit recessed as it is.
And the big improvement in imaging, with loudspeakers, not headphones, was one of the best things the SU-6 brought, so I don't want to loose that either.

But I did compare my Singxer SU-6 with a much more expensive Empirical Offramp and the Offramp was a lot nicer to listen to, didn't have that harshness. I hoped the mods would put that right.

Sorry, I thought I was in the LKS forum.
YES, the reason I fill the Su-6 with sand are micro vibrations. The XO's are very sensitive to vibrations and power supply noise.
I have my su-6 on a isolation stand that is hung on rubber bands. You can hear the effect immediately.
Here are some pictures of my resent modifications.

 

[Xoverman]

The regulator with the heatsink is a replacement for the 1V step down switching supply.
The regulator in the middle replaces the stock 3.3V linear regulator.
The regulator with the two wires going to it is exclusively for the discret PLL.
All regulator's are LT3045 with 22uF parallel to the set resistor.

Easiest to replace and with the biggest impact on sound quality is the middle 3.3V regulator.

It's also very rewarding to add 4 tantal capacitors across the XILINX ( USB side ) bypass capacitors as suggested by B0bb.

 

[Ian S]

@Xoverman

How do you see to fit those parts on there!! Magnifying Loupes?

 

[kingoftown1]

Bipolar Kaisei caps arrived today.
Before:

These caps were continuing to improve and were sounding pretty good overall. If I hadn't already placed the order, I could've lived with them happily.

And now things get messy...or at least a little less neat. Going into the mod I knew I wanted to replace either the 2x 2200uF or 3x 470uF caps I'd previously swapped, but not both. The goal was to add a bit of midrange magic the Kaisei are known for, while keeping the speed, detail & bass of the aluminum caps. I was initially thinking I'd replace the two 2200uF, but the Kaiseis can't fit here, so 3x 470uF it is.

The rightmost Kaisei has to be installed at an angle to miss a couple surface mount components. For the same reason, the other two needed to be installed horizontally.

Early results sound promising. Now to not mess with it for a couple hundred hours.

 

[calpernica]

Hi @lithiumnk
I'm getting curious about deploying 10Mhz master clock(s) in my system. I don't know how to read the diagram you kindly shared. Do you know if RJ45 I2S carries the master clock signal?

 

[lithiumnk]

Hi @lithiumnk
I'm getting curious about deploying 10Mhz master clock(s) in my system. I don't know how to read the diagram you kindly shared. Do you know if RJ45 I2S carries the master clock signal?

Yes, rj45 carries mclk signal. But, in my system MCLK is not reqd.

 

[calpernica]

Hi

Hi @lithiumnk,

I've received my i2s cable from Pink Faun, which was configured using this pin-out diagram & one from Ayon Audio. Is there any other config needed on the SU-6? The cable doesn't work as-is.

Best wishes,
Jason

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