[gastro54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsaavedra LOL!!! I couldn't help noticing that your assembly is resting on top of what appears to be Audiophile uncompressed cotton or polyester fiber

Ahem! Ahem! Cotton thankyouverymuch

 

[Neville]

Gastro54, what caps are you using and whats the specs? They look like Auri caps but I could be wrong. Are the Cardas caps any better ?

Let me try to understand this : if you do the Swenson mod, then you bypassing the BBrown upgrades right ? So if thats the case you really only want to upgrade the RCA jacks ????

 

[rsaavedra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neville if you do the Swenson mod, then you bypassing the BBrown upgrades right ? So if thats the case you really only want to upgrade the RCA jacks ????

You can do the Swenson mods together with the Vinnie Rossi power supply mods, and also a bunch of capacitor replacements in the audio board are not directly related to the opamp replacement, they might apply to the Swenson as well, but I haven't checked this in detail.

 

[gastro54]

You still would want to upgrade the power supply which I have not done yet, and also a few of the caps on the board, which I also have not done. I am currently using .47 uF AuriCaps. I'm not sure about how they sound in comparison to the Cardas, but I plan on buying some of the Sprague Vitamin Q caps and do some "cap rolling" as the capacitors are the most essential part of this mod. For the noise filer cap I used 300pf silver mica as recommended in his guide. For the RCA jacks, I used radioshack gold plated ones. I personally don't think that spending loads of money on connectors is going to make any audible difference.

EDIT: Look here for what caps to replace: http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?...et&r=&session=

And BTW, now that I can listen to my speakers, the Swenson Mods sound great! Much more detailed than before.

 

[Budgie]

Glad to hear someone else finally went the Swenson mod route. If sounds (much) better, but picking the right caps is critical to getting the most from the mod.

 

[gastro54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Budgie Glad to hear someone else finally went the Swenson mod route. If sounds (much) better, but picking the right caps is critical to getting the most from the mod.

Did you do the swenson mods as well? I'm not sure if you are saying "it" or "if" in your post. What improvements did you hear over the vinnie mods if you did both?

 

[rsaavedra]

I've read in audioasylum some people indeed have had great results with the Swenson mod, in some cases better than with the Vinnie Rossi mods. But hey, those Rossi modded Toshibas they might have compared with didn't have the Browndog with the 627's

No seriously, the Swenson might sound still better possibly, but it seemed to me a little unpredictable depending on the matching issue and the choice of capacitors. As a matter of fact, Swenson's mods don't indicate precisely what capacitor to use, it is up to the modder to choose among several possible options/brands. I prefered to follow the more concrete, less open-ended instructions of the Rossi mods.

 

[gastro54]

Yea, thats also true, most of the people that did the vinnie rossi mods on AA didn't have those nice 627s. I think I'll try vinnie mods if I get a second 3960 (highly likely)

 

[Neville]

Well my Browndog arrived last week and my OPA627's with heatsinks and ferrites arrive today. If only my partsconnexion order arrived this week, then I would be all set for the weekend. It apparrently shipped last Monday

I am now considering doing the Swenson mod after I have done the above and let it burn in for a few days. Would it be practical to connect the wires to the top of the PCB instead of the underside like Swenson does? I guess what I am trying to do is get the cable to be as close to the RCA connectors as possible and then it would be connected to Auri/Cardas caps.

Any advice ?

 

[CBMC]

Don't expect that partconnexion order anytime soon. My order was sent out June 22nd and still has not arrived in St. Louis. Hopefully I will get it today. I talked to partsconnexion and they said that if after 14 buisness days it hasn't arrived they would send out a new order. Hope it doesn't come down to that though.

 

[gastro54]

I paid for my parts connexion order on the 28th and received it in Atlanta on the 6th.

EDIT: since you are removing the PCB anyways, it is easier to solder on the bottom of the board instead of the top, I had no problems.

 

[Neville]

Gastro54, I also abide in GA, but sadly no parts have shown up

But what I will do in the meantime is head over to HDepot and get some tack and if they sell it, some JB Weld to bond the $1 tile to the chassis.

Some questions I have:
1. has anybody put damping under the PCB's when seated in the chassis ?
2. I received my OPA627 in an anti-static bag and it makes references to "baking" it in order to reduce static ???? I am confused here...
3. would a DAC improve the sound ? some threads in AAsylum indicate not
4. has anybody tried replacing the fuse with a ceramic one and did they notice an improvement ?

Thanks

 

[rsaavedra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neville 1. has anybody put damping under the PCB's when seated in the chassis ?

I placed some small pieces of vinyl tiles under them. Also some pieces of rope caulk recently.

Quote:

2. I received my OPA627 in an anti-static bag and it makes references to "baking" it in order to reduce static ???? I am confused here...

I remember reading that as well, but never did such "baking", wasn't sure what they were talking about. I have this red antistatic mat (radio shack) to work on, and assumed there wouldn't be any problem. It seems there wasn't, but let's see if any DIYer has any feedback about that baking.

Quote:

3. would a DAC improve the sound ? some threads in AAsylum indicate not

No idea, but the stock DAC seems to be doing an amazingly good job.

Quote:

4. has anybody tried replacing the fuse with a ceramic one and did they notice an improvement ?

Not yet, but I'll try to remember including that in my next digi-key order.

 

[rsaavedra]

Well after receiving word of advice from Morsel, Goddess of Grounding, I will remove the connection between the chassis and AC ground of my Toshiba, Sony, and Marantz. Contrary to my original naive intuition, having such connections is prone to cause more ground loops than not having it, so while I'll keep the cool and sturdy halloween powercords, will disconnect their green (ground) leads from the chassis of my components.

 

[CBMC]

Will you just cut that ground off?