[MikoLayer]

IIRC, Mundorfs are supposed to be smoother and less bright compared to obbligatos right? In that case I think I am going with the safer bet in Mundorfs.

So Pat, in your setup you have 1uF cryo'd Obbligato's bypassed with .1uF Mundorf silver oil, right? What you suggested in the earlier post then, was to remove the tantalum caps and use the 1uF Mundorfs without bypassing?

Quote:

get the gold, they are nonconductive.

Does that pertain to the Mundorfs as well. Boy, these are sure expensive, I concur

Is PartsConnexion where you guys get Mundorfs from? Thanks a bunch, I really appreciate this!

 

[r8833]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikoLayer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is PartsConnexion where you guys get Mundorfs from? Thanks a bunch, I really appreciate this!

where are you located usa or canada ? here's a couple of places you can try

in usa

Audio Capacitors

Capacitors from
Madisound


in canada

AuDIYo.com - Mundorf - Furutech - Techflex - DACT - Acoustic System - Tentlabs

 

[PatOMalley]

gold for the Obbligato's
silver oil for the Mundorfs.

If you buy 1uF make sure you have the space to fit them. Otherwise get .1uF so they will fit and use them to bypass the tantalum's.

over and out.

 

[MikoLayer]

Sorry for being an inquisitive person, but here is my last volley of questions for the day

Would bypassing be less than ideal, compared to having tantalums replaced entirely? If so, by how much? I just want to remove the sibilance and tame brightness at the moment...
Does anyone have any luck fitting 1uFs inside the 2009 'luxury version'?

Thanks a bunch, I will check those sites for Mundorf silver oil caps.

 

[PatOMalley]

10 ways to look at it.
If you keep the Tantalums you have a larger value sitting there passsing signal, could be good for bass. Then again with a solid 1uF you have cohesion.

Necessity dictates. Do you have sapce? If you plan on the PSU you can wait until yuo remove the inboard PS.

Can't commit to 'what is best' re caps. You just have to give it a go.

 

[MikeW]

I don't understand UF ratings on capacitor, the stock caps are rated 10 UF, and are quite small, but why are there 4.7 uf caps that are massive and don't even fit in the enclosure.

 

[marcelnl]

the size is different to the internal making of the various types of capacitors. A capacitor is made up out of two layers of conductive material separated by an insulator, as the insulating layer and/or the conductor gets thicker the size needed per uF increases ..... using paper and oil as insulator with copper tin or silver foil makes for a larger capacitor at the same size when compare to using thinner foils in capacitors.


A tantalum as in the stock version is a dielectric capacitor which a different breed altogether Tantalum capacitor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My personal opinion is that a tantalum cap can be used when pressed for size, they perform pretty well and can be quite neutral and imho are the best dielectric caps when you need to use a dielectric cap in the audio signal path, but the bigger types like good paper in oil types (with whatever conductor) beat the **** out of dielectric capacitors when placed in the audio signal path mainly due to their better linearity and phase characteristics.

Due to size limitations most PSUs and DACs utilize dielectric capacitors, whereas in my type of ' nuclear power plant DYI' size does not matter and addding my tube DAC stage to my CD Player made me use the can opener on the chassis of the CD player

 

[MikeW]

so moving from the 10uf to a much weaker 1uf is still a gain for the dac? seems like it would hurt dynamics or somthing. I guess it's made up by the fact that the 1uf is a much better cap? How does a bypass help the audio signal when you still leave the crappy stock caps in? it helps stabilize the current? or handles different frequencies?

I think the lux version has enough room for the 1uf obbligato's. But would it sound better to just bypass the stock caps, (since they are so much more powerful?) I think I understand how to wire caps in parallel and perform the bypass, seems pretty straight forward. If I decide to replace the Caps altogether, is it just a straight swap out, as in de-solder exsiting caps and put the 1uf obbligato in the exact same spot? I've seen some of the other pics in this thread and there looks to be a couple of small resistor's near the caps, in most pics these have been removed and had somthing else placed there, does this have to do with the output caps, or is it just a different mod im seeing?

TIA
-Mike

 

[MikoLayer]

I got my HD650 repaired and had some brief listen on it with different tubes. Valab does have a 'fullness' to the sound as noted earlier. I don't think it sounds as sibilant as earlier either. Maybe burn-in is doing some good, or it's just hd600 vs hd650 thing. Another thing to note was abundance of bass, though with a bit of bloat. With that in mind, I think it would be safe to get the 1uF caps; I don't think giving up some bass would hurt at all.

One thing that I am worried about though, how much harder is it to replace the tantalums as opposed to bypassing them? There is a pretty nice workbench at school, but soldering will take some practicing to get used to.

My monica is still being worked on, should be ready to go tomorrow, hopefully.

 

[Ranchu]

Been a ton of info on caps posted by many intrepid posters throughout the thread. Maybe revue some of that, pop the top of your dac and have an eyeball at what you're dealing with. Check the dimensions of caps you're considering. Bill made an extra enclosure on top to put them in, some just leave the top off, some replace the entire enclosure. Some, like me get small caps (phe 426), and procrastinate installing them.

 

[MikoLayer]

Yeah well, I am a bit concerned about the aesthetics and portability side of things too.. I don't think I want to go all out, just the minimal mods done to get the most out of is what I am after.

After some more listen, things are starting to sound quite good... Maybe I should just do the bypass mod, seems safer and easier to do... Choices, choices

 

[Nickel]

Following this thread for a while now. Care to comment on this Valab clock on ebay Valab 11.2896 & 5.6448 MHz Tempeture Compensated Crystal Oscillator Module.
They say "This clock module must be best clock upgrade kit in audio tweaking market. We will also use this module in our great credit NOS 1543 DAC in next version."

1PPM 11.2896 5.6448 MHz Low Jitter TCXO Crystal DAC - eBay (item 290341156368 end time Sep-17-09 09:09:10 PDT)

Is this a new development?

The have a new $500 DAC too
Valab 4395 Platinum 24bit 192k Hi-Bit Re-data DAC USB

 

[marcelnl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeW /img/forum/go_quote.gif so moving from the 10uf to a much weaker 1uf is still a gain for the dac? seems like it would hurt dynamics or somthing. I guess it's made up by the fact that the 1uf is a much better cap? How does a bypass help the audio signal when you still leave the crappy stock caps in? it helps stabilize the current? or handles different frequencies? I think the lux version has enough room for the 1uf obbligato's. But would it sound better to just bypass the stock caps, (since they are so much more powerful?) I think I understand how to wire caps in parallel and perform the bypass, seems pretty straight forward. If I decide to replace the Caps altogether, is it just a straight swap out, as in de-solder exsiting caps and put the 1uf obbligato in the exact same spot? I've seen some of the other pics in this thread and there looks to be a couple of small resistor's near the caps, in most pics these have been removed and had somthing else placed there, does this have to do with the output caps, or is it just a different mod im seeing? TIA -Mike

Nope the absolute value of the cap (10uF vs 1uF, the 10 uF being the bigger container holding a bigger charge of electrons than the 1uF) has an impact on the lowest frequency it will be able to let through. Given that your amp has a high enough impedance you should however not notice a difference.

Bypassing is a debate on its own, the idea is that the smaller value better quality cap will let through frequency ranges the bigger cap of lesser quality will fail to let through.......
IMHO that is good enough in non signal path applications but a single high quality cap is to be preferred, but that is my opinion......

not sure what pic you are exactly looking at i'll not comment on that, but when replacing caps you should be safe when you are using the exact same solder spots.
You may find that the leads of the bigger caps are not long enough or are not insulated, judging by your questions I'd advice you to find a friend with experience in soldering electronics to do this for you in order not to make a mess (given that it is low voltage the damage would likely not amount to serious injuries, but you might potentially kill off a good DAC)

 

[hudsongabrielle]

Hello,
I found this forum when searching for some numerological info and was gladly surprised. I like very much the idea of talking to others about changing yourself and society for the better. It's needed, for most of us. Hope to find some good discussion here!
Regards

 

[marcelnl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Following this thread for a while now. Care to comment on this Valab clock on ebay Valab 11.2896 & 5.6448 MHz Tempeture Compensated Crystal Oscillator Module. They say "This clock module must be best clock upgrade kit in audio tweaking market. We will also use this module in our great credit NOS 1543 DAC in next version." 1PPM 11.2896 5.6448 MHz Low Jitter TCXO Crystal DAC - eBay (item 290341156368 end time Sep-17-09 09:09:10 PDT) Is this a new development? The have a new $500 DAC too Valab 4395 Platinum 24bit 192k Hi-Bit Re-data DAC USB

I'd say it is new, and having heard the March 09 version of the VALAB DAC and looking at what components they use where I would not second guess them for long...they seem to know what they are doing.