Here are some pics of my Valab. It's really starting to sound nice. I'm getting good dynamics and slam, but not as good as before I put in the BG FK's and the Shottky's.
I've had my doubts about the Schottky's. Has anyone noticed a lack of slam or speedy quick dynamics with them verses high speed FREDs or Murs with snubbers? Normally when I swap out diodes, I get a boost in dynamics, speed and slam. With the Schottky's it got slower and with less slam. Perhaps I'll have to swap them to FREDs with snubbers and listen.
I just did the negative leg of the SSOM. Other mods:
Back panel: Canare 75ohm input jack, Vampire Cu posts, Furutech Rhodium IEC
Lundahl 1574 digital input transformer on Canare jack, to 110ohm Caddock at DIR9001, through Jupitor 18g wire. (Bypassed switching and board tracing)
On DACs: 47uf BG FK, .1uf Wimas
3A Shottky's
Anti resonance circuit on secondary
Bypass fuse and board tracing (next time I'll get the 110V jumper)
lead tape on clocks
ERS tape on clocks and chips
.1 Wima caps on some of the PS (I had some extras)
Caddock mk-132 390ohm I/V w/ SSOM
Caddock mk-132 110ohm input resistor after Lundahl 1574
Output caps: Sonicap 3.3uF Sonicap GenII .22uF
The DAC is really starting to sound nice. Alive, musical, vibrant, transparent, satisying. Very sensitive to mechanical vibrations at my listening levels. It's still not as transparent, detailed, open, dynamic or possessing the shock and awe capabilities of my reference, but may be more enjoyable.
Unfortunately, I was not physically able to perform the DIR9001 mod. I could barely see the leads, let alone properly get my small soldering iron and a razor on them. I did confirm that pins 13, 14 are tied to ground on the 3.0 version.
What are the tricks to accomplish the DIR 9001 mod? It seems I'd have to buy a lighted magnifying lense and some kind of new Exacto blade. Access is tough too (of course i'd have to take out one of my output caps), but even then I think a flat blade Exacto bent to 90degrees might be helpful. Has anyone lifted these pins with a needle?
I also made up some Lowes 6ga speaker cables and a dig cable with Furutech FC-11 and Bullet plugs. The Furutech is way better than 1505A as a digital cable. It's relaxed and open and differentiates instruments in space very well. The Lowes 6ga cables have some promise. The Lowes cables demonstrated the most extreme case of mechanical settling I've ever heard. After twisting up the wires, crimping some cryod 6ga copper and gold spades and applying 3 pieces of heat shrink each for damping and holding the twist in place, I let the cables sit for a few hours and then installed them in my system. Even though the wire was burned in via DuoTech for weeks, it was extremely bright, with a bizarre super forward soundstage. With the amp off and no signal playing through the cables, most of the brightness was gone the next morning.
