Nigel
Been here a while!
Watching over Gotham City keeping us safe
Posts: 2,064
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Post by Nigel on Jan 28, 2007 1:34:35 GMT
Anyone any thoughts about removing the transformer & placing it in a seperate enclosure. Mike/Rick, if the dc supply is unregulated, would there be worthwhile improvements by using a 9v dc regulated supply? For instance, I have the 15v Andante regulated supply for the Chiarra, could I simply replace the Andante's 15v tranny with the Heed's 9v transformer & have a regulated 9v dc suppy? Or is there more to it than that?
Cheers,
Nigel
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darynalexander
100+
will probably give you some sort of disease.
Posts: 179
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Post by darynalexander on Jan 28, 2007 1:47:10 GMT
Mike, do you still have a pair of Sprague's available? I'd love to try them out.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 29, 2007 13:14:23 GMT
mike/pink floyd: a quick question on the size of the 35v 10,000uF snap in capacitors are they 25mm or 30mm? or would both fit? oh and another quick question, could i replace the film caps with polycarb caps and then bypass them with polyprops? was originally thinking of the red WIMA polyesters bypassed with polyprops like you did, but i can get polycarbs for not much more, is this possible/advantageous? thanks so much dc Hi DC, The 35V 10,000 are 25mm though 30mm types will fit in those positions comfortably. Polycarbs will be fine bypassed with polyprops... I don't know about any "advantages" but there shoukld certainly be no disadvantages using these.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 29, 2007 13:26:38 GMT
The two electrolytics I replaced with same value non polar electrolytics and the film caps I replaced with polyester types... I fitted them under the board to give more room around the dip8 socket for opamp rolling. I can't actually remember what these caps were doing... I mentioned it over there at the time www.head-fi.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2533164&postcount=564 decoupling, bypass almost cetrain
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Post by dc on Jan 29, 2007 15:17:31 GMT
thanks pinky! just reading all of the old posts on that thread, based on all of my frenzied reading of your posts, i am able to see where everything is except for what appears to be a film cap between the opamp and one of the 470nF film caps so far on everything I've read to do with replaceable parts except for the opamp and diodes has come in pairs, but in this picture i only see one of this part and wondering what it is... also did you ever end up fitting 22,000uF caps in the canamp? thanks!
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Post by dc on Jan 30, 2007 1:45:54 GMT
oh and another newblet question: i noticed that it's acceptable to drop in higher volted and higher valued capacitors for electrolytics,
but i'm wondering if that applies with film caps as well?
whether i can just drop in all 470nF films (still deciding what type) at or above 100v which meet the minimum values and capacitance for all the film caps on the board (afaik 2 x 470nF and 2 x 100nF @ 63v and 2 x 10nF @ 100v)
the reason for this is RS only lets me order a minimum of 10 polyprops of the values used on this board, and this is basically just a money conservation excercise - rather than ordering 30 polyprops and using 6 of them, howabout order 10 and use 6 of them?!!?
much appreciated,
thanks!
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 3, 2007 22:19:51 GMT
Anyone any thoughts about removing the transformer & placing it in a seperate enclosure. One of the best things about the HEED (apart from the superb SQ) is the all in one enclosure design. It's sleek, it's slim and sounds great. Of course you can remove the transformer and house it in a seperate enclosure but seeing there's no associated "noise" from the transformer where it is I'd be inclined to just enjoy the music mate. There's more to it than that I'm afraid. The andante is 15 - 0 - 15V and not +/- 15V. You'd also have to configure it to +/-9V by fitting 9V regulators (replace the 15V regs) and would be better to fit a 9V 30VA toroidal in place of the existing 15V toroidal..... either that or glue the Heed's encapsulated transformer onto the PCB and hardwire the primaries and secondaries to the pads using hook up wire. It's doable but you'd probably be better starting from scratch with a regulated 9V supply and keep the Chiarra / Andante as a pair.... you'll easily sell your Chiarra / Andante Nigel, no doubt about that but the Chiarra on its own wouldn't be such an attractive proposition. The HEED, as is, is a bloody good amp and its simplicity is what makes it tick. I, personally, wouldn't want to convert it into a two box affair (unless, of course, it sounded like shite.... which it doesn't) if it were humming, noisy and horrible sounding maybe but seeing it's as quiet as a mouse and sounds great............... Nigel[/quote] Hi Nigel,
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 3, 2007 22:22:46 GMT
thanks pinky! just reading all of the old posts on that thread, based on all of my frenzied reading of your posts, i am able to see where everything is except for what appears to be a film cap between the opamp and one of the 470nF film caps so far on everything I've read to do with replaceable parts except for the opamp and diodes has come in pairs, but in this picture i only see one of this part and wondering what it is... also did you ever end up fitting 22,000uF caps in the canamp? thanks! It's 100nF 63V
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 3, 2007 22:26:26 GMT
For sure, order 10 of the highest value and fit them... no probs at all in this application.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 6, 2007 23:07:03 GMT
Hi Guys, My CanAmp has gone to Liverpool and I won't be having any more hands on with it so everything I know about the amp has been covered in this thread and the thread at Head-Fi. The "silence" from Liverpool suggests the new owner is too busy enjoying the music to report back so job well done I've got a few of the Sprague Koolohm 10Watt 100ohm resistors left and will be happy to send them to CanAmp tweakers for the cost of shipping only. ($10 US / ROW £5 UK) PM me for details. Enjoy the Music. Mike.
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darynalexander
100+
will probably give you some sort of disease.
Posts: 179
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Post by darynalexander on Feb 20, 2007 4:22:01 GMT
Thank you thank you thank you Mike for the Mills. They arrived! And now, with just days away until the Heed touches down, I can't wait to open this sucker up.
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Post by dc on Feb 20, 2007 10:53:25 GMT
huge thanks to mike on my end for the spragues as well!
mine left frankfurt yesterday i believe... *me rubs hands together*
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darynalexander
100+
will probably give you some sort of disease.
Posts: 179
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Post by darynalexander on Feb 28, 2007 2:17:51 GMT
Mike, I don't know how you got the damn thing off the feet, but good job however you did it. I keep turning the damn screw, nut, etc. and the whole thing just turns.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 28, 2007 12:05:58 GMT
Mike, I don't know how you got the damn thing off the feet, but good job however you did it. I keep turning the damn screw, nut, etc. and the whole thing just turns. You don't have to remove the feet Daryn. On the PCB you'll see 4 small nuts, carefully remove them. Unscrew the back panel (two screws) and then lift the board out by pulling / lifting toward the rear (remember to remove the nut that secures the potentiometer and the nut that secures the headphone socket first) If you've stripped a thread then it's a different kettle of fish.
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Post by dc on Mar 2, 2007 15:30:56 GMT
got my canamp ! wow it's much smaller than i imagined (and much more difficult to mod)
i spent all of thursday night after work modding the damn thing (hasnt even had a chance to burn in yet)
anyway, just reporting back on the progress to date: 35v 10,000uF Evox Rifa with really impressive ESR electrolytics dropped in place of the jamicons 35v 100uF Rubycon ZA ultra low impedance power resistors replaced with sprague koolohms courtesy of pinky all film caps replaced with 250v 470uF evox rifa polypropylene capacitors diodes replaced with ultrafast ones opamp socketed with AD823 currently in place all hookup wire replaced with fatter stuff (speaker cables i had lying around)
let me tell you this was quite an exercise! replacing electrolytics was the easiest part
removing the film caps was also easy, but putting in the evox polyprops was an enormous task, all of them are underneath the board, stuck on with blu tack, these are too huge so basically i either used small pieces of hookup or followed the traces on the board until i found a more suitable place to solder them! i basically bought only one that fulfilled all of them in terms of voltage and capacitance to save money/hassle but MAN that was a mistake, in proportion to the board these things are huge, i had envisaged in my head much more room with the canamp but the computer screen deceived me...
highly don't recommend using such high value polyprops, but oh well. also the opamp was tough, i decided to remove everything around it to make life easier for myself, but ended up lifting half the pads (of other components)! yikes
no worries, again, either scratching the surface and resoldering or stretching the leg to the nearest in-tact component down the path of the circuit
one thing i noticed is that basically most of the film caps are bypassing other electrolytics the only reason i followed all the paths was because I a. lifted the damn pads, or b. couldn't fit the damn component where i wanted it!
anyways, i am just awaiting some 100v 10uF caps to replace the ones at the very front near the opamp and i will have replaced just about every component bar the resistors (except power ones) and the damn power transformer! oh, and pot and jacks, and power cable...
anyways, initial impressions are HUGE. coming from a meier audio corda head-five i thought was pretty good to this is like a total step up! so far only listened with my K701s and i am amazed by the extra clarity, and "goodness" unfortunately i'm no good at using audiophile terminoloy though with a little more time i may think of how to better put it into words, basically music sounds more full even though it's at the same volume levels as the old head-five
anyways, this thing probably hasnt even had a couple of hours of settling in yet, so will report back if/when changes occur (hopefully for the better! - i dont think this could even be possible?!?!?)
all in all a success due to the design being so simple, i was surprised to see it power up and make noise straight after working on it. i was sure i'd stuff up somewhere or have cold solder, but even after reflowing all the joints tonight i am pretty confident in the quality of my work =D
sadly i cannot say the same about my DAC-AH which i tried to mod tonight with some new caps and a new trimpot something's gone wrong and it's gone bad =\ need sleep but want to diagnose.. argh!
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darynalexander
100+
will probably give you some sort of disease.
Posts: 179
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Post by darynalexander on Mar 3, 2007 21:47:21 GMT
mine, i screwed up on the easy parts. i didn't even attempt the harder stuff. it didn't end up working, i think due to smaller heatsinks or improper resistor fitting (or something is wrong with the film caps). one of those, anyway.
however, during the short time i had it operational after fitting the new capacitors and the silmic II's, the difference was extremely noticeable in a very positive way. it sounded smoother, faster, and overall like the amp had to make less effort to obtain the sound. initially, i didn't like the sound with the amp as-is, i'll be honest. then sparks flew and one of the channels went out.
thankfully, there's a fellow across the pond who is extremely generous and took mine in for rehab. thanks a million, mike.
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Post by dc on Mar 4, 2007 13:14:13 GMT
www.a-chau.net/gallery2/v/mambo-articles/canamp/ photos for y'all =D sad to hear that daryn i guess all of my double and tripple checking and solder re-flowing was not in vain i could definitely see areas that i may well have stuffed up, even though i've done some small time mods before, i would have to say this was my first major mod job, and i was seriously pissed/scared when that first pad lifted off the circuit board! but then as i worked around it tripple checking all my work thereafter i became a bit more confident as the pads kept coming off lol
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Post by daggerlee on Mar 9, 2007 0:46:02 GMT
I installed some Sprague Koolohm resistors courtesy of Mike. Everything sounds great, so much so that I've cased her up and don't have any intentions of opening her...ever again. Thanks for all the help guys!
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 9, 2007 21:09:01 GMT
www.a-chau.net/gallery2/v/mambo-articles/canamp/ photos for y'all =D I could definitely see areas that i may well have stuffed up, even though i've done some small time mods before, i would have to say this was my first major mod job, and i was seriously pissed/scared when that first pad lifted off the circuit board! but then as i worked around it tripple checking all my work thereafter i became a bit more confident as the pads kept coming off lol Nice job DC, I've had a look at all the pictures and the soldering is not too bad at all. Pads are pads, don't worry if they lift you just solder the component onto the next pad along the track or you can scrape the coating off the track to expose the copper trace and solder onto it. Did you fit a dip 8 socket too? What do you think of the sound? Mike.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 9, 2007 21:12:41 GMT
however, during the short time i had it operational after fitting the new capacitors and the silmic II's, the difference was extremely noticeable in a very positive way. it sounded smoother, faster, and overall like the amp had to make less effort to obtain the sound. initially, i didn't like the sound with the amp as-is, i'll be honest. then sparks flew and one of the channels went out. Hi Daryn, She hasn't arrived yet, will let you know as soon as she does. You mention "sparks"..... where were they coming from? did one of the resistor legs possibly touch the heatsinks? Don't worry, I'll get it up and running, knowing where the sparks came from would be helpful. Mike.
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Post by dc on Mar 10, 2007 13:29:33 GMT
Nice job DC, I've had a look at all the pictures and the soldering is not too bad at all. Pads are pads, don't worry if they lift you just solder the component onto the next pad along the track or you can scrape the coating off the track to expose the copper trace and solder onto it. Did you fit a dip 8 socket too? What do you think of the sound? Mike. thanks for the kind words Mike! seriously couldn't have done it without your contribution of knowledge - as well as the sprague resistors (oh, did you get my post card ) - have made this all possible. i might have enjoyed the stock amp, but wouldn't have got my hands so dirty and burnt and most importantly schooled in the art of modding! i don't know if i mentioned it but i hardly had any listening time on the stock amp, as soon as it arrived i cracked open the hood started modding. from my very very small initial impressions, it was a huge step up from my meier audio head-five, and quite a side-step from my ming da MC66-AE OTL tube amp (also class A design). after mods, some burn in and plenty of placebo in there for good measure (i sweated it out for hours over the damn thing, it had better sound good!) it is really an astonishing amp. My K701s have never been so punchy, detailed and well, musical if such a word can be used to describe it. hard to explain, but there is more musical volume/content at the same loudness compared to the meier corda headfive. it sounds like there's more sound and weight and depth, yes depth that's the word to just about everything i listen to, and yet it is more accurate and detailed than ever and effortlessly hits the complex passages with ease. i have to admit that at the same time i've started listening to the Canamp + K701 i took delivery of a stax lambda pro system and although the dynamic combo doesn't hold a candle to the stats in the detail/clarity/precision/speed department(s) the roles are reversed when it comes to vocals, rock and sheer "boogy" factor. it's hard to believe, but i think i may have just satisfied my audio needs indefinitely (yes, i'm probably kidding myself) anyway, i'm going to give it another week or so to bed in and i will give definite impressions Did you fit a dip 8 socket too? What do you think of the sound? i sure did! atm an AD823 and i really can't see this thing getting any better, however I do have on-hand some LM4562s, OPA2111, OPA2107, OPA2604, DY2000 and yeah also have a pair of AD843s but no browndog =\ i will give thme all a go as soon as i'm happy this thing has stablised - probably another week or so. dave
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darynalexander
100+
will probably give you some sort of disease.
Posts: 179
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Post by darynalexander on Mar 13, 2007 15:10:49 GMT
thanks for your brief impressions, dc. I, too, have the 701's and they are my weapon of choice. I totally know what you mean by that volume/detail factor. It was different from other amps I have heard.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 17, 2007 20:13:25 GMT
thanks for your brief impressions, dc. I, too, have the 701's and they are my weapon of choice. I totally know what you mean by that volume/detail factor. It was different from other amps I have heard. Where is the damned thing Daryn? Still no sightings my end, when did you post her? Mike.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 17, 2007 20:23:17 GMT
Going to be experimenting with Nigel's CanAmp next week..... got myself a nice batch of Clairtronic 0-9 09-V 30VA L/P encapsulated transformers (the same type as used in the Little Pinkie power supplies) and am going to try one in his Canamp.
The stock transformer in the HEED is a 12VA 0-9 09V so I'm guessing the 30VA 0-9 09V will not only provide better regulation but there will also be a lot more juice on tap which will no doubt improve things, especially dynamics and crescendos.
I'm also going to fit a chassis mounted IEC socket so he can use an exotic mains cable should he so desire...... full details to appear shortly.
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Nigel
Been here a while!
Watching over Gotham City keeping us safe
Posts: 2,064
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Post by Nigel on Mar 18, 2007 9:30:36 GMT
Nice one, looking forward to getting a bigger tranny.
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