Samwha VA series caps have arrived :)

[PinkFloyd]

I've been waiting to try these for months and, eventually, my batch turned up today. For those of you who don't know anything about these caps they're intended for use in the harsh environment of a car engine where many car manufactures are starting to relocate the EMU control devices to help create higher fuel efficiency and reduce the weight of the chassis.

Enter the Samwha VA series they have a load life of up to 4000 hours at 130ºC. (yes, "130ºC" !!) Loading inside these harsh environments demands strong parts capable of dealing with a great deal of stress / heat. This has resulted in the development of the VA series of low-impedance and high-temperature-tolerant capacitors. The devices are available with a broad range of capacitance values, are voltage-rated between 10 and 63V, and are offered in several different format sizes. They're very low impedance too so well worth a try under the X-CAN bonnet.

The build quality of the VA is superb even the leads are very nicely rounded at the tips. The sleeving is also the same from cap to cap so a lot of attention has been payed to the appearance of these guys. For those of you into the looks then here they are........... one of the nicest "looking" caps I have seen:





Superbly made and the rounded off lead ends show great attention to detail..... oh, and the gold and black livery just go toward making this one of coolest caps I've ever seen.

I'll report back when I've heard them

[seroxatmad]

Oh dear no wounder the wifes worried.

So Mr Pink were did you source these from?

John

[PinkFloyd]

seroxatmad said:

Oh dear no wounder the wifes worried.

So Mr Pink were did you source these from?

John

Hi John,

www.rapidonline.com in the electrolytic section

[PinkFloyd]

www.rapidonline.com part number: 11-3068 will take you directly to the page. I'm just waiting on a fresh X-Can V2 to try them in, it'll be interesting to hear what they sound like. As far as longevity is concerned their 130C temp rating means they'll last for years, but what do they sound like? That is the question They look good enough to eat but, as we all know, looks count for nothing in audio applications (well, they may add a slight degree of placebo and mess around with your sub conscience) I'll be happy to fire 10 of these onboard a V2 free of charge as long as the V2 owner pays postage both ways just to get an idea of how they perform.

[bullpup]

Hi Mike

I have just picked up on this thread. I have a V1 in need of TLC and was contemplating a full makeover. I would be delighted to offer this as a guinea pig and pay for the other parts etc.

Many thanks

[xerxes]

Hi Mike,

Have you tried the Samwhas yet?

[PinkFloyd]

xerxes said:

Hi Mike,

Have you tried the Samwhas yet?

Hi Xerxes,

I haven't, no, they're still here in a box waiting to be used. I seem to be constantly "tidying up" here most of my time is spent shifting things and dusting things...... I will get round to it.... hey Bullpup, I didn't notice your post PM me and we can work something out.

Mike.

[bullpup]

Will do Mike

Thanks

[PinkFloyd]

bullpup said:

Will do Mike

Thanks

PM sent

[PinkFloyd]

I have a V1 in need of TLC and was contemplating a full makeover. I would be delighted to offer this as a guinea pig and pay for the other parts etc.

Arrived today bullpup and she's been "samwhad" in certain places and let me tell you something.... your ears are in for a big surprise!

You actually sent the amp just in the nick of time as the Jamicon caps around the regulators were bulging (no wonder too as they are positioned right next to the hot regulators) soooooo typical of the Jamicon 85C in this application, I don't think I've seen one old X-Cans / v2 that doesn't have a few bulging caps.

Rest assured that these 130C rated VA series caps are well up to the job, designed to withstand the harsh environment of a car engine it'll be a breeze for them in the x-cans!

The sheer size of them meant it was necessary to do a slight bit of funky angling to get them to squeeze into the can but it's only a "slight" lean over and not an unsightly dangling affair

There is literally no room to spare, on one section of the PSU board I fitted my usual fantastic quality Panasonic FM 105C and on another a couple of dubilier 470uF 105C low impedance types (superb caps).... quite a few different house flavours but mixed together produce a VERY nice sound indeed.

The main board I populated with 10uF / 35V non polars and Samwha VA 100uF / 35V. I also went the extra mile and socketed the opamps... I suggest you try a couple of OPA2132 in place of the NE5532. Oh, I also fitted UF4007 diodes, a nice purple LED and a new gold plated quad socket, I hope you don't mind, the old quad socket's legs were pretty tarnished... best to fit a new one.

When I first fired her up she sounded like shite, the right channel was severely distorted... turns out it was one of the 6922 valves that was not firing on all four cylinders, I popped in a couple of my valves and she's singing like a bird.

From what I've heard so far (an extremely detailed, honest and musical presentation of the beatles Abbey Road album) I would have no hesitation in fitting these into more X-CANS... compared to my Panasonic FM X-cans there's hardly any difference at all.... the Samwha X-Cans seems to bring out a bit more detail but that could be down to the fact it's currently running a brand new pair of 6H23N-EB and my one is running an old pair of philips Miniwatt E88CC, I'll crack open another pair of 6H23N-EB later on and install them in my X-Cans. I can tell you one thing for certain though...... they're doing nothing wrong to the sound...... I had tears in my eyes listening to "something" (it brings back memories) when an amp manages to evoke that type of emotion you know you've got it right

I was actually "singing" along with Maxwell's silver hammer and tapping my feet! To be honest I always have good (natural) experience with my own X-CANS.... a lot more than I do with the v2 or v3, there's just something about the v1 that grabs you by the balls and allows you to appreciate the meaning of the music... it's not analytical (yet, it is revealing) It's engaging, it's fun, it's musical..... what more could you ask for?

I still think this is the best of the 3 versions when tweaked up.... sure it's a weirdo with valves, opamps and BD139 transistors all involved in the musical reproduction but man it does its job and a very good job at that.... I'm with jtc (forum member) when he says "I have owned a number of X-Cans - three v2s, including a custom modded one by PinkFloyd of Rock Grotto, and this v1, which was modded using the guidelines of the Rock Grotto modifications. Between these, this is the best sounding unit - the uprated capacitors and op-amps make a huge difference to the sound. I'd place the sound quality at quite a way beyond a v2 with X-PSU, and slightly ahead of the Rock Grotto v2"

I'd go one further and say a highly tweaked V1 sounds better than a stock v2 / v3 and better than a modded v2 / v3.... it may not have the soundstage of the v3 or the output power of the v2 / v3 (1watt) but it does a better job of conveying the music and the emotion to your ears.... no doubt about it, the V1 has soul.

Of the three the v1 also has the biggest parts count which also equates to the most expensive to produce. 35 capacitors! two dual opamps, regulators, transistors, BD139.......... you wouldn't get one of these for £129 new if they were producing them these days..... MKll, MKlll etc. doesn't necessarily mean "better" it can also mean cutting production costs / increasing retail price.

Anyways bullpup.... I'm starting to go off topic now I'll leave that for another time / another channel....... all that's left for me to do now is show you a few pics of your SAMWHAD v1.

Please do take the time to contribute your own impressions to this thread once you have her back in your possession (probably next Tuesday, I'll run her in over the weekend) Thanks for being a guinea pig, you won't regret it

[PinkFloyd]

Besides being able to handle higher temperatures, are there any sound differences?

Not any discernable differences so far... give me until Tuesday, I forgot I was sailing over to the Orkneys on Saturday.... I'll leave her powered up over the weekend (with SGT Peppers on loop / yes, I'm rediscovering the Beatles ATM) one thing's for sure I would deffo employ 130C VA around the regulators in the V1, I've witnessed so many Jamicon 85C casualties in this position it's frightening..... built in obsolescence for sure.

I will be back.

[PinkFloyd]

Further to my last post, your headphone socket is dodgy too bullpup so I've replaced it with a Jalco pro type. I've also removed the 47ohm R115 & R215 and lowered to 32ohm.... this sounds better IMO, especially with the Grado 'phones.

[bullpup]

Hey Mike Sent you a PM before I looked at this topic.

This looks amazing and I can't wait to hear her!

More than happy to go with what you recommend for this and I would be delighted if you would please drop in a new Alps pot while you have her with you.

I had better get on and order that new power supply from Rapid on line.

Many thanks

Bullpup

[PinkFloyd]

Mike, you are getting down with the hip hop crowd!

Take it to the bridge bro!

[PinkFloyd]

bullpup said:

Hey Mike Sent you a PM before I looked at this topic.

This looks amazing and I can't wait to hear her!

More than happy to go with what you recommend for this and I would be delighted if you would please drop in a new Alps pot while you have her with you.

I had better get on and order that new power supply from Rapid on line.

Many thanks

Bullpup

I'm off to the Orkney Isles tomorrow but will fire in a 50K ALPS when I get back on Sunday evening, you'll lose your nice little knob though as the ALPS pot doesn't have a splined shaft... I've got dozens of these guys kicking about:



OK or would you prefer aluminium?

I was running OPA2107 in my v1 but am now running OPA2132P and think they are a lot better in this application, I'll fire a couple in for you.... the beauty of this guy is, not only can you valve roll but you can opamp roll too. OPA2134 is the natural successor to the NE5532 and pretty much a direct drop in replacement but i find it a tad (just a tad) chocolaty sounding... the last thing we want to do is turn your v1 into a syrup factory.... some people love this kind of presentation, and there's nothing wrong with it I personally like a bit more energy and excitement. Should you get the urge to try few different opamps then me know bullpup, I'll put you straight on the types you can roll in.

Sounding fantastic, you're in for a big surprise

[bullpup]

Well I'm delighted to say the Heavily modified and Samwha'd V1 arrived this morning and is sitting on my desk as we speak.

I fired up using a feed from my PC - well I am at work, connected the HD 580's and selected Nina Simone's Sinnerman...and was immediately underwhelmed!!! the sound was flat, 2 dimensional, no separation in fact horrible. I tried different albums, a different source well an ipod, everything - but the same result.

15 minutes or so later just as I am thinking about contacting Mike about my expensive paperweight and co-incidentally listening to "the Wall" thinking it may be one of his test pieces, the sound underwent a massive transformation. What a BF I was - In my rush to listen I had completely forgotten that valve amps need to warm up before they sing.

And how this baby sings -instead of mediocrity I now have a fantastic sound with a large stage and great instrument separation. I must confess that I have never been a fan of the 580/600 Sennheisers - I usual use Etymotics and Grados and they were only bought to go with this amp however they seem a perfect match for this XCan since, after a few seconds of listening, they "disappear" and I am left with a wonderful 3 dimensional sound.

I haven't stopped grinning. And this is with an amp and 'phones that have yet to be run-in, supplied with an indifferent PC source!! I can't wait to try it with a decent feed from a CD player or better yet the turntable.

This is a fantastic upgrade with a sound that is only going to get better- more comment to follow.

Thanks Mike a wonderful job.

Bullpup

[bullpup]

The amp has been left running since it arrived largely to break in the Headphones and interestingly the temperature of the casing seems to be appreciably cooler than it has been. Is this just subjective or is this part of the running in process?

By the way how long do you need to turn the amp off for when swapping Headphones?

[PinkFloyd]

Hi Bullpup,

Glad you like it There's no rhyme or reason to these guys temperature wise, sometimes the enclosure is warm sometimes It's cool it all depends on ambient temperature, whether or not you're listening to music.. etc. etc. they don't just get warm and stay warm..... fire up some music whack the dial round to 1 o' clock and listen to music for a couple of hours in a warm room.... she'll be roasting hot

I don't bother turning her off when changing headphones, I live life in the fast lane and just hot plug quickly.... sod turning it off everytime. If you feel you have to turn it off or have got into that ritual then give her 30 seconds before plugging your other set of cans in.

Mike.

[gns]

It could be worth noting that low impedance electrolytics are high impedance at low frequencies and can make solid state circuits sound extremely bright. Tube circuits differ greatly, and seem to benefit by using low impedance electrolytics.

[Deleted]

So with a solid state circuit, that sounds like just the place for a 0.1Farad electronically synthesized capacitor supplying the front end !
SandyK

[PinkFloyd]

gns said:

It could be worth noting that low impedance electrolytics are high impedance at low frequencies and can make solid state circuits sound extremely bright. Tube circuits differ greatly, and seem to benefit by using low impedance electrolytics.

No brightness in these mods Graham, they sound absolutely wonderful and I mean "200% improvement type wonderful" I really must publish some testimonials one of these days

[Deleted]

Mike
My understanding is that they are normally only a problem when directly at the output of a voltage regulator. If there is a bit of PCB track between them and the VR, everything should be fine ?
SandyK

[leo]

Yep, voltage regs don't like low impedance on their output, especially the fixed types, you see some fitting a low value resistor in series to stop ringing

[bullpup]

mrarroyo said:

I do not understand anything!!! Back to english people.

Couldn't put it better myself!

[Deleted]

O.K. guys, to put it very simply,most voltage regulators like to see a little resistance in the capacitor at their output, to stop them "ringing" This can exaggerate the treble
and make it sound harsh. Low ESR capacitors, because of their construction, have a very low impedance at the higher frequencies ,in comparison with lower frequencies. This affects the overall sound balance. This topic has been covered in application notes, by at least one major semiconductor manufacturer. It is quite likely that in Mike's mods, there was a reasonable amount of PCB track resistance between the voltage regulators and the Samwha low ESR (low effective series resistance) capacitors, to overcome this problem. It is also possible that Mike has used their characteristics to compensate for deficiencies elsewhere.
Rest assured, Mike does know exactly what he is doing, and if he says it sounds much better, you can safely bet the family crown jewels that it does.
SandyK