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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 14, 2015 19:43:17 GMT
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 20, 2015 20:58:23 GMT
20th September 2015 - Mark Roccio's X-CAN V2. I am now utilising the Panasonic FR series capacitors in my kits..... they don't look as "pretty" as the Panasonic FC but they certainly do perform "audibly" better in the V2 circuit.... this is my capacitor of preference from here on in..... ugly to look at but damned nice to listen to  By the way, most people don't look at their capacitors while they are listening but I thought I'd point out the rather "ordinary" appearance of the FR (compared to the FC) anyway. UF4004 Ultrafast diodes, 6H23N Voskhod precision matched valves, Input coupling caps removed and replaced with ferrite links, Nichicon MUSE output caps, Samwha VA series 135C rated caps, WIMA MKS4, Purple LED with R5 "5K1" taming resistor, brand new quad gold plated RCA socket, Brand new 2.1mm DC power in socket, Brand new Jalco Pro headphone socket....... minty fresh in / out. A little beauty of an amp, the internals are in "day one" condition, a really good example.            |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2015 21:33:57 GMT
Hello
All looking good ... well done great inspiration to us all, hope you enjoyed your holiday ??
all the best
Nick
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Post by PinkFloyd on Oct 8, 2015 20:23:54 GMT
08th October - Christopher Jones - X-CAN V3 Out with the old:  Desolder pads:  In with the new:  Extra capacitance in the PSU section courtesy of Panasonic FC, Panasonic NHG and ELNA LongLife capacitors:  The ELNA caps are NOS "LongLife" / 105C types with ultra low ESR:  ALL of the capacitors are tested before fitting and values are matched closely where possible. I also managed to "match" some of the capacitor sleeves on this amp, it makes for a tidier looking job  The MILLS MRA12 non inductive resistor is going down VERY well, those who have tried it all report positive things.... it's the icing on the cake and in addition to the rest of the mods it takes the V3 to an entirely better sonic dimension:  The Valves I chose for this one are OTK stamped Voskhod and both sides of each valve are matched for gain and transconductance. Valve 1: Side one 37.3 gain / Side two 36.9 Gain Valve 2: Side one 36.8 Gain / Side two 37.1 Gain This close matching ensures that distortion is kept to a minimum. I have also fitted a couple of plumbers "O-Rings" over the valves that cost 6 PENCE each. Trust me folks, they do the job and, unless you have more money than sense there is no need to spend any more than sixpence for a tube damper in a V3. You "could" fit these herbiesaudiolab.net/rx.htm if you feel like throwing money away but..... trust me...... try the plain old plumbers O-Rings first, and fit two (as per image), you will thank me for it   Christopher's Gold plated quad phono socket was a bit oxidised so I fitted a new one. I supply them, as a matter of course, with the V3 kit as I believe it is essential to have a clean, non oxidised input connector..... they don't cost a lot so well worth replacing every 5 years or so:  The solder I used on this amp was Warton Metals "Autosol"......... Very easy to work with, pools easily and leaves a mirror like joint..... the standard Autosol is 63/37 but the stuff I use is 62/36/2 with the "2" being silver...... I bought enough (at the time) to specify the 2% silver content..... it has never failed me and I STILL attribute this solder to playing a part in the sonic improvements the mods make, that lead free shite looks like shite and sounds like it too. I did a simple experiment, a while back, with two "unleaded" X-CAN V3 amps (it is listed here somewhere)..... they were both stock amps....... Firstly I replaced the valves in both amps with two precision matched pairs of the same Voskhod valve. I, then, desoldered one of the lead free amps and resoldered it with leaded solder..... there was no need for a "blind" listening test, the difference wasn't subtle it was absolutely "in yer face" in favour of the leaded solder V3. I think it was around that time that Graham Slee went further into things and found that the lead free components (ROHS) ALSO had a detrimental effect in his established designs and he had to totally rework parts of the circuit to get rid of the gremlins the "unleaded" parts were introducing / taking away from the sound quality..... anyhoo I'm rambling now A lovely rear view..... well, I think it is!:  Not a bad side view either..... those sexy EVOX / Rifa polyprop caps "expertly" fitted into the available space alongside those UBER reliable Panasonic 'lytics:  I've absolutely LOVED working on this amp, I have been listening to it for the past 5 hours and it is quite simply mind blowing...... it has that little bit extra "Gravitas" and "pomp" (just a little) from those I have modded in the past (just a little!) and I can only assume that is down to the inclusion of the two ELNA caps. I am flicking between my own reference V3 and Christopher's V3 and Christopher's V3, most definitely, has the edge..... I'll pop a couple of the ELNA LongLife caps into my V3 tomorrow and have a listen. I've always loved the ELNA house sound and it may just be that the insertion of two LongLife caps have taken the years of research to a totally new level (with regard to the V3)...... this is, BY FAR, The best sounding X-CAN V3 I have ever heard / bar none. By the way folks..... I am not trying to "advertise" my services..... if you knew how little Chris was quoted for this level of service you would call me an idiot. As always, it's all about the music and sharing information. Mike. Oh yeh, whilst I'm at it...... here is the pRon:       |
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jc
Fully Modded
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Post by jc on Oct 8, 2015 22:41:28 GMT
I still love my V2 and it sees regular use and I won't be selling it on, despite it no longer being my absolute favourite it's still damn good sonically and value for money, including all the upgrades. There is obviously still many, many standard or even non-workers lurking out there as it was so damn good then and still a great standard now.
If anyone has a lurker, you owe it to yourself to get it sorted out, they really are worth it.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Dec 1, 2015 21:01:28 GMT
21st November 2015 - Tom Blaess's X-10D. Well, two X-10D's to be precise. Tom wanted the tonality of the two to be "slightly" different from one another so he could have the option of being able to incorporate each one best into the other components in his system. There's no real way of altering the tonality but using different types of input coupling capacitors has certainly introduced a slight "house" signature so they are now "slightly" different tonally but ever so slightly. I have paralleled a couple of 2.2uF EVOX polypropylene capacitors in one (giving 4.4uF per channel) and fitted 4.7uF TSE (Texas Spectrum Electronics) military grade 630V polypropylenes into the other. I'll leave it up to Tom to decide which is best suited for the two applications he will be using these buffers with..... both were built identically apart from the input coupling capacitors. One of the stock X-10D's:  Full strip down:  In with the UF4007 ultrafast diodes:  A good quality pair of gold plated ceramic valve bases:  WIMA 1uF / 100V MKS4 fitted:  2 x Panasonic FC 10uF:  Fitted a Welwyn W22 series power resistor:  2 x Panasonic FM / 1000uF / 105c adjacent to the W22 resistor:  2 x input coupling caps (in this instance they are the TSE 630V / 4.7uF):  The TSE caps are +/- 0.5% and out of the entire batch of 100, 96 measured a PERFECT 4.7uF and the other four measured 4.73 / 4.73 / 4.72 / 4.71..... damned good going  Next in were the Panasonic FR series caps, they don't look pretty but they sure do sound good!:  Oh..... if you look closely you'll see that a brand new quad phono block was fitted too: Next in were a pair of precision matched (matched for gain / transconductance per side of the triode) Voskhod 6H23N valves / tubes..... these are the icing on the cake:  The same was done to both X-10D's apart from the input coupling capacitors.... here are the two of them together after the upgrades:  A few close up shots of the two of them:             Both X-10D's have been soak tested for 24 hours and all ready to go back to their home in Switzerland. Mike. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2015 22:11:03 GMT
Hi Mike
Don't forget that you can also change tonality by the use of a mix of relatively low ESR electros and normal types in the PSU area.
Kind Regards
Alex
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Post by PinkFloyd on Dec 3, 2015 22:38:31 GMT
Hi Mike Don't forget that you can also change tonality by the use of a mix of relatively low ESR electros and normal types in the PSU area. Kind Regards Alex Really? I didn't know that Alex |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2015 23:15:29 GMT
Hi Mike Don't forget that you can also change tonality by the use of a mix of relatively low ESR electros and normal types in the PSU area. Kind Regards Alex Really? I didn't know that Alex That suggestion was more of a hint to others, as you have been doing just that for many years. |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 19, 2016 20:13:41 GMT
16th January 2016 - Tim Collins X-PRE Not the most photogenic of items and the lighting was poor but: Before:   After:   I replaced all of the caps with Panasonic FR / NHG / FM types, fitted ultrafast UF4004 diodes, gold plated ceramic valve sockets, precision matched pair of Voskhod 6H23N and ICW (Welsh made) polypropylene coupling caps. Sounds gorgeous   |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 19, 2016 20:27:47 GMT
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 18, 2016 21:04:22 GMT
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Post by silver74 on Aug 18, 2016 13:52:39 GMT
As Mike said, and sorry I didnt take time to answer earlier, I just got a brand new X LPS...the sound is absolutely stuning, smooth with some kind of magic grace. Together with my ProJect Debut Carbon running with a silicon belt and an Ortofon Black MM, it is perfect to me...and unbeatable at such a ridiculous price. Thanks a lot Mike!
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 3, 2016 20:26:08 GMT
03rd September 2016 - Paul Ward's X-10D Beautiful condition, inside and out, absolutely MINT. The stock board:  Stripped out the parts that were being upgraded:  Fitted the upgrade:   I am now supplying Kiwame 5 watt resistors with my X-10D kit as they really do impart a nice organic tone..... the stock 2 watt power resistor runs hot and does the overall SQ no favours whatsoever. The Kiwame in situ:  The rest of the upgrade was pretty much business as usual....... increased capacitance in the PSU section courtesy of Panasonic 105C rated "FR" caps, polypropylene coupling caps, WIMA film caps, UF4007 ultrafast diodes etc. I have now incorporated the superb ELNA Silmic ll capacitors into the circuit.... they work REALLY well in that position..... again, they are extremely organic sounding and not at all processed / coloured, they are a great addition to the kit!  I fitted top quality gold plated ceramic valve bases and plugged in a pair of UBER precision matched Voskhod 6H23N valves and all I can say is "wow!". To this day, it never ceases to amaze me just how VAST the improvement over the stock unit is, it's quite literally night and day, I hope that Paul will take the time to report his findings once his X-10D returns home. Not the most photogenic of creatures but here's the naked stuff (oh, by the way, I also fitted a purple LED with 5K taming resistor / glow toning resitor)         |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 3, 2016 21:08:41 GMT
The Kiwame resistor is deliberately "dressed" away from the 1000uF caps |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 4, 2016 19:40:55 GMT
04th September 2016 - Paul Ward's Musical Fidelity X-CAN V2 Upgrade: Removed all the stock capacitors / diodes and fitted the upgrades, A VERY nice example of a V2, absolutely MINT inside and out.... it was a pleasure to work on. This was the "Full English" upgrade which included Panasonic FR / FC capacacitors, Nichicon MUSE input / output coupling capacitors, EVOX Rifa film cap, hand matched (for side to side equal tolerance) ALPS potentiometer with custom knob, Jalco Pro headphone socket, Gold plated Quad phono block, ceramic valve sockets with gold plated sockets, Purple LED with glow taming resistor (5K1.... replaces the stock 330R in R5 position) and a pair of precision matched Voskhod 6H32N valves / tubes with damping rings fitted to both. Solder was my usual 60/37/3 (Tin, lead, silver) mix that I supply with all my kits. Not a lot to add to that apart from the usual "under the hood" stuff: Currently on test for 48 hours:  Out in the sunshine for a photoshoot prior to the 48 hour test:            |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 4, 2016 20:03:44 GMT
By The Way........ the second valve damper is underneath the PSU (upper) board Sometimes you have to improvise when space is tight. |
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Post by thewardy on Sept 8, 2016 11:04:44 GMT
Hi Everyone,
It's my 10D and Can v2 just above. I promised Mike I'd leave some feedback on the results.
The short version is these are now both a stunning combination and you shouldn't hesitate to upgrade if you haven't already.
The long version
I use a laptop with all my music as either lossless rips of the original CD or as new high resolution downloads. Playback software is JRiver Media Centre v22, I resample everything within JRiver to 32bit/384khz using the SOX method with the exception of DSD files. Data gets squirted to an Oppo HA2 which acts as my dac in the study and indeed as a portable headphone amp when I'm at work. Power is provided via an original X-PSU. Headphones are an original version of the Sennheiser HD600's with an upgraded Kimber cable.
It's obviously hard to accurately measure the difference before and after the upgrade given it's not a side by side comparison so I will describe my impression as best I can.
Within the first few notes the thing that hit me was the bass, this slams in, not in a bloated wooly way but tight with real texture no matter how deep they go. Second thing was the air around the soundstage, with a really natural sounding mid range.
With well recorded tracks they sound awesome, the surprise to me was that recordings that were too harsh to listen to previously suddenly were enjoyable. Even going back to some 90's hardcore rap wasn't going to trip the combination up, vocals and beats laid bare beautifully in front of me.
Jumping back to the solid state Oppo amp was a smack in the face, and I really rate the HA2, but in direct comparison it made vocals sound like Stephen Hawking.
Mike was the utter professional in terms of dealing with the work. My kit was factory fresh going up and even better coming back.
If I did miss a trick is was not getting a purple led kit for the X-PSU, it looks very 90's next to the uber cool purple of the valve combo. The clear leds really bring the styling bang up to date, amazing for such a simple thing.
Heartily recommended!
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 8, 2016 21:11:37 GMT
Hi Paul, Thanks for taking the time to report back, much appreciated. Give things a few more hours (100 - 200) and the SQ will get even better than it already is.... from experience, it really starts to blossom between 100 - 200 hrs, you will know when it kicks in big time It's nothing major but you will hear minutiae of detail that just wasn't there before and that should be enough to get the goose pimples raised big time. I, personally, wouldn't worry about the red LED on the X-PSU...... nothing worse than having a load of gear all sporting blue LED's..... at least you know that "red" indicates power supply. My rig is more like a Star Trek panel, I WANT every single component to be a different colour so I know what they are when I have a dark listening session. If every button looked the same / glowed the same colour then you wouldn't have a clue what was what in the dark. I do like the purple though..... certainly more "sonic" than the red..... never liked blue, too cold and clinical..... the Purple with 5K taming resistor (R5 on the V2) just hits the spot for me. Do you think it's just right Paul or would you prefer a more subtle glow? To my eyes it's just about perfect and 5K in R5 is the best value to tame down the intensity. The stock 330R that MF fit in R5 is fine with the red LED but if you want to fit a blue / purple LED you really have to fit a 5K resistor to R5 or it will be like a retina burning device with the stock 330R resistor So many people have simply fitted blue LED's and ended up in casualty with eye damage (joking) but, seriously, I've been doing this for years and the stock 330R resistor and blue LED is way too intense for comfort. Anyhoo Paul, it would be nice to hear how you are finding things a few weeks from now..... so far, so good Best regards, Mike. |
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Post by thewardy on Oct 18, 2016 7:45:56 GMT
Me again,
I'm now a good many hours into listening to my upgraded X-10D and X-Canv2. As Mike says above they did continue to get better as the hours clocked up, retrieving more details.
I don't have enough superlatives to tell you how good my set up sounds now, everything I chuck at it sounds natural, the music is just there, I'm not hearing the amp, the buffer, the dac/cans, it just is. Standard resolution, ultra high resolution everything is just awesome no matter what genre. It even flatters recordings that frankly are shockingly bad.
If you're reading this having any doubts as to what an upgrade could possibly do over stock then let me allay them, the upgrade will be the best thing you could do for your equipment. I have a friend with a complete Stax set up for comparison and I'm never disappointed putting my kit on.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Oct 18, 2016 20:31:22 GMT
Hi Paul,
That's really good of you to add to your original post with a follow up, thank you. I'm glad the mods are doing it for you and wish you sonic pleasure for many years to come.
All the best,
Mike.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Oct 22, 2016 20:01:30 GMT
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Post by PinkFloyd on Oct 22, 2016 21:36:34 GMT
If anybody can spot the mistake then they will win a prize! There is a very deliberate mistake in the above images...... tell me what it is |
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pingu
Been here a while! 
Reallising what has been taken on with the GB
Posts: 332
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Post by pingu on Oct 22, 2016 22:25:38 GMT
And that cap went pop You are Mike and I claim my prize lol
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pingu
Been here a while!
Reallising what has been taken on with the GB
Posts: 332
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Post by pingu on Oct 23, 2016 10:38:22 GMT
If anybody can spot the mistake then they will win a prize! There is a very deliberate mistake in the above images...... tell me what it is Hope you swapped it round before switch on lol |
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By the way, most people don't look at their capacitors while they are listening but I thought I'd point out the rather "ordinary" appearance of the FR (compared to the FC) anyway.
