Results of resistor upgrade in X-Cans V3
Aug 2, 2007 23:56:16 GMT
Post by aurum on Aug 2, 2007 23:56:16 GMT
One of the things I wanted to try with this great headphone amp was a resistor upgrade. There was little left to upgrade after replacing the caps, & diodes so I went for a resistor change. This tweak really hasn't had much discussion here so some of you may find it of interest.
The resistors I chose were the Audionote tantalum/shinkoh type. I have used them before in my main tube amp with good results, after a recommendation that they were smooth, & not coloured. They are pricey but according to the death clock I will enjoy them for a very long time.
I replaced all of them with 1/2 watt's except for the one going to the led. I have done this in stages to have a listen & see if I noticed/liked an improvement.
Initial change were 6 of the signal path resistors. This had an immediate change in making the sound more lush with a relaxed presentation. This wetted my appetite to change about half of the rest of them. This time I was able to find more detail in tracks I know well & the sound-stage was opened up.
After replacing the rest of them I found a smaller but noticeable improvement in detail, but the bulk of soundstage improvement had already been achieved.
Overall this is something worthwhile to consider with an improved sound-stage, more detail, a relaxed presentation, & best of all more realism in the music.
The general feeling I get from this tweak is that there is more to squeeze from this amp by tweaking the resistors than has perhaps been considered. The effects of increasing resistor wattage may also have effects, but I'll let more knowledgeable minds ponder this.
If someone wants to try this tweak, I suggest changing a few of the signal path resistors. This will give about 65% of the improvement I have discussed without the expense of changing them all.
The resistors I chose were the Audionote tantalum/shinkoh type. I have used them before in my main tube amp with good results, after a recommendation that they were smooth, & not coloured. They are pricey but according to the death clock I will enjoy them for a very long time.
I replaced all of them with 1/2 watt's except for the one going to the led. I have done this in stages to have a listen & see if I noticed/liked an improvement.
Initial change were 6 of the signal path resistors. This had an immediate change in making the sound more lush with a relaxed presentation. This wetted my appetite to change about half of the rest of them. This time I was able to find more detail in tracks I know well & the sound-stage was opened up.
After replacing the rest of them I found a smaller but noticeable improvement in detail, but the bulk of soundstage improvement had already been achieved.
Overall this is something worthwhile to consider with an improved sound-stage, more detail, a relaxed presentation, & best of all more realism in the music.
The general feeling I get from this tweak is that there is more to squeeze from this amp by tweaking the resistors than has perhaps been considered. The effects of increasing resistor wattage may also have effects, but I'll let more knowledgeable minds ponder this.
If someone wants to try this tweak, I suggest changing a few of the signal path resistors. This will give about 65% of the improvement I have discussed without the expense of changing them all.
