another x-10v3 kit

[nicoboom]

Got the upgrade kit in today; someone at work received it a few days ago,and forgot to tell me...[sigh].
Thanks Mike for the excellent packing of the kit and detailed manual ,which really makes it possible for anyone who can handle a soldering iron to perform this upgrade.
Beeing customed to replace electronic parts, it was FUN modifying my X-10v3 with the parts provided and I had a nice evening doing so at ease. Only thing a bit unusual was the size of the roederstein 470 caps as they were a bit "too thick" and leads to wide apart to fit easily. After some carefull fitting I was able to just squize them between the 1.0Uf cap and the first 1000uf cap. Also the leads of the green bipolair caps had to be modeled for proper fitting, but no problems with space there.As usual my wife was holding the parts neatly in place while I made the solder joints on the other side of the board.
Particularly handy in this case, while the tubes are likely to touch the table when you're soldering the joints with the board upside-down. [the things she can do with those hands..]
I first used a grabber-stand [the old-fashioned one with a heavy weight and several adjustable clamps] to de-solder the parts and for cleaning the board.
It's fired up again now, tubes softly glowing again and I'll be listening tomorrow for any changes already. [100 hours is a lot when turning the buffer off when you're not listening].
THANKS Mike for this pleasant first experience with your stuff!

[nicoboom]

First impression this morning; dynamics have obviously improved , and already there is more depth and air, like" looking more into" the music. [my wife came up with the about the same expressions sponaniously]
Also forgot to mention beeing surprised last evening ,that the leads of the larger bypass-caps for underneath the board were already tailored to match the pads they were supposed to be soldered to, ready for action and easy to solder thanks to the double-sided tape ;you care about details Mike!

[PinkFloyd]

Nice one Nico Give that puppy a couple of hundred hours and the sound will open up even more. The roederstein caps are NOS and I matched both for capacitance and ESR... the elna caps are also NOS.... I find the "tone" to be a lot more natural with these caps in the X-10V3.... today's caps are lead free (so is the solder) and I find they totally destroy the warmth and organic sound in some applications... these NOS caps are fully leaded and so is the solder

The WIMA bypass caps are a recent addition to the kit, I find there is a tad more "air" to the proceedings with them in place... not a HUGE improvement but an improvement worth implementing nonetheless... I preform the leads and apply the double sided tape to make installation a lot easier, glad you appreciated that

All the best,

Mike.

[layums]

do you still ship x10v3 kit with lead? look forward to getting it installed when it arrives sometime this week.

one thing thats not mentioned at all almost is the tubes in this thing, they are fixed, but is there a better tube that can be put in?

[PinkFloyd]

Aug 8, 2012 12:41:04 GMT layums said:

do you still ship x10v3 kit with lead? look forward to getting it installed when it arrives sometime this week.

one thing thats not mentioned at all almost is the tubes in this thing, they are fixed, but is there a better tube that can be put in?

The tubes are Philips 6112 and very good indeed! They don't last forever (as MF claim) and it's worth replacing them when you do the mods IF the X-10V3 is a few years old, I keep stock of these tubes so you know where to go if you ever need them

The X-10V3 kit comes with leaded solder, yes.... it also comes with NOS leaded lead capacitors (ELNA and roederstein) I feel the leaded components "sound" better than the new lead free alternatives (Graham Slee also found this).... your Kit and Pinkie will ship today

[layums]

Hi mike. I'm a curious one. Now then. The cap in the hornet headamp is 1500uF would you recommend putting one of your leaded ones in there. It sounds good as is, but I like playing and tweaking.

[mrarroyo]

The large cap in the The Hornet is 15,000 uF!

[layums]

Yes. Thanks that correct. So what are the thoughts of a cheeky change?

[layums]

Aug 9, 2012 9:38:41 GMT PinkFloyd said:

Aug 8, 2012 12:41:04 GMT layums said:

do you still ship x10v3 kit with lead? look forward to getting it installed when it arrives sometime this week.

one thing thats not mentioned at all almost is the tubes in this thing, they are fixed, but is there a better tube that can be put in?

The tubes are Philips 6112 and very good indeed! They don't last forever (as MF claim) and it's worth replacing them when you do the mods IF the X-10V3 is a few years old, I keep stock of these tubes so you know where to go if you ever need them

The X-10V3 kit comes with leaded solder, yes.... it also comes with NOS leaded lead capacitors (ELNA and roederstein) I feel the leaded components "sound" better than the new lead free alternatives (Graham $lee also found this).... your Kit and Pinkie will ship today

thanks mike! got division bell ringing through the modded v2 with your new power pinkie. Nice work! will save the little components for the x10v3 for play time later. those leaded caps........have you got one in 15,000microfarad 10v size?