Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Eros Phono => Topic started by: rockpassion on February 28, 2016, 02:14:30 PM
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Hello All,
I decided to update my Eros with Teflon (FT3) Russian Capacitors. I bought a couple of .22 uf 600V and 1.0 uf 600 V FT3's from a gentleman in Bulgaria.
It took me about 2 hours to do the mod and check voltages. Everything looked good so I plugged it in to listen. Well, right out of the gate the sound was definitely changed. My impression is a much smoother more detailed sound. The sound stage is deeper and not as forward as the stock caps. Plus, the instruments/singers seemed to be more concisely placed in the sound stage. Now that I made the change I think i understand the term smeared. Also, the old caps did not focus the placement of where the music was coming from in the sound stage as well as the Russian Caps. Even though I only used 1 (per side) .22 uf to replace the 1.0 uf Solen Cap I did not notice any change in bass. If anything it is now much tighter and more concise.
All in all, I am extemely happy with these caps. The sound is just much smoother and more musical. I have listened to them for about 3 hours now and am hearing things I never heard before. I would recommend this mod to anyone.
Does anyone know the breakin time for these capacitors. I attached photos of the mods I hope they can be viewed. These are really large capacitors and it took some thinking to squeeze them in.
Regards
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Give them 100-200 hours break in time. They will likely sound much worse for a period during the break in. Just hook it up to an appropriately attenuated music signal. (not your vinyl rig!!) and let the caps burn in over a couple of weeks.
Cheers,
Geary
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Give them 100-200 hours break in time. They will likely sound much worse for a period during the break in. Just hook it up to an appropriately attenuated music signal. (not your vinyl rig!!) and let the caps burn in over a couple of weeks.
Geary,
Can you elaborate - for a non-technical bottlehead - how best to hook up an appropriately attenuated music signal to the Eros for break in? Can I hook up my iPad or computer with the volume very low using a 1/8" to RCA plug?
My new Eros has gone from glorious to less glorious after the first few hours. :o Highs are a little brittle, bass has flabbed a bit, and the overall balance seems a little ragged. I'd like to speed up the process to limit the dreaded "sound much worse" phase I've read about (and heard.)
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You pretty much have it! Mini jack to stereo RCA's, plugged into the input of the Eros. Ideally you would run the signal through a reverse RIAA circuit, but straight through gets the job done too! Turn the volume all the way down on the music source. I usually hook the Eros output to my my pre, turn the phono, pre and then amps on. With all of the amplification on, preamp at your normal listening level, slowly ramp up the volume on the music source to just a comfortable listen level. If you are running OS tubes, put the stock tubes in for the burn in!!
The music will be distorted. Not to worry, it is just the lack of phono EQ. Once the music source level is determined, I note it. Then I can run the burn in signal in subsequent sessions without turning on the amp & pre. No need to listen after that!!
Yeah the "Oh Wow! /Oh $#!T /Oh Wow!" cycle is always exciting!! Be patient!!!
Cheers,
Geary
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The horror. The horror.
Thanks Geary! OK, just to make sure I'm hearing you correctly. iPad > Eros > Stereomour > Orcas. Beautiful Bill Evans Trio "Sunday at the Village Vanguard" playing distorted at medium listening level (so that is what RIAA does!). Turn off Stereomour only. Keep Eros and iPad on. No sound but my Eros is still breaking in? That would be wonderful.
Impatiently biting nails,
Grasshopper.
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iPad > Eros > Stereomour > Orcas. Beautiful Bill Evans Trio "Sunday at the Village Vanguard" playing distorted at medium listening level (so that is what RIAA does!). Turn off Stereomour only. Keep Eros and iPad on. No sound but my Eros is still breaking in?
That's it! The Eros is amplifying the signal and the caps are burning in. Doesn't matter whether the Stereomour is on or off. BTW one of my favorite Bill Evans recordings!! Love the club ambiance.
Cheers,
Geary
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You get a gold star for putting the capacitors with conductive cases onto non conducting perf board. Bravo!
The V-Cap TFTF seem to take 200 hours to settle in.
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Paul,
Thanks for the compliment I did read somewhere that these might be conductive so I figured just for safety sake keep them away from metal.
I now have about 20 hours on them. I am still amazed at how good they sound with so little time on them. Very concise and the sound stage is just amazing. The bass is a little lean and I hope it increases a bit. However, it is more musical than before so I can live without it. What is there is very precise and not bloomy.
Any thoughts on what I can expect as it breaks in.
Thanks