Asking for advices on upgrading the S.E.X 2.1 head-amp

[quy lam nguyen]

Asking for advices on upgrading the S.E.X 2.1 head-amp

Recently I want to upgrade my S.E.X 2.1 to have better experiences with the head-amp, but I have no experiences on upgrading one. I tried to read upgrading instructions on the Bottlehead forum and head-fi.

I'm afraid of any mistakes, so I’m seeking for experienced people’s confirmation on whether the following components are eligible for my purposes (in a simple and efficient way) and if those parameters (uF, VAC, VDC, etc.) are correct or not.

I use the headamp primarily for listening to jazz, classical and symphony music. Do you have any advices to upgrade my headamp that works best with my music favours?

(*I apologize if this problem is not encouraged in the forum; please let me know if that violates any rules in the forum)
 

Thanks for considering and giving advices.

1) TKD Potentiometer 2CP-2511 Stereo 100K Volume Control
2) FT-3 0.1uF 600V Teflon film caps (2 items)
3) 1,5uF MCap Mundorf Supreme Silver Gold Oil Caps 690VAC 1000VDC" (2 items)
(Should I use the 1,5uF MCap Mundorf Supreme Silver/Oil (no gold) Caps 690VAC 1000VDC for my purpose of listening to my favourite music genres?)

LamQuyN

[Paul Birkeland]

The TKD pot should work just fine.

The FT-3 capacitors are going to be be very large and they have metal bodies. I would not recommend these for a SEX kit under any circumstances.

For the Mundorf caps, just buy what makes you happy.

-PB

[Natural Sound]

I have two suggestions. You didn't mention if you had the C4S upgrade installed in your amp. If you dont, install it before proceeding with any other upgrades.

1. Change only one component at a time and listen to the change it makes to the sound. Making too many changes at once wont allow you to learn the influence each part makes to the sound.

2. As far as cap upgrades, change out the .1uf 600v interstage cap first. You don't have to spend a lot of money either. I bought a pair of Audiocap PPT Theta 0.10uF 600V Film/Foil Capacitors for about $15 USD. Don't let the price fool you. These were supposed to be an intermediate upgrade until I could save up enough cash for some Mundorf caps later. That was several years ago. The Theta's are still in there. It's a great sounding cap. Very rich and engaging sound. I liked them so much I bought some more and installed them in my Stereomour II. I also found that the Theta's are very forgiving when used with less than optimal digital source material. The Theta helps smooth out some of the harshness that is sometimes present in digital content. 

BTW - The stock 1.5 μF 630V Solen parefeed caps that come with the 2.1 is a nice quality cap in my opinion.

Hat tip to Bottlehead member Cary for turning me on to the Theta's in 2014.
https://bottlehead.com/smf/index.php?topic=6411.msg62553#msg62553

http://www.soniccraft.com/product_info.php/audiocap-theta-010uf-600vdc-p-64
or
https://www.parts-express.com/audiocap-ppt-theta-010uf-600v-film-foil-capacitor--027-710

[quy lam nguyen]

I’m so thankful for the advices.

I’m a newbie and have no experience on mod a headamp before.

I’ve been using the S.E.X 2.1 (with C4S upgrade and Impedance Switch) for a long time and now I want to try some modifications for a better experience.

I’ve seen on the forum that replacing bypass FT-3 0.1uF Russian teflon interstage coupling capacitors by pillow-shaped brown / orange capacitors in the S.E.X 2.1 amp (plus Volume Control và MCap Mundorf Supreme SGO Caps upgrades) can bring a new feel to S.E.X, and I’m curious about that.

But now I’m leaning toward to the Audiocap PPT Theta 0.10uF 600V Film/Foil Capacitors, recommended by Natural Sound. That’s really a good advice with some interesting and useful information for me. Thank you Natural Sound.

But due to my lack of experience, I’m quite worried if the parameters are compatible or not. Are the options 1,5uF MCap Mundorf Supreme Caps 1000V and FT-3 0.1uF 600V (Theta 0.10uF 600V from Natural Sound) ok? Should the components necessary be at 630V as the originals currently are? What is the maximum error?

I really look forward to receiving useful advices from experts

Any suggestions shall be welcome.

Thank you for the advices.

[Paul Birkeland]

The FT-3 are not OK due to their size and metal case.

[Tom-s]

PB is right on both fronts. The metal casing of most Russian caps is a potential danger in our amps and the FT-3's are too big to fit in the original place.
Here's how i handled those problems in a S3X (which has way more space compared to 2.1).
1. Uses fitting heat shrink around the bodies.
For the FT-3 i've used 50mm 3:1 heat shrink (the thick ones, with glue) that worked out fine.
2. Be original using the tight space to fit them. Possible stand mount them using nylon stands.
3. Safety first! (aah, this should have come first!)

https://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb16521276/p5pb16521276.jpg
https://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb16521277/p5pb16521277.jpg

[quy lam nguyen]

Paul Birkeland: Thank you very much, I'll surely pay attention to your advice.

Tom-S: Thanks for your advice. The image you shared is very familiar to me. I've seen them at head-fi many times while I was gaining experiences from what people shared (although I couldn't understand all, because I was still a newbie). I'm too worried to make any mistakes due to my lack of knowledge, so I'm trying to study more useful advices to know exactly what I should do. Thank you.