I finished my Stereomour and it's up & running

[ericatflc]

Well, it took me a couple of months, but I finished my Stereomour earlier this week and I really like it.  I've never owned a single ended triode amp and I just about find it hard to believe how it makes my Klipsch La Scalas sing.  Julie London just about made my cry a river, The Modern Jazz Quartet never sounded better and The Band rocked out like nobody's business.  Can't wait to listen to some more.  Just listened to Bolero on the NMSU campus station and it was fantastic.

I built it entirely stock, but I plan to make some upgrades as time goes by.  Tom Patton asked for some recommendations on my behalf in a previous post and I plan to take advantage of the some of the thoughtful suggestions. 

Frst, I will probably replace the interstage caps with Russian teflon caps because that will be the easiest to do.  I'll most likely follow Paul Joppa's suggestion and replace resistors in the power supply filter section with Triad C7-X chokes.  I also have a couple Obbligato 2 microfarad caps for bypassing probably the final filter caps. 

After I install the filter chokes, would it be much of a chore to replace some of the filter caps with Mundorf M-Lytic caps using less capacitance?  Tom is making that suggestion; he's pretty fond of those caps.  I used one in a Seduction I built about a year and a half ago I like the results. 

Thanks for all the suggestions and thanks to Bottlehead for making a darn good amp.

[Jim R.]

Eric,

congratulations on finishing the amp.  Of course things will only get better with more playtime and the upgrades, and if you feel like it, the JJ 2a3-40 tubes are a very nice improvement for a decent price as compared to topp NOS american tubesor other boutique brands.

And with the LaScalas, you could probably easily get away with just the 2uF cap on it's own instead of a bypass -- assuming the voltage rating is high enough -- at lleast 630v.  But you'd just have to try to know for sure.

-- Jim

[InfernoSTi]

Congratulations on your new Stereomour build.  Remember to let it burn in for 75-100 hours to let everything settle out.  This is even more true with cap replacements.  It is such a thrill to hear the Stereomour you just built play music for the first time...enjoy!

John

[ericatflc]

Thanks for the replies; I appreciate the advice.

Jim, what I had in mind was using the Obbligato caps to bypass the final 100 microfarad power supply filter caps.  Are you speaking of just using the 2 microfarad Obbligatos in place of the final filter caps?  And would that only be the case if used the Triad chokes in the rc filter network?

John, I've already noticed the amp sounds better after having is on and playing for 5-8 hours a day for the last week.  And I expect it to get better.

Eric

[BNAL]

Eric,

It take some time for the transformers to break-in. I'm not sure how long it will take, from my experience there are different stages from good to bad to great. All I know is that the BH equipment always sounds great to my ears, so enjoy.

Brad

[Paul Joppa]

The 2uF could be used as the parafeed cap, or as a bypass on the cathode or power supply caps. But it cannot be an adequate substitute for the 100uF power supply cap!

[ericatflc]

Thanks Paul,

I didn't understand (something that happens to me more than I would like) what Jim was getting at; I think he meant the Obbligato caps as replacements for the parafeed caps.  I didn't think it would be a good idea at all to use them as a replacement for the final power supply filter cap.  I have two Seductions (one of which I purchased already built, the other I built myself); I used Obbligato caps to bypass the last power supply filter cap in both and I like the results). 

I really enjoy the Bottlehead amps I have (two Seductions and now the Paramour). 

[Jim R.]

Eric,

Yes, sorry, I did mean to use them for new parafeed caps -- in place of the existing ones, not paralleled with them.

-- Jim

[InfernoSTi]

I suspect any quality cap upgrades in the parafeed and coupling positions will be audible and improve the sound.  After than it's like spice (as they say): if you have a flavor cap you like, use that; if you don't know, pick one that is recommended by others as a place to start!  I think I posted on the other thread about my appreciation of the Mundorf Silver in Oil caps for the parafeed and coupling positions. 

John