Replacing the last power supply cap

[corndog71]

I have experience with the Clarity TC caps.  They do involve some rethinking when it comes to mounting them.  And compared to the Panasonic electrolytics they replaced,  there was a significant improvement in sound quality.  The trade-off is size and cost.

I hear what you're saying about stabbing in the dark.  Personally, I say stab away!  Kill it!  There's Grues in there!

Ok, seriously; this is part of the madness and enjoyment of this hobby.  Experimenting!  How boring was audio when you just bought stuff and listened to it?

SO boring! 

So experiment away!  You never know when a change will really make a difference until you try it yourself.

[earwaxxer]

Quite true Rob! The other side of the logic is that when you buy some nice caps etc. you can always use them for something. They won't go to waist!

[HF9]

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv213%2Fhighflyin9%2FDIY%2FSolen-Power-Update-2.jpg&hash=5b7026b03f809c3a571e9d0e377750f47894ed0d)
You can squeeze a 220uF Solen in there just barely

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F--9HVdXvbtAQ%2FUZZgOmW5W3I%2FAAAAAAAABeE%2FPY7KPn6N8P4%2Fs1600%2FFinished-Internals.jpg&hash=ebd29fd8db75d698eda86017f180f6d9d8c05191)
Or (3) 75uF caps in parallel in this custom chassis. 

[adamct]

Beautiful builds. What are the small red caps in the one with the big Solen? I assume you bypassed the other two power supply electrolytics?

[Nick Tam]

Hey erm where does the Choke go again if I were to put it into the circuit? I'm having trouble recalling which 270R was I supposed to replace with using the Triad C7X

[HF9]

Beautiful builds. What are the small red caps in the one with the big Solen? I assume you bypassed the other two power supply electrolytics?

Thanks!. Yes, that was the purpose of the little red Audiofiler caps.

Nick, if you look at the photo above, you'll see the 159M choke on the left going up to the approximate area where the 270R resistor would have been.

[adamct]

It looks like my choices are (1) going for 3 of the oilers from eBay (70uf each), (2) one of these, or (3) a Solen 220uf film cap. Frankly, 3 of the oilers off eBay would cost almost as much as the Solen, but would be much bulkier and require more wiring, so I'm inclined to skip them. Any thoughts on option #2?

Best,
Adam

[Grainger49]

On the "OLD BOARD" there was something called a PDMPS, a third stage of filtering.  It stood for Pseudo Dual Mono Power Supply.  I did this with my FP 2 adding a couple of 100uF "Oilers" motor start caps.  I just put another 1k resistor between the mono power supply output and the oilers.  Then the two power supply rails went to the right and left channel. 

It did improve the sound.

[earwaxxer]

IMO - i don't think you will notice a sound difference between film caps in the power supply. That would be a guess, but I'd do feel its worth going from electrolytic to film, even from just the peace of mind aspect.

[2wo]

Hi Nick, the resistor in question would be the one that connects the 2 high voltage caps together...John 

[w0lfd0g]

Hi Adam

I use the 220 uF version of this cap:

http://www.partsconnexion.com/capacitor_film_clarity_tc.html

(Relatively) cheap and some peace of mind offered.  Sonically satisfied, fiscally challenged. 

Not a pretty solution, but it does the job.

[adamct]

Yep, that's the other cap I was considering. But I wonder if the $11 film cap from eBay wouldn't be just as good when used in the power supply...

[earwaxxer]

Hey Adam - with large value film caps like that, in a power supply, I would go ahead and try the cheapest one you can find. No harm done. Its going to be really hard (expensive) to get any name boutique cap in those values. Money can go other places IMO.

[adamct]

Hmmmm....at that price, maybe I'll replace all the power supply caps! 

[earwaxxer]

Yes.. Large Caps Increase Your Manhood!