Stereomour II (in progress)

[mcandmar]

There is nothing wrong with Solen capacitors, i have used them in amps and speaker crossovers and they always work well.  Boutique caps can sound different / better, but i would try the Solens first and go from there as it may better inform you of what characteristics you would prefer in a replacement capacitor.

[denti alligator]

Alright, I've used the extra leads (orange/blue) and wired them to an additional pair of RCAs, which I want to use to output to a headphone amp, while still using the inputs and switch of the Stereomour.

right RCA: orange solid (ground tab), orange striped (center lug)
left RCA: blue solid (ground tab), blue striped (center lug)

The other ends of these wires need to go to the center lugs A, B, C, and D of the selector switch, right? My question is: which goes to which? My guess: striped orange to A, solid orange to B, striped blue to D, and solid blue to C.  But I'd like confirmation before I do this.
Thanks.

[Natural Sound]

There is nothing wrong with Solen capacitors, i have used them in amps and speaker crossovers and they always work well.  Boutique caps can sound different / better, but i would try the Solens first and go from there as it may better inform you of what characteristics you would prefer in a replacement capacitor.

I concur. The stock Solen caps in the parafeed position are pretty nice. It is however worthwhile upgrading the stock interstage cap which is also in the signal path. Its the one that is .1uf 630v and is brown in color. You dont have to spend a lot of money either. I've used these with very good results.
http://www.parts-express.com/audiocap-ppt-theta-010uf-600v-film-foil-capacitor--027-710

[mcandmar]

I was never a fan of those poly gum drop caps, i think they are Panasonics.  The russian FT-3's are an interesting cap to try as they are great for detail, and very cheap.  Money no object i would highly recommend the Jupiter wax caps, both for inter stage and output as i am yet to find another cap i like better.

[denti alligator]

Alright, I've used the extra leads (orange/blue) and wired them to an additional pair of RCAs, which I want to use to output to a headphone amp, while still using the inputs and switch of the Stereomour.

right RCA: orange solid (ground tab), orange striped (center lug)
left RCA: blue solid (ground tab), blue striped (center lug)

The other ends of these wires need to go to the center lugs A, B, C, and D of the selector switch, right? My question is: which goes to which? My guess: striped orange to A, solid orange to B, striped blue to D, and solid blue to C.  But I'd like confirmation before I do this.
Thanks.

Bumping this question. Anyone know how to wire these rotary switches?

[Jamier]

Have you had this amp up and running in completely stock form?

[denti alligator]

Have you had this amp up and running in completely stock form?

Not yet. I attached the wires already. We'll see how it sounds. If I have any troubles it will be easy enough to disconnect the four extra wires from the selector switch.

[Jamier]

I think I see where you're going with this. Maybe you would be better off including a purpose built preamp in you're system. The way you're going now might degrade the performance of both the
S-II and the headphone amp.But how will you know if you haven't previewed the stock StereomourII?

[denti alligator]

I think I see where you're going with this. Maybe you would be better off including a purpose built preamp in you're system. The way you're going now might degrade the performance of both the
S-II and the headphone amp.But how will you know if you haven't previewed the stock StereomourII?

PB said this was the easiest way to go. I'm basically following his instructions. But he never explicitly said how to wire the new RCAs to the selector switch. I think I've got it, though.

As soon as I get my replacement caps I should be ready to go!

[denti alligator]

OK, I got some ClarityCaps to hold me over till the replacement Solens come. Build is complete. Here are the only resistance inconsistencies:

terminals 21/40   0.5 

Note that I swopped out the good Solen cap with one of the CalrityCaps to make sure the caps weren't somehow throwing off resistance, but I get the same reading.

Any clue why these would be off?

[fullheadofnothing]

Sounds like something is miswired. Post pictures, particularly of the areas around these terminals and the output transformers.

[denti alligator]

Here are some. I've wired for 4ohms speakers.

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi67.tinypic.com%2Ffc740y.jpg&hash=85c02ceb5146bf854f5b117d2ccd24a564e89de8)

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi65.tinypic.com%2F2f07m1l.jpg&hash=b4a9907c12db18ed1bc32fadaa53e69384a5cb34)

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi68.tinypic.com%2Fouvea0.jpg&hash=d88d465b27b0d80650a3a585a039005f11c0eba4)

[denti alligator]

I haven't trimmed the leads on the cap here because I just switched it out to see if the ClarityCaps were the culprit.

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi64.tinypic.com%2F33upch0.jpg&hash=7285a14f598f1c8a37f8ebb8735b86fe8a8583b8)

[fullheadofnothing]

You have mixed up the primary and secondary wiring on your output transformers.

Refer back to pp 57-59 and pay close attention to the terminal numbers on transformers.

[denti alligator]

Thanks, fixed!

Voltages check out perfectly, except that terminal 7 read 239 (still easily within 10%) and terminal 14 read 200. Does this have something to do with the balance control? I also noticed that I got two different brands of 12AT7 tubes, so maybe that has something to do with it?

I'll send some music through it now to see how it sounds.