I replaced the 33uf caps with 82uf Nichicons as I think that we need more capacity here. Before I made this change there was a certain congestion to the sound as the music became more demanding that improved afterwards.
The Lenco Heaven thread that I have been referring to suggests bypassing the electrolytic capacitors with film caps. I have them but I haven't installed them yet. Watching Stephe's latest video about the effects of running a good film cap in the power supply has me rethinking this.
The point that I'm trying to make is that I think that a larger value than 30uf would be a good idea. The 100uf caps that are recommended were out of stock so I got the next largest available size. Increasing these from 33uf to 82uf was a sizable improvement. I would expect that changing to good film caps would also be a step in the right direction, but I wonder if the best results would come from larger electrolytics with good film bypass caps.The bypass caps that I ordered are 0.82uf based on the 1 percent rule but they are really too fat to fit under the board. I think that I am going to try 0.1uf.
Please post a picture when you get your Solens installed!
Pete
@pete I think we need to see what the power transformer specs are and what its capable of handling, just can't throw high value capacitors blindly in that design or you may stress out that PT and can get hot. The power supply we are using are the updated EAR clone PS with increased capacitance going from the (2) 100uF caps to now a 330uF and a 220uf before the regulator with a inductor in between the caps. I'm don't need more capacitance on the preamp board than 47uF, if the caps in the power supply had remained the same at 100uf for the two, I would have upped the capacitors on the preamp board to 100uF like I have on another EAR 834P pcb ready to put in in case.
If the power supply is good and up to the task, then there should be not need for more capacitance then the 47uF recommended. I really think if you are having congestive issue it maybe somewhere else in the EAR or in your system via cables or matching to the preamp that it's going into. I do know that playing with the pot levels does change the sound of the EAR clone and sounds better when turned down around 12 noon on the volume pot of the EAR. If I turn it up to around 2pm on the knob it gets a little messy due to the gain with it being used with a SUT and being set too high. When I ran the the EAR clone just straight with the Sumiko Amethyst cartridge I could turn the volume on the EAR higher with no signs of congestion or messiness in the sound. I have seen this when using MC cartridges and SUT once you get past a certain amount of gain things get messy and unfocused in the music presentation.
I did a mod on another phono preamp that I increased the size of the power transformer, same voltage but more VA than what it came with via the McKenzie upgrade and it made a huge difference in sound. Bass was deeper and more defined and all the music played effortlessly with no hint of strain at all. I was using this recently while I was repairing the EAR humming/ground issues. I have to say it is bettering the EAR clone in that regard right now. I still have some parts to change on the Phono preamp side to fine tune this, I did notice that after the resistor change on the B+ side of those 2K, 20K, and 200K resistors it was way more quiet and more focus. I know those 330K resistor are not very good and will be changing them out as well. I will be doing the Allen Wright and Michael Elliott mods on that part and put better parts in the RIAA section. The last upgrade will be the TKD pot.
I will post pics when I'm done.
If the power supply is good and up to the task, then there should be not need for more capacitance then the 47uF recommended. I really think if you are having congestive issue it maybe somewhere else in the EAR or in your system via cables or matching to the preamp that it's going into. I do know that playing with the pot levels does change the sound of the EAR clone and sounds better when turned down around 12 noon on the volume pot of the EAR. If I turn it up to around 2pm on the knob it gets a little messy due to the gain with it being used with a SUT and being set too high. When I ran the the EAR clone just straight with the Sumiko Amethyst cartridge I could turn the volume on the EAR higher with no signs of congestion or messiness in the sound. I have seen this when using MC cartridges and SUT once you get past a certain amount of gain things get messy and unfocused in the music presentation.
I did a mod on another phono preamp that I increased the size of the power transformer, same voltage but more VA than what it came with via the McKenzie upgrade and it made a huge difference in sound. Bass was deeper and more defined and all the music played effortlessly with no hint of strain at all. I was using this recently while I was repairing the EAR humming/ground issues. I have to say it is bettering the EAR clone in that regard right now. I still have some parts to change on the Phono preamp side to fine tune this, I did notice that after the resistor change on the B+ side of those 2K, 20K, and 200K resistors it was way more quiet and more focus. I know those 330K resistor are not very good and will be changing them out as well. I will be doing the Allen Wright and Michael Elliott mods on that part and put better parts in the RIAA section. The last upgrade will be the TKD pot.
I will post pics when I'm done.
It wasn't completely blind, lol. I think that I combined what I saw here, in the lower right hand corner in yellow:
And this comment:
"So, if you are using 100uf, then 1uf bypass is appropriate, etc." in the discussion about bypassing electrolytics.
There is also a mention of using 2x33uf in each location, so I don't think that I am asking too much of the transformer. I was quite sure that I read about replacing all of the 33uf guys with 100uf along with the part number but I can't find it.
Pete
I was talking about if you were going to use 100uF caps in those spots were they mention 47/33uF. The bypass caps are fine. I also saw about 100uf caps in those same spot and I even built a second preamp PCB with them in there but that was if I was going to use the 100uF caps in the power supply.
Yesterday I installed better DIY Power Cables on my EAR 834P and Transcendent Sound Masterpiece 300b preamp. I wasn't ready for what I heard, the EAR was way better and no more slightly harsh edges on the music and the depth and width of the soundstage was increased. Now I know why others love the EAR 834P phono preamps so much. I'm running my EAR 834P clone with the Ned Clayton SUT with Cinemag with the 3440AH SUT's. These match up very well and sound great, no hum from either.
I was listening to music for over 5 hours just could stop pulling out LP's and hearing things I never heard before. The EAR only has about 15 hours of breakin since the last round of upgrades and I have 3 more to do before I'm finished with it. This phono preamp is sounding very close to the SPL Phonos when I did a side by side comparison, the only thing the Phonos has over the EAR is a tad more slam/punch. The EAR clone is way more musical sounding than the Phonos.
I was listening to music for over 5 hours just could stop pulling out LP's and hearing things I never heard before. The EAR only has about 15 hours of breakin since the last round of upgrades and I have 3 more to do before I'm finished with it. This phono preamp is sounding very close to the SPL Phonos when I did a side by side comparison, the only thing the Phonos has over the EAR is a tad more slam/punch. The EAR clone is way more musical sounding than the Phonos.
I have heard that this phono stage is very revealing of power cables but I am using a cheap cable that I have wired a bucking transformer into. I have some much better homemade cables so I should probably build a better version.
Pete
Drummerboy, you have your unit plugged directly into the wall, correct? My wall voltage is around 123vac so I use a 6.3v bucking transformer that drops in down to 115 or so. Since I have changed out 2 of the Zener diodes my B+ is now at like 288v so the higher input voltage wouldn't be too bad so maybe I'll try it without the bucking transformer.
I would be better off building a better bucking cord, though!
Pete
I would be better off building a better bucking cord, though!
Pete
I have a Furman Power Conditioner/ Voltage Regulator that keeps the front end gear at 120Vac all the time. But right now I do have the the gear plugged into the wall due to the Hum issues before and my Voltage has been around 118-119VAC. I have one of those plug in Voltage Displays and see what the line voltage is all the time.
Just a heads up for those that are using Torodial transformers and get that nasty physical buzz from them when some garbage is on the AC lines. I use the AVA Humdinger and it works great for that issue. It doesn't fix the audio hum/buzz only the physical issue. My transformer in my EDGE M8 and Variac would buzz like crazy at certain times when night came, never happened in the day. So someone in the hood was using something at night that is throwing garbage onto the AC lines that is causing this, It happened during summer also so this was either lights or AC unit.
So the reason I'm sharing this was since I put my VTA-120 back into the system while listening to my new EAR Clone and other tube gear, the Variac with my VTA-120 was buzzing all the time, so I put the AVA Humdinger is and that took care of that. Dead quiet now. Also I need to make a Bucking Transformer setup and I should have this issue and more.
So the reason I'm sharing this was since I put my VTA-120 back into the system while listening to my new EAR Clone and other tube gear, the Variac with my VTA-120 was buzzing all the time, so I put the AVA Humdinger is and that took care of that. Dead quiet now. Also I need to make a Bucking Transformer setup and I should have this issue and more.
Another heads up for those that are using and or tweaking the seller assembled EAR 834P Clones, I found on another issue on my EAR 834P on the assembly side. When I was loosening up the 6 nuts that hold down the Phono PCB, the one with ground wire on the corner was loose. I barely put the driver on it and it was turning with out any pressure. So just make sure this is Tight. I was getting weird humming noise when I was putting the cover on like the ground was not connected when I was tracking down the hum on the PS in my earlier post. I had to fix that one since it was not grounding at the main PS ground point.
Both grounds are fixed now and unit is dead quiet with just noise from normal tubes rush but at the very highest level and even then it's still very quiet.
Both grounds are fixed now and unit is dead quiet with just noise from normal tubes rush but at the very highest level and even then it's still very quiet.
Yesterday after the TKD pot upgrade the EAR Clone was raised to another level or two, Back ground noises that were there with the Alps Pot are now gone and now the music is coming out of a silent background with the TKD pot. The music is not as thin like before and highs are smooth with non of that harshness like before. As it is now, the EAR Clone with upgrades has surpassed my SPL Audio Phonos. I don't think the way/how its sounding now, It will take a way more costly Phono preamp to better it. With the enjoyment I'm getting with this EAR Clone Phono preamp, I have no urge to buy a more expensive phono preamp in the $5K range or higher that MAY better it. 
Once the grounding issues were corrected the EAR Clone is really quiet now and it so quiet its lower than the record surface noise now and that's the key. I even have to check to make sure it on the correct input its so quiet now.
Once the grounding issues were corrected the EAR Clone is really quiet now and it so quiet its lower than the record surface noise now and that's the key. I even have to check to make sure it on the correct input its so quiet now.
I'd like the details of what potentiometer that you used to replace the Alps. TKD makes a bunch!
Thanks, Pete
I installed my RIAA Inverse Filter today to help speed up the break in process for my EAR Clone, I don't want to put unwanted hours on my my Cartridge if I don't have to.
As of last night my EAR clone really took a huge leap in sound, the clarity, depth, width, and ambience of the music is just awesome. Its the best I have had in my system to date and I had a very good Phono Preamp before this in the SPL Phonos.
As of last night my EAR clone really took a huge leap in sound, the clarity, depth, width, and ambience of the music is just awesome. Its the best I have had in my system to date and I had a very good Phono Preamp before this in the SPL Phonos.
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