Hard Work
I am blessed with multiple surplus shops. I carry a magnet with me, and pick out the old ones with non-magnetic leads.
Gave up ordering them. Almost all that showed up had steel leads.
The CDE are the worst, almost everyone found had steel leads. I found some nice Japanese ones that none so far are steel.
Good luck!
George
1543 said:
I am blessed with multiple surplus shops. I carry a magnet with me, and pick out the old ones with non-magnetic leads.
Gave up ordering them. Almost all that showed up had steel leads.
The CDE are the worst, almost everyone found had steel leads. I found some nice Japanese ones that none so far are steel.
Good luck!
George
Hi everyone,
Just to report about my troubles with LM318H (post 2037).
I have received LM318N from Futurlec in 4 days (I paid extra for express delivery). And they are AU$1 each.
I replaced LM318H with LM318N and gave it a run. The temperature of LM318N as probed by my finger was much lower than it was for LM318H. They are just slightly warm. I think that this is due to two factors: different junction-to-air thermal resistance and different case-to-finger thermal resistance. Anyway, it looks OK now. I have also noticed that with LM318N some RF noise at 3MHz appears at the output (about 100mV) when I touch the case of the IC. It wasn’t there for LM318H.
Thanks for your help.
Just to report about my troubles with LM318H (post 2037).
I have received LM318N from Futurlec in 4 days (I paid extra for express delivery). And they are AU$1 each.
I replaced LM318H with LM318N and gave it a run. The temperature of LM318N as probed by my finger was much lower than it was for LM318H. They are just slightly warm. I think that this is due to two factors: different junction-to-air thermal resistance and different case-to-finger thermal resistance. Anyway, it looks OK now. I have also noticed that with LM318N some RF noise at 3MHz appears at the output (about 100mV) when I touch the case of the IC. It wasn’t there for LM318H.
Thanks for your help.
Russ and Brian,
Re. Silver mica steel leads.
Simsic silver mica cap leads have copper clad steel, annealed wires.
The copper cladding improves the conductivity of the leads.
I think this method would make them more generally acceptable.
The leads also have a 60/40 solder coating, to aid solderability, but I suppose this would be the case for most leads anyway.
What type of leads will your silver mica leads have?
Audie.
Re. Silver mica steel leads.
Simsic silver mica cap leads have copper clad steel, annealed wires.
The copper cladding improves the conductivity of the leads.
I think this method would make them more generally acceptable.
The leads also have a 60/40 solder coating, to aid solderability, but I suppose this would be the case for most leads anyway.
What type of leads will your silver mica leads have?
Audie.
We are using CDE Silver Micas. Nothing in the datasheet alludes to the leads material, so I am assuming George was right about them being steel leaded. I do not think that this will negatively affect the sound or performance in any way, however. CDE is a very good maker of capacitors, and if it negatively affected the performance of the caps, I am sure they would use a different material.
FWIW: I believe the leads of all snap-in capacitors are steel as well...
FWIW: I believe the leads of all snap-in capacitors are steel as well...
Hi Panelhead,
You are in a lucky situation to have good electronic shops in your neighborhood. Here is it difficult to get Micas in a local shop. Perhaps I would find a few micas but guranteed not the pF values I am in need of.
All I could do is to order a few hundred Micas from an internet supplier. Test them with a magnet at home and ship the steel leed Mica's back
Arne
hi all,
after starting my master's thesis I finally got round to putting the myrefs in a case. After some initial testing I decided to rip out the wima input caps (as the "pre" i'm using now has 0v offset -it has its own output caps). A good decision. Much more details and less flappy bass. A stunning amp I must say. Better than any chip-based amp I've ever built before!
My impressions: it has nice, fluid highs, a midrange to die for (oh, diana krall's voice! ) and a pretty deep, sturdy bass.
Hats off for Russ & Brian!
after starting my master's thesis I finally got round to putting the myrefs in a case. After some initial testing I decided to rip out the wima input caps (as the "pre" i'm using now has 0v offset -it has its own output caps). A good decision. Much more details and less flappy bass. A stunning amp I must say. Better than any chip-based amp I've ever built before!
My impressions: it has nice, fluid highs, a midrange to die for (oh, diana krall's voice! ) and a pretty deep, sturdy bass.
Hats off for Russ & Brian!
Attachments
hi all,
after starting my master's thesis I finally got round to putting the myrefs in a case. After some initial testing I decided to rip out the wima input caps (as the "pre" i'm using now has 0v offset -it has its own output caps). A good decision. Much more details and less flappy bass. A stunning amp I must say. Better than any chip-based amp I've ever built before!
My impressions: it has nice, fluid highs, a midrange to die for (oh, diana krall's voice! ) and a pretty deep, sturdy bass.
Hats off for Russ & Brian!
after starting my master's thesis I finally got round to putting the myrefs in a case. After some initial testing I decided to rip out the wima input caps (as the "pre" i'm using now has 0v offset -it has its own output caps). A good decision. Much more details and less flappy bass. A stunning amp I must say. Better than any chip-based amp I've ever built before!
My impressions: it has nice, fluid highs, a midrange to die for (oh, diana krall's voice! ) and a pretty deep, sturdy bass.
Hats off for Russ & Brian!
Attachments
Hi Matjans! Thanks for the kind words, you made a very nice amp. 
I like that nice compact case. 
I agree with you fully on two points:
1) Yes, no input cap is always better than *any* input cap if you can do it. You must have no (well tiny) DC on input as you stated.
2) And yes, Diana Krall has a voice that is very easy to listen to!
Cheers!
Russ
I like that nice compact case. I agree with you fully on two points:
1) Yes, no input cap is always better than *any* input cap if you can do it. You must have no (well tiny) DC on input as you stated.
2) And yes, Diana Krall has a voice that is very easy to listen to!
Cheers!
Russ
Good job matjans!
I agree with you that My Ref. is a great sounding amp. It is well balanced in it's presentation and it does not fatigue with extended listening.
The highs indeed can sound fluid.
The other night after a few hours warming up with a few records, and with the 240V mains being on it's best behavour, I heard some of the best highs I've heard. They were silky, liquid and beautiful.
Mauro sure designed a great amp!
Audie.
I agree with you that My Ref. is a great sounding amp. It is well balanced in it's presentation and it does not fatigue with extended listening.
The highs indeed can sound fluid.
The other night after a few hours warming up with a few records, and with the 240V mains being on it's best behavour, I heard some of the best highs I've heard. They were silky, liquid and beautiful.
Mauro sure designed a great amp!
Audie.
I'm using a late 90s lightly modified Denon hdcd player into the kookaburra into the MyRef with no input caps and feedback 220uF electrolytic bypassed with a 1uF mylar. DC only went up 1mV for each channel once the input caps were removed.
I removed the input cap and bypassed the electrolytic at the same time so I'm not sure which made the bigger difference....but I do believe there was a small overall improvement on an already excellent sounding amp.
I removed the input cap and bypassed the electrolytic at the same time so I'm not sure which made the bigger difference....but I do believe there was a small overall improvement on an already excellent sounding amp.