I have a Jolida Glass FX Tube DAC. First impression of this DAC when I got it was that it was a really good sounding DAC for the price.
You can get them for $450.00 plus shipping.
So this DAC sounded pretty good. I was impressed.
The retailers and Jolida offer mods for this DAC. One retailer says that they replace the six electrolytic caps in the power supply with Elna Silmic II's. Well 3 of those caps are low value, high voltage. Elna doesn't make Silmic's in these values. So I emailed said retailer and asked what he used in these spots since there were no silmic's in these values. He politely replied "I am not in the business of giving out information. Some of the other mods they offer is changing the output RCA's to Vampires' and change the internal wiring to silver. Also Jolida offers the Bybee Music Rail.
I was talking with an authorized Jolida repair person. I asked about the music rail, and he said he didn't like the Bybee stuff. Said it will change the sound, but he personally didn't like it. He also said if you change the electrolytes in the power supply, or the wiring, and connectors, you won't here any difference. He suggested changing the output caps.
So I can be kind off anal at times, so here is what I did, and I replaced the output caps last. Now I think if I would of replaced them first I would of heard more return from my other mods.
Now the power supply has 2 rails. One for the 220 volts for the tube analog output brd. The other rail supplies 5v for the DAC brd, and 12v for the tube filaments. Oh, the DAC uses two 12AX7 tubes. Now the power supply brd is mounted under the top of the unit, across the back on short stand offs. The 220v rail has two 100uf and one 22uf electrolytic caps, and a .1uf bypass on the last 100uf cap. I replaced these with two 100uf, and one 20uf Mundorf Poly tube caps, by mounting them on the top of the unit right over the power supply brd, and passing 3 twisted pairs of short wires through a hole I drilled. I relaced the .1uf bypass cap with a Mundorf EVO silver/gold and oil. There was a 1 watt and a 2 watt resistors as well. I replaced those with Caddock 925's since I had them on hand.
The other rail had higher value low voltage caps. I replaced them with Silmic II's. There were two .1uf bypass caps on two of the electrolytics.I replaced those with Vishay 1837's. Improvements? I thought so, but it was just enough to wonder if I was imagining it.
Then I went to the analog output Brd. There 7 or maybe 9 resistors, the tubes, and the output cap. So I replaced the resistors with Vishay naked Z-Foils, except for two that the values were above what Z-Foils come in, so I used two Caddock supper stable resistors in these two spots. Did I hear an improvement. I thought it sounded a little cleaner and smoother, but again it was so little it could of been my imagination. And when that's the case, I consider it not an improvement.
So then I changed the output caps. There is not much room in there, so you are limited as to what caps you can use. I took a chance on the Stealth Caps from Parts Connextion. If you read the company's sales pitch, you better be wearing your hip waders. But since I saw pictures of them in AR amps at their factory I took a chance on them. I had to shoe horn them in there. But, Wow, What a difference. More top and bottom extension, more detail, smother, fuller, you name it, it was improved. It also to my surprise really changes the tempo of the music. My swing CD's really, really were swinging. It sounded like they were playing faster? These caps sound wonderful. Yes, the two caps cost me a little over half what I paid for the DAC, but well worth it. So my recommendation, if you have one of these, is change the output caps to Stealths. That will be the biggest improvement. Then if you want to replace other components go for it, you may hear an improvement with the better output caps in place. All I know is my DAC now sounds unbelievably wonderful.
You can get them for $450.00 plus shipping.
So this DAC sounded pretty good. I was impressed.
The retailers and Jolida offer mods for this DAC. One retailer says that they replace the six electrolytic caps in the power supply with Elna Silmic II's. Well 3 of those caps are low value, high voltage. Elna doesn't make Silmic's in these values. So I emailed said retailer and asked what he used in these spots since there were no silmic's in these values. He politely replied "I am not in the business of giving out information. Some of the other mods they offer is changing the output RCA's to Vampires' and change the internal wiring to silver. Also Jolida offers the Bybee Music Rail.
I was talking with an authorized Jolida repair person. I asked about the music rail, and he said he didn't like the Bybee stuff. Said it will change the sound, but he personally didn't like it. He also said if you change the electrolytes in the power supply, or the wiring, and connectors, you won't here any difference. He suggested changing the output caps.
So I can be kind off anal at times, so here is what I did, and I replaced the output caps last. Now I think if I would of replaced them first I would of heard more return from my other mods.
Now the power supply has 2 rails. One for the 220 volts for the tube analog output brd. The other rail supplies 5v for the DAC brd, and 12v for the tube filaments. Oh, the DAC uses two 12AX7 tubes. Now the power supply brd is mounted under the top of the unit, across the back on short stand offs. The 220v rail has two 100uf and one 22uf electrolytic caps, and a .1uf bypass on the last 100uf cap. I replaced these with two 100uf, and one 20uf Mundorf Poly tube caps, by mounting them on the top of the unit right over the power supply brd, and passing 3 twisted pairs of short wires through a hole I drilled. I relaced the .1uf bypass cap with a Mundorf EVO silver/gold and oil. There was a 1 watt and a 2 watt resistors as well. I replaced those with Caddock 925's since I had them on hand.
The other rail had higher value low voltage caps. I replaced them with Silmic II's. There were two .1uf bypass caps on two of the electrolytics.I replaced those with Vishay 1837's. Improvements? I thought so, but it was just enough to wonder if I was imagining it.
Then I went to the analog output Brd. There 7 or maybe 9 resistors, the tubes, and the output cap. So I replaced the resistors with Vishay naked Z-Foils, except for two that the values were above what Z-Foils come in, so I used two Caddock supper stable resistors in these two spots. Did I hear an improvement. I thought it sounded a little cleaner and smoother, but again it was so little it could of been my imagination. And when that's the case, I consider it not an improvement.
So then I changed the output caps. There is not much room in there, so you are limited as to what caps you can use. I took a chance on the Stealth Caps from Parts Connextion. If you read the company's sales pitch, you better be wearing your hip waders. But since I saw pictures of them in AR amps at their factory I took a chance on them. I had to shoe horn them in there. But, Wow, What a difference. More top and bottom extension, more detail, smother, fuller, you name it, it was improved. It also to my surprise really changes the tempo of the music. My swing CD's really, really were swinging. It sounded like they were playing faster? These caps sound wonderful. Yes, the two caps cost me a little over half what I paid for the DAC, but well worth it. So my recommendation, if you have one of these, is change the output caps to Stealths. That will be the biggest improvement. Then if you want to replace other components go for it, you may hear an improvement with the better output caps in place. All I know is my DAC now sounds unbelievably wonderful.
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The silmics come in many flavours - but need to be sourced as a special order / special run, which are then purchased as a lot by vendors who sell them to individuals. This is how I get Silmic II 3,300uF / 50V which I use as main filtering capacitors in power supplies. Sometimes I choose 3,300uF / 50V Silmic SuperGold, which has different sound to Silmic II. For valves, i use film capacitors I pull out of VSD's (!!).
I use annealed silver ribbons for all internal wiring - in particular for the valve gear - the match made in heaven.
Vishay naked Z-foils is the best resistor for sound-handling duties.
Many people don't believe in silver wiring.... I can easily notice the difference even with a 100mm (3 inch) long piece of silver ribbon in place of copper multi-litz wire.
Anyway, I also do one change at the time, followed by a week of listening, followed again by a relevant modification (next step) to improve the sound further.
Transistor gear requires different approach. Knowing the rest of the audio chain and the room it lives in is also important, as is the personal preference to what people want to achieve.
So, it is a complex approach the modification business.
Nick
I use annealed silver ribbons for all internal wiring - in particular for the valve gear - the match made in heaven.
Vishay naked Z-foils is the best resistor for sound-handling duties.
Many people don't believe in silver wiring.... I can easily notice the difference even with a 100mm (3 inch) long piece of silver ribbon in place of copper multi-litz wire.
Anyway, I also do one change at the time, followed by a week of listening, followed again by a relevant modification (next step) to improve the sound further.
Transistor gear requires different approach. Knowing the rest of the audio chain and the room it lives in is also important, as is the personal preference to what people want to achieve.
So, it is a complex approach the modification business.
Nick
So you never go back to check the mod actually changed the sound? Just a continuous stream of expectations?
The reason being that there is no evidence it makes any difference than copper wiring apart from audiophile anecdotes....
No it is generally playing... no measurement's or other empirical data its just a game.
Why is measurement necessary? It was obvious that the output capacitors had different values.
I do go back with the previous components, to make sure i am not imagining things...
I have mentioned only parts-related replacement facts.
The most measurement that takes place is related to power supply and PCB ground noise. Here, lower noise always means better sound.
With sound-path related measurements, what measures best DOES not automatically translate into a better sound.
Lots of measurements, will dig out the stuff from another thread, but many such as Toole, Geddes and others I cant remember have good information on what is relevant from all aspects. A good foundation though as you state is probably the most important (IMO) the power supply, clean and noise free and able to handle the dynamics.
Steps
Step one, Replace parts in Power Supply Rail for 220V to analog output brd.
Listen
Step two, Replace parts on Power Supply brd for DAC power, and filament power.
Listen
Step three, Replace parts on analog output brd, except output caps.
Listen
Step four, Relace output caps.
Listen away.
Like I said, I wish I did step 4 first. I think the DAC benefitted from all the better parts, But I think I would of heard the improvements more if I had the better caps in place first.
Step one, Replace parts in Power Supply Rail for 220V to analog output brd.
Listen
Step two, Replace parts on Power Supply brd for DAC power, and filament power.
Listen
Step three, Replace parts on analog output brd, except output caps.
Listen
Step four, Relace output caps.
Listen away.
Like I said, I wish I did step 4 first. I think the DAC benefitted from all the better parts, But I think I would of heard the improvements more if I had the better caps in place first.
Extreme,
I have built 2 of 3 pairs of VH Audio silver interconnects. They are a foamed Teflon tubing for the core, with two 28 ga uni crystal silver wires with cotton insulation wrapped in a heli coil fashion from one end to the other. Then one layer of thin pipe joint Teflon plumbers tape. You can then put an expandable braided jacket if you want. I used Teflon braided jacket, and WBT Next Gen Silver RCA's. Sound great. A lot better then the generation one Nordorft Blue Havens I had been using.
I also made an identical pair using copper foil ribbon, 1/8" wide by .003" and copper next gen RCA's. Also sounded great, but to warm for my liking.
I have still to build the third pair with silver ribbon and silver RCA's. It will be an interesting comparision, Siver wire, Vs, Silver ribbon.
I'm building a whole new system. I think I will stay with the VH Audio silver coax for the small amount of internal wiring in my transport, and DAC. But I will try the silver ribbon from inputs to brd on my 300B amp. Should I leave the silver ribbon floating, uninsulated inside the amp? Or should I put Teflon braided jacket over it ? Thanks for the info.
Tony G.
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Extreme,
I have built 2 of 3 pairs of VH Audio silver interconnects. They are a foamed Teflon tubing for the core, with two 28 ga uni crystal silver wires with cotton insulation wrapped in a heli coil fashion from one end to the other. Then one layer of thin pipe joint Teflon plumbers tape. You can then put an expandable braided jacket if you want. I used Teflon braided jacket, and WBT Next Gen Silver RCA's. Sound great. A lot better then the generation one Nordorft Blue Havens I had been using.
I also made an identical pair using copper foil ribbon, 1/8" wide by .003" and copper next gen RCA's. Also sounded great, but to warm for my liking.
I have still to build the third pair with silver ribbon and silver RCA's. It will be an interesting comparision, Siver wire, Vs, Silver ribbon.
I'm building a whole new system. I think I will stay with the VH Audio silver coax for the small amount of internal wiring in my transport, and DAC. But I will try the silver ribbon from inputs to brd on my 300B amp. Should I leave the silver ribbon floating, uninsulated inside the amp? Or should I put Teflon braided jacket over it ? Thanks for the info.
Tony G.
Silver and valve gear is a match made in Heaven.
For shorter runs and point-to-point wiring, I suggest you always use bare silver conductors, i.e. no sleeving of any kind.
Regards,
Nick
Strange interaction!
I have a decent collection of NOS and new 12AX7's. When this DAC was in it's stock condition all the tubes sounded pretty good. But I have a pair of Amperex long plates, with D getter and foil strip. This is supposed to be one of the Holy Grails of 12AX7's.
With the stock output caps in place they made the music sound real crisp.
When listening, it seemed to cut all the notes off at their end. They didn't decay. They just stopped.
I couldn't understand why these Holy Grail tubes would do this. So I put them away and forgot about them.
Now that the DAC has been upgraded, and had much better output caps, I tried them again.
They didn't do that anymore. Now they sound wonderful.
I still don't understand why this was. My other 12AX7's didn't do that.
Strange.
I have a decent collection of NOS and new 12AX7's. When this DAC was in it's stock condition all the tubes sounded pretty good. But I have a pair of Amperex long plates, with D getter and foil strip. This is supposed to be one of the Holy Grails of 12AX7's.
With the stock output caps in place they made the music sound real crisp.
When listening, it seemed to cut all the notes off at their end. They didn't decay. They just stopped.
I couldn't understand why these Holy Grail tubes would do this. So I put them away and forgot about them.
Now that the DAC has been upgraded, and had much better output caps, I tried them again.
They didn't do that anymore. Now they sound wonderful.
I still don't understand why this was. My other 12AX7's didn't do that.
Strange.
Many DIY-ers start their modifications on equipment that is usually less than $1000 per component. This price range means inferior power supply, noisy environment, ordinary components with only a sprinkle of exotic capacitors (that can actually lower the noise and produce lower distortions). The first thing they do is OP replacement. So, they use very fast OP's that are capable of excellent results, but only if implemented in correctly prepared environment. Without correct preparation, these OP's will sound harsh to the point of being unlistenable.
Let’s consider now properly prepared component, which has received completely new power supplies and shunt local regulators. In addition, the voltage rails’ local decoupling (on a PCB that does sound processing) was also done correctly now, with few very low ESR electrolytic capacitors (100uF should be more than plenty) as a starting point, followed by next to the Vcc / Vee pins decoupled by SMD capacitors on the correct side of the PCB, to ensure “very fast” overall local decoupling. NOW, those fast OP’s would produce wonderfully extended, dynamic and natural sound.
So, what has changed in your case? You used capable valves in otherwise unmodified unit, and were greeted with unpleasant sound. Later on, you prepared the unit and used the same valves that now sounded different. Of course, the valves sound didn’t (shouldn’t have) changed.
Nick
Let’s consider now properly prepared component, which has received completely new power supplies and shunt local regulators. In addition, the voltage rails’ local decoupling (on a PCB that does sound processing) was also done correctly now, with few very low ESR electrolytic capacitors (100uF should be more than plenty) as a starting point, followed by next to the Vcc / Vee pins decoupled by SMD capacitors on the correct side of the PCB, to ensure “very fast” overall local decoupling. NOW, those fast OP’s would produce wonderfully extended, dynamic and natural sound.
So, what has changed in your case? You used capable valves in otherwise unmodified unit, and were greeted with unpleasant sound. Later on, you prepared the unit and used the same valves that now sounded different. Of course, the valves sound didn’t (shouldn’t have) changed.
Nick
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