Upgrade my 8000A where is a good place to start

[grahamfocal]

I have the upgrade bug, as am in the process of upgrading my CD player with a little (well a lot to be frank) help from Mooly.
I now feel that I might as well do the same to my Audiolab 8000A.
Had a look at some of the threads but nothing is conclusive.
I am looking for a good place to start, simple and not too expensive.
I am a newby to DIYing my stuff, but really loving the fact that you can improve the equipment that you have for very little money.
I know that the amp has a good following and places still offer upgrades, but they are expensive (as they obviously do them for you)
where is a good place to start?
Pre amp caps? power supply caps? opamps?

[Mooly]

One thing at once methinks

Circuit here,
Audiolab 8000A | Owners Manual, Service Manual, Schematics, Free Download | HiFi Engine

[grahamfocal]

Originally Posted by Mooly

One thing at once methinks

Circuit here,
Audiolab 8000A | Owners Manual, Service Manual, Schematics, Free Download | HiFi Engine

I agree, just looking at doing it in the next few months, preparation, and all that.
I dont want to mod the cd player too much, start small, as they say.
cheers for the link

[Mooly]

I'll have a look at the circuit but tbh I think all you can do is think of replacing old caps etc... you are not going to change the basic structure of character of the amp. Only the power amp shown here anyway.

So what's in the preamp as regards circuitry. Is it opamp based ? or all discrete.

[Mooly]

The TL072 opamp in the power amp by the way... that's not in the audio path. It's used as a DC servo and it's perfect for the job.

[Andy5112405]

No Op-Amps in the 8000A at all, it's all discrete transistors.

I've got the Circuit Diagrams if you need to see them.

[grahamfocal]

Originally Posted by Mooly

The TL072 opamp in the power amp by the way... that's not in the audio path. It's used as a DC servo and it's perfect for the job.

just read the same thing somewhere else, I suppose the one thing that I might do, not now, but in the future is build a power amp for it as a separate box, but not sure that I am that confident yet. It could do with a little more power to ease up the slight 'harshness' when turned up, bit more headroom.

[grahamfocal]

Originally Posted by Andy5112405

No Op-Amps in the 8000A at all, it's all discrete transistors.

I've got the Circuit Diagrams if you need to see them.

That would be great, thanks. just want to start small on me DIY quest, and in a few years, hopefully build my own, but small steps and all.

[Andy5112405]

Tell a lie, there is a dual TL072 in the Power Amp section.

[Mooly]

I used the same opamp in my MOSFET amp for the DC servo.

If you want to experiment with "different" amplifier topologies I would recommend building something like the John Linsley Hood 10/15 watt class A amp as it's easy to build, still sounds fantastic, and is AC coupled so you have no worries about destrying speakers if something went wrong. Only downside is the Class A = hot and it needs big heatsinks and power supply.