Thnk u.
I am especially proud off the grey cat: for one moment in time not sharpening his nails on my speaker grilles...
I have ordered some PIO caps (being one of those who hears - or should that be: perceives -differences between caps) and will do so also.
Question: is it OK to replace C1 in the Aleph with a jumper, considering the fact that the pre amp always has a cap in its output?
BTW: as soon as the BBQ-season starts, this rig will also be evaluated...
I am especially proud off the grey cat: for one moment in time not sharpening his nails on my speaker grilles...
I have ordered some PIO caps (being one of those who hears - or should that be: perceives -differences between caps) and will do so also.
Question: is it OK to replace C1 in the Aleph with a jumper, considering the fact that the pre amp always has a cap in its output?
BTW: as soon as the BBQ-season starts, this rig will also be evaluated...
Goodbye WIMA's! No love lost in this break-up!
I'll post listening impressions after I get the other channel done ...
Nice choices. I have the Mundorf caps like that, but only the Aluminum in Oil ones. I found some polycarbonate bypass caps that barely fit next to the higher voltage Silmic II caps that I had in my junk box. The ones you chose would not have made it on my board, not without replacing the Silmics II with smaller voltage ones.
Thanks!
So initial impressions:
1. The first 5 minutes were torture ... this is with a cold Aleph J and new caps ...
2. Bass - my room is 11' x 14' and I listen on the short distance with Cornwalls stuffed into the corners at a 45. With my RH84SE, I had bass resonance in the room. The Aleph J took those away but gave me more detail and imaging in the bass. The new caps kept the imaging and accuracy but now my room resonances are back. I am thinking of getting some Auralex Grammas for the speakers next.
3. Midrange - hard to describe ... with the RH84SE, instruments had good detail and imaging but sounded just on the other side of the far wall of the room. The Aleph J brought the instruments into the same room as me from an imaging perspective. The new caps added a new level of detail. For example, the resonances on a wood bodied instrument existed before but were very muted but now those sounds exist in the same location and plane as the fundamental instrument sounds. More realistic.
4. Highs - NIGHT AND DAY! I use "Canon in D" from "Percussion Fantasia" as my reference here and I can FINALLY hear the mallet impact on the xylophones! I could hear the notes before but now I can hear the actual impact like I did on the RH84SE. Imaging is also much better with the new caps. Before highs were in a general area, now the instrument can be pin-pointed.
I can breathe a sigh of relief now as I was a little hesitant about the sound of the Aleph J after spending all that time and money building it. The highs were eating away at me. No more! I imagine they will only improve as the new caps break in.
So for anyone getting ready to build the J, do yourself a favor and do NOT put the WIMA caps in there! Get a good quality film & foil for C1 and I highly recommend the Vishay MKP1837 to bypass the Silmic II's. But don't take my word for it ... go read the Cap Shootout from Humble Homemade HiFi ... I will say I concur with his findings on these particular caps.
One more thing to note before I go is I use several reference tracks on a CD that I typically get to the "good part" and then skip to the next track. With this new combination, I found myself listening to the entire track. Two of the tracks in particular I never listened to the whole thing before until now.
So initial impressions:
1. The first 5 minutes were torture ... this is with a cold Aleph J and new caps ...
2. Bass - my room is 11' x 14' and I listen on the short distance with Cornwalls stuffed into the corners at a 45. With my RH84SE, I had bass resonance in the room. The Aleph J took those away but gave me more detail and imaging in the bass. The new caps kept the imaging and accuracy but now my room resonances are back. I am thinking of getting some Auralex Grammas for the speakers next.
3. Midrange - hard to describe ... with the RH84SE, instruments had good detail and imaging but sounded just on the other side of the far wall of the room. The Aleph J brought the instruments into the same room as me from an imaging perspective. The new caps added a new level of detail. For example, the resonances on a wood bodied instrument existed before but were very muted but now those sounds exist in the same location and plane as the fundamental instrument sounds. More realistic.
4. Highs - NIGHT AND DAY! I use "Canon in D" from "Percussion Fantasia" as my reference here and I can FINALLY hear the mallet impact on the xylophones! I could hear the notes before but now I can hear the actual impact like I did on the RH84SE. Imaging is also much better with the new caps. Before highs were in a general area, now the instrument can be pin-pointed.
I can breathe a sigh of relief now as I was a little hesitant about the sound of the Aleph J after spending all that time and money building it. The highs were eating away at me. No more! I imagine they will only improve as the new caps break in.
So for anyone getting ready to build the J, do yourself a favor and do NOT put the WIMA caps in there! Get a good quality film & foil for C1 and I highly recommend the Vishay MKP1837 to bypass the Silmic II's. But don't take my word for it ... go read the Cap Shootout from Humble Homemade HiFi ... I will say I concur with his findings on these particular caps.
One more thing to note before I go is I use several reference tracks on a CD that I typically get to the "good part" and then skip to the next track. With this new combination, I found myself listening to the entire track. Two of the tracks in particular I never listened to the whole thing before until now.
why don't you just short that 1uF ?
then either leave it on pcb or toss in garbage .......
B-b-b-because I'm s-s-s-scared too!
That is what I am thinking ... when I first built the amp, I liked the sound but was not a fan of the muted highs. After replacing the WIMA with the Mundorf Gold EVO and allowing many hours of burn-in, I think I can now say this is my favorite amp to date! So much so that I am now going to go ahead and sell my prior "reference" amp ... my beloved RH84SE.
The highs have no far exceeded my expectation with the cap in place.
your DCB is anyway already DC connected to positive input
so , removing cap from neg. input will not influence previous fact
well , I said what I said ; he'll do what he want to do .....
Source for real 2SJ74's?
I'm still debating between building this, for which I have the diyaudio boards, or an F5, for which I have the Peter Daniels' boards and Tech-DIY parts kit. But I realize I need to get the JFET's for this amp somewhere, and not clear who is the trusted vendor. Lots on eBay, but I'm wary. Who do you recommend?
I'm still debating between building this, for which I have the diyaudio boards, or an F5, for which I have the Peter Daniels' boards and Tech-DIY parts kit. But I realize I need to get the JFET's for this amp somewhere, and not clear who is the trusted vendor. Lots on eBay, but I'm wary. Who do you recommend?
I whole heartedly recommend spencer of Fetaudio he has supplied me with well matched original Toshiba's on several occasions.
FET Audio | Hi-End Audio Projects
The Aleph J is an extremely good amp. It tops the F5 IMHO.
But both are good amps.
FET Audio | Hi-End Audio Projects
The Aleph J is an extremely good amp. It tops the F5 IMHO.
But both are good amps.
Which is better for Quad electrostatics
I'll be using either the F5 or the Aleph J to drive a pair of the original Quad electrostatics, which have been rebuilt by Wayne Piquet. I'm currently using a diytube.com st35, which is a modernized clone of the classic Dynaco, about 17 watts per channel. I've read that the original Aleph was a terrific amp on Quads, but never heard it. They don't want a lot of watts, but are a difficult load for some amplifiers.
I'll be using either the F5 or the Aleph J to drive a pair of the original Quad electrostatics, which have been rebuilt by Wayne Piquet. I'm currently using a diytube.com st35, which is a modernized clone of the classic Dynaco, about 17 watts per channel. I've read that the original Aleph was a terrific amp on Quads, but never heard it. They don't want a lot of watts, but are a difficult load for some amplifiers.
