John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part II

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#96,982
anatech said:
Hi John,
Pretty much every time I test an expensive audiophile approved part, I can find the same or better in normal industrial parts. That is both measuring different parameters and listening to the darned things.

It should be noted that the normal parts are considerably smaller than the special parts are. When I strip the silly parts out and install the (usually) better parts, a couple things tend to happen. Firstly the chassis looks neater as these parts actually fit. This may be more important than you think! Secondly, the customer tends to fall in love with their "de-audiophilized" device.

Cleaning up after someone who installs these large parts is frustrating. They often destroy plated through holes - and that leads to either a fault or intermittent operation. The other issue is getting rid of literal gobs of silicone or hot glue so you can work on the PCB. I like the special neat guys who thoughtfully drill out the plated through holes. This is especially nice when a trace has a hole in it as it travels by. The hole typically interrupts these traces completely. Lots of repair work. Occasionally I get a unit that is too damaged to be made reliable again at sane money. Those I have to write-off.

Internet modders cause a ton of damage without knowing it. I wish these folks would stick to something they have a good understanding of (really know, not think they know).

-Chris
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Examples?

I can understand what you're saying. But at the same time I have never found a replacement for expensive film caps in the signal path. There are good sounding smaller, cheaper, caps, but never as good as offerings from audiophile/speakercrossover companies. And while I don't use them typically, teflons do measure superior.

Aside from that I am not super familiar with what products are so big, and have superior smaller replacements. I like Dale resistors, which measure the best for under $12-15/ea (they're less than $1).
 
#96,991
How would one achieve "audiophile grade" certification?
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Ask the manufacturer
RS Series Thin Film Chip Resistors - Susumu | Mouser Canada
or look at their datasheet to support their claims,
https://ca.mouser.com/ds/2/392/n_catalog_partition23_en-1116117.pdf

look pretty good to me with the limited specs

Improved low noise thin film character even further
Choice among the same resistance/size according to the user's sound preference
Precision resistance tolerance: ±0.1%, very small TCR: ±25ppm/℃

Limited selection from Mouser, for a precision part
for a 0805 pretty expensive

Do you think Vishay/Dale makes one similar to above at the same cost.
 
#96,995
I have always used Vishay Dale resistors both for instrumentation and audio. Just because I was able to make a choice of resistors with good specs and behavior from this company. But never considered them as "audiophile grade", in fact I do not know yet which specs are covered by this definition. I have read both nonsense and rational, covered under audiophile grade term.
 
#96,999
PMA said:
I have always used Vishay Dale resistors both for instrumentation and audio. Just because I was able to make a choice of resistors with good specs and behavior from this company. But never considered them as "audiophile grade", in fact I do not know yet which specs are covered by this definition. I have read both nonsense and rational, covered under audiophile grade term.
Click to expand...

They are lower noise than about any other resistors, and on top of that it's mostly 2nd HD. PRP as another example leans towards 3rd HD but is similar overall in performance.
 
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