Salut Jean-Paul.
That's the worst I've seen. And that's an old version, too.
Out of the dozens I've looked at, only one or two showed any signs like that - but not as bad.
The new boards are getting better. I guess Trends is trying hard. I did just buy a gallon of alcohol to clean up the boards. There is not as much flux on the recent boards as in the past, almost none. But reworking it does add some flux.
I also keep the connectors nice and clean. You wouldn't put your fingers on your camera lens, would you?
That's the worst I've seen. And that's an old version, too.
Out of the dozens I've looked at, only one or two showed any signs like that - but not as bad.
The new boards are getting better. I guess Trends is trying hard. I did just buy a gallon of alcohol to clean up the boards. There is not as much flux on the recent boards as in the past, almost none. But reworking it does add some flux.
I also keep the connectors nice and clean. You wouldn't put your fingers on your camera lens, would you?
Hi Michael, these 10.0 versions were bought one month ago. AFAIK the product is in production for about a year now and 10.1 is pretty recent ?!?
Anyhow, it is not OK and I think Trends Audio should revise their manufacturing process. It is indeed a nice sounding amp but copperoxide is not an optimal conductor and it certainly has influence on sound quality. I have rarely seen this kind of error and it should be corrected. The fact that you need a gallon of alcohol to clean new amps is a clear sign.
Communication with ITOK ( Trends Audio ) was OK but later on I was advised to RMA to Buyoyo.com where I did not buy the amp. My following emails were not responded to.
I hope this phenomenon is not a byproduct of the RoHS soldering process... I never experienced troubles with fluxes before.
Anyhow, it is not OK and I think Trends Audio should revise their manufacturing process. It is indeed a nice sounding amp but copperoxide is not an optimal conductor and it certainly has influence on sound quality. I have rarely seen this kind of error and it should be corrected. The fact that you need a gallon of alcohol to clean new amps is a clear sign.
Communication with ITOK ( Trends Audio ) was OK but later on I was advised to RMA to Buyoyo.com where I did not buy the amp. My following emails were not responded to.
I hope this phenomenon is not a byproduct of the RoHS soldering process... I never experienced troubles with fluxes before.
Not to hi-jack the thread, but has anyone else had a problem accessing http://www.audiomagus.com?
I can't seem to !?
Don
I can't seem to !?
Don
Caps Update
Hi Everyone,
I just spent a few minutes swapping out some caps. First I replaced the polypropylene input caps with 100pf styrene. I also changed the 2200uf Pana FC with 2200uf FM. In order to get a better fit, I also moved some of the film caps to the bottom of the board. I need to be a little careful replacing components on my amp now, because I'm starting to lose the odd track. Easy to repair, but will make further modding trickier. The BC136 caps just would not fit, sadly, despite lead dressing and looking to move more film caps underneath. I suppose I could have used remote sockets and run lidless, but I'd still have the truoble if I wanted to squeeze then into the original box. (However, Plan X addresses that......).
Initial thoughts? When I turned it on, I thought that it was all wrong!! The start of George Michael's "Amazing" had an almost "scratchy" presentation that wasn't there before. But this was not distortion as became clear when the rest of the track kicked in. It seems as if there is a harder edge to the highs, more bite if you like, but the midrange body is recessed a little. Detail is still good and I'm running the amp in now. Hopefully in a few days the FMs will settle down and we'll see how they compare against the FCs.
Overall, an easy swap and the early results are encouraging.
Cheers
Jon
Hi Everyone,
I just spent a few minutes swapping out some caps. First I replaced the polypropylene input caps with 100pf styrene. I also changed the 2200uf Pana FC with 2200uf FM. In order to get a better fit, I also moved some of the film caps to the bottom of the board. I need to be a little careful replacing components on my amp now, because I'm starting to lose the odd track. Easy to repair, but will make further modding trickier. The BC136 caps just would not fit, sadly, despite lead dressing and looking to move more film caps underneath. I suppose I could have used remote sockets and run lidless, but I'd still have the truoble if I wanted to squeeze then into the original box. (However, Plan X addresses that......).
Initial thoughts? When I turned it on, I thought that it was all wrong!! The start of George Michael's "Amazing" had an almost "scratchy" presentation that wasn't there before. But this was not distortion as became clear when the rest of the track kicked in. It seems as if there is a harder edge to the highs, more bite if you like, but the midrange body is recessed a little. Detail is still good and I'm running the amp in now. Hopefully in a few days the FMs will settle down and we'll see how they compare against the FCs.
Overall, an easy swap and the early results are encouraging.
Cheers
Jon
Nice one Jon
give the FM's a few hours run in, I also noticed they sounded scratchy at first too, they seemed better after running in.
Hopefully the styrene input caps had no negatives, I still use polypropylenes in my Amp6 and didn't get chance to change them to styrenes yet.
Shame about the BC136's, theres lots of midrange power when using them in the Amp6, these also settled down after a while but sound totally different to the Panny's
give the FM's a few hours run in, I also noticed they sounded scratchy at first too, they seemed better after running in.Hopefully the styrene input caps had no negatives, I still use polypropylenes in my Amp6 and didn't get chance to change them to styrenes yet.
Shame about the BC136's, theres lots of midrange power when using them in the Amp6, these also settled down after a while but sound totally different to the Panny's
By "input caps" I suppose you guys mean the 100pF EMI suppression caps across the inputs? Cause if you're using 100pF (0.0001uF) as an input cap, I don't think you'd hear much!
I've been toying with the idea of some polystyrene caps here and there, but at these tiny values and in these places, just how different/better will they sound over polypro?
The tank caps and what they are decoupled with sure do make a difference, as many of us have found out. The Panasonic FM series has about 1/2 the ESR of the FC series. You should be able to hear that.
I've been toying with the idea of some polystyrene caps here and there, but at these tiny values and in these places, just how different/better will they sound over polypro?
The tank caps and what they are decoupled with sure do make a difference, as many of us have found out. The Panasonic FM series has about 1/2 the ESR of the FC series. You should be able to hear that.
yes its the EMI caps across the inputs, a guy reported in one of the earlier posts one of his Trends used ceramic which sounded worse than his other Trends that used polypropylene.
Polystyrenes are supposed to be better specced than polypropylene although how they compare here sound wise I don't know
Polystyrenes are supposed to be better specced than polypropylene although how they compare here sound wise I don't know
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