Well, I have the SI first gen T-amp for a while but was too busy (read: lazy actually) to mod it. Last week, I decided to finish my simple full range speaker project that has spread about a year (again: lazy). (I have a thread in the speaker/full-range forum) After tweaking the speakers, I decided to revisit the T-amp mod. My T-amp is definitely the newer board (C3 and C4 on the same side). Again, I was too lazy to re-box it so I decided to do just the caps (C3, C4 and the big cap on the power rail). I looked through my parts and I didn't find any 2.2 uF but I found some new 1uF (again I was too lazy to order 2.2uF caps and I don't want to wait for mail order). So opened the box and thought about how to do it. Since I don't have 2.2uF but only 1uF, I decided NOT to remove the 0.33 uF on board SMT cap but to add the 1uF directly over it (well, was I lazy again ?). Afterwards, I removed the 330uF power rail cap and replaced it with a 1000uF 16v cap. So my input caps are 1.33uF and they should give better bass response.
System test: oh boy, I heard the startup thump (actually it sounds more like a little click). The bass is there now and the sound is very balanced. Vocals are like singing in front of me. It is like James Taylor is singing live in my house. Also, the highs are a lot less harsh. Kenny G's saxophone now sounds wonderful. The amp is very very musical. Again, I'm comparing to my other system that has an old Marantz (good sound) and a pair of Tannoy 611 MKII. The amp has been wonderful before mod, now it is at a higher level.
Total investment: I bought the T-Amp when it was still selling for $25. The parts for the speaker project was about $35~40.
-AC
System test: oh boy, I heard the startup thump (actually it sounds more like a little click). The bass is there now and the sound is very balanced. Vocals are like singing in front of me. It is like James Taylor is singing live in my house. Also, the highs are a lot less harsh. Kenny G's saxophone now sounds wonderful. The amp is very very musical. Again, I'm comparing to my other system that has an old Marantz (good sound) and a pair of Tannoy 611 MKII. The amp has been wonderful before mod, now it is at a higher level.
Total investment: I bought the T-Amp when it was still selling for $25. The parts for the speaker project was about $35~40.
-AC
I'm still listening to the T-amp as I type and I think I'm not missing anything, maybe at most some bass that I can hardly detect, if any.
The reason I added only 1uF cap per channel is they are the smallest ones in my parts bin. I want to keep it small and the leads as short as possible and the caps soldered as close to the original location as I can. There maybe still a slight bass deficit (again, none detected) but I'm not a fan of crazy boom-boom cars so I am very satisfied now.
Everything else is stock so the input resistor (whatever value, R01-10K, R1-20K I think) is not changed at all.
The reason I added only 1uF cap per channel is they are the smallest ones in my parts bin. I want to keep it small and the leads as short as possible and the caps soldered as close to the original location as I can. There maybe still a slight bass deficit (again, none detected) but I'm not a fan of crazy boom-boom cars so I am very satisfied now.
Everything else is stock so the input resistor (whatever value, R01-10K, R1-20K I think) is not changed at all.
I can't really remember, and also to lazy to check, but as I recall 1.3 uF input caps will give you flat bass response to about 25 Hz as opposed to the original 100 Hz. The only difference with a 2.2 uF cap is that it would give you down to 10 Hz so many times it would be better to use a 1 uF cap since there are some really good choices in that size.
Especially in a FR setup I hardly think it would matter which was used anyways.
Especially in a FR setup I hardly think it would matter which was used anyways.
Good job! Glad you finally got around to it.
1.33uF will be fine. Better bass response than most speakers can do anyway....
No THAT is nothing short of a miracle!
It must be Chistmas.
Time for you to fire up some Paul Desmond on the sax. As he was the self described "World's laziest saxophone player" he should be a good fit for you and your amp.
(there is a good Brubeck Christmas album to check out)
1.33uF will be fine. Better bass response than most speakers can do anyway....
AC439 said:
No THAT is nothing short of a miracle!
It must be Chistmas. Time for you to fire up some Paul Desmond on the sax. As he was the self described "World's laziest saxophone player" he should be a good fit for you and your amp.
(there is a good Brubeck Christmas album to check out)- Status
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