Monolithic diodes bridge suggestion.

[beppe61]

Dear Sirs,


playing with an 30 years old amp in an attempt to restore it I have found that the original discrete diodes bridge is worse than a new off-the-shelf monolithic one (one piece full bridge I mean).
As I understand the choice for this component is endless I am asking for suggestion for a nice one piece diodes bridge to be used (only one for the two channel) in a 70W/channel on 8 ohm with two filter caps of 15.000uF.
I did not believe that also diodes can give such different performance in a power supply (it seems that the noise is reduced with the new one).

Thank you very much indeed.

Kind regards,

beppe61

 

[beppe61]

Dear Friends,


on the basis of your personal experience could you suggest me a really good example of monolithic diodes bridge ?
Playing with an old power amp in the maybe hopeless attempt to update it I notice the very strong influence of the type of diode bridge on sound.
The original 30 years old discrete diodes were replaced by a brand new single monolithic diode bridge.
For instance anyone has direct experience with IXYS Fred diode bridges?
They appear very intriguing to me.

Thank you so much indeed.

Kind regards,

beppe61

 

[richie00boy]

What package are the original diodes? You might be able to just replace those directly with Schottky types, which would be easier and neater, and probably better for RFI.

 

[beppe61]

Dear Sir,
thank you very much for your kind and valuable reply.

>

What package are the original diodes?

They are discrete. I would like to use instead a one piece diode bridges, also because I understand they can be good enough and easier to mount.

> You might be able to just replace those directly with Schottky types, which would be easier and neater, and probably better for RFI.

Do these Schottky types come in the one-piece bridge package?
They seem really interesting.
One thing I have indeed noticed is the influence on sound of these little usually black components.

Thank you so much for your kind reply.
Kind regards,

beppe61

 

[richie00boy]

I don't think you can get integrated bridges in Schottky. I was under the impression that your amp originally had discrete diodes, and you are now trying to incorporate an integrated bridge instead. What I am saying therefore, is that why go to the bother of integrating the monolythic bridge when you can probably replace the original discretes with Schottky.

This would be better even if the same diodes were available in a monolythic package because the integration would be easier and the shorter lead lenths would lead to less RFI emissions.

 

[beppe61]

Dear Sir,
thank you so much again.

>

I don't think you can get integrated bridges in Schottky.

That is a real pity because I would like to use the one-piece solution.

> I was under the impression that your amp originally had discrete diodes, and you are now trying to incorporate an integrated bridge instead.

You are perfectly right. The original diodes were discrete and now I want to replace them with an integrated bridge, as I have seen a lot of high-end power amps that use them without problem.
So they must be good, or at least do not represent a limiting factor.

> What I am saying therefore, is that why go to the bother of integrating the monolythic bridge when you can probably replace the original discretes with Schottky.
This would be better even if the same diodes were available in a monolythic package because the integration would be easier and the shorter lead lenths would lead to less RFI emissions.

I see your point more clearly now.
The original diodes were mounted on a piece of conductive board directly screwed to the terminal of the filter caps.
In all honesty I like big cables better for connection.
Maybe the improvement I am hearing with the new bridge must be linked to a better connection.
Anyway I understand perfectly your point.
I will think about that.

Thank you so much for your very kind and valuable support.
Kind regards,

beppe61