Upgrades for Anthem Pre1L

thsmith

OK, I have my ANthem Pre 1L. I would like to upgrade the caps and resistors that will make a difference. My Anthem AMP 1 already had the caps and resistors upgraded using Mundorfs when I bought it.

I have a schematic for the PRE 1L but I have no idea which ones to change out.

I can email the schematic if someone has expereince understanding which I should change out.

Also should I go with Mundorf since that is what my AMP has ?

Thanks

NJPOLKER

Which Mundorfs are in the unit now? Silver/oil Silver/gold Supreme ? I guess there are more but if you have S/O or S/G they should be just fine.

thsmith

Silver/gold Supreme I believe

marvda1

contact gary dodd in garland.

dorokusai

It takes one hour to replace the main caps for the L&R channels if you know what you're doing. That's the best and only mod you should even worry about. I've owned 3 of those pre-amps in various dresses, one of which was modded by Gary Dodd. That's straight from the man himself.

NJPOLKER

dorokusai wrote: »

It takes one hour to replace the main caps for the L&R channels if you know what you're doing. That's the best and only mod you should even worry about. I've owned 3 of those pre-amps in various dresses, one of which was modded by Gary Dodd. That's straight from the man himself.

I agree with you except it does not take anywhere near an hour to replace the two caps. After I had the top off it took no more than 15 minutes. I think it took more time to remove all those screws than to replace the two caps.

dorokusai

I'm using a generic time period Rocketboy....you should put that on your resume'.

NJPOLKER

I have been called many things but never "Rocketboy" thats a good one.

Does that have to do with the rocket that I get in my pocket when talking with you?

Generic? Kind of rounded up a little huh?

I am thankful to you/Doro and Phiper/Rich for my Anthem PRE2L. Mark for the recommendation and Rich for selling it to me.

thsmith

dorokusai wrote: »

It takes one hour to replace the main caps for the L&R channels if you know what you're doing. That's the best and only mod you should even worry about. I've owned 3 of those pre-amps in various dresses, one of which was modded by Gary Dodd. That's straight from the man himself.

I have the schematic, would you or anyone be able to look at it and tell me which caps to replace? I can do the work just not sure which cap to replace.

dorokusai

If you pop the top on it, they stand out like a sore thumb, on the left side.

NJ -

thsmith

kewl. I will do. Here is an attempt to take the schematic in PDF and made JPG put it is too hard to read.

thsmith

Here is some pics of the ANthem with the cover off. Are the 2 caps I need to replace the yellow 2.uf?

dorokusai

Yes.

george daniel

Whatcha' gonna' replace em' with :cool:

thsmith

Dorokusai, thank you. Since my Amp already has Mundorf Silver/Gold caps it seems to make sense to use those for the pre as well.

ANy flaws in my thinking ?

For the money should I look at something else?

george daniel

these are pretty good
http://www.vhaudio.com/v-cap.html

but who can afford them,, I have some of his lesser expensive caps in my pre,they are velvety smooth to my old ears,,very transparent also.

thsmith

Yeah at $459 for one that is more than I have in the pre with the AMperex tubes.

WHich lesser ones do you have ? The V-Cap OIMP Series ?

george daniel

Yes,,I installed a pair in the Wright (OIMP's).Chris is extremely helpful,prompt replies,advice etc.He really worked with me on my purchase, installation and followed up afterwards.

thsmith

Thanks George. Price looks good and was reading some some good stuff about their caps.

thsmith

NJPOLKER wrote: »

I agree with you except it does not take anywhere near an hour to replace the two caps. After I had the top off it took no more than 15 minutes. I think it took more time to remove all those screws than to replace the two caps.

NJ, did you remove the main PC board and desolder the cap and resolder the replacement.

Looks like a bit of work and was thinking of cutting the old cap leads and solder the replacement cap onto to them.

Thoughts ?

thsmith

Pull the trigger on (2) 1.uf V-cap oils not teflon, teflon is too rich for my blood.

CHris at vhaudio is great to deal with.

Here is his suggestion with going to 1.0uf vs replacing the 2.0 uf.

"You could easily save yourself some dough and put in a 1 uF cap, if feeding into a 100K Ohm load. That would give a -3db corner frequency of
1.59 Hz. I typically recommend using a -3db frequency of 1/10th the desired actual LF response, in order to account for non-linearities running at the ragged edge of the cap's LF limit. I also recommend using the smallest cap possible to obtain this frequency, since less material will be in the signal path = better transparency vs. a larger value. Note that most manufacturers use much larger value caps because they do not know what their customers amp impedances are, and must use a value that will universally "work" with most fot he equipment out there. You have the luxury of knowing in advance what your approximate input impedance is, and therefore can tweak accordingly."

No idea what that means but lets see how it goes.

george daniel

told ya' :)

F1nut

thsmith wrote: »

no idea what that means but lets see how it goes.

lol......

thsmith

Thanks George for the recommendation. I bet Chris and I exchanged 6 emails.

I would love to hear the teflons but dang.

I almost went with the Mundorfs and may try them out in the future.

Rolling caps, this is just getting sick, in a good way.

thsmith

ANyone thinking of upgrading caps should definately contact Chris. While you will not be able to reach him by phone as he states on his website, his email commincation is fast and very helpful.

I would love to try his tftf caps.

ANyway, my oimp caps shipped today, time to drag out the iron.

Thanks again George and NJpolker for the help on this little project.

thsmith

Caps installed, easy peasy ! Have sound, scratch that, have great sound. Not sure how to describe it but the bottom end has punch like a SS and much faster.

Anyway, here's the evidence.

Again, CHris is fantastic !

george daniel

nice work--IIRC mine started to open up after 100 hours or so.

thsmith

Thanks George, putting as much time on them as possible. I am really impressed with Chris and his recommendations and his patience with a dummy like myself.

schwarcw

George,

What are those two big white caps near the transistors with the heat sinks? Are they in the signal path?

Face

How would you describe the difference in sound? I was thinking about trying these out.

thsmith

The more I listen to them which has been 2 CDs and 1 album, I am still finding the lower end to be fast and authoritive. The highes have not changed to much, maybe a bit airier.

I know they will get better with some time but out of the box I am very pleased with the sound. Even after putting ion some decent tubes I still felt like this pre made sound a bit thin. That is gone now.