Dared sl2000a Tube Preamp

heiney9

George,

Here's a pic of the innards fo the SL2000A (left picture) the one on the left is 2005 model standard copper pcb's. The one on the right is the 2006 model with gold pcb abd silver shielded connecting wire. You can see the yellow Auricap coupling caps. The 2011 model is identical except I think they stopped shipping with Auricaps. You had asked about the value, I'm not sure, but as you can see they are easily accessible.



EDIT, easy to see, not sure how easy it is to get the pcb out

fishbones

Yes, George had asked via PM if this had the Auricaps? I wasn't sure, so I called Dared, and he said no. They haven't shipped them with AC's since around late 2009. He said Auricap became too expensive when their prices went up, and they wanted to keep this unit affordable. He said they still use high-grade caps, but probably not considered audiophile grade - to audiophiles.

sda2mike

smell that? it's george's soldering iron heating up!

report back w your impressions, george...i always liked the looks of the dared


mike

heiney9

Auricaps jumped about 40% in price a few years ago, so I assumed that was the reason they stopped shipping with them. They are a very nice coupling cap.

Face

I wonder what he wants to put in there? :biggrin:

heiney9

Face wrote: »

I wonder what he wants to put in there? :biggrin:

I suggested Auricaps simply because I know size wise they fit. I suppose if he could find something even nicer that fits he might consider that. I bought Auricaps for my Nohr SE9 simply because 1) I like them a lot 2) they are budget friendly 3) they were the only ones size wise that would fit. Obbligatos and the like are too large.

H9

george daniel

Aha,, you guys know me too well, , I'm just gonna start with the tube rolling,, but most likely,,soon after a cap replacement may be in order,,from what I've read and heard,the auri's have good synergy with the Dared,,another consideration too,is the VH audio series--I'll certainly post here if/when I do anything.

george daniel

Got it today--arrived in good shape--also got the tubes that Brock turned me on to --FYI the caps are .22uf 275 volt,,two of them,,I'll post pics when I replace them,,,after a while of course.

heiney9

Great! I didn't get mine today even though the tracking says "out for delivery".

H9

fishbones

Sounds like you're going to have a fun weekend! Enjoy

daboyz

Auricaps are great. Enjoy,George!!

scottyboy76

Apparently in some cp members opinions, that is perfectly reasonable, even on used gear.

I will shut up now, but that felt pretty good.

george daniel

Face wrote: »

I wonder what he wants to put in there? :biggrin:

he,he,, dunno yet,,polys,, teflons,,oimp?

Ricardo

Congrats George. I was the first around here (I think...) to jump on the Dared preamp 5 or 6 years ago;my first tubed pre. I remember posting how great it sounded and many made fun of me...chinese crap, etc.

You'll love it with the right tubes.

george daniel

Thanks Ricardo,, I really like the "tone" of this pre--I think it's a little smoother and detailed than my old ELP,,,I could live with either,,but there is something to be said about tubed rectification.

heiney9

Many times I find myself shaking my head in amazement when I'm listening. How can something so budget friendly continue to sound so great.

H9

heiney9

scottyboy76 wrote: »

Apparently in some cp members opinions, that is perfectly reasonable, even on used gear.

I will shut up now, but that felt pretty good.

You don't have a clue what you are talking about. The caps in the pre-amp are fine and function like new, it's just that some people like to swap caps for a better, smoother brand. It's called upgrading, not replacing damaged or weak caps.

George, imagine even a tad more refinement if you swap caps. Not sure what they use now (Farad???) or how good they are compared to other boutique brands like Auricap.

H9

treitz3

Ricardo wrote: »

Congrats George. I was the first around here (I think...) to jump on the Dared preamp 5 or 6 years ago;my first tubed pre. I remember posting how great it sounded and many made fun of me...chinese crap, etc.

This is the furthest thing from Chinese crap. It's just flat out a really nice sounding piece of gear.

george daniel

Easy fellas'' the pre arrived just fine,,I took a peek inside just to get the values of the caps--it's pretty damn good right outta the box,, gonna roll some tubes that Brock turned me on to--then,,I'll decide which caps I'm gonna use,as real estate is at a premium.Now for those wantaing to get into tubes,,I can wholeheartledy recommend this pre,,and I've only had it for 8 hours--H9,Kieko and others here have far more experience with it than I,,and so far their suggestions/observations are spot on. :cool:

treitz3

You mean there are people on this forum that actually know what they are talking about? Say it ain't so....:eek:



:biggrin:

george daniel

treitz3 wrote: »

You mean there are people on this forum that actually know what they are talking about? Say it ain't so....:eek:



:biggrin:

he,he,, Mr Bias,

here's a pic

heiney9

george daniel wrote: »

he,he,, Mr Bias,

here's a pic

I'll have to post some pics of the innards of mine when I get a chance. Interesting the pcb says 12ax7. I was talking with a fellow on Ebay who was a Dared dealer and he had (2) extra SL2000A boards that were used to repair units if needed. He and I discussed the fact that he stated they used 12ax7's not 12at7's. I have never seen an SL2000A that stated it used 12ax7's. I thought about buying the boards for a rainy day, but they were 1st gen boards (so he stated), no Auricaps and no gold plated pcb, so I passed. The thing is the boards look just like yours in the photo. I'm guessing he had the new boards. They were fully populated and he wouldn't sell just one. I didn't need two.

I bet if you changed some resistors you could use them. My only concern is the pre-amp has 20db of gain already, using 12ax7's it might be too much gain. That's why I suggested the 5965 George, a little less gain. With my Aleph small turns of the volume knob equal larger output gains. 10:00 on the pre is really loud in my rig.

H9

george daniel

I noticed that too--I'm gonna pop these in here's a few more,,and yes,,I'm kinda' excited--this thing is a "sleeper",,hell,, I could not pay for the support,experience and advice that I get here--seriously--thank ya'll.

heiney9

I think the Brimar rectifier has the best overall tone in this pre-amp. I have tried an old 50's RCA black plate 5V4G which sounded nice. I am currently using a Bendix 6106 (5Y3GT equivalent) and it sounds really nice as well.

I have one of those 1950's Sylvania JAN 5Y3WGTA rectifiers. Like these, built like they could withstand a nuclear war. But the pins need to be ground slightly to fit. I believe it was soldered in at one point and there are remnants of solder left on the pins that makes them just a tad to fat to fit in the socket.



I have found rectifier rolling to have more of an impact on the overall tone of this pre-amp then tube rolling. Not sure if you plan on rectifier rolling but the Bendix 6106 is also highly recommended and will outlast us all.

george daniel

I think I'll start with the Bendix 6106 and the Brimar 5Z4G--I've got the Sylvania's in now(5965's)

heiney9

Both the above rectifiers are very reasonable too. I paid $25 for the Sylvania JAN 5Y3WGTA and $35 for the Bendix 6106. On the JAN 5Y3WGTA the brown base are best since they are the oldest and RCA, CBS, Sylvania, Raytheon and few other brands are all the same.

H9

heiney9

Ok George, more recommendations. I also have found the Amperex Bugle Boys from Holland to sound excellent, but they can be a little pricey. I have a pair of BB's from France (La Radiotechnique- Suresnes) that I paid less for and they sound just as good. Actually I have 3 pairs of Bugle Boys one pair from Heerlen, Blackburn and La Radiotechnique.

Code: Fxxx

H9

heiney9

I bought the Bendix 6106 from a buddy locally, pretty easy sale. :biggrin:

H9

fishbones

This is turning into a pretty cool thread!!!

(except for scottyboy)

Outfitter03

George the pictures you posted look significantly different than the ones that Heiney9 posted. I recently purchased one of these used also. Mine looks like the second on posted by Heiney9 with the gold boards.

Mine has the "Farad" input capacitors. They are similar in shape to a Mills resistors and are about 0.40" in diameter. They are located by the 12AT7 tube holders. The seller said that he purchased mine in 2009.

Looking at your pictures the closest components are the yellow rectangular items. Are these your input capacitors? To be honest the layout looks significantly different than both of the ones that Heiney9 posted. Does anyone know if Dared do a major revision between 2009 and 2011?