The Dared SL 2000 modification thread

First of all,,a little entertainment--I was fortunate and got to see him and this band just recently,,here's a ten and a half minute taste.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yowJiQZBXrA
Lets start with tubes. Currently running a Bendix 6106 rectifier and a pair of Sylvania 5965's I'm hoping that Brock,KiekoFGTV and others will chime in,as they have far more experience with tube rolling/schematics in this unit.I have the schematic's and can e-mail them to anyone who needs a set.First and foremost,this thread should be fun,and tube rolling is the easiest,but can get expensive.In the pic's you'll see where I remover the input caps,and replaced them with .22 400 volt Russian PIO(wrapped in black tape-IIRC the case is conductive)They are too big for the board,so I mounted them on the inside chassis,and ran wire from the board to the caps.I think a good cap in this position would be an Auricap and/or Sonicap and a good vintage PIO.
One thing that I noticed,,the Sylvania plates are offset.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yowJiQZBXrA
Lets start with tubes. Currently running a Bendix 6106 rectifier and a pair of Sylvania 5965's I'm hoping that Brock,KiekoFGTV and others will chime in,as they have far more experience with tube rolling/schematics in this unit.I have the schematic's and can e-mail them to anyone who needs a set.First and foremost,this thread should be fun,and tube rolling is the easiest,but can get expensive.In the pic's you'll see where I remover the input caps,and replaced them with .22 400 volt Russian PIO(wrapped in black tape-IIRC the case is conductive)They are too big for the board,so I mounted them on the inside chassis,and ran wire from the board to the caps.I think a good cap in this position would be an Auricap and/or Sonicap and a good vintage PIO.
One thing that I noticed,,the Sylvania plates are offset.
JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
Post edited by george daniel on
Comments
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120448&highlight=dared
and here,,Brock has the best pic's,,mine suck
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117770&highlight=holy+grail
There are some superb 12AT7/ECC81's out there and they won't break the bank. I also own a tube integrated that uses 12AX7/ECC83's and it can get expensive quickly with 12AX7's because of the whole demand/supply issue.
Also this is a tube rectified pre-amp and I think that's what gives it such great tone and soundstage. The Brimar and Bendix have been simply superb sounding rectifiers and again not a lot of money. My other tube integrated uses a 5AR4 rectifier (probably the most popular) and the only one worth a damn is the Mullard and they are very expensive.
I look forward to more photo's and step-by-step from George. I have the Auricaps already and would love to change the yellow Carli coupling caps to something a little more musical.
H9
Pass Aleph 30 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Plus DAC | MIT Shotgun S3 | MIT Z P/C's | updated SDA 1C| SQ Box Touch/Welbourne Labs P/S- Tubes add soul!
Great point Fred-- I was able to partially remove the board enough to expose the solder points.I am gonna' have to "think thru" the output cap installation as I'm running out of real estate quickly.Thoughts?
While we are on the subject of boards,,I did noticw some brown "goo" on the board when I removed the Bendix,,nothing burned,,goo was on the tube too,,and not there to begin with.Any thoughts?
Excess solder flux maybe?
Pass Aleph 30 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Plus DAC | MIT Shotgun S3 | MIT Z P/C's | updated SDA 1C| SQ Box Touch/Welbourne Labs P/S- Tubes add soul!
these
http://www.diyhifisupply.com/catalog/23
Did you get them from Partsconnexion or from diyhifi (Hong Kong)? PC has them $2 cheaper plus another 20% off. It will be interesting to see how they fit. I am heavily leaning toward the REL Multi Cap PPMFX because they are physically smaller since they are 400v. They are same caps I used on the Adcom around the Op-amp section and they sound fantastic.
I await your findings on the Obligatto's
Pass Aleph 30 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Plus DAC | MIT Shotgun S3 | MIT Z P/C's | updated SDA 1C| SQ Box Touch/Welbourne Labs P/S- Tubes add soul!
Partsconnexion,, I like the pic better from DIY HiFi--they get good review's,,German made IIRC--the multicaps are very size conscious/oriented--thats whats in my Jolida, and I think the cost to "better" them is prohibitive--good choice sir,,my main issue is gonna be removal of the current caps-but I'll get it figured out.
Just so I'm reading the schematic right (4) 1uF 400v in that position?
Now I really wish I would have bought those pair of new boards listed on e-bay. They went for about $60.00 shipped. You could have had one and we both could have repopulated those and just swapped the boards out.
H9
Pass Aleph 30 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Plus DAC | MIT Shotgun S3 | MIT Z P/C's | updated SDA 1C| SQ Box Touch/Welbourne Labs P/S- Tubes add soul!
Did I get the values right (4) 1uF 400v?
Yes, Fred is great and very helpful. We don't always see eye to eye and I seem to come off gruff at times (according to him), but I consider him one of the most knowledgeable people here and follow his advice w/o question when it comes to undertaking mods like this.
H9
Pass Aleph 30 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Plus DAC | MIT Shotgun S3 | MIT Z P/C's | updated SDA 1C| SQ Box Touch/Welbourne Labs P/S- Tubes add soul!
Thanks for the updates!
Actually both,, I was able to get the board out and desolder without any issue,,it requires removing the smaller board in the rear--2 screws--easy enough,,then remove the faceplate(two internal/chassis screws(wood) from the inside,,wood faceplate comes off-- then the sheet metal on the front has one screw--one off--the board slides forward and up/out.I could have mounted the caps in/on the chassis,,but if I ever need to go back in,I would have to remove them first,, so either smaller caps which can be mounted to the board,,or my "external" box,,which I can live with(personally)--.
Pass Aleph 30 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Plus DAC | MIT Shotgun S3 | MIT Z P/C's | updated SDA 1C| SQ Box Touch/Welbourne Labs P/S- Tubes add soul!
Gald you are enjoying it George......the Brimar still has the best overall tone. The Bendix 6106 does have slightly tighter bass response.
H9
Pass Aleph 30 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Plus DAC | MIT Shotgun S3 | MIT Z P/C's | updated SDA 1C| SQ Box Touch/Welbourne Labs P/S- Tubes add soul!
I also am probably putting a pair of 1957 RCA 5965 3-mic black plate, square getter up for someone. I bought a quad and only need a pair. Nice, warm tubes.
H9
Pass Aleph 30 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Plus DAC | MIT Shotgun S3 | MIT Z P/C's | updated SDA 1C| SQ Box Touch/Welbourne Labs P/S- Tubes add soul!