Joule pre overhaul...

tonyb

GlennDog wrote: »

kharp1 wrote: »

I can't afford cigars, I'm freakin BROKE!

This is good news For Me!
Maybe I can get dibs on some of this FS merchandise!

lmao....we are frickin' vultures aren't we.

kharp1

Well, six weeks has passed and he hasn't even looked at it yet. Before I sent it off I told him I was hoping to get it back before LSAF and have a week to burn it in before packing it off. He said that shouldn't be a problem. I'm thinking it's going to be a problem.

Clipdat

Ouch. Sounds like expectations aren't being met. What's the next step from here?

kharp1 wrote: »

Well, six weeks has passed and he hasn't even looked at it yet. Before I sent it off I told him I was hoping to get it back before LSAF and have a week to burn it in before packing it off. He said that shouldn't be a problem. I'm thinking it's going to be a problem.

kharp1

Wait. They didn't rush Leonardo whatshisname on the sixteenth chapel.

kharp1

DSkip wrote: »

Sorry bud.

I knew it! I knew you had something to do with the delay...probably a devious trick to get me to buy some more gear at LSAF.

maxward

This is not good news! I hope he gets his act together and looks at it soon. Keep us posted.

tonyb

kharp1 wrote: »

Wait. They didn't rush Leonardo whatshisname on the sixteenth chapel.

hangs head in shame....lol.

whatshisname ?
Sixteenth chapel ?

C'mon man....

tonyb

btw, what are you using as a pre now that the Joule is at the audio spa ?

mikeyb128

tonyb wrote: »

btw, what are you using as a pre now that the Joule is at the audio spa ?

Would like to know this as well. I want a joule one day. I’m loving my tube pres.

kharp1

I'm using the Constellation. Put the Carver C19 back in only to find that the problem I thought had gone away hadn't. Right channel is out and it's not a tube. Doubt I'll send it cross country to Roland, and doubt I take it apart. There's another one for the scrap heap.

Wish I'd have jumped on Rons Modwright. The Constellation is fine, but, it's not in that league.

I tried the PS Audio DAC ran straight to the Butler, but, preferred the tube pre as a buffer.

tonyb

Yeah I hear ya man, once you get acclimated to a certain sound, it's hard going backwards.

I forgot where I saw it, but I know I saw a Cary DJH for like 5-6 bones. A good pre to hold you over and you could resell and not lose anything once the Joule comes home.

kharp1

I'd like to find one to just hold on to in case anything happens. I hate going backwards, makes it hard to get in to the music, at least for me. Find a solid, simple contender that won't give up much, and rotate it in as needed to one of the systems.

EndersShadow

@kharp1

PM @nooshinjohn about that C19, he might be willing to take it off your hands.

tonyb

I think it's Daddydj who refurbishes all sorts of carver gear. Maybe give him a shout and see if he can bring it back to life .

maxward

Any word from Rich at Signature Sound? He should by now have at least looked at it. If not, he should give you a schedule for doing so. Good luck.

kharp1

He contacted me a couple of days ago. We're toying around with some different ideas. The Solen coupling cap is underneath the plexiglass circuit board and it can only be raised about 3/4 of an inch and still allow the top to be put back on. I threw the idea out of using standoffs and then building a "riser" to mount the top on, but, he didn't seem to warm up to that idea. Duelunds probably wont work as they're typically oversized. He's found some Jupiter caps that will work. ALso, trying to find the right configuration on the power caps. He's only finding 250v caps in the size needed so he was going to measure the voltage...he thought it was only 150v. So, it's an experiment. Not much real estate to work with.

tonyb

I dunno Kerry, if it was me, I might be more inclined to have him make sure everything was up to spec electrically or performing within it's values. Dropping another 1-1.5 k into it and you can buy a really nice Vac pre. You won't recoop the investment in other words. Caps do sound different, and it's a roll of the dice if you'll like the new ones or not.

Different story obviously if they are in need of replacement.

heiney9

Solen isn't exactly my first choice in a coupling cap. They aren't horrid, but merely average. If you're going to do it, do it once and do it well.

Just my .02c

H9

P.s. Maybe I mis-read and you are wanting to replace the Solen already in place. Hopefully you can find something better that works. Again Solen isn't horrible, just not as musical as something like an Auricap or Clarity, etc.

kharp1

Yes, the plan is to get rid of the Solen
.

kharp1

Well, after a lot of back and forth discussion with Rich Brkich at Signature Sound we have a final parts list. Due to original design by Jud there was limited real estate which required lots of modeling to get a final layout, as well as parts that would work. That left a lot of the Duelunds out as their size just wouldn't work in most cases. I feel like we came up with a pretty good plan.

There are caps in the bottom, underneath the board, and that had to be elevated to allow the caps desired.Even then we had some debate about lowering one of the line stage coupling caps from 10uf to 8. At first I was dead set against this, but, Rich did quite a bit of research, as well as talking with some engineers that specialize in circuit design, and they all assured me that the original 10uf cap was way oversized to begin with and that 6.8uf would be sufficient. Rich convinced me that he wasn't going to do anything that would take away from the magic that makes a Joule sound.

The end result is going to be a Joule with a modified top as the final design will not allow the top to go back on with out hitting the tubes. I opted for raising the board as much as needed, and possible, and I would modify the top to allow tube exposure.

Here is a copy of the parts list...it's going to sting a bit, but, hopefully it will be worth it.

kharp1

I'm computer illiterate, so I just took a screen shot.

Joey_V

May wanna black out your address Kerry

kharp1

Skip pointed that out, I wasn't even aware. How do I do that?

txcoastal1

PM Ken and have him remove the post

JuanR

Any chance you can post a picture of the internals if you open her up?
AND, let us know how she sounds of course...

Thanks
Juan

kharp1

Sure, but, the power supply is all that's been worked on so far...still at Signature Sound. Just ordered the remainder of the parts yesterday. I have a few pics of wome stuff he's done so far, but, been too busy to upload.

kharp1

Thanks, Skip, for the help.

tonyb

Jupiter, Mundorf, Duelund….going top notch Kerry. Going to have to let that pre burn in again when ya get her back. Practically rebuilding the whole thing there.

maxward

Thanks for posting the parts list. Did Rich estimate his labor cost? Looking forward to your impressions after its return.

vcwatkins

Came across this modded one recently, but it doesn't specify it was done by SigSound.
usaudiomart.com/details/649431831-joule-electra-la100-mkiii-upgraded/