My next project..

Ricardo

I have been playing with the ASL AV-20 monoblocks that I got from Dennis Gardner and need to say I am impressed on how these little (and cheap) amps sound; I changed the tubes for JAN Phillips 6L6WGB that by default run a bit hotter and the sound improved tons vs. the stock tubes. Bottom end and detail is superb now...I am using them with a pair of Von Schweikert VR-1's I grabbed on Audiogon, and I'll just say I don't want to listen to the SDA's or the AL-III's now. They are that good. Detail is as good as ribbons, believe it or not. Bottom end is unbelievable for a speaker this size. The bad news, is that I now want to hear some bigger VS's......

Anyway, I contacted Divertech (ASL rep., I think), and asked what could be done to these little jewels to make them even better. Here's their response:

"Parts inside are surprisingly good and replacing coupling caps with Sonicap will only make a little improvement.
You should try to get some thing really good like the Mundorf Supreme Silver-Gold. A few resistors in the signal path can be improved with Wishay or Mills made types.

You can also upgrade them to the latest version AV-25 by just changing the output transformers. This will sound better, increase the power and get rid of the hum. They are fairly easy to replace and we have a few at $85.00 each."

So, I have a new project and I am seriously considering passing the AL-III's to another polkie that wants to discover, as I call it, the "truth" of ribbons. Not an interest check...if I decide to sell them will post them

Ricardo

I ordered the parts; transformers, 2 Mundorf Supreme Silver/Gold 0.22uF caps, and some VISHAY resistors; three per amp in the signal path. These are supposed to better than Mills on the quiet side.

I want to mention that Divertech support has been excellent, in identifying parts that are worth changing, explaining the expected improvements, and.....they are selling me the Mundorf caps; they carry them for some higher end ASL amps.

I can't wait to get them done.

schwarcw

Kewl! I've been wanting to do a project that I can use the Mundorfs. Vishay resistors, all good stuff. What about the transformers? Jensen, Lundal?

Early B.

Great! Keep us posted.

Ricardo

No idea what the transformers are; they are the "stock" for the ASL AV-25.

The guy at Divertech was so excited just trying to explain what the Mundorfs are capable of.....he tried so hard to explain that just changing that one capacitor for Mundorf would make the amp jump to a whole new level. Of course now I can't wait to listen.

I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Midnite Mick

I'm all ears....or eyes I guess.

Mike