Tweakers' Asylum

RE: Regulator Opinions

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This Post Has Been Edited by the Author

In Reply to: RE: Regulator Opinions posted by vesaII on November 23, 2009 at 10:32:30

Hello.
Finally test results with Tentlabs, DEXA and Belleson. Some corrections and final conclusions.
For I/V stage Belleson regulators are simply useless. DEXA is much better but do need good caps (used 4x ZA 150uF) on output, otherwise they are so slow you fall a sleep. But with caps they are quite good and musical. Still shunt type is the only way to go here if you want The best.
CD driver stage(5v) is one important part. Again Belleson do not impress. Even humble LT1085 is more musical, but here DEXA UWB is a must. Do not use any cap next to it.
Did also 'beading' with Murata(6pcs) stuff on CD and changed all electrolytes to ZA:s. Not sure if i did gain something, but quite easy to complete if you just are careful with those delicate lines on servo.
All shunt regs have now common PS with toroid.
Cooling is improved by louvers on top of a player, just over tubes and regs. Like a real Hot Rod :)
Conclusions:
Njoe fitted with a Super Clock, AD797 and good electrolytes is better than original Upsampler setup.
AD797 replaced with Dexa discrete Opamp is again a big leap, but all mods done here and Burson with 4 regs makes Njoe Tjoeb to a KILLER!

Looks like i cannot easily improve this great player much more. But after final tuning i will try how it competes with really expensive stuff. Funny to see how many thousands they need to put until they can beat mine humble DIY project. Quite a few i believe.
ps. One wrong part will ruin the whole project. Chain still is only as good as its weakest link.
My experience with Belleson is limited and they may sound very good somewhere else.
pps. Pity i noticed Paul Hynes first now. http://www.paulhynesdesign.com/page6.html
ppps. It would be nice to hear how you have improved Your gear.
Best,
/VK

Edits: 03/26/11 03/26/11 03/26/11 03/26/11 03/26/11 03/26/11 03/26/11 03/26/11 03/26/11 03/27/11 03/27/11 03/27/11 03/27/11 03/27/11 03/27/11

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