Upgrading caps in CD output stage: Yeah baby!

Tweakers' Asylum

Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

Just replaced the output caps in my CD player (AMC CD8B). Stock, there was one 22uF generic electrolytic and one 0.1uF metallized film in series on each channel. Replaced these with 30uF Solen fastcaps (huge for the board, but floated them over other components with blue tack and extended the leads with hookup wire) and 0.1uF Panasonic film and foil polypropylenes (not metallized). I used Solens because I decided I didn't want to wait 300 hours for Black Gates to burn in.
With the kind help of others here, I've made quite a few mods to this CDP, but this one has had the second-greatest effect, just after swapping opamps.
Vocals dropped back into the soundscape and became less "forward" and more natural. Music now sounds like a performance instead of a recording. Shawn Colvin isn't "in my face" anymore, but on stage with the rest of the instrumentalists.
The other change was that the sound became smoother, more liquid. I can listen longer without fatigue. Digital harshness seems to have melted away. Some have criticized Solens for being harsh; maybe they are just so much better than the stock aluminum electrolytics, they don't seem that way to me; I think they sound very smooth.
Something weird: I don't feel the need to turn the amp as high anymore. The music is satisfying at lower volume levels than before.
I'll live with these changes for a few days, then swap in the even-better opamps that puppyslugg turned me onto, the AD8620's. (Now I have OPA2604's, which are better than the stock NE5532's.)
I'd encourage anyone who doesn't mind cheerfully voiding their warranty to upgrade their DC-blocking caps if they are garden-variety components. Different capacitance values may work well for others, but with the 30uF Solens, the bass is full and rich down to the frequencies my speakers handle (38Hz).
*****
P.S.: Does anybody know of an insulating material you can "paint on" to bare hookup wire? I forgot about the heatshrink tubing until everything was soldered. Electrical tape may be hard to fit into the tighter spaces.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Schiit Audio

Topic - Upgrading caps in CD output stage: Yeah baby! - glennw 23:35:44 12/28/02 (2)

Re: Paintable black tape ! - Anton 09:48:33 12/29/02 (1)

Found it at Ace Hardware ("liquid electrical tape"). Thanks! (nt) - glennw 10:53:03 12/29/02 (0)

You can not post to an archived thread.