Anyone tried an Audio Magic Pulse Gen ZX in their TRL DUDE preamp?

Great idea and I would think it would actually reduce the noise floor. You have plenty of room. The best tweaks or upgrades you can perform in terms of sound quality however are these few: I know from experience as I have done many, many mods to Dudes over the years and learned.

1) replace the signal wire throughout the unit with the new Duelund stranded 16 gauge wire in oil impregnated cloth from Parts Connextion. Must do! This includes all the RCA input and output runs. 

http://www.partsconnexion.com/duelund-81514.html

2) Replace all the blue computer grade capacitors with Clarity TC film caps. This is the most important mod you can do. The improvement is spectacular. Contact me for more details. 

 http://www.partsconnexion.com/capacitor_film_clarity_tc6.html

3) Make sure your output caps are high quality ones such as Duelund or Jupiter copper foil and .47uf to 1 uf. 

4) Replace the wire in the high voltage B+ power supply with 14 gauge Neotech solid  core copper in Teflon. Get this from sonic craft.

http://www.soniccraft.com/product_info.php/neotech-solid-upocc-copper-in-teflon-18-awg-red-p-1580



5) Replace the common quality bridge rectifiers (2) with high quality ones from Parts  

http://www.partsconnexion.com/product4795.html

6) If you are good at DIY and soldering, then the last mod is replacing the resistors under the two 6sn7 tube stands with Talkman Rex or even better Audio Silver or Shinkoh. We can visit on this also. 

I performed the above improvements to my last Dude plus a couple of others. I lugged this Dude into several other systems with preamps costing over $12,000 and highly, highly reviewed. The Dude just overwhelmed them in short order. The design of the Dude is just unbeatable and these improvements do nothing to change the design, they simply improve parts quality. 

Thanks Bill.   How's your back been?  I've had back problems since I was 38 (64 now).

It sounds like #2 on your list would be the most improvement in sound--BUT, I'm guessing the most expensive one.  I do have the Dueland caps in my DUDE which also has the 4 inputs and remote.  I am using the black base Marconi tubes and have a couple other sets to use.  How much money is the #2 upgrade?  There are quite a few of the TC Clarity caps shown in the advertiser you sent me.  I already have the AM Pulse Gen ZX but haven't installed it yet. Thinking of getting another one for my Modwright 5400. 

Thanks for the info,
Bob

Dorkwad,

No experience with the Dude, but I have a lot of experience with the Pulse Gens.  I put one in my MW Sony 5400.  The improvement was subtle.  I have the AM speaker clarifiers, which are basically Pulse Gens for speakers.  I also have an AM Miniref power purifier with Pulse Gen technology, so my room is pretty well treated with pulse gens.  I have my AM Mini Ref placed strategically between the power supply and business end of my Coincident Statement Line Stage preamp, and the physical proximity of the pulse gen in the MiniRef makes a huge improvement in the performance of my preamp.  The bottom line with the pulse gens is that you have to try them and see what they do.  It depends in part on the equipment, but it also depends on how much RFI/EMI is present in your room.  BTW, you can evaluate the pulse gen in your MW Sony quite easily.  Just remove the cover and tape the leads to the inside of the AC receptacle.  Power up the player and give it an hour before you give a listen.

Thank you, Brownsfan.  I'm going to try your last point and see.  I should be able to do the same thing with the DUDE.  I'm sure there would be an extra benefit overall by using a Pulse Gen in both the DUDE and the MW Sony.

Bill,
    Roughly, what would be the cost of all the upgrades you mentioned if I were so inclined?

I would need to see your unit first as they are all a tad different. The wire upgrade should be under $100 total. The bridge rectifier upgrade would be under $50 total. The caps we need to talk and share pics. 

I think you have my email. My username here at gmail. 

Lets visit. 

Dorkwad, Correct.  No need to solder them in place until you are sure you like what they do.  I think these do have an additive effect up to a point, at which you probably have enough units that you have the RFI/EMI in the vicinity of you gear canceled, at which point there may not be much benefit to adding more.   One other point.  They don't absolutely have to be wired inside the units to work, although they work better for a specific piece that way.  You could wire the leads up to a standard AC plug with enough wire to reach various pieces in your system and get an idea where to use them by placing them on top of the case.  As I said, my preamp benefits from physical proximity to the pulse gen inside the MiniRef even if it is not plugged into it.  Keep me posted on what you find.

Hey brownsfan & grannyring,

I finally put the Pulse Gen ZX into my Modwright 5400 yesterday.  Yes, I know I've had it for 10 months sitting in my room.  Been making a few slight voicing changes with wiring and came up with an awesome combo using 3 different makers of cables in just my ICs and SCs.   At this point, I've changed 2 key PCs and have finally achieved the organic, natural sound of instruments while still keeping the transparent, dynamic and detailed sound I already had.  I'm finished with getting the voicing done.

Back to the Pulse Gen ZX.  It was pretty easy to place in the crowded MW player near the IEC.  The sound is even better in all areas without any drawbacks that I hear so far.  May get another one for the DUDE.

A couple of parts upgrades to what I already own is the only plans for the future.  Upgrades to my DUDE and Nuforce Ref 9 V3 SE mono amps.  From what I've been told by previous owners of the mentioned upgrades, I'm in for quite the treat.  No change in the actually house sound of the components.

Thanks for your helpful comments!
Bob
    

Oh, I forgot.  Just ordered 5 SR Blue fuses for my MW CD, Whest phono, and Nuforce amps.  I've never put any after market fuses anywhere up 'til now--been waiting and reading to see if anyone's having any problems with blowing fuses at all.  Seems if the amp rating is correct, there is no more a problem than with the standard fuses--shut things off during storms and hope you don't have a power outage in the neighborhood for any reason.  I keep things on 24/7 except for the storms and going out of town and just an occasional turnoff.

Going from standard to the Blue fuses in one jump should be a remarkable improvement according to my friends who use the SR Black fuses and have continually upgraded as the fuses improve.   I'm excited at the coming possibilities.