H20 Revisited

Yo Rlf, if you care to get even the rudest solder iron, you can easily change those bypass caps. I have found Sonicap Platinum .1 µ caps better to my liking.

Thanks Muralman1 for the suggestion. However I'll first have to take a course on soldering 101. Seriously, I did find the V-caps an improvement stock bypass caps. If I remember correctly you did try the V-Caps. If so, how did you find the Sonicap an improvement over the V-Caps sonically?

I may have been too hasty with the V-caps. I tried them through 2 months. When I switched to the Sonicaps, they sounded great to my ears from the start.

There is no soldering class needed. Some Wonder Solder and a cheap gun is all you need. You just soften the hold of the V-Caps, and replace with the others the same way by heating the plate and wire then applying the solder.

You have to be sure the caps, and wires are slung low, so they don't short on the amp lid.

It's a snap. I am no electrician, but I built myself a DAC. starting yesterday. The right speaker sounds marvelous, but the left is doing it's best imitation of the Amttyville Horror House. Like I said, I am no electrician.

I have owned a pair of the H2o Signature Mono's in the past, and now currently have the H2o Singature Mono Special Edition's.

These are Henry's all out assault on what he can do in a pair of mono's. Henry is using the V-Caps in these monos as well as a few other design tweaks.

As for the Sonicap Platinum vs. V-Cap my older pair had the Sonicap Platinums and while very good, the V-Caps are clearly superior to my ears, cleaner, more lifelike dynamics, pristine extension with no source of grain...

Vince - the V-Caps do take a long time to break in, and do not sound great until that happens... :/

I have had three sets of tube monoblocks in between my first pair of H2o mono's and this current pair. While my personal preferences lean toward the sense of spacial cues a good tube amp has, the H2o paired with a great tube preamp will give you 95% of a great tube amp sense of spaciousness. On top of that you gain better transparency, startling dynamic prowess, liquid midrange, etc., etc.

One important point with the bypass caps. Unplug the unit and discharge the big electrolytic caps before working on the unit. There is significant voltage waiting to zap you.

Also the stock binding posts are nickle-plated. Just about any other Cardas model will fit the chassis holes and sound better. You must disconnect the module leads because high temperature is required to solder the binding posts and is enough to damage the amp.

Bob