Output filter Caps

Sean: no disrespect taken whatsoever...my mistake - I did not make it clear that my off-the-back-of-the-matchbook calcs were for EACH channel; not the total. Again, I make no claim that I can "re-design" the power supply better than the designers, just trying qualify what MIGHT happen should filter caps be added to a PS with regard to the xfmr.

Gs5556, Sdcampbell and especially you Sean, THANKS for taking the time to respond to my post. By the way Sean, I found output caps on SoundValves websight http://www.soundvalves.com/updatesheet_2.html
Im not sure if these are what you would consider cheap or even decently priced for that matter, they are within my budget though (still outta work). So, from what I gathered from all your posts, if I purchase 4 of the newer 22,000 caps and wire them in phase, I will be performing a decent little upgrade for my amp. Or perhaps multiple smaller rated caps for quickness. Either way..... Its gonna make a difference and not tax the xfmr too much. Am I correct?

Lincoln: Thanks for posting your source. Sound Valves used to have some other caps a while back that i was interested in. As it turns out, just as i was going to purchase some from them, they sold out. Glad to see that they "stumbled" across some new stock.

While i can't recall the overall height / internal layout of the DH-500 or the voltage that it runs at, i would give Sound Valves a call and see if they could help you. If at all possible, i would opt for running four of the 75V / 15,000 uF caps rather than two of the 22,000 uF caps. While this will set you back the same amount of money, you'll have picked up an additional 16,000 uF's of capacitance in the process. I just don't know if there is enough room in the chassis to do this.

Whatever you do decide to go with, i would add a few bypass caps across the top of these. As i mentioned, the more caps that you can run at various values, the better off you'll be. The "capacitance bank" that i built for the aforementioned preamps consist of four 10,000 uF caps topped with twelve 100 uf caps and these are bypassed with four .01 uF caps. I picked these values based on low ESR, lifespan, price and availability to me.

If i had my "druthers", i'd "druther" have chosen values that were not evenly divisible by each other. None the less, i have NO doubt in my mind that this set-up is FAR superior to what the factory installed. By shopping around and buying in bulk*, i was able to build this "sub assembly" for under $20 total. Not bad for 40,000+ uF's of high grade capacitance in a package that fits where the two original 500 uF caps originally resided. Sean
>

* I purchased enough to do 8 identical capacitor banks as i had my 6 preamps to do and one each for my Dad and Brother. By some "strange coincidence", they too run the same preamps : )