2. amps-preamps
  3. 123631-12372

Thor ta-1000 pre cap replacement -- advice

I am a new owner of a Thor TA-1000 preamp. What a fantastic piece of equipment. In my system it has a bit of a hard, tinny treble... just a bit. I want to try replacing caps with something warmer and wondered which caps should i replace? I see two small Hovland Musicaps and two small Multicaps. Then "beneath" the board (looking from the bottom of the unit here).... there are four big black caps... Solens i think. Which caps might be the place to start in order to warm the treble?

Before anyone asks, yes i am certain the treble issue stems from the thor. I have played w cables and tubes and will continue to do so but it needs something a bit more dramatic. I am willing to lose some detail to get rid of the issue.

Rest of system: sota star sapphire, grado reference sonata1, cec transport, audio note 3.1 sig dac, vtl mb-185 sig monoblocks, quad esl-63, vandersteen 2wq subs.

Thanks for thoughts!
montaldo
augwest's avatar
augwest
43 posts
 

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT - because there is SO little available on the wonderful-but-obscure Thor TA-1000 "donut" preamps I have posted photos of the Vcap upgrades to mine. Four photos of the board are now shown on my System page called Heavenly Match. I make NO representation that this is the only (or even correct) way to do it, but I *sure* do like what I hear! And I’m not a total hack as I have a PhD in Electrical Engineering (unlike Ted D. and a few others I could name :o)

I’ll go back and see if I can add a photo of the Khozmo volume control as that was also a big improvement over stock.

 

montaldo OP
213 posts
 

Always good to listen to Grannyring! It's been a while but I think he helped me when I was looking at caps for my Thor years ago. I am one of those guys who absolutely loved the audio note copper mylar caps with it. But I am someone who loves organic rich textured sound, not the last word in extension or incisiveness. Enjoy the Thor... what a great preamp.

grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,645 posts
 

It is a wonderful preamp and still a great value used. I know it sounds beautiful with the AN caps and am happy for you. Amazing how changing caps can change the sound of gear to be subjectively more enjoyable!

More to discover