Thiel Owners
Two questions: 1 - Could you tell any difference between the single 400uF vs the 4 x 100uF midrange feed caps? 2 - Are you saying that you had to use a different cap value to attain the 550uF target? If so, that's odd because electrolytics generally decrease in value with time. Your thoughts, please. BTW, the parasitics of the large caps don't hurt much in the shunt resonance circuit. |
Yes the difference was definitely an improvement , the definition improved with the speed of the 100uf vs a 400uf which makes for a smoother sound . The original 220uf and 330uf caps and the two sets of replacement electrolytics that were supposed to be +/- 5% were all about 10% over so I replaced the 330 with a 300 to get closer to 550uf , I didn't hear any difference but I wanted as close to schematic values as possible .
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vair68robert - Good for you.What you call 'smooth with the 400uF cap, some have also called 'refined'. My word is 'homogenized'. The smoothness is definitely a loss of information, notably in the time domain. You do want the 550uF value. That's a tuned circuit which is no longer properly tuned if the component values are wrong. The de-tuning would be more apparent with loud and/or complex music. |
JA asked me to share my thoughts on the new preamp i got a few weeks ago. so here goes: I also posted it as a separate thread. That Transformational piece of Gear We All Wish For I suspect most of the music/audio lovers on this web site have wished for that piece of gear that literally transforms their system? I know i have. I have been going down this audio rabbit hole since the mid 70’s, and there have been a few pieces that made a really nice improvement to my system (the PS Audio P20 Power plant being one of them). However (and this comment only applies to pre-amps and amps and no other category), nothing that I can ever recall has so energized and improved my system in so many ways as my new pre-amp. I have owned some really fine brands in the past including Pass, Coda, ARC, PS Audio, Rowland, and more, but now I am a BAT Man for sure. The new pre-amp is the BAT VK-80 and I love that beast. I hope everyone reading this will get a chance someday to try one in their system. I know he is a controversial figure, but Kevin Deal’s review of this piece is so right on. He really loves it too and rightfully so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv2swa55JXo
My system consists of: Thiel 3.7 speakers Coda 16 power amp PS Audio DSD DAC MK II PS Audio Perfect Wave transport PS Audio P20 power plant BAT VK 80 preamp |
