My objective is to duplicate the sound of a good jazz venue as best I can. I'll never match it but getting close is fine. I've had various audio components through the years and tubes particularly DHT tubes/ASSET have gotten me the closest. So this is where I will settle down and appreciate.
Balanced AC power is fantastic !! 1800va balanced isolation transformer/conditioner. All aspects of music reproduction are improved for every single component.
Tripoint Tripoint Troy.
A wonderful grounding box component. When added to my system it increased the sense of natural sound quality and emotional engagement. The Troy has a humanistic and “soulful “ quality to it.
Coincident Speaker Tech Total eclipse 2
This wonderful speaker is transparent,open and involving. It`s large yet completely disappears as the source of sound within the room. Very easy to drive,94db and 14 0hm impedance (Minimum 10 ohm). I replaced the stock Solens capacitor with the Duelund CAST in the crossover.
Coincident Statement linestage
Superb performance. In my opinion , a masterpiece by Israel Blume. As would be expected, a wonderful match with its sibling the Frankenstein MK II.
Coincident Speaker Tech Frankenstein mark 2
A terrific 300b SET amplifier that is the foundation of my system. The EML XLS 300b tubes are a superb match with this amplifier.
Acquiring these 300b SET mono blocks changed the course of my music listening experience. They elevated the emotional engagement, tactility and “breath of life “ realism.
Yamamoto YDA-01
Wonderful music lover's DAC that has a very natural/organic sound quality. Duelund CAST addition(output coupling capacitors) makes it sound even better. It has a very minimalist circuit/design that was implemented well.
Ocellia Silver Reference IC
Very natural and pure sounding with excellent tone and timbre preservation.
Ocellia Silver Reference Speaker Cable
Same qualities/ comments as the IC.
Star Sound Technologies Sistrum Apprentice component platforms..
These Star Sound platforms are mandatory in my system. Effectively managing resonance and vibration leads to a very noticeable sound improvement with every component and especially the speakers. Excellent product.
High Fidelity CT1 Ultimate Digital cable
A highly impressive digital cable that mates beautifully into my system. Contributes to the natural sound presentation.
Pro-Ject Audio Systems CD Box RS2T
This is a superb Redbook CD playback transport. It’s both high resolution and impressively natural.
. I’m using the excellent Fidelizer Nikola II LPS. Splendid pairing.
Lavricables Grand and Master series Power Cables.
Pure silver wire and unshielded power cables. These are used with all of my audio components. They are very open, transparent, high resolution with beautiful natural tone and timbre presentation.
Abbas Esoteric Audio 3.2SE
Built by renown Ukrainian Abbas Zulfugarov. NOS DAC utilizing the classic Phillips TDA 1541 multi bit chip. Two 6080 tubes in the analog stage. 5 various rectifier tubes in the power supplies.
3 separate toroidal transformers (And 2 chokes ) for the power supplies.A very serious and successful upper tier DAC implementation. Using with the Abbas SPDIF and power cable.
Six? Perhaps in parallel? Perhaps replace with two larger value CAST? If not, I placed my Duelund cast caps in an outboard box as they would not fit in my amp. A nice rosewood mini box. Easy to do. You can find a nice wood box or metel or combo. Get what you think looks good.
All six can go in the outboard box. Also. You can mount off the board if the case has room anywhere else inside.
Grannyring, I took my Yamamoto DAC to a trusted technician yesterday to identify the signal caps! There`re 6 of them and they were small. The question is would the Duelunds be too large for the small space on the DAC`s board(they`re also soldered on both sides of this board).The tech said the current Yamamoto caps are high quailty(the DAC sounds beautiful).
Given my exposure to Duelund, well it`s certainly on my mind now. The big thing to consider is size and available space. Regards,
Charles, just imagine what they would do an a position that impacts the total signal, not just the high frequencies. You can see why my preamp/amp mod was a revelation?!
Ok, your DAC uses two output caps that do impact the sound. They are most likely very small in value and affordable in CAST! You know where I am going....ya baby! The whole signal now improved courtesy of Duelund CAST.
The Duelund CAST capacitors are continuing to improve with additional hours.This is simply a fabulous capacitor and it`s presence in my system is undeniably an improvement. This system excels with tone, transparency and a natural character. The CAST raises the level of these strengths.Clarity and resolution is just wonderful and without the penalty of analytical or clinical intrusion(not a trace).The CAST is a prime example for the terms realism and natural music reproduction.
A genuine worthwhile upgrade (universally) for any speaker crossover capacitor.If you desire natural tone,overtones, full note subtain and decay along with increased dynamics and flow this CAST is a bargain even at it`s premium price. It`s worth it! Regards,
Hi Metralla, The Total Eclipse have only 1 pair of Solen caps(tweeter) and that`s it. I`d check with Israel to be certain the Super Eclipse crossover configuration is the same.Someone once posted they have additional caps on the midrange and the Totals do not. Regards,
Thanks a lot for your report and for the pictures. You've given me something to think about - I have owned the Super Eclipse IIs for nearly 10 years now. This could give them a kick. Access to the crossover would be similar with my speakers, athough my drivers are a tad smaller than yours.
Hi Grannyring, You make some very good points. I have a lot of respect for Israel`s talent and achievements, but in the end I always make my own decisions and follow my own path.
The Duelund CAST are similar in their major effect and stature to my 300b tubes, the brilliant Takatsuki-TA. Both are premium priced yet are very high value products. They are substantial improvements compared to competing products and their superior performance is beyond doubt.I would`nt not hesitate for a momment in recommending either of these world class audio upgrades if someone is willing to pay for ultra level results. Regards,
Great designers don't necessarily have the time or passion for boutique parts. Frankly, many don't think they can make that big of a difference. The feeling is we Aphiles are just being our crazy selves when we play with different caps, resistors, inductors, diodes, wire etc... We are being typical Aphiles, but every once in a while we DO stumble on something the great designers don't know about. Open minded designers will learn and incorporate when possible. Close minded ones will ignore. Like all things human the world is full of both kinds of designers.
I have had the fortune of working with open minded designers gaining their very help on improving my gear - gear they designed and birthed.
These Duelund caps are very pricey and likely not feasible in modestly priced gear once all the mark-ups are added in. An $800 upgrade would cost the customer over $3,000 is most cases. If gear is sold direct from the manufacturer, then perhaps it is possible.
I just spend $850 on CAST caps for my amp. The amp retails for $4,000 and the improvement easily justifies the cost. The amp sounds much better.
I bet a large builder like Israel would pay far less then we do and there is no denying they make his great speaker even greater.
Brf, When I first got the idea to try the Duelund caps israel was`nt enthusiastic. He felt the change would minimal and the caps much too expensive to bother with.To his credit he made an exceptional sounding speaker utilizing the Solen caps.I love these Total Eclipses.The man is very talented(top tier speakers and electronics from the same person).
Without question they become better speakers with the CAST installed,case closed.The strong points of this speaker are 'all' improved across the board,there is`nt one downside to the upgraded capacitor. Regards,
Brf, You`ll be impressed with these CAST in your speakers. You have a Canary 300b amp I believe. The true quality and potential of a top amp will shine with these open window caps in the Total Eclipse.I feel as though I`m hearing what the Frankenstein and Takatsuki 300b combo can reaaly do, which is quite a lot more with the Solens capacitor out of the picture. Regards,
Thanks Charles1dad and Jwm for the detailed pictures. Your thread has given me the confidence to try out the cap modification/change. Look forward to reading your listening impressions as the cap begin to break in. Thanks again.
Irish65, Thanks for your comments. If I were ever to change my inductors I`d likely go all the way and do the CAST( and not 2nd guess my decision). The silver CAST products are outstanding I`m sure but just too costly for me to really consider.I`ll do just fine with the copper version.
Grannyring, You`re right,The great tone quality is recognizable already.I did more listening last night to several very familiar CDs and the tone,timbre and presence of instruments are simply improved from what was a high stadard already. Funny thing is, tonality and presence was a strenght of my system before the CAST. The CAST I`m realizing are pure, honest and natural. What ever the characteristic of your system the CAST will reveal it. They are`nt 'adding' anything but just do a superior job of preserving what ever signal quality the system produces.It allows the system to more fully breath and open up.This may seem silly but listening another few hours last night,the sound is steadily improving. Regards,
It looked like the inductors in the speakers were standard solid core copper wire/air core. No reason to only consider Duelund as the Mundorf or even the Goertz copper foil inductors are affordable and a nice step up.
I replaced the standard copper wire inductors in my speaker (like Charles) and the results were stunning with the Mundorf's. Bass is much improved, but much to my surprise the whole spectrum improved.
Charles should just enjoy what he now has for several months. I share this for the future as I know from experience inductor quality also matters as much as that one cap. My inductors cost $50 each. I would bet the larger ones in his speakers would still cost under $100-$150 each. My inductor value is 2.7mh.
The tone of these CAST caps is amazing. What struck me the most was how each instrument sounded more like itself. Instruments sounded more real and far less like a stereo system.
Grannyring, There`re no resistors in the crossover. There is one inductor in each speaker and they`re quite large! I`ll have to think about it. For now I`ll let the CAST caps accumulate some hours.I bet the CAST inductors are expensive and big (but no doubt excellent). Regards,
Well the placement of the cap looks like the work was really pretty easy. Nice job! Enjoy the sound!
I don't want to make you think too much, but Duelund also makes great sounding resistors and inductors also make a huge difference. I replaced the bass inductors in my speakers last week with Mundorf copper foils and oh my the improvement was from top to bottom. No kidding.
Brf, Hope the pictures above (system tweaks) help. Not a difficult job(easier than we both estimated) in one speaker the CAST fits on the floor of the cabinet in front of the large coil inductor. In the 2nd speaker the inductor is place more forward in the cabinet and the CAST would`nt on the cabinet floor. We mounted the CAST on the front interior wall with adhesive(plenty of space for this).
Brf, even at this obviously early stage the CAST is superior to the standard Solen cap and by a noticable margin. The Total Eclipse moves to 'superb' from the previous 'very good' level. Worth the money without question.I was very happy with the naturalness and emotional involvement factor of my system,the replacement Duelund CAST capacitors just raised it yet higher. Regards,
Well,the Duelund CAST capacitors are installed.Thanks to the help of my friend Jwm(jeff). He will post some pictures of the installation on the thread titled"Capacitor log Mundorf Silver in oil".There`s been plenty of Duelund discussion there for quite some time. I`ll post a very early impression there. Regards,
