Audio Note, WE-91A, Rega, Ayon

by jetrexpro on Audio NoteWE-91aRegaAyon
System firing down the long wall
New rectifiers. 5R4WGB "potato masher"
New power supply caps for my amp that work better with the 5R4WGB rectifier.
had some copper sheet left over from my amp build so I put the very sensitive phono circuit inside this copper that I shaped into a box
input stage on the left. RIAA circuit on the right
finished circuit including hi voltage b+ and filament connections
Audio Note Home Brew Phono Pre Amp circuit built in copper box. Its power supply is behind it in a larger aluminum chassis
Happy to be finished with the amp. It now takes its place in our listening/living room. And its wife approved!
Starting by trying to visualize how to fit everything underneath.
using a hole saw bit to make the holes for the tubes
The hole for the Goldpoint stepped attenuator is the trickiest hole to make since it doesn't go all the way through
Under side with the holes for the Audio Note RCA female plugs made. The C3m driver tubes are about an 1 1/2 inches away from the Goldpoint stepped attenuator and the RCA females and also very close to the attenuator. Extremely short signal path.
completed holes
installing the tube sockets
top with tube sockets installed
with more aluminum bracing so the amp can support the heavy transformers.
looking at capacitor placement and considering isolating the circuit from the power supply with a copper box
this is the copper mesh which serves as top of the copper box (once the amp is right side up). The mesh is in direct contact with the copper sides which will be attached to the copper cover, which I have not finished yet. This copper box will be grounded which will allow any electrical hash to go to ground and not enter the circuit.
with the tubes and chokes in place to see how it will function. Volume control will be very close to C3m tubes. Paper cut outs show where the Audio Note output transformers and the power transformers go.
ground wires terminated at the copper chassis.
ground wires terminated at the copper chassis.
Mounting the four filament transformers
Duelunds caps and the 300b bias resistors installed. Blackgate caps bypass.
Working on the power supply
Completed copper box. it will be grounded to earth thru the AC line ground so that any hash from the outside world goes to ground and doesnt get into the circuit
Carefully mounting the output transformers
Iron on deck
circuit with copper box
50k Goldpoint attenuator. One piece of unisulated silver wire going from the attenuator to the grid of the C3m driver tube. I am hoping with the copper box and extremly short signal path a grid stopping resistor and shielding will not be needed.
Completed circuit including star grounding
copper box
Amp is finished and ready for testing all of the voltages. I am most nervous at this point. The first time powering up the B+ is always scary. No matter how careful I am with wiring, there is always a possiblity of a mistake or a faulty solder joint. Or something touching something else that might cause a short circuit.
Testing went well and the amp passes audio. What a relief....
2nd version - tiger maple chassis
2nd version - tiger maple chassis
2nd version - tiger maple chassis
1st version bread board of my WE91a amp

Description

Audio Note, WE-91A, Rega, Ayon
1/20/12 -I built a 300b single ended triode amplifier based on Joe Robert's Western Electric 91A. Used all vintage caps and vintage resistors-Alen Bradley and Ohmite. These vintage parts came from Leeds Radio just a few subway stops from my apartment in Brooklyn. The coupling caps are .1uf V-Cap TFTF. Large motor run oils in the power supply. Sophia Electric 91-05 Opt transformers and Sophia Princess Mesh Tubes. Stancor PT's came from ebay.

3/2012: Replaced the Alps Potentiometer with a Goldpoint 50K stepped attenuator. More clarity and transparency through the entire frequency range.

Still not using a pre amp.

5/12- Replaced the oil capacitor C-3 biasing the 6C6 with a Black Gate.

6/6/12- Finished new chassis

7/12 - Added Rega P3-24 with Power Supply and Exact Cart. Will look at different cart options later

7/12 - Pulled the 24 gauge silver hookup wire used throughout the amp and installed 16 gauge pure copper wire. The 24 gauge wire gave the sound a weightless quality that I did not like.
The 16 gauge has been in for three weeks and I can report that the weight and depth has very pleasingly improved. Vocals have an added pleasing quality. Instruments throughout the entire frequency range have more depth and richness. The low end is more powerful. I can more easily perceive the stage that the players are performing on.

10/12 Pulled C-5 and didn't replace it. Pulling this capacitor has changed the sound of this amp. Clarity and detail throughout but especially in the lows thru the mid range. Much easier to detect decay and the accompanying reverb. Dynamics seem more unconstrained as well. It has decreased gain by around 20% but in my room with the AN-e's it does not matter.

1/2013- Replaced the 1k Allen Bradley 6C6 Cathode resistor with a Vishay TX2575. This resistor is very neutral...almost as though it has no sonic character of its own. Each instrument has its own accurate color and detail but not at the expense of the overall musical message. Took about 100 hours of break in time.

2/16/13--After a month with the TX2757 in the 6C6 cathode position, including bypassing them with Black Gate Caps I decided to pull these resistors. They did not provide the richness and room filling sound that the A-B's and the older AN Tantalum did. A few weeks ago I got two of the most recent production 1k An Tants from the Hi Fi Collective.

These new Tants are more closely akin to the A-B's than to the TX2575's. They are not as sonically accurate or pure as the TX's. But they do fill the room with rich satisfying music like the A-Bs but with more detail and without the extra noise or warmth or whatever it is with the A-B carbon comps. Still running the amp without the 6C6 bypass cap.

2/2013--Built a home brew phono pre amp using the Audio Note M3 schematic.

4/2013-Upgraded to the Rega White belt and Groovetracer Reference subplatter. Excellent sonic improvement.

5/2013- WE91a amp---Replaced the the screen cap (6C6) which was an oil with a 12uf Solen cap. Have about 50 hours on the Solen. Not sure I like it. Makes the amp sound a little cold and forward. Will live with it for a while.

Late 5/2013. The 12uf Solen has broken in and I like it better than the oil that it replaced. Warmth but with plenty of detail.

Mid 7/2013 (Audio Note DIY Phono pre) ---- Added Audio Note Tantalum resistors into the signal path. 7/27/13-took out the .047 and .33uf Solen caps in the signal path of the phono pre and added .047 Vcap TFTF and .33 Audio note copper caps.

8/11/13 (Audio Note DIY Phono pre) After two weeks with the Vcaps and AN copper caps in the phono circuit my vinyl rig is a lot fun to listen to. A more beautiful and open sound than with the Solen caps.

10/12/13 WE91a---
replaced the 15uf oil cap that was biasing the 300b tube with a polarized 22uf Black Gate. Will listen for a while and see if I like it.

11/1/13 WE91a
The Black Gate by itself is still fine.

I cleaned the resistor and Cap leads, tube sockets and tube pins with 99% alcohol. They have been in the cicuit for 2 years and were tarnished and very dirty. Once cleaned much more mid range clarity and cleaner bass.

11/20/13 Added Gold Lion GZ34 Rectifiers. Sound is open and airy. Very nice

12/28/13 Added Emission Labs 300bXLS.

2/17/14- Audio Note Home Brew Phono Pre-Finished new chassis for the Power supply.
Added 8 more Tantalum Resistors (4 per channel) to the Phono circuit. Now the circuit has a few A-B's and 6 Tantalums per channel. Phono pre sounds a lot better than it did with the PRP red resistors.

3/16/14 WE91A. Because the EML300bXLS tubes are so well internally balanced, I was able to remove the Hum pots and still use AC heat. Now the 300b bias is going thru the center tap of the 5volt filament transformer. Without the hum pots, the sound is much freer and alive. I am liking this!

3/31/14-AN Phono Pre. Replaced several more PRP resistors that were on the plate of both the PS and circuit with Mills. Hopefully they will sound better than the PRP's

5/1/14 WE91a. Took out the Allen Bradley grid leak resistors and replaced with Shinkoh Tantalun resistors. took about two weeks to break in.
5/25/14 WE91a. Put the Allen Bradley grid leak resistors back in. The Shinkoh Tants made the amp have a glare that didn't go away even after the resistors were broken in.

Running the Amp at 425V B+ is sounding good with EML 300bXLS and GZ34's.

6/7/14 AN Home Brew Phono Pre-
Took out the last PRP resistors in the circuit and replaced with Allen Bradleys. Very nice change. Now the circuit has a good mix and Tants and Allen Bradleys. There are a few more PRP's in the power supply that I will replace very soon.

6/22/14 AN Home Brew Phono Pre- Took out the last of the PRP resistors in the power supply and replaced with Mills resistors

9/23/14 AN Home Brew Phono Pre - Installed Audio Note Copper Capacitors in the RIAA network. .0028uf and .0082uf in each channel

11/21/14 AN Home Brew Phono Pre - Replaced the six more Allen Bradley resistors (3 per channel) with Takman one watt resistors.

11/28/14 AN Home Brew Phono Pre - Tweeked the voltage in my phono pre. Very good results. Much more open and transparent sound. Orchestral strings sound really nice.

12/6/14 Rega P3-24. I added a Audio Note iQ3 cartridge. Needs about 100 hours of break in.
Rega Exact is a great cartridge but opportunity came up. We'll see which I prefer once the iQ3 is broken in.

12/13/14 WE91a. installed Duelund Copper Cast coupling caps. After two weeks more natural sounding than the V-cap Teflon

1/12/15-Duelund Copper CAST 630v coupler caps have a very natural, emotionally engaging musicality with a very rich and colorful tonal pallet. Keepers for sure!

3/1/15-WE91a - Experimenting with WIMA power supply caps. These are Metallized Polypropylene. C2 in my power supply is a 100uf oil. I have replaced it with a 50uf Wima. I think the 50uf is a better choice as it controls the woofer a bit better.

3/7/15- WE91a - Added new custom built power transformers by Heybour. 250mA. Also added another WIMA cap at C1- its a 15uf.
B+ went from 424 to 450. 375v across the 300b plate. 76mA. With all these changes the amp has better control over the woofer. Punchy bass.

3/25/15 WE91a. Took out the Wima at C1. Made the amp sound harsh. Put it a GE F97 oil.
3/30/15 WE91a. Took out the Solen 12uf Cap on the screen of the 6C6 driver tube and replaced it with a 22uf Black Gate VK cap. The Solen is muddy compared to the Black Gate. I didnt realize how important the cap on the 6C6 screen is to the sound of the amplifier.

4/15/15 WE91a - A friend has lent me four low DCR 2H chokes (two per channel) to try in place of the single 10H Hammond in each channel. PS is now 15uf/1.8H/15uf/2h/50uf. Amp sounds faster and more nimble. Nice.

5/14/15 WE91a. I have bypassed the Wima Cap at C2 in the power supply with four very low value film caps. Too soon to draw any conclusions about sound.
5/31/15 WE91a. New production Audio Note 50uf Kaisei Power supply capacitors have arrived and after a week of burning them in, I have installed them in place of the Wima 50uf and all of those bypass film caps. will see which I like better in a couple of weeks.

6/13/15 WE91a. The New production Audio Note 50uf Kaisei Power supply capacitors have been in my power supply for two weeks - about 100 hours or so of playing time. They have a purity, and a crystal clear clarity that no other cap in the power supply has had. I am going to replace the rest of the PS oils with these to see what happens. Maybe it will be too much- who knows. They dont have too much of a sonic signature. They just sound very free and open so adding a few more may be ok. If not I can put an oil back in.

7/10/15-WE91a. Installed Audio Note Ultra Hi B output transformers today. Will need a few weeks to come around.
9/1/15 - WE91a. The Audio Note Transformers and great with excellent depth and coherence. Added copper shrouds. 
9/25/15 -Western Electric Speaker wire and interconnects. I like the speaker wire better than my Audio Note Lexus copper. More direct. They make the Lexus cable sound soft around the edges and diffuse. The WE Interconnects are very good too. But still learning about there sound.
10/11/15 - WE91a. Took out the 6C6 driver tubes and installed C3m drivers. 

11/28/15 - WE91a. Added Regulation to the Screen of the C3m driver tubes. K&K CCS board and an OD3 glow tube that is puts out 150volts. The C3m driver tube and regulation is an excellent driver of a 300b output tube. Very fast  and dynamic with lots of detail and musicality. I am very happy with the sound of this amp.  Probably not making any more changes for quite a while.

1/1/16 - WE91a I still notice a bit of extra weight in the lower mids so I replaced the last oil cap in the power supply (c-1) with an Audio Note Kaisei 50uf cap.

2/1/16 -WE91a. After adding additional Audio Note Kaisei capacitor to the power supply, the voicing of this amplifier is complete. The power supply is 50uf/5h 30ohm choke/ 50uf and it sounds dynamic fast and clean. With all Kaisei caps in the power supply the lower mids are now more open and that weight I mentioned above is gone. Will rebuild the amp onto a new piece of wood and hide all of the hi voltage parts underneath. Will post pics of the new build as it progresses.

3/10/2016 - WE91a.  New Chassis is finished. The new build features and extremely short signal path and a copper box known as a "faraday cage" which isolates the audio circuit from RF/AC, Cell phones, and other nasty's. The goal here is to eliminate the grid stopping resistors that are usually necessary on many tube grids. In a SET amplifier any extra part effects the sound especially a resistor in series with the grid. They are usually necessary on the C3m grid as well. Without a grid stopper the C3m tube can squeal and make all sorts of other very harmful noises but with my new chassis implementation I have not needed a grid stopper.  If the C3m tubes continue to behave it would be a major step forward. The sound of the amp without a grid stopper is more open free and natural.

4/2/16 - Audio M3 Phono Pre- I had some copper left over from my amp build so I made a 8x6x2 copper box and put the phono circuit inside. Pics added.

5/16- Bought Kondo KSL-LP silver interconnects and am using them with Audio Note Lexus Bi Wire copper speaker cables. After trying various IC's like homebrew WE-16g and Ocellia silver reference and various Speaker cables like WE-16g and 10g and Kondo KSL-SPz, the Kondo KSL-LP silver interconnects with Audio Note Lexus Bi Wire copper speaker cables really bring something special to the table at least to my ears system and room.

9/20/16 Ayon CD07 - put in NOS Raytheon 5687 tubes and after a week of break in they sound tremendous. Transparent mids fast and clean lows and clean extended highs. Better than any tube thus far.

10/2016  WE91a - I removed the 91k bleeder resistor from the last cap in the power supply. I can't believe how much more open, free and transparent the sound is. It's like that bleeder had clamped down on PS and now without it there is more energy coming into the room. Any tonal warmth that had been left in this amp is now gone.

11/2016 WE91a - with the bleeder resistor removed I noticed a tinniness in they high frequencies so I removed the GE 12gauge wire from both the power supply b+ and ground and replaced it with vintage WE 16gauge wire and that tinniness is now completely gone. The WE vintage wire sounds very good just as others have reported.

1/2018 -WE91a. Replaced the Goldpoint 50k stepped attenuator with a Seiden Shunt stepped attenuator loaded with Audio Note tantalum resistors. Its been in for about a month and I am shocked at the change in sound. Extended highs and lows and more lively mids. Huge step up. The highs and mids are so open and beautiful. Powerful bass. A very worthwhile change.

3/2020- WE91a.  Over the past year and one half, experimented with a .22UF Russian vintage cap in the coupling position in place of a duelund .1uf copper cap after growing tired of the  accurate and analytical presentation of the Duelund. The Russian cap did not do anything that I liked even after a year of listening. It was kinda like all the instruments turned the color of grey. I’ve had some Audio Note copper .47uf caps sitting around for a few years so put them in around the first of 2020 so they now have three months on them. 

The AN copper .47uf coupling caps after a two month an up and down ride stopped changing about a month ago. So I’ve been listening for a solid month after they finally settled in.  

I perceive no less detail with them compared to the duelunds but the detail is integrated into a more musical and three dimensional presentation. There are real instruments playing in front of me. Much more texture and dimension. There may be just a bit of glue tying everything together but even with the glue, there is individual instrumental color and tone in spades. A bit more overall warmth and richness.  Keeping in mind that my system has AUDIO NOTE output transformers, speakers, speaker cables, resistors and capacitors, kondo interconnects and an AN IQ lll Cartridge. So I would have thought adding an Audio Note coupling cap would have been to much, but it actually brought everything together in a very nice way.

 I think they might be too much of a good thing in a system that already fills out a three dimensional space but for me they add something lovely and musical that was missing. This reminds me that there is no such thing as the best capacitor or best anything else....

Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 25’ × 12’  Medium
Ceiling: 9’

Components Toggle details

    • Audio Note UK Audio Note UK AN-e LX HE
    Fun to listen to speakers that do a nice job with most types of music
    • DIY WE91a
    Very natural sound amp with good pacing. Duelund Copper cast caps. Audio Note Ultra hiB Output Transformers. Very short signal path and power supply wiring.
    • DIY Western Electric WE-91A
    Old breadboard

Comments 326

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Jet, I like the nude WE ICs best with this Electra Fidelity amp. I like it better than the Belden. I use one shielded set of WE ICs and one unshielded set.

grannyring

I have the new amp playing Jet. Initial impressions are very good. I'm not sure if he makes the PT, but I will ask. This 11 watt amp seems 25-30 more powerful than the 300b's. Dead quiet amp. I mean dead quiet. Zero mechanical tranny buzz or noise. Beautiful sounding amp.

Only three tubes in this stereo amp and a lot of iron for these little tubes!

grannyring

Owner
Grannyring, I'm kinda bummed that you got rid of your 845 amp since it was so good. You'll have fun and the EL34 amps should sound really great since he makes them from the ground up with his own OPT trannies. Wonder if he makes his own PT's.
Looking at the schematics on Jack's website he uses solid state rectification for all his amps and preamps.

jetrexpro

I meant to say tube rectification Jet. Sorry. I prefer SS rectification as does Jack. Bass is more articulate and controlled to my ears. My favorite tube amps in the past have been EL34 amps done right. The best example of this are the Thor TPA30's.

I no longer have the 845 amp as it was simply too heavy for me to deal with with my back issues. I like to swap amps, but could not do it with that 80 pound beast. It was the best SET amp I have owned to date, but I like to play with different amps so here we go!

I think the design of the amp plays a potentially bigger role than the tube employed. For example, my 845 amp only pushed out 10 watts per channel the way it was designed. Because of this design the 845 tube sounded very different from other, more powerful, 845 amps. Very different.

From what trusted ears have told me this new EL34 amp from Electra Fidelity will tell the same kind of story. All the great mids of the EL34 with sweet highs, but bass that defies what an EL34 tube usually delivers.

I don't like the idea of spending up to $1500 on 300b or 845 tubes to get a certain sound. I also don't want to search and spend more money on rectifier tubes as property done SS rectification is so very good. These are my goals. Also, the amp cannot weight more than some 35-40 pounds.

I will compare the 300b monos to the Electra Fidelity EL34 on my Lahave speakers as well as my tricked out Abbys. Should be interesting.

I agree with you and Charles about Jack's transformers. They are great. I had them in a 45 amp that sounded fantastic, but under-powered for my long term use.

grannyring

Owner
Grannyring, Sounds like you have ordered an Electra Fidelity EL34 amp. You mentioned SS regulation. Does it also employ solid state rectification? You'll have these EL34 amps, your 845's and 300b's all to compare driving your Lahave's. 3 very different tubes types.

jetrexpro

I meant to type the new Electra Fidelity amp may well unseat them. The amp is not yet shown on his website.

grannyring

I emailed Jack at Electraprint and he talked me out of upgrading the transformers. He is a very opinionated guy to be sure. I perhaps need more power and am trying one of his amps! While we don't agree on the importance of boutique parts:) I respect his designs and knowledge so we got along just fine.

The 300b amps sound good on my speakers, but I am intrigued with his new EL34 SET amp. Several folks I trust say it sounds as good or better than his expensive and well reviewed 300b monos. I,will report back soon.

For now the 300b mono amps are driving a second system with Cain & Cain Abby speakers. They drive these more easily. The amps are Lady Day 300b monos with many upgrades like Tent Labs filament filters, Black Gate, AudioNote resistors & caps. If the Electra Fidelity amp beats the 300b amps, then they will be sold. Nothing collects dust here! From what I hear it well unseat them. I will share more on his brand new design once it arrives. He hand wound the massive tranny's and choke. SS regulated and only one input tube. Brand new circuit design not before seen or used.

grannyring

Owner
:) I just priced Audio Note Silver secondary Ultra Hi B double Core at HIFI collective and they are $4,047.29 for only one transformer. LOL!

jetrexpro

Owner
I just went to the Electra-Print website and it looks like you can get partial silver secondaries rated at 100mA for well under $1000. Good info from Salectric about the possible advantage of ordering only one secondary tap and how good the PSS sound.

jetrexpro

I have used Electra-Print for all of my SE projects. They are high quality and reasonably priced. I recommend going for the Partial Silver Secondary series. Compared to the standard all-copper series, the PSS is a bit faster, cleaner and more detailed. The all-silver series is not only a lot more money but there are reports that its tonal balance is not as natural as the PSS. I don't have any personal experience with the all-silver so can't say one way or the other. Each of my OPTs has had the single dedicated secondary, i.e. a single 16 ohm output in my case. You might say that is a disadvantage since you lack the flexibility to try different impedances. However, there are theoretical advantages to having just a single secondary and it saves some money.

salectric

Bill,
The Hashimoto H507 is reputed to be a very good OPT. I recall a discussion on DIY Audio about OPTs a few years ago.
Charles,

charles1dad

Owner
Charles that is high praise and Electra-print is reasonably priced. You could probably get silver secondaries for not much more than $1000.

jetrexpro

Jet,
You mentioned 3 good choices. I heard a 300b SET that used Electraprint transformers driving Cessaro horn speakers at CES 2014. The sound was superb! Amongst the very best of the entire show regardless of total system cost. There were many more expensive set ups that couldn't match that sound quality. I suspect that the other two brands could do as well as the Electraprint.

charles1dad

Owner
Grannyring, my Audio Note transformers are the Ultra hi B double C Core copper primary/copper secondary. Their primary impedance is 2.7k not 3k. They do have 4 and 8 ohm secondary taps. They are very coherent and dynamic with lots of depth and texture. My notes above have even more details about them. Of course some of this is because they are matched to my Audio Note speakers. My old Sophia Electric trannies were no slouch but there is more natural synergy with the AN/AN combo. They are pricey at around $3800 from the hi if collective. I didn't buy them. I did some work for a guy that had AN connections and he got them for me.
I don't know how to advise you. Not sure you should splurg on $3800 for these unless you were sure they would be the bomb. There are plenty of great trannies like Magnequest, Electra print, Tamura etc and they might work just as well and cost less.

jetrexpro

Bill,
I thought your 845 tubed SET was more suitable for your particular speaker's sensitivity and load. Are your speakers efficient enough for a 300b SET? I do like your search for premium output transformers, definitely the right priority for a successful SET amplifier. Jet has certainly done it the right way in regards to his 300b SET building/modification evolution.
Charles,

charles1dad

Jet, please tell where you purchased your new transformers and which ones you ordered. I am shopping for great output trannies for my 300b monoblock SET amps. 3K Primany 4/8 secondary.

Looking at used Tamura F7001 and anything known to be outstanding. Did your new transformers give the impression of more power and dynamics?

grannyring

Jet, please tell where you purchased your new transformers and which ones you ordered. I am shopping for great output trannies for my 300b monoblock SET amps. 3K Primany 4/8 secondary.

Looking at used Tamura and anything known to be outstanding. Did your new transformers give the impression of more power and dynamics?

grannyring

Hi Jet,
You are correct, it's worthwhile to put money into transformers and the power supply quality. This is what separates one SET amplifier from another. This is the last area I'd cut corners in an attempt to save money.
Charles,

charles1dad

Owner
Rob, Agree with Charles that the double C core is an amazing transformer. I might suggest that you contact the AN KITs guys and tell them that you are interested in upgrading transformers for the kit one and ask them how their Triple C Core sound as compared to the AN production double C cores. While you are at it ask if you can upgrade the power supply caps to either Black Gate or to the new AN Kaisei 500v power supply caps. Would be very interesting to find out what capacitors they recommend as a Kit one upgrade. This will be a fun project once it happenes. I had a kit one here for a few weeks and that is what took me down the SET path. Regards Jet

jetrexpro

Rob,
Based on my experience with this type of output transformer in my amplifier(Japanese double C core) you are making a very wise and cost effective decision. You'll have no regrets.
Charles,

charles1dad

Jetrexpro/Charles/Grannyring,
I just received another 12 meters of the WE16ga from Japan late yesterday, best batch of wire yet, really pristine. I also ordered a couple more Belden interconnects. I would also like to k. now how the Belden is as a digital to DAC, I look forward to what Grannyring finds out.

Jet, based on your information I think I'll spring for the AN double C trannies when we get the AN kit; and the more I think about it the AN speakers you have are looking like that is probably the way to go with the AN amp.

I haven't yet started the capacitor, resistor, re-wire of the Coincident Dynamo as I need to wait for my brother to arrange his vacation time. I cannot do the mods without his guidance and soldering skill. I was thinking about modding one of my DACs, still waiting for a Yamamoto DAC to pop up, if not, will purchase new when settled in new house. Thanks for all the information. Rob

mikirob

Owner
Grannyring/Charles/Rob, I spent the better part of this weekend getting to know the Belden interconnects; listening to them on their own and comparing them to the Kondo KSL-LP interconnects that I have been trying. It sounded like the Belden needed some extra time in my main system to fully come alive. By Sunday afternoon it was clear that the Belden IC's are very special cables. There is a presence and weight that draw me into the music. There is an emotional heat that makes the Kondo sound emotionally remote in comparison. I noticed it first when listening to vinyl on Saturday and then today I heard it with CD. I'll need a few more weeks with them to see what is what. At this point I could talk about the sonic differences between the two but that wouldn't get to essence of what these cables are doing.

jetrexpro


Yazaki certainly is an advocate of the "natural musical" sound faction. I wonder what power cable he finds that fits into this highly desirable genre.
Charles,

charles1dad

Bill,
Yes, that Arizona capacitor will be quite an interesting comparison against your current "gold standard" Jupiter copper foil. This should be much fun as well as enlightening. I'm curious to read your listening/comparison impressions.
Charles,

charles1dad

Jet, I purchased another set of Belden ICs and again find myself shaking my head after burn in. I wish I would have found this stuff years ago. I would have saved a few thousand! However, I most likely would not have fully appreciated and realized what they were even 5 years ago. I had to first climb the mountain of experience first with all kinds of other expensive wire to,really appreciate the WE and Belden.

I am going to try the Belden as a digital cable and see if I can sell my expensive digital cable next. Something tells me I may actually like it better than what I have now!

I also found a greater sense of continuity and "rightness" when I used the WE16g wire throughout my system in speakers, crossovers, amps, etc...

The builder from Japan that turned us all onto this special wire from Belden & WE also says the Arizona Capacitor company makes a Green Catus capacitor that is as special as the wire. Only $25 for the .47 uf value. I will try it in my dac.

grannyring

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