CJ PV10AR upgrade?

jkf011

Obviously cj can perform a cap upgrade and perhaps they should. First off, they should be able to tell you what you will hear with their upgrade!
Before you settle on cj, I would urge you to check out RHB Dezigns. Bob Backert and his son have modified many, many cj preamps over the years. Bob has worked on my PV12L three times, each a performance upgrade over the last. Bob has his own designs that he employs in his upgrades. His emphasis is on the power supply. Your PV10 will be more open and dynamic. If you call Bob he will discuss what he can do for what cost. He lives in Churchville, PA and can be reached at 302-723-7549.

Bob’s workmanship is impeccable. He is an absolute gentleman and can take your cj to a new level.

At 20 years it might be more maintenance, than upgrade, but while you're at it, might as well replace the old with BETTER.. Teflons?

CJ likes the teflon upgrades, takes a while to break in, aren't cheap, but a good upgrade. With the Emotiva..It can only help.. Second they want to swap out the filter caps. Never a bad idea.. 20 years again, a long time.

I'm guessing, but I'm close. :-)

Regards

Hey John,

I had an original PV10 and worked on it extensively. There are a handful (maybe like 4) electrolytic caps which should be replaced, but that’s all I can think of as getting old. Everything else was film. There was also an undersized (compared to the 12) heater cap as I recall.

The PV 12 was the same preamp, with a 3 stage voltage regulator. This made it more reliable as well as better channel separation.

The sound however was in large part due to the output caps which were high quality film, but probably not teflon. :) As I recall they were around 4uF.  An alternative to teflon you should consider, if they fit, is copper foil.

Also seriously consider Bill Thalmann of Music Technology in Virginia. Former Technical Director at Conrad Johnson. HIGHLY recommended! The problem I had with Conrad Johnson is that their upgrade package on my preamp 5 years back was limited to their proprietary teflon caps and didn’t involve other upgrades that can provide greater realization of what is possible. Bill can explain what can be done and give you broader options.

To expand on Eric’s comments, Bill uses V-cap CUTF, great caps.

Well great advice from all to take on-board. I am prepared to go with CJ and the Teflon upgrade and I think the filter caps. The want $700 and can spend no more. If the other guys are more than that - even if I get more - it's a non-starter.