2. amps-preamps
  3. 193492-141444

Duelund cap break in time

I just made some changes to my single ended kt150 amplifier that I was pretty excited about, having had great success with similar mods to my preamp.

Unfortunately, when I set it all back up...it sounded worse. Not terrible, but worse.

It sounds extremely bass heavy. Overwhelming. Less detail, zero "sparkle". Dull.

I run this amp on my wideband driver - 500hz and up so that's extra confusing, it must be super bassy in the 500-1000 region I guess.

Now, I've only got about 6 hours on them so obviously there's a lot of break in needed, but every piece of equipment I've ever had (including cap changes)the initial impression was grainy, a bit harsh and shrill. This is the opposite, it's so smooth it's boring. So that's why I'm sorta baffled and feeling like I messed up, or messed something up in there, it's just far from what I would expect.

Is this level of dullness... reasonable? Happy to hear any thoughts on this, if it's entirely reasonable I'll just settle in and give it hours and try not to focus on it too much.

 

Changes made were:

Kle perfect harmony RCA jacks

Neotech silver gold hook up wire to RCA

Audio Note input coupling caps

Duelund cast pio hybrid coupling caps.

 

Focusing on the duelund because it's the biggest change but...

superchunk

Showing 2 responses by carlsbad2

carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
1,982 posts
 

I don't think burnin will create the large changes you are talking about.

There is no such thing as 500-1000Hz bass.  I think what has happened is the amp is not putting out slightly less power so the subs are dominating.  rebalance an see if that fixes it.

If it doesn't, take it back apart, look for a short or open or some sort of miswiring.  we all make errors.

Jerry

carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
1,982 posts
 

If you had to turn it down that much, there is something wrong with your amp. Open it back up.

if you can't find any problem with the mods, consider unsoldering the new caps at  one end and look for a shorted cap.  basic RLC meters aren't expensive and you can also confirm the capacitace.

Jerry

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