Over the past month we have been upgrading many of the PS Audio Directstream MK2 DAC with our nickel transformers and have discovered very poor build quality on every one.
We ended up having to offer to fix these defects as we don’t like sending units back half baked.
We re-route the WiFi antenna Cable, Repair the input chassis grounding and fix any hardware issues (stripped wrong screws etc). We even found PC board standoffs 1 turn out loose :(
This defect shows that the i2s inputs chassis grounding spring is stuck behind the plastic insulator making it inoperable. The inputs end up with no chassis ground.
Top view
This shows the mis-aligned paint mask keeping all inputs from being chassis grounded. Note the grounding springs are insulated by the paint. The only way to fix this is to scrape the paint away.
This show the RF shielding fingers not install properly. Most all units had most of them missing or none at all.
This shows how we fix the i2s grounding issue. Note now the chassis grounding spring can make contact with the chassis.
We remove the insulator and cut the right side down so the grounding spring will clear. Note the cut line.
After the cut
