Kit supplied components, top view |
Kit supplied components, slot into place and straighten using DIP-24 and held in-place by zip tie, before soldering |
MyOldVintageHifi is about my hobby and passion to restore old vintage hifi gear to their former glory (where possible) for personal enjoyment.
UPDATE - Comments can now be added without moderation
Kit supplied components, top view |
Kit supplied components, slot into place and straighten using DIP-24 and held in-place by zip tie, before soldering |
Kenwood KT-5020 |
Output section with op-amps |
1st Capacitor to be changed in op-amp section |
Just received my new Trasam DAC2PRO earlier this week.
Trasam DAC2PRO (silver) directly connected to the Sansui B-2101 amplifier |
The DAC2PRO provides a blue-tooth upgrade to my existing hifi setup with RC and remote volume control.
In addition, the unit has the ability to playback FLAC, MP3, WAV, M4A encoded audio via a ESS based DAC. The on-board DAC processes input received via a soft selector for COAX, OPT and Blue-tooth๐.
I ordered a unit with audio quality components from the Chinese eBay equivalent - came with black colour Nichicon EC capacitors on the power circuits and a OracleII-02 op-amp on a DIP-8 mount (phew!). Rest of the components are SMD types.
Was quite disappointed there was no MUSES op-amp provided with the unit. Hence I ordered a MUSES-8820 and 8920 as these are quite affordable nowadays as these have been superseded by the newer (and more expensive) MUSES-01 and 02.
Will update with more pix(s) and feedback of the sonics with the Oracle vs the older MUSES op-amps once I have the opportunity to perform the review.
In the meantime, I will have a play with my new toy 1st....๐
Since spending more time online nowadays (due to COVID resurgent worldwide), I chance upon some good deals for better OP-Amp(s) from overseas. This was a good opportunity to swap-out the default NE5534P on my DIY TDA1541A DAC with USB interface, as I have (more or less) done all I can with capacitor replacements - not in the blog but had swap out the output capacitors for Elna Stargates since the last post for the DIY DAC.
Have decided I was not going to spend silly amounts on buying blackcaps, silver cabling or anything fancy of that sort since I wanted to see how far I can improve the unit on a budget. So will not splash out on Burson op-amps, MUSES-03 or alike.
Thus have ordered some Philips NE5534P, JRC 5534 and OPA604AP.
Will update once I received the goodies and can do some swap-outs tests.
21Jun2021
Received the above op-amps and did the swap tests.
Ti NE5534 The default which came with the kit. My personal take is that it was the "Jack of all trades" but "Master of None" with a skewed HF reproduction and bass which was not flabby nor tight.
JRC NE5534 The minimalist choice. Has better overall balance than the Ti but came with a "English"-like reserve. Again nothing really wrong but did not excel in any particular area(s).
Philips NE5534 Best way to describe this would be to say it's alike the "Toyota Corolla" of 5534(s). Prefer it over the previous version of 5534(s) but know I could get a better replacement.
BB OPA604AP Initially the HF sounded thin with non-existant LF. After a couple of days usage, the sound stage surfaced. After another few more days, the most astonishing thing happened - the DIY DAC now sounds pretty close (after the unit has warmed up) to my Meridian 602 when performing an A-B comparison, with a slight difference in the output volume during the A-B comparisons.
OPA604AP x 4 on the DIY DAC PCB |
Old Sharp VCR with TOSLINK for audio output |
I obtained the old Sharp DV-NC80 from a neighbour who converted to using a cable video streaming service. The unit had a CD/DVD player with TOSLINK output and I was curious as to it's viability as a transport.
Hence I tried using the Sharp as a transport paired to the Audiolab 8000DAC. Much to my surprised, the resultant audio reproduction was clean and the Sharp performed much better than the Samsung DVD player when used it as a CD transport!!! Does sound pretty decent when amplification is via the EL34 integrated valve amplifier pushing the DIY LS 3/5A with AB1.
As there was no remote, I could only use the Sharp to play a CD end-to-end. Due to it's age, I do not think the Sharp will last for many more years so will not search for it's RC and just enjoy it while I can.
UPDATE #1 - 11Nov2020
Out of curiosity I tried a putting some songs on a CD-RW and stuck that into the Sharp - much to my surprise (again), it played without issues....
Front view of Pioneer F-223 with main portion of test cable for antenna on top of unit |
View of internals from the top |
F-223 Made in Japan |
Voltage selector on the bottom of unit, towards the front as indicated by arrow |
Using a short piece of cable for initial FM tuner testing |
Delivered with the solid rectangle to protect the "O" |
Attached to the DIY Ls 3/5a without adhesive - corners of the rectangle are held by the velcro on the LS 3/5a baffle |
From Google ... why re-invent the wheel? |
Image CUT&PASTE from TP-LINK |
CUT&PASTE from Google |
Initial kit purchased |
Similar layout to the previous kit but with more space for swapping the critical capacitors |
Uses non-mainstream EC capacitors on the PCB |
The default 6J3 purchased with the kit |
Assembled kit in-action |
6J3 (LHS) vs 5654W (RHS) |
Pix after "upgrade" |
The completed DIY unit mounted using magnetic feets on top of a cheap DVD player |
Close-up of the DIY kit; 2 of the audio path critcal capacitor on top with the other 2 on the bottom side of the PCB (not visible) |
General layout of the integrated Leak amplifiers, with the L&R boards on the LHS of the unit |
L001 replaced with the blue OEM transformer |
Replacement transformer on mounting PCB attached to chassis bracket using plastic screw with additional washer between PCB and the chassis mounting bracket |
Close-up of the replacement transformer and cabling |
"Center tap" technique hookup at terminator end; fuses after the termination point upgraded from 500mA to 750mA |
8000A with several add-on heatsinks |
Initial testing after minor maintainence |
New EC caps on the PSU |
"Newer" poly(s) on the DISC board |
Traditional FM & TV antenna connector in HDB flats |
Signal amplifier and "multi-purpose" antenna purchased online |
Original output PCB |
Part of output schematic for MV33 audio reproduction |
ELNA EC and the Japanese poly swapped out |
PCB after capacitor swap-outs |