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Same and some important tips...

Posted by Vinyl Valet (A) on May 16, 2015 at 06:44:17

In Reply to: RE: Paging "mwhouston"! IT'S ALIVE!!!! The Class D Audio SDS-254 LIVES!!! posted by Mick Wolfe on May 15, 2015 at 14:00:56:

I'm assuming most of the posting owners are talking the stock kit.

Here's what I've done so far (254):

Hardwired quality power cord and speaker cable.

Installed high quality RCAs.

Here's the biggie; determine the correct gain for your system with the gain pots on the back, then measure and replace with high quality resistors on the board. Critical to get the most out of this puppy. I tried quality tube and TVC pres and preferred the TVC with the gain shorted (no need for expensive quality resistor) at the board. Since the heart of this system is a modded Oppo BDP-105, I want to try running that straight into the 254 and use Oppo's digital domain volume. Should be interesting.

Replace the stock 4700uf ps caps with higher quality 8200uf caps. If you don't have soldering experience, don't try this as the stock caps are difficult to de-solder and remove without messing up the ps board.

Sure, if you want to nit pick, you'll find some flaws compared to the super duper expensive stuff but for those that are looking for a sick amp for under $500, I doubt you could come close with anything else, especially with the relatively simple and cheap mods I've outlined above. Also there are guys that are more sensitive than most to the flaws of Class D stuff in general which I completely understand and respect. All amps have their flaws and we all have individual tastes and sensitivities.

Also keep in mind, when I make a positive comment about a component, I'm old, have bad rock & roll musician hearing loss in addition to pretty bad tinnitus. But my hearing is still solid in the critical midrange. My dad, before he passed, was deaf in one ear and probably was hearing 200Hz to 3kz in the other and he could still hear and appreciate the positives in my systems and insisted on similar quality in his home.

Most of the ideas listed above came from the generous contributions of several early adopters (link below). Since most of you aren't nutty enough to wade through something like 183 pages (sadly, I am), I've tried to condense the most important mods for you.
Open up your mind, in pours the trash. - Meat Puppets, 1987

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