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Dynaco-Doctor Forum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences. |
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In Reply to: RE: PAS-3 filament voltage doubler capacitance posted by xaudiomanx on October 18, 2013 at 04:17:04:
I feel like this is an insufficiently explored topic in forums, at least in the forums I frequent. Either in DIY projects or in factory-assembled big name high end products, it does seem like upgrades or higher end models increase the microfarads. I do not think it is an issue of reducing the ripple to infinitesimally lower and lower levels. There are probably other reasons, perhaps less “sag” or something else that may not be widely understood or discussed. I have considered that increasing the energy storage might obviate the need for regulation.The question seems to be the threshold: how much is too much? I am not even really concerned about a question of diminishing returns. What I am most interested in is at what point larger amounts of capacitance can actually adversely affect the operation of the amplifier and/or the sound (of course, what constitutes an adverse effect on the sound to one person may not be the same to another).
For instance, Stereophile magazine reviewed the Octave Audio RE 290 amplifier that sells for $10,000 - $13,500 depending on whether you purchase the “Super Black Box,” which is a module that increases the capacitance in the power supply. The reviewer described his perception of the differences in sound with and without the Super Black box, which improved the sound in most ways but not in all ways, subjectively. I don’t recall if the review specified the amount of capacitance in question, but I am including the link.
Then there are the $5,600 each Decware Zen Tori monoblocs that sport 4,400uF for the B+ (not sure if that’s 4,400uF per monobloc or combined between the two).
Well, these amps presumably had designers who knew how to design a power supply with this much capacitance. However, adding huge amounts of capacitance to a Stereo 70 or PAS might be a different matter. We know that the time constant could be an issue as well as other performance parameters that could be adversely affected. I do not know how to calculate this stuff, but I can say that increasing the capacitance in my Stereo 70 from the original 90uF to 500uF sounds great - but at what point might it actually cause problems if I wanted to increase it more?
100,000uF for the PAS filaments? You've got me on that one. I’ve never tried it, and, no disrespect intended, but I have my doubts about it. But, I guess I will have to defer to someone else who has actually tried it.
With regard to the choke, it is there to reduce ripple in the B+. It's an inductor in series with the power supply, and I have wondered if it would also affect the high frequency response of the amp for the same reason it reduces the ripple? Certainly worth experimenting with.
Edits: 10/18/13 10/18/13 10/18/13 10/19/13 10/19/13
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Follow Ups
- RE: PAS-3 filament voltage doubler capacitance - petercapo 09:39:26 10/18/13 (0)
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