[mgalusha]

Not sure who was out of stock on the Auricaps but Antique Electronics Supply has them. I ordered up a few sets today and am looking forward to building a Felicia myself.

[Phil Townsend]

Asleep at the wheel...no way...much too exciting.

OK guys here what I done:
I pulled out the 20 mike ASC cap and swapped it for a 20mike  Solen film type. Film caps seem faster to me. May be some BG NPs might be fun too? We are talking 20 volts max so a 50volt cap will do the job.
Yep...it is I think better in all respects at least with the bypass caps I'm using. (Vit Q .47ufd,  Vit Q .1 mikes and a .01 mike Auricap...

So I listened to The Samsung with all mods and Guidos clock plus Felisha. Into a Stax amp for earspeakes (mods?... Plenty!) with the second Felisha supplying AC happness!

Best I've ever heard...

Gads did I spell Felisha correctly??

Phil Townsend
Santa Fe

[Occam]

Dang Phil - so many caps, the main betwixt and between, their bypass, and the post output transformer bypasses, and so many wives to annoy...
Unloaded, the series connected secondaries are at about 30vAC, and as we're feeding from the series connected 115v secondaries, were down to 15vAC x 1.414 giving us <22vAC p-p, which seems adequately below that 50v rating of those NP Blackgates. I'd not even considered these, but they should? work. Dunno. Let them break in forever, as BGs seem to need this.
So Felicia is sympatico with your Samsung DVD/CD player and your Stax, tube output? earspeaker amp. But what about your darl'n Darling?

It looks like 2, at minimum, dpdt switches are called for in order to do any reasonable comparisons.
I do have some big honk'n polyprop and film caps and a slew motor run, polyprops. And I really should get some Northcreeks for bypasses to check out as an alternative to the Auris. Anyone got anything they want to lend for evaluation?
C'mon folks - this is an 'open source' project. We've great input from Josh, Larry, PT914, Russ and Phil. I'm sure there are lots more builders out there. We need your input!

ps - thats Felicia, JoshK's long suffering wife's name. Feminine Latin of Felix, meaning "lucky, successful"

[Phil Townsend]

Im not sure what or why You chose Occam for your screen name...
Maybe you simply have renamed your your Gillette?

Phil
Santa Fe

[lonewolfny42]

Occam's Razor....

[Phil Townsend]

Those darn BG caps! They take so long to come up to snuff!!! I hate that!
I've started to use the Panasonic FC and FM series.

They burn in quick, sound damn fine and they are dirt cheap. It seems to me they are everybit as good as the BG. MAY BE BETTER. In any event it makes sense to do basic mods with the FC and FM then if you like the results...buy the BGs and do another. In my experience there is very little diff. One would be hard pressed to choose the equipment with the BGs or the FC.
Anyway the BGs are toast soon !

Phil
Sante Fe, former home of "The Pile"

[Phil Townsend]

It is currently being push by a Kedwood KT 7500 (yes it too is modded to death) (kicks the Magnums ass to Texas).
Ill give a listen tonight and see what is what...
The Darling is happy.

I have a question guys...what do you think:

I have a very sweet all silver transformer that I got from Kyle at Reference Audio in Calif. Its a one to one. 120 in 120 out. Its an isolation tranny.
Any ideas about plugging in the Felica into it ? Its 120volt amps and has very fine lams and all silver on both sides.

I have no idea what will happen eletrically.
So, We would have three transformers in the mix.
The silver isolation tranny then a full Felicia.
I hope that this might be a happy combo...Casue the damn silver Tx cost me a f###kin pile of loot.
Thanks guys for your help.

Phil
Santa Fe

[Occam]

Phil,

You'll have to forgive me, but I've gotta ask -
I assume you've referring to this Audio Consulting CD mains transformer? -
http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=26&highlight=isolation+transformer
that you got from RAM, on some of the same components you've used to evaluate Felicia. So how do they compare?

Yes, you could use your silver rock transformer to feed a Felicia. But it seems a terrible waste. If that transformer lacks the output center tap, as shown in the referenced url, 57.5 -0- 57.5VAC on the secondary, you could only use it as an isolation transformer to feed a Felicia. Otherwise, with the AudioConsulting transformer at the output, you'd forego the benefits of balancing.

But if your AudioConsulting transformer does have that center tap, give me a call, and we can discuss making a truly bespoke Felicia. I've got some gorgeous r-core isolation transformers that could serve as the input transformer for a truly over the top Felicia.

[Phil Townsend]

Felicia kicks butt. The two transformers with the caps across the secondary is way better.

Yes I got the Silver transformer from Reference Audio.
If you go the link you put up, it is the tranny in the first photo as you scrole down.

Its connections are as follows:

primary 0--115--230
secondary 0--115

The normal way I've used it is to connect 115 volts to the primary using the taps marked 0---115.  Then connecting the secondry to the CD player using the only taps left which is 0--115.
This transformer is rated at 120va.

So, if I feed the secondary 115 volts Ill get  115--0--115 at the now so called primary. And I then have a center tap.

Phil
Santa Fe

[Occam]

Felicia kicks butt. The two transformers with the caps across the secondary is way better.......
So, if I feed the secondary 115 volts Ill get 115--0--115 at the now so called primary. And I then have a center tap.

Many thanks for the praise!

But sadly, you probably couldn't use this AudioConsulting isolation transformer in this configuration to provide balanced 230vAC, 115-0-115, even if you rewired the component to be fed 230vAC. This is because, I believe, your transformer's primary is configured 'old school'. By that, I mean that when configured conventionally for input with 115vAC, it does not parallel two primary windings, but simply feeds half the primary windings, and for 230vac it feeds the whole primary winding. But those windings are not exactly equivalent, with the 0-115 portion wired with thicker wire than the 115-230 portion. You can verify this by measuring the resistance of those respective windings with an ohmmeter. This would cause an imbalance in your balanced output. [I very much like this approach, as a transformer with primaries configured this way is far less likely to hum than one wired in parallel for 115vAC input.] Its just not appropriate for producing balanced power output.

[Occam]

6Moons has just published a review of the Audience AdeptResponse powerline conditioner -
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/audience5/adeptresponse.html

Occasionally, there is a review which describes components that you've also heard in a similar context. The 6Moons Adept review is one of them. It used the BPT conditioner for comparison. I was lucky enough to hear the Adept, the BPT and the Felicia in the at Phil's June Rave/Picnic. While not an ideal, controlled listening environment, it did provide Larry and I the opportunity to hear them in the same context.  And dammit, there were aspects where I preferred the Adept and/or BPT over Felicia.  But this simply spurred Larry to apply his considerable skills. We later, along with Mark Maloof, got to hear Felicia, again with the Adept on Wes's highly resolving system. And Larry takes these lessons, and continues to improve Felicia.

Here is the just released picture of the innards of the Audience Adept -

Input to a large Auricap as an 'X' cap accross the line (and that passive partial powerfactor correction), with 2 smaller Auris, 'Y' caps to ground from live and neutral. From there, the Live-Neutral lines branch to individual common mode chokes and then to their individual outlets, each bypassed, L-N, with additional Auricaps. And of course, the obligatory crimp on connecters.

The Felicia project is, and continues to be, a tremendous learning experience for me.
It also tastes good, AND is less filling......

[JoshK]

Maybe this will inspire a solution to filter power for amps, so that the Felicia can grow into a full system solution.  Well, for now Felicia continues to mature into a superb solution for sources and preamps (most anyway).

[Occam]

Maybe this will inspire a solution to filter power for amps, so that the Felicia can grow into a full system solution.

Heck Josh,

I thought I did in the paragraph below the AdeptResponse picture. The first cut is to implement a classic accoss the line cap, AFTER the input fuse/breakers. This allows you use a non X2 rated cap with some assurance of reasonable safety precautions. A 600v Auricap would, no doubt, work a treat. Capapcitive value TBD. The advanage of this is that that single cap is in paralell with all the components fed by that mains circuit, Felicias, poweramps, etc, and whatever its benefits extend to them all.
Y caps are optional, and I personally object to polluting the ground line on 'religious' grounds. But this is largely a matter of conviction, rather than based upon empirical verification.
The second stage would simply add a common mode choke for the line-neutral wires and a following accross the line capacitor for each component not to be Felicia powered. This is what the Audience Adept does. I'd start by trying carbonyl reduced iron mixture #26 or #52 toroid cores for the cmc (the CMCs are under that shrink in the picture).

So how many of my #26 toroid cores, and in what size, would you like to borrow?

FWIW,
Paul

[Gordy]

Four   , no, two.  They wouldn't happen to be one and the same as the chokes you sent for trial post battery supply???

I seem to be losing track of what was moded when!  Were the sorta x caps installed by Team JOL before you're lastest listening session at Wes's place?

Thanks...

[JoshK]

Sorry, you likely did and I was just being slow as usual.  I just read it quickly though.

How big of a CMC toroid do you need to ensure that the amps...umm...don't get choked?  Ok, bad pun, so the core isn't saturated?

I'll be the guinea pig once I get a few things done on my system, so it may be a week or so.

[tianguis]

All:
      Getting a look inside the Adept Response was the inspiration for the additional caps I've been using across the output transformer. If you look at the pics, you'll notice that the caps across the receptacles are of differnt sizes (and values). In the Adept Response, they run from 1.0 to .22 uf. I'm sure their reasoning for the different values is to accommodate the needs of different components. How one figures all the combinations and permutations out is beyond me. At any rate, I chose a .47 as it was in the mid-range of their values. The additional bypassing provides added refinement, which they didn't find necessary, probably for financial reasons only. For their additional $10 cost on a $3950 unit that decision flies in the face of reason. I've heard what the output bypass caps do to the Felicia.
       On another note, partly due to the make-up of the AAR and Phil's post, I hooked up a couple of 7.5 uf Bennic poly caps in parallel to replace the Aerovox, keeping the same bypass caps. Even though the Bennics are awful caps, which I've given up using, they've elevated the performance of the Felicia: better resolution and clarity, more space and air, better separation of instruments and voices, a sense of greater speed (powering only my Grounded Grid pre).  I guess I'll have to spring for some big Auricaps.

Larry

[Occam]

Four   , no, two.  They wouldn't happen to be one and the same as the chokes you sent for trial post battery supply???

Nope, all together different kind of inductor. You've got to have the proper bag when hunting snarks. When a common mode choke is subjected to balanced power flow, the inductances are cancelled (assuming the cmc is pefectly balanced) and nothing is choked. When subject to common mode noise, the inductances reinforce and 'choke' the offending signal, and to a lesser degree, depending on the core characteristics and winding configuration, does the same for differential noise. This is a major reason that 'accross the line', X, L-N, 'Auricap Tweak', 'betwixt and between' caps, call it what you will.... work so well, they convert differential mode noise to common mode noise, that is dealt with the the transformers in Felicia, and CMCs in the proposed 'Felix'.

Josh - Dunno about proper sizing of a toroid for cmc duties, it depends on the core material and winding configuration. But I will lend you a core of the same mixture that PS audio uses in their UO, but substantially bigger. I'm not about to attempt to wind a cmc, and will look for low cost, readymade product. Its what I do.... Folks ain't gonna build it if they have to wind it.

and Larry - damn you ears! If you weren't so insistent on improving Felicia, we wouldn't be so confused.

[speedcenter]

6Moons has just published a review of the Audience AdeptResponse powerline conditioner -
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/audience5/adeptresponse.html

funny, over at the Asylum they'll tear your head off if you mention you're using Auricaps acorss AC lines  

I've had a pair of Auricaps inside all my AC powered components. Probably a much more effective way to accomplish what this box does. $25 for a paif of 0.47uF 600V auricaps and you'll need a lot less power filtering before the component.

Adding two auricaps to my CD transport still remains one of the biggest bang for the buck tweaks I ever installed.

Peter

[Occam]

funny, over at the Asylum they'll tear your head off if you mention you're using Auricaps acorss AC lines  

No, actually they'll tear your head off if you use an Auricap accross a mains AC line foolishly. And we'll do the very same thing here on the Lab circle. There is no credible reason to wire an Auricap directly accross powered entry prior to the fuse/circuitbreaker(s) so as to not guard aganist the Auricap's possibly failing 'shorted'. Its common sense and compromises nothing.

I've had a pair of Auricaps inside all my AC powered components. Probably a much more effective way to accomplish what this box does. $25 for a paif of 0.47uF 600V auricaps and you'll need a lot less power filtering before the component.

Really? Kewl..... so I'll only need half a Felicia to power each source component? Which half?

[Phil Townsend]

Solen makes a 20 mike film cap...about 6 bucks...
I pulled out the ASC 20ufd and swapped it for the Solen...yep, it works better. Of course it is bypassed with the .47, .1 , and .01 auris.

Next to the output.
I'm still wondering what values to place at the end of the line on the Felicia?


BTW my Kenwood never sounded better AND it pushed a WIDE soundstage and I could place accuratly various voices within the sound stage. The heavely modded Kedwood as Never able  to do that.

Thanks to one and all

Phil
Santa Fe

Ditto on the .47 auri in the X2 spots in a cd player.