anarchist Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 Hi guys, I lost my mind and decided to upgrade my Eico replacing almost all the caps with Auricaps and Spragues. I have never done this before but since I was planning on doing a DIY kit, I figured I might as well take a chance. It helps that NOS will only charge me double should I now need to send it to him when it goes up in smoke. It has not been without incident. On the ground near the phono section, there are about a dozen wires and a mountain of solder. I got the thing clean but suffered a broken wire and then in an act of stupidity clipped a resistor wire. Trip to radio shack tomorrow for that but it did lead me to do one of the phono sections. Here is a current shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 Some trade secrets for ya. Make sure you tighten all those grounding screws on the chassis also when soldering to that main ground loosen the screw first to help you be able to heat it without trying to heat the entire chassis. Then retighten the ground real secure ! I usually pull out the 100 Watt Iron and solder that lug to the chassis. Helps to insure a good ground but does require a very healthy Iron. Just a few tweaks I have learned along the way. Looking good so far !! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 Nice work. Craig, Why does it always look like the Eico has less parts than the Scott? Is it just an optical illusion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 No it does have less parts !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 Boy that looks a lot cleaner underneath than mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 Chris, Its all in the Original builder. I have seen them way worst then yours and way better. Antichrist has a pretty darn well done one. Wonder if it has a tested stamp on the chassis up top ? Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted April 6, 2003 Author Share Posted April 6, 2003 Nope. No "tested" marking of any kind. There is a little paper sticker around the switch on top. It does look very OEM...until you see some of the soldering joints. And find removing big blobs of solder occasionally unveils the little metal tabs are held together with that solder. Just started and completed a couple of the .025 ceramics - royal pain in the arse with one of those broken tabs. I am quite happy with the way it appears to be turning out, taking extreme care in laying in the new parts to make it look pleasing. Will provide another shot tomorrow - figure I will have the remaining .025's complete and the .01's and the first phono section. I did discover the need to remove that ground screw NOS, figured that out when I couldn't get the damn solder to heat up. Will also touch up some of the poorer looking joints I have discovered as I have removed parts. I just hope the damn thing works when I am finished. This is cool stuff - but it is very labor intensive and the rates NOS charges are a definate bargain. All the more bargain when you realize you don't have to worry about it working when you have finished doing all this soldering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted April 7, 2003 Author Share Posted April 7, 2003 Here is the latest shot. Don't have the .01's in yet - major solder action here which is taking a while to desolder. The wiring is looking cleaner and cleaner. Plan on finishing it off tonight and taking it for a test drive. Still hoping it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted April 7, 2003 Author Share Posted April 7, 2003 Well now. I am writing from the hospital after attempting to desolder a capacitor after a quick listening test...really. Completed the upgrade. All caps in. Radio shack didn't have the resistor I needed so I soldered the one I clipped back together. Fun stuff. Oh, yeah, more fun stuff - after I had soldered in 3 caps in the phono sections, I got curious about the connections. Called NOS. He explained something I would rather have not heard, my caps were installed in reverse. WHAT?! I will mention I was using a fellow forum members picture of his system to identify where red and black went. Unfortunately, his caps are installed incorrectly. Damn. Went back, desoldered the Auri's (a real pain in the a$$ with their stranded wire) and wired them back in correctly. Ok. So will this $hit work after I have done all of this? Put the box back together, hook it all up, and flip the switch while shielding my eyes. Yep. It is on but there is this on and off again whooshing and popping. Call NOS. WTF? His expert advice? Did you trying swapping the tubes? Duh. Swap tubes around. Dead quiet. Listening test. Immediately notice more detail in the highs. Cymbals really...I dunno, shimmer. Guess it is air. Transparency. Hell, it just sounds better...quite cool actually. I am still stoked the thing actually turned on. As is, it is dead, and I mean dead, quiet. You can't hear anything (hiss, hum, whatever) with your ear on the speaker. Ask NOS. Gotta lot more listening to do but here is the final pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRBILL Posted April 8, 2003 Share Posted April 8, 2003 That is beautiful work! I have one on the bench just now for a complete restoration. Ive got to get an order off to Ned! Father Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted April 8, 2003 Author Share Posted April 8, 2003 Thanks for the positive comments. Despite my posturing to the contrary, I am quite anal about things being a certain way and done right or, since I don't know what is right, look professional in appearance. I did my best to do so albeit with little electronic and/or soldering knowledge. Enough about the work. How does it sound? I am quite happy at this point. Definate improvement over stock. Bass coming out of the Heresies is much deeper and much crisper. In fact, I have unplugged the subwoofer. Highs go on forever. There is a marked increase in the air or space around the individual instruments. The midrange is approximately equivalent to what was there before but I am hoping as the Auricaps break in, this will gain more bloom. The worst thing is I now have to come up with a new reason I need to buy another amp and preamp using 6sn7's. Now I did hear the wildest thing. If anyone has ever heard a set of undampened drums up close, you have heard the higher frequencies caused by a slight vibration of the metal frame. Well I haven't heard it in on this recording before but it came through loud and clear after replacing all the caps. THAT to me is accuracy or transparency AND that to me is real and what music is about. Will give a more detailed review when I get some more hours on the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Mandaville Posted April 9, 2003 Share Posted April 9, 2003 Looks great! Check to make sure you've got the polarity correct on those big electrolytics. Great job, Erik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Mandaville Posted April 9, 2003 Share Posted April 9, 2003 If you already listened and didn't have a filter cap pop, then you did 'em right -- great looking work! Erik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 Looks like the Spragues are right. Was I the culprit on the bad pic? I think I posted something on mine while I had the auricaps in that way, with the red wires downstream. I originally had them in with the red wire toward the current source, then was having some weird behavior with the amp after bypassing the tone control ckts. I turned them around so the black wire was upstream and red downstream, didn't make any difference. I eventually turned them all around again, so the red is upstream toward the source. Now, I'm told that they are not polarized even though they have different color wires and look like they are. Little buggers are expensive. Your amp looks pretty good to me. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 Tom, No worries it wasn't you. These were Auricaps which really don't have a wrong way to install just a prefered way. The only time there is a absolute right way is when there used as a bypass cap to ground then the black lead has to go to ground. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted April 10, 2003 Author Share Posted April 10, 2003 Thanks for the comments Tom and as NOS said it was not your machine. When speaking to NOS about the importance of their direction, he was not concerned mine were in the 'wrong' way but it would appear we are both rather anal about doing things the 'right' way. I could have left them but based on my conversation with NOS and this particular paragraph from a review: ...even these capacitors (Auricaps) have a peculiar attitude... Skeptical about it? I was too, so I tested the capacitors in both directions, and I must admit that they seemed to sound best in the suggested configuration. - Giorgio Pozzoli, TNT-Audio.com Hell if I know. I just do what NOS suggests. I am so stoked about the sound that I have all but abandoned plans to purchase a DIY amp and am looking at another vintage box (EL-34) I may acquire and go deeper in the restoration/upgrade process. I can see a vintage preamp in my future as well. Have to find something to do with this Weller WES51. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 Awesome job. I know everyone knows this but: The word from Richard Smith of Audience, and this is Auricap gospel: When used in the Signal path, the signal goes In the Black and Out the Red. When used grounding a circuit, the Black lead goes to Ground. That's it, straight from the great guys at Audience. Keep updating us. I am going to rebuild a pair of amps soon and I am trying to figure out what caps I want to use. Thanks for the motivation. Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markw Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 Great looking work - Where did you get the caps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted April 10, 2003 Author Share Posted April 10, 2003 The Spragues were purchased from AES. The Auricaps were purchased directly from Audience. There are two benefits to this: 1) Their price is cheaper than you will get from a dealer. 2) They have all the cap values you need and/or they will build a cap to the values you need. On my Eico, there were a few .025's. From dealers I had my choice of .022's or .033's. From Audience, I got .027's which just so happen to be the value the schematic shows for these caps. I am looking forward to recapping another Eico real soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.