NE5532 Op-amps upgrade in Musical Fidelity A5 ?

Oneoff

Active Member
Hi everyone!
I ordered a new Alps motorized volume pot
Replacement For my Musical Fidelity A5,
And I thought while I’m in there I might as well upgrade some more components.

I really enjoy the sound of that integrated amp, but I can’t help wondering if I can even
Have a significantly better sound by upgrading the stock NE5532 op amps to something more ‘high end’ and modern like the OPA627-AP?
How these op amps actually compares (sound wise) in your opinion? Does the 627 worth 28 bucks each? (I might need 3 in the amp). Do you think this will be a significant change?
BTW- I’d love to have a copy of the A5 schematics if you have a source for that.

Thanks in advance for you input!
 
OPA627 does not appear to be pin compatible with NE5532.

Certainly use a socket for opamp rolling. Need to keep in mind
the supply voltage and current draw. NE5532 can be configured
at +/-20Vdc, drawing about 8mA. Not familiar with modern devices
so I would use old school OPA2134 or LM4562. These would toast
at +/-20V so minor tweaks of the power supply/voltage dropping
resistor may be needed. Suggest measure your supply voltage pin
4 or 8.
 
I don't see why the OPA627's would not work using a single to dual adapter.
Maybe I'm misreading the datasheets, been a long day. This is what I'm looking at. Pins 7 & 8 ... Top pinout for OPA627.
Think I'm about to be corrected.

upload_2018-12-18_14-34-30.png
 
The OPA-627 is a terrific op-amp. Worth every penny.

A number of years ago, I upgraded the stock LM6172 op-amps in a Marantz CD67-SE to OPA-627s, as part of a hot rod job (upgraded caps and fully reworked output stage). The damn thing played holographically, with a 3d soundstage a mile wide and nearly as deep. It gave a megabuck Wadia deck a real run for its money when I was done with it.

I generally don’t care for op-amps where a discrete output stage can be had. But the OPA-627 is the exception. The “A” version came in a $3,600 DAC I bought nearly 20 years ago, and I had no qualms whatsoever with them being used at that price tier. Fantastic sound.

They do need a stiff, high quality supply to sound their best. But given that, watch out. They are terrific.
 
The unit is likely to sound best with the OPAMP the circuit was designed for. I'm not saying you wont hear a difference if you swap the opamp, but whether that difference is better is up to you but objectively the performance is likely to decrease if you replace the opamp, even with an apparently better performing one, if the circuit was designed for another device.

I use the 627 plenty, but there is nothing wrong with the 5532... in fact the hardware that most music is captured and mixed on is full of 5532s.
 
I very much enjoy having upgraded OPA2134s and OPA2604s in a Music Hall DAC with Burson Audio discrete FET modules from Down Undah. They're a bit pricier than chip based op amps, but I found they made a meaningful improvement in my application. They run $100/pair.

burson3.jpg
 
Thanks for all your input.
Thinking about the whole thing again, I’m not so sure it’ll be worth the effort and the price.
The 627 has a different pinout and needs adapter boards to fit two ICs in one slot.
The Burson looks very nice but I’m not sure the
Height will be right in one location in my amp (volume pot board).
As I said I’m quite happy with the sound and resolution of my amp (which is 100 light years from my previous sansui receiver), so I’ll let It be for now.
 
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Leave the 5532s alone. What grading are they?

AN are the lowest noise and the best.
I have replaced a few 5532s. The RD5532-D in a Sony CDP-C705 (same SM as the 75 and 85ES models some differences), with an OPA2228 and was very happy with the resulting improvement in sound quality. There are definitely opportunities for sonic improvement with some old chip swaps The 4558s sometimes get swapped, too. There were in the LPF section of the CDP.
 
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