It's done! At last!
I've really struggled to find the time to do this little project, the longest time I've put in is two hours in any session, but it's done now.
The original:
Disassembly & Soldering:
It was problematic not being able to disconnect those wires from their binding posts and having to turn both boards over and reposition the transformer simultaneously to move from component to copper side. It's easy to see what component you want to desolder when you're looking at component side, but at the start I wasn't too confident and had to check and re-check I was taking the right component out. I became tired of this juggling act and snipped the wires to the transformer in a temper, this speeded things up.
Once I was moving quickly between both sides I began to develop an 'eye' for where the component was on the copper side and my technique with the soldering iron was also improving. There was a large puddle of glue on the copper side and no amount of improvement with the soldering iron helped me with this, it was an absolute nightmare to scrape/peel off, I ended up with a yellow/grey gooey mess consisting of old solder and glue that took a long time to carefully remove.
R66 was out of spec and had to be replaced and also R61 was close to being out of spec and I also replaced it. I came close to wanting to test/replace all stand off resistors but It would have been too time consuming.
The Home Straight:
The Wima was the last component to go in and after being careful all the way, with a momentary loss of concentration, I managed to melt the rca housing.
I also lost the screws for securing the rca's to the backplate, but cannibalised one the kids toys for screws, It's Christmas he'll gets some new ones in weeks time.
All Done:
What does it sound like?
Compared to the C1 before upgrade, based on memory there's an obvious difference, the old C1 would I think sound muffled next to this new one, treble, mids and bass are clear, present and well separated.
The first track I listened to was James Brown, Solid Gold - 'It's a man's world' and it jumped out the speakers at me (as it should!), excellent separation between singer and backing band/instruments, everything crystal clear, it was an enjoyable listen.
This listen was without any run in/burn in period, I have about 5 hours usage now and it is starting to settle down, the treble and bass were a little too pronounced at first.
Listening to 'Sara' by Bob Dylan from the Live 1975: The Rolling Thunder Revue LP I've become aware he has a backing singer starts accompanying him half way through the track, I've listened to this track countless times and never heard it before?
'Oh Sister' from the same LP has a crystal clear separation between him and his backing singers, I'm able to pick out small changes in tone in their voices.
There's now plenty of nuances and details coming through I wasn't hearing before.
Moving on to Bruce Springsteen 'Trapped' live The Essential LP, there's crescendos in this track that my previous set up tended lose focus a little bit with, I can hear the separation clearly through with the C1.
The C1 has now replaced my Caiman SEG pre/dac, it wasn't really a fair fight, the C1 won by KO early on.
I actually bought the C1 because I read this thread fist and I'm pleased I did this upgrade.
I'd like to thank yourself and rjsalvi for all the help, I'd have struggled otherwise.
