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who has experienced sonic improvements from recap?

Y

yotems

Well-Known Member
like the title states, im looking for incentive to recap parts of an NEC a-910 integrated amp i have. i noticed yesterday running a different pre amp (adcom gtp-450) through its amp that it sounded other worldly good.

its not a legit direct power amp in though, its an eq loop and the power amp in only bypasses some voltage board that gets VERY hot and has begun to smell of leaky caps. if you run power amp direct from a separate pre, you still have access to the a-910’s tone controls.

i didnt run it for even a full song but despite all the extra noise and certainly not an ideal preamp to amp combo it sounded unreal good. it had a dynamic sharpness to it that the gfa-5400 didnt. it was at least as sharp and vivid as this parasound hca-750a i have (which is pretty damn good btw), but with what seemed to be more clean power than the gfa-5400... which has A LOT of power.

im really thinkin this a-910 might actually need some fresh caps somewhere.

how often is deteriorated sound remedied by fresh caps?
 
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Sorry I can't address your question with frst-hand experience.
I have recapped speaker crossovers and noticed improved SQ.
The only amp I recapped was a tube amp from the '60s that didn't work before I worked on it. So you could say that improved the sound quality!
 
yotems said:
<<snip>> how often is deteriorated sound remedied by fresh caps?
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If the sound is deteriorated, I would say frequently. However I never "recap" anything other than perhaps a crossover, amplifiers/preamps/etc. that have semiconductors and resistors in them usually need more than just the forum-favored replacement of electrolytic caps.

It is a good start, but replacing noisy transistors, drifting resistors, degrading tantalum caps also play an important part in a proper restoration.

There might be others who have already been through your model and can get you started on a BOM for the restoration, but beware that some people will increase cap sizes without a full understanding of the design, stay with the correct values IMO.
 
Go ahead and do it.
Been pleased with the ones I have done.

All around better performance and reliability. As to getting the "audio grade" caps, using these for me have been a mixed bag.
Not constant in their results.
 
Recapped a tired sounding Marantz 2235 and it made a tremendous difference in the positive.
 
I'd say pretty much everybody who've recapped a unit because it needed it ... If you did a recap, and didn't hear any improvement, then it didn't need it, so don't bother ...

Too late! ;-}
 
I recapped my Cyrus 2 amp, the preamp section only, and two of the old caps were bone-dry. It sounded better, but my bone-stock Arcam Delta 60 walked all over it, SQ wise.
 
The NEC A-910 doesn't have a processor/ eq input. Could yours be another model? Your Adcom may not be working properly. The GFA-5000 series were very good sounding amps.
If you want a "vivid" sounding amp, sell the 5400 and get a 545.
 
You could try a recap - but the amp you have may just sound the way it is - ie: you wont get it sounding better than it did originally due to circuit design etc.
 
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Bought a Marantz 2270 about four years ago for a good price - but it sounded like a bloated pig - just awful. I already owned a recapped 2270 and knew this wasn't how things were supposed to be. Got it completely recapped/rebuilt by this guy, and it sounded absolutely beautiful again, as it should. I couldn't tell the difference between the two. No more boom boom boom but a great tight bass; lovely mids & highs.

Worked for me.
 
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Everything that I have recapped has sounded better after I was through--whether it be a receiver, preamp, amp or speaker crossovers. But that is because they needed it due to age, storage conditions or poor quality original components. I just don't blindly assume that just because something is 20 years old that it needs it. Certain gear has "known issues" that are well-documented and should be addressed, and certain brands of components are known to drift or fail--you just gotta do a little research. I don't just use the "shotgun" approach and assume that anything vintage needs to be recapped or rebuilt.
 
Yes, definitely worth doing on older amps. But if all the caps just happened to still be good then you probably wouldn't hear the difference. I don't particularly believe that spending lots of money on special audiophile grade caps will be audible but getting the caps all back to spec should have the desired effect.
 
ConradH said:
I hate the word "re-cap" because it's only part of the job. What makes 'em sound great is addressing everything that needs service.
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YUP--recapped does not equal rebuilt or restored. Ask any vintage Pioneer collectors about all those noisy small signal transistors. But again, as I posted certain gear has "known issues" that need to be addressed.
 
Recapped and repaired many units.

Repairs aside, most 40 year old gear exhibits improved SQ with fresh e-caps.

I’ve discovered actual failures by performing a recap.

SQ improvements are not dramatic unless there actually was a serious breakdown in there.

I’ve seen units that “worked” but were not working properly due to the bad caps.

Should all 40 year old gear be recapped?
It won’t hurt unless you like the current SQ and something is so badly deteriorated that it has dramatically effected the sound.

Recapping is extensive and can be costly, depending on your view of worth.

I’ve seen units that did not drastically improve from a recap. A recap is not a repair procedure per se.

The bottom line on e-caps is that they have an expected service life and past that point, there is no solid fact that “they are fine”.

The bottom line on recap is, if you want it to work as best as possible, recap is part of the path to get there. But even at its best, it may not be wonderful or as great as something else.

Most recaps I’ve done are either part of a repair / rebuild on very tired units that are worth the effort OR an investment move on gear that is “the chosen one” that is desired to be as good as reasonably possible.

I have many units the I will use as is and don’t intend to recap it bless they lay down and I decide they are worth some extra effort during repair.

I do have a very large pile of stuff that I do intend to recap and do other needed work.
Stuff in that pile isboth working and has issues class.
 
I can tell you from personal experience numerous times, caps will change the tone of the device, either new or old. My Avantage, which was brand new, which had SamYoung caps was much more pleasing with ELNA SilMic II's in the signal path. Quality caps will bring with them sonic improvements.
 
Sonic improvement is highly subjective. With that out of the way, the answer is yes. I've heard ss before and after. The re-capped sound was clearer and sharper which suits my sonic preference. Same goes for re-capped tube amps. IMO and IME.
 
pskaudio said:
The NEC A-910 doesn't have a processor/ eq input. Could yours be another model? Your Adcom may not be working properly. The GFA-5000 series were very good sounding amps.
If you want a "vivid" sounding amp, sell the 5400 and get a 545.
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this particular nec a-910 does have an “adaptor” loop which to my understanding is for an equalizer. it is not a traditional pre out to main in setup though. despite that i was able to get some pretty incredible sound using the adcom preamp into the “adaptor in” jacks. bass and treble controls were still functional on the a-910 for this, and it really jammed.

ive heard mixed opinions about the 535, 545, and 555 gfa’s. ive seen where people preferred the 5400 to either the 545 or 555 and i basically got paid to own the 5400 so it will probably remain my only adcom amp once i sell the 5200 i got along with it
 
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