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Benefits of Upgrading
We are all aware that replacing an OP amp, IC, or critical audio capacitor with a superior one will make an immense difference in the sonic performance. But few of us realize that all the materials, even supposedly minor ones like the wires used, and the entire architecture of the unit design contribute to its performance, not just obviously critical audio components.
Let me cite an example: Joseph was recently asked by a friend of his to examine his VTL Stereo 90 tube amplifier. Since it was an old design, there was a veritable snake pit of wires coiled throughout the amp. Joseph told his friend that there were a few caps that should be upgraded with better quality ones, but that the main task was to replace and reroute the poor, low grade, noisy wire snaking through the unit. His friend seemed disappointed that Joseph was not going to engage in a wholesale upgrading of components. But in fact, replacing inexpensive, thin, noisy 26 AWG copper wire with larger, low noise, high Q wire and rerouting it if necessary, is critical to the sonic performance of any unit. Of what use is it to have a marvelous circuit and superior components in it if the wire that will carry the signal is simply not up to the task?
When upgrading electronics, we must examine the unit as a holistic design from the AC plug through the output jacks and speaker plugs. Joseph told his friend that he would replace the AC cord with a superior low noise, high Q power cord (See photograph below); that he would replace all the low grade critical wires running throughout the unit with high Q, low noise wire and reroute them as necessary; that he would replace the old RCAs with high Q gold plated Teflon RCAs; and that, finally, he would replace the old speaker posts with new, high Q gold plated ones. Only then would he consider replacing key components in the circuit.
The before and after modifications measurements and performance improvement were immense and visible on shots of the waveform. Three hundred dollars in upgrades (with less than $30 being in parts) had utterly transformed the amplifier.
Internal Wiring Upgrade
This brings me to a key point: We have almost all of us been made terribly sensitive to the quality of our interconnects, and more recently to the quality of our power cord, though still not enough of us pay attention to matching the Q and capacitance of our interconnects with our units. Despite that, we still insufficiently appreciate how critical the layout and quality of the internal wiring of our units is. People boast of the Burr Browns and Blackgates in their units, but then utterly ignore the mass of thin, cheap, noisy copper wire snaking through the unit from the power cord (which itself is really nothing more than 18 awg lamp cord) to the outputs.
If large sonic improvements are to be made and they can be made to a modestly priced 20 year old quality Sony purchased on eBay for under $200 as well as to an expensive Sansui or Kenwood, we have to look as deeply as possible not only into the circuit path and the quality of key components used in it, but also into the sound characteristics of the materials used at the smallest level possible. This search for distortion and noise at the minutest circuit and material level begins 1) out of respect for Q [defined as the “quality factor of an inductor or capacitor. It is the ratio of a component’s reactance ... to its effective series resistance” Dictionary of Electronics] and 2) out of respect for the elimination of noise.
Every upgrade must first attack noise wherever it occurs with the goal of lowering it because lower noise levels expose the sonic characteristics of individual components. No designer, no matter how fine his ear, can improve a design below the noise level, for at that level he cannot hear the difference between one component value and another, one circuit modification and another. Low noise permits the designer to hear more clearly the very fine sonic differences small component changes and slight circuit modifications make. And what is true for the designer is also true for the listener listening to music.
In response to various people asking that Joseph to upgrade their tuner, Joseph has decided to accept a limited number of quality tuners for upgrading. If he doesn’t feel your tuner merits upgrading, he will tell you, and e-mail you a list of prospective tuners that might satisfy your budget and merit upgrading.
Why upgrade?
Often the performance from a quality upgraded tuner will exceed the performance of a much more expensive rare and exotic tuner. For example, an upgraded Sansui TU 717, available unmodified in excellent condition on the used market for between $200-$300, in direct A-B tests with a switcher to permit instant switching, bested an unmodified Kenwood L-07T II, which usually sells for between $600 and $800, and even bested an unmodified Kenwood KT 917, which usually sells for between $550 and $850.
And don’t be dazzled by the specs on the newer digital tuners. It’s true: the older analogue tuners will not have the signal-to-noise (S/N) of a newer digital tuner, or the dynamic range. But to these pluses of digital tuners one must add the following very big minus—an insufficient decay time that results in a crisp, dry sound that can not capture the flowing experience of actual music. Anyone who compares a quality LP played over a first rate cartridge, arm and phono stage with a quality CD played over a quality solid state transport and DAC will know exactly what I’m talking about. There is softness to the musical edges, and a perceptible flowing together of the music in the analogue system that can not be matched in the digital system.
One of the reasons we gravitate to tubes over solid state is precisely for this reason: tubes generate slower decay times than transistors and IC’s, which is a major reason why they sound richer and more musical.
The same is true of the older tuners. They’re just more musical.
Will the Upgrade alter the sonic character of my tuner?
The answer is yes and no. Do Hollywood stars—or your girlfriend or wife, for that matter--look the way they do when dressed to the hilt and made up to the nines? No. Do they preserve the same family resemblance? Yes. So it is with any makeover.
The capacitors used in the audio stage of these older tuners, with rare exceptions, were not premier audio grade capacitors. Replacing them with premium audio coupling grade Blackgate capacitors costing ten to fifteen times the original cost of the OEM capacitors will make a difference. Similarly, the op amps used in many of these tuners have been superceded by vastly superior op amps—after all, some twenty five odd years have passed, enough time for components to demonstrate a dramatic improvement in performance. Just as upgrading an OEM tube—say a $6.50 Sovtek—with a $100 NOS Siemens or Telefunken will alter the sound (more accurately, enhance the sound in ways too numerous to count), so the same is true when one upgrades the components in a tuner. But just as new tubes do not transform a sound system--the sound system remains discernibly what it was before the tube upgrade, only perhaps altering the sonic balance between low, mids, and highs, or tightening a boomy bass, or adding a top end that was previously absent, or generating a wider soundstage and sharper imaging, or revealing detail that formerly was lost in the noise--so upgrading tuner components has the same effect.
The tuner remains discernibly what it was—a Sansui TU 717, a Kenwood KT 8300, etc.—only with a sheen, transparency and vividness formerly lacking.
Is any tuner worth upgrading?
Of course, not every tuner is worth upgrading. If the basic circuit design is poor, then attempting to salvage it will simply be throwing good money after bad. There are too many bad old tuners around to even begin to enumerate them. But conversely, one does not have to start out with an expensive Kenwood L-01 or L-07T II, or a Sansui TU 919 or TU-X1 either, though of course, the finer the tuner is to start with the finer its upgraded version will sound. In other words, while an upgraded Sansui TU 717 will sound better than an unmodified Kenwood L-07T II, it will not sound better than an equally upgraded Kenwood L-07 II.
There are a number of recognized tuners that make excellent upgrade prospects: they are plentiful and reasonably inexpensive on the used market: the Sansui TU 717 is one that immediately comes to mind, the Kenwood KT 8300 is another. Sony, Yamaha, Luxman and Accuphase also made some excellent tuners. Attached are photos of a number of tuners from high end to low cost which have been upgraded by Component Plus. On the rear photos note the new RACs and the IEC input socket that replaces the old powerBut, again the list is too long to enumerate here. If you are curious about whether your tuner is a prospect for an upgrade, please contact me at audiohorizons@yahoo.com and provide as much detailed information about your tuner as you can.
When you add the cost of a basic upgrade to the cost of buying either the Sansui TU 717 or Kenwood KT 8300, you are in the $475-$700 total cost range.
But excellent upgraded tuners can be had for less. There are a number of sleeper tuners that for odd reasons can be bought for a song, and which with basic upgrade would only cost about $375-$450. For example, the Sony ST S555ES (See photo) scares people off because it has a non-standard DIN connector, and requires a special interconnect with impedance matching circuit in it, with the result there is little market for it. It usually goes for $100-$125 with the interconnect and circuit included. Without the interconnect and circuit it is virtually worthless and can probably be had for $75-$90. This tuner is a very fine sounding tuner and a very sensitive one; with $300-$400 in upgrades, including replacing the DIN connector with gold plated Teflon RCA’s and building and installing the impedance matching circuit (if it is lacking one) inside the chassis so that the unit can accept standard interconnects, it is a very, very fine sounding tuner.
What are the sonic differences between an unmodified and modified tuner?
The first thing that impresses you after a Basic or Premium Audio Upgrade by Component Plus, USA is how quiet the unit is, how the sound emerges out of a much blacker background, one usually associated only with excellent LP’s or digital products. The gain in S/N comes from four sources: 1) Adding an AC line filter between the AC cord and the power supply. This insures that a great deal of line noise is removed before it even reaches the power supply. 2) Improving the quality of key wiring and rerouting key wiring. 3) Improving the quality of key components in the power supply and the audio stage.
The next thing that impresses you is how much cleaner the sound seems. In reality a large portion of this perceived sense of improved clarity comes from the improved S/N, but a portion of it is due to actual improvements in THD levels. These stem from the improved quality of the high Q wire used, and the improved quality of the components, including Blackgate capacitors, used in the upgrade. Whatever the cause of the perceptible improvement in sonic clarity, it has the effect of moving tuner sound in clarity closer to digital sound, and also of diminishing listener fatigue so common to those who listen for any length of time to tuners.
As a consequence of the larger, higher voltage, upgraded power supply capacitors, bass is usually much tighter, more controlled and has more impact. The Blackgate coupling capacitors in the audio stage result in an enlarged soundstage and improved imaging. Finally, the upgrades have eliminated that overblown presence so common to tuners and replaced it with a cleaner, more lifelike presence.
In sum, the differences are not small. And if you get the Premium Audio Upgrade and use a quality AC power cord on the system, the sonic improvement can be immense.
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