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Capacitor and tube upgrade for Von Gaylord Lad L-2

I recently purchased a new Von Gaylord Lad L-2 preamp and the owner told me that this preamp can be improved with upgraded NOS tubes and capacitors. Has anyone with a stock Lad L-2 had this upgrade done? Can you tell me what was done( what brand tubes and caps) and what you thought of the sound improvement after the upgrades?
sherod

Showing 2 responses by eugene81

eugene81
263 posts
 
Thanks, I'm going to try a Synergistic Research SR20 fuse. I've had good results with Hifi Tuning and Furutech in other applications, just never occurred to me to put here!

I'll have to try the Wattgate plug too. I like the 7000s cables a LOT and would love to see them perform at an even higher level.
eugene81
263 posts
 
I use Shuguang Black Treasure CV-181z in mine and love them. Regarding caps, it didn't look like they are easily replaceable as the circuitry is enclosed in one or two black box(es), which are apparently filled with some kind of compound to prevent resonance, according to Ray. I never really tried to get in there so if you are able to swap out the caps please report back! I would love to get some Duelunds, Audyn True Copper, or Rike S-Caps in there.

For other upgrades I swapped out a pair of input RCAs for WBT 0210-CU and output RCAs for WBT 0210-Ag. Also replaced the Alps volume pot with a Goldpoint Mini-V stepped attenuator with Bent Audio IR kit for remote volume control. The changes made for a pretty significant improvement in clarity, transparency, image definition, and some added treble liquidity, but perhaps at the expense of a little warmth.

What do you think of the preamp so far?
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