2. amps-preamps
  3. 149054-2693

I Recapped my Conrad Johnson PFR. Wow! Some of the best $$$ I've spent

Wow! What a thrill. I've had this preamp for about 15 Yrs and it has always been a good performer. But I can't remember it sounding any better than it does now. The tech used the best Nichicon resistors available. Now I'm considering hhaving my CDP recapped and maybe the speaker crossovers too. That should make nearly a new sounding system. So it cost me a little less than $200 to get the caps replaced and the solder joints inspected and fixed on the PFR. I assume this is a good use of funds  And its sure cheaper than buying that tube preamp that I've been looking at for quite some time. But even though my system sounds very good, I keep looking at the tube preamps for some reason. Hmmm
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Showing 1 response by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,657 posts
 
From what I've read, the OP had his power supply caps replaced. Interesting he's not the only one who has done this with 1980s/1990s equipment and heard an improvement.


Electrolytic caps are much better now than they were then, with lower inductance and ESR not to mention they are often physically smaller.  Using underrated high temp caps you can extend the life of the replacement by decades.


Of all the cap mods, this one is probably the easiest and safest, since no parts are in the audio signal path.
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