Help adding Vcaps to Jolida JD100 CD player

Dear Tony: I do severals audio tests with caps: Wima, MIT, Sonicraft, Hovland, Audio Caps, V-caps, etc. and I can tell you that the V-caps have the best music/sound reproduction performance: dead neutral.

Go a head with this mod!!!!!! you will be very satisfied.

+++++ " Do not mod that great player. You will not improve the performance but just end up altering the sonic character. " +++++

This is what Steve told you and I have to ask: why Steve told us that a V-cap can't improve the performance?

Btw, he do other statement: " just end up altering the sonic character " and latter on he write " Do some tube rolling ", and I have to ask again: this tube rolling don't alter the sonic character, too ?.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Rauliruegas makes good points here. My feeling is that why go to the trouble of semi-permanently altering the sonic character of an optimized component when by swapping user serviceable components one can "tune" the unit without permanent alteration.

One independent variable at a time is how one knows what actually makes a difference.

Dear Steve: +++++ " . My feeling is that why go to the trouble of semi-permanently altering the sonic character of an optimized component .." +++++

That optimized component is optimized at a price range. Jolida can't use V-caps because of the high price of these caps, if they decide to use V-caps they have to do an increment on their retail price, same for tubes or other build parts.

Now, for many years I always was looking for to " take out " the best performance of any audio item I owned. Any time that I swap caps I had a different " sonic character ", like you say, the issue here is to really know when that change is really a better music/sound reproduction performance.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

I'm with Raul, here. That player may be 'optimized', but it's definitely to a price point. I don't know what this Jolida CDP retails for, but including LOTS-better caps could easily increase its retail price by several-hundred dollars.

Capacitors in both coupling and powersupply positions definitely have a sonic character, and all that character is distortion. I've read for decades that caps, of all the 'passive' components--caps, resistors, diodes, inductors--we use, are the most characterful, and that's no compliment.

But this should't be done indiscriminately. Thwang, getting a schematic diagram is the FIRST and very-important step to this process. You'll also be able to identify the resistors in series with the signal that could be replaced and also the decoupling caps that could be upgraded, the first 3 things I consider for replacing. GET THAT schematic! :-)

Of course, you could just trace the analog circuitry and identify the couplers and their load resistors.

BTW, choose caps carefully--this process can be VERY expensive.
.

Replace only the signal path "coupling" capacitors with V-Caps, and I would recommend using oil-caps bypassed with Teflon caps. There are other caps that are better for power delivery and "decoupling", such as Black Gates

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
manufacturer/modder