Topic: Anyone tried audio mods to UA5

[suntzu420]

disregard above post , foudn the other thread that Brian Mentions this in!!

[Daryan]

What else are you switching out besides the op amps?  I would think the power supply, especially the phantom supply warrants some changes.  Do you have some pics of the guts of one, I might give this a try.

Daryan

[Busman Audio]

Here are the dissection photos from someones website.
http://he.fi/photo/ua5-dissection/

  I will be swapping a lot of the capacitors also to give it a lower noise floor. The power supply caps might be something to change also as there are better caps out there.  Even just going to Black Gate electrolytic capacitors would be better than the panasonics that are currently in the unit.
One big thing of note is that if you are not comfortable with soldering on circuit boards this isn't for you. most everything on the UA5 is SMD which means it is surface mount and not pins. There are no schematics that I have found on the web so you also have to know how the circuits work to have an idea of what to change and what to look for in the replacement parts. You also need a temperature controlled soldering iron which are not cheap.
 Again, when I finish I will post results and photos of what has been done for you DIYers out there.

[1st set only]

bump

[DirtySouth]

More power to ya man.  If I knew more about the process I would probably do the same thing you are doing.  I am interested in knowing how all of this comes out for you too.  I have been researching preamps for a while trying to figure out what I want to buiy.  I am super fresh in the game.  After all of my reading I think that I have decided on the Tmod Oade.  So you can see my concern for how yours turns out.  I'd appreciate any information that you may have about the hows and whys of your project.  Good Luck!!!

[snoknight]

Here are the dissection photos from someones website.
http://he.fi/photo/ua5-dissection/

  I will be swapping a lot of the capacitors also to give it a lower noise floor. The power supply caps might be something to change also as there are better caps out there.  Even just going to Black Gate electrolytic capacitors would be better than the panasonics that are currently in the unit.
One big thing of note is that if you are not comfortable with soldering on circuit boards this isn't for you. most everything on the UA5 is SMD which means it is surface mount and not pins. There are no schematics that I have found on the web so you also have to know how the circuits work to have an idea of what to change and what to look for in the replacement parts. You also need a temperature controlled soldering iron which are not cheap.
 Again, when I finish I will post results and photos of what has been done for you DIYers out there.

hows it goin on the opamps and cap selection??

[Chuck]

What else are you switching out besides the op amps?  I would think the power supply, especially the phantom supply warrants some changes.  Do you have some pics of the guts of one, I might give this a try.

Daryan

It's my understanding that Doug swaps out several different op amps at various points in the analog circuitry.
I think Doug also swaps out the 6.8 k ohm phantom power resistors for ones that match better.