cool, I salute you and your impatience!  hehe. This is a good excuse to grab a dremmel however I think I actually have one, it looks very similar to a dremmel, we got it for trimming our dogs nails... it was expensive which is code for "they will be terrified of it!" so it is just waiting for me to appropriate it to my tool box hehe as long as the chuck will accept standard bits and such, it's a done deal.

I unboxed my old SE34I-1 last week after having Steve do the
Mod,  & there is  a very noticable improvement in clarity,  with
more transparency,  also soundstage depth seems to extend back
farther than before.   sounding really good with an amperex
6dj8 in the preamp section,  russian 6n1p drivers,  & a quad of Ruby
EL34BSTR 's in parallel.

Going to change over to 2 tubes in triode & give Her a listen.

Thanks Steve!

I made the mod to my Torii Mk2 over the weekend --  didn't have the original packaging box, so thought it would take longer to pack it up and send it versus making the mod. Also I didn't want to have the amp damaged in shipment because of my packing.

As per info posted by Zygi and Veryoldcat, I used Xicon .1uF 600V caps soldered  between Pins 1 and 8 for the EL34. Used the 600V caps since some of the cap voltages in the MkII looked higher than 400V -- also because the Xicon caps are smaller they were easier to fit into the amp. I got my caps from Triode Electronics, see :

http://store.triodestore.com/xicpol.html

See posted pic for one side of the amp-- the 'orange' caps are the ones I added, the one in the top part of the pic shows the connections better since the connector to pin 8 is obscured in the lower cap.

hi all
since i have both the se84 and el34i, i modded both amps, starting with the integrated first. --
observed only slight changes for the better with the integrated.
but the mod has lifted the little amp to another level altogether. -- it performs just as those who have done it say.
anyone with the little se84 simply have to get it done.
cheers

hello ,i did the modification yesterday ,i didnot have any polyester capsitators in the home ,so i used mkp 100nf 400volt
and i hear defenitly a aprovement ,its a great xmass present ,thanx!
i have one queistion what is the advantance of a polyester condensator??
above mkp or mkt or pio?
      greetings ko

I realize I am late at this, I have been busy and did not check the forum for a while and when I get back I find this, what I see has simply become the "CCE Mod".

I am so impressed with your work guys, you have taken a centennial technology and found something new in it, I am indeed impressed. From the descriptions it sounds very much like another unresolved mystery of the tube world, the odd "bloom" that tube amps experience after they have been on sometime. It really looks like we are still far away from totally understanding tubes and I certainly cannot see the end of this technology anywhere or anytime soon.

the D amps seemed to challenge the tube world, but clearly the force is still strong in tubeland

kudos to the Decware team!

All I have to do is open up my Select and safely solder a 0.1 microfarad polyester 400 v or more capacitor between pins 3 and 6 of both outputs.  Is that it?

Thanks for the info Karl.  Another question please.  Pin 6 is empty on both sockets now, that's easy.  Each pin 3 has a single wire coming off it.  One is red, the other is white and they tie together at a large gold colored(resistor?)  Those wires should remain undisturbed right?  And no problems using a mylar capacitor, correct?

Ok, never mind, I could not wait.  Soldered the caps in, put it all back together and started it up.  I had a fire extinguisher in hand and safety glasses on.  So far very good. I hooked up an old dvd and my bookshelf speakers for a test.  Spent a few minutes with Johnny A spinning - the amp sounds lusher, fuller.  Changing the bias setting seems to have more of a difference now too.  My little Boston HD7s are only five feet away from me and they have completely disappeared.   I call that a success.  I am quite pleased with the low quality gear I am testing it with.   With the Zbox, Dec 685, and my nibblelin NFx I expect it will even get better.

After several months of regular listening I still cannot hear any difference that is worth mentioning.

Quote:


The 0.1uf value was used to place the effect inside the audio band where it would have an effect on the upper bass on out to the treble region.  Changing the value changes the time constant which will effect where in the frequency band it acts and also how images present themselves in the sound stage.  Using a 0.01 for example would push the effect up so high in the frequency band that if anything were noticed it would only be in the upper treble.

Steve

The 1K 2W resistor between the plate (pin 3) and the suppressor grid (pin 1) must be removed before installing the 0.1uf 400v poly cap between pin 1 and the cathode (pin 8).

-Steve

Bump///  Is this mod a regular feature of the current Zen Triode amps that ship with the SV83 output tubes?... It would seem like the prudent thing to do... Gotta admit, I'm pretty much out-of-the-loop here... Not all that technically proficient on tube technology... (m.)

Well, I did the Hazen mod on my old Gen 1 Blue Torii today using 0.1uf 400V metallized poly caps between pins 1 and 8.  Let me say that I fully believe the benefits others are experiencing with their amps, but this old Torii design was a very unique one where the suppressor grid had always just been floating, not connected to anything in any way.  

Suffice it to say the mod did not work in my Blue Torii.  But it may work great in later Toriis which are a very different design.  Mine immediately sounded like feedback had been added, volume reduced, highs harsh, dynamics compressed, loud passages pushing amp into nasty distortion never heard previously, soundstage so narrow everyone sounds like they are on top of each other, immediacy gone, timbral accuracy gone, amp running super hot.  Just shut it down after two hours before something gets cooked.  At first, I wondered if the caps needed to burn in, but there's no way with all that distortion on loud passages.

Oh well, the amp did sound awesome before the mod.  Those caps are coming out for good.

Funny how some things work and others don't.  The early Torii is a singular design, rather unstable.  I suspect this mod may have set up some kind of ultra high freq distortion or instability.  This is highly unlikely to happen in the other amps which are more stable designs.  


Once again, I really do expect this is a great mod as described in most all other Zen amps -- but not my old blue Torii.  It's wonderful without it and miserable with it.

Fun to try.  Just didn't pan out.

If Blue Torii MK1 and any other amp owners who have solid state rectifiers want a cheap thrill, buy 4 of these http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?WT.z_header=search_go&lang=en&... and have them installed in place of whatever you're using.  Just installed four today and they have nicely made a fine amp much finer.  Everything is improved.  Imaging, coherency, detail, listenability, high-end sweetness, realism, dynamics, timbral accuracy, naturalness, ability to focus easily on any instrument in an orchestra.  These rectifiers only come in a T0-220 package form, but a little attention to detail and anyone who can hold a soldering iron can do this.  These are Cree Silicon Carbide Schottky diodes.  The 600V model chosen as it has better specs on reverse current leakage vs the 1200v model.  Next, massive 10amp model chosen not because anywhere near 10 amps is needed, but because this is the one with the most internal capacitance at 480pF every time the rectifier goes to 0 volts -- like having a best snubber circuit built-in.

These rectifiers made more difference than any other mod in my Blue Torii amp and that includes using big $ buck vintage gold pin input tubes and total cost including shipping less than $25. for all four of these diode rectifiers.  I am now more sold than ever that best solid state rectification is darn fine in tube amps.  And these rectifiers should stay great or maybe even break-in and sound slightly better with time. Tube rectifiers, if great, may sound as great, but are always getting worse from day one.

I am convinced now that this Blue Torii is ready to be A-B'd against anything -- and likely win the contest.  It is SO much better than my Select which was a very fine amp.  This one has more detail and dynamic realism - nice!