erik2a3
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News Year's Greetings!
Thought I would share my own Mini Torii modification (though please let it be known that I adored the original version when it was factory-fresh from Decware a few years ago).
This modification started with a failed power transformer in the right channel -- a straightforward repair, and obviously nothing that could be termed a modification. I replaced inter-stage coupling caps with orange drops long before this, because, over the years, they are what I have come to prefer to use on virtually every project I've done -- and I've tried very expensive capacitors (a topic I'm extremely weary of discussing...)
So, I kept looking at the screens in the output stage, and thought, "Why not?!?" And so began my search for a suitable output transformer that had the taps I would need to realize this idea. And found them! They are considerably larger than stock OPTs, but still fit the chassis top-plate perfectly (with some very minor milling needed of the wooden edge on which the chassis plate rests.
The big regulator valves were also removed in the process, and their former position on the chassis is now occupied by larger filter caps.
The Mini Torii is also home to a fair number of switches (for all sorts of things), and my wife told me simply gets confused by what is what when she wants to listen to music. So, there is now only a single power switch near the front, and the treble attenuation circuit will soon be occupied by a 3-position input selector switch (when an additional RCA jack is added at the back of the chassis). I tend to like a hotter midrange and HF response, and never really used that feature anyway. Feedback from the output to input stage was also removed. I experimented first by switching it in and out of the circuit, and really prefer the decidedly more raw or immediate (and yes, less-damped) sound without it.
This is what it looks like:
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