Allnic H3000 naked z-foil vishay tweak

This is for those Allnic owners that are handy with a soldering iron or know someone that is. I've owned the H3000 for about a year before I decided to try this and I'm glad I did. I bought some 68k naked z-foil resistors. I bypassed the input resistor switch and soldered them straight to the input block. This of course will mean you can not change the resistance without soldering in a different resistor but I found no need to do so in my setup. I also have a friend that tried it on his unit with good results as well. On the Allnic you can still adjust the loading somewhat by adjusting the step up transformers.

This results in a sound that is more pure. It does not change the tonality that I noticed. At least in my system and that of my friends there was no down side short of less loading options.

 

Great work!

Having done some diy and upgrade stuff myself ( on audio, and other things too ) I wonder if now that you have a big chunk finished and a few things on deck:

Would you do it again or is it in the 'maybe an emia phono ( or allnic h7000 or ?) Would have been better after all' ... money and time considered?

I ask sincerely as this is often a thought after a deep dive into mods...

In any case enjoy the music

 

Valid question. No regrets. If the regular H3000 was well regarded and the mods made it better then Im in a good spot.
Besides the SUTs, which I likely would have purchased no matter the phonostage, I haven’t spent much money, maybe <$500.
If had all the money in the world I would call Dave Slage up and give him an unlimited budget to build a dream SUT/ Phonostage.

I’m not finished with the H3000, I see more areas for improvement.

 

And we are a glow…

I’ll give it some time before I give my thoughts. While I was in there I swapped in a few Mundorf caps. To get the height right I used 2.5” square tube, audio note silver tube socket. Finished it off with a stainless top panel.

 

And we are a glow…

I’ll give it some time before I give my thoughts. While I was in there I swapped in a few Mundorf caps. To get the height right I used 2.5” square tube, audio note silver tube socket. Finished it off with a stainless top panel.

Crikey, you like seeing your tubes! I guess no room eh ? looking forward to your review, so did you replace the brown capacitor inside ? Iam using the acme274b with really good results, not done the resistors yet.

 

Crikey, you like seeing your tubes! I guess no room eh ? looking forward to your review, so did you replace the brown capacitor inside ? Iam using the acme274b with really good results, not done the resistors yet.

Yes, the Elrog is too tall. The tip would have been touching the power outlet wires.
I replaced the three bigger caps.

 

Yes, the Elrog is too tall. The tip would have been touching the power outlet wires.
I replaced the three bigger caps.

So you could resort to the previous rectifier tube and maybe advise if the capacitor change is beneficial ?

 

So you could resort to the previous rectifier tube and maybe advise if the capacitor change is beneficial ?

I couldn’t be confident in the comparison. If I were more patient, I would have done this in stages but we are having a 4th of July party and the Mrs asked that I have my workbench, aka the dining room table cleared.

 

Did the mod this afternoon. The best way to describe the change is similar to swapping to Telefunken tubes. Lots of detail, slightly etched, maybe on the slightly bright side of neutral. After a few hours I put in Slage Silver SUTs that I have on demo. All together, sounds good.
Dare I say, the resistors need to break-in?
I would be curious how an Audio Note Silver Resistor would sound.
If you like Telefunken tubes, stick with the Vishay, if you like Mullard, maybe try a different resistor.
For the ease of the mod, it is worth doing. I have other mods in mind for the H3000 that Ill be doing this summer.

I have compared nude Vishay Z-foil and 2w Audio Note Silver tantalum on the input to my phono preamp. They are both excellent and I could live with either one, but to my ears the AN Silver is more satisfying. The Vishay sounds just a little too lean and cool, lacking a bit in body and tonal color. The AN has superior weight and body and has a more neutral tonal balance overall, but it is not quite as fast and clean in the treble.

A couple other comments:

* The 2w AN Silver sounds better than the 1/2w so it’s the one to use. I haven’t tried the 1w and frankly have no intention to do so.

* AN Silver resistors take a long time to reach their full sound potential, hundreds of hours, although they sound good right away. After experiencing the break in evolution several times, I now use a break in jig before installing them in gear. Nude Vishays require little break in time.

* I use Slagle copper SUTs.

 

I have compared nude Vishay Z-foil and 2w Audio Note Silver tantalum on the input to my phono preamp. They are both excellent and I could live with either one, but to my ears the AN Silver is more satisfying. The Vishay sounds just a little too lean and cool, lacking a bit in body and tonal color. The AN has superior weight and body and has a more neutral tonal balance overall, but it is not quite as fast and clean in the treble.

A couple other comments:

* The 2w AN Silver sounds better than the 1/2w so it’s the one to use. I haven’t tried the 1w and frankly have no intention to do so.

* AN Silver resistors take a long time to reach their full sound potential, hundreds of hours, although they sound good right away. After experiencing the break in evolution several times, I now use a break in jig before installing them in gear. Nude Vishays require little break in time.

* I use Slagle copper SUTs.

Thanks for the evaluation, very much noted.