Inexpensive but powerful upgrade from The Lotus Group

Joe Cohen

Industry Expert
Jun 10, 2012
247
275
968
Hi all. Here is a link to a very powerful upgrade that involves the use of fo.Q TA-102 advanced damping material that we distribute. https://www.lotusgroupusa.com/blog/mishap-equals-opportunity \ It involves applying it to as many electrolytic capacitors in the system as you are willing to treat. I have treated the preamp, phono stage amplifier and power supply to the Feastrex field coil drivers in our reference speakers (The Lotus Group Granada - https://www.lotusgroupusa.com/granada-loudspeaker.html). The results are fairly spectacular. Everyone who has tried it has testified how effective this is. If you find yourself trying it please report your results here. P.S. No one has yet reported overusing TA-102 and TA-32. Thanks, Joe
 

tima

Industry Expert
Mar 3, 2014
5,777
6,819
1,400
the Upper Midwest
Two questions for you on the fo.Q:
- What is the lifespan of the material's effectiveness - does it diminish over time?
- How easy is it to remove?
 
  • Like
Reactions: ddk

Joe Cohen

Industry Expert
Jun 10, 2012
247
275
968
We haven’t noted any diminution over time. The adhesive is secure but easy to remove.
 

Joe Cohen

Industry Expert
Jun 10, 2012
247
275
968
I was just looking at the thread “https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...ital-as-sounding-like-analog-best-term.30534/“ and it occurred to me that anyone with a DAC like the Denefrips Terminator could realize an enormous benefit due to the rows of electrolytics. To me electrolytics are like tuning forks. They are commonly mounted by the two wires to a board.This means that the entire body is free to sway with any introduced vibrations which in turn reintroduces smear into the signal. This is not to say that axially mounted electrolytics don’t benefit as well. They do. You can experiment with other devices as well, but the Big Bang for the buck appears to be with electrolytics.
 

bazelio

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2016
2,493
1,745
345
California
Electrical tape likely yields similar results after you build up thickness. All these chassis or even component damping tweaks have roughly the same effect. You kind of end up throwing out the baby with the bath water, imo.
 

Joe Cohen

Industry Expert
Jun 10, 2012
247
275
968
Electrical tape likely yields similar results after you build up thickness. All these chassis or even component damping tweaks have roughly the same effect. You kind of end up throwing out the baby with the bath water, imo.
Having tried many different types of damping materials, I do not believe they are at all all equal. Not quite sure what you mean by "throwing the baby away" etc., but if you have tried extensive damping and found that after a certain critical mass is achieved that the sound is negatively impacted, then I think the nature of the material used begins to matter very much. Other than TA-102 and TA-32 every other material I have tried does in fact achieve this kind of negative critical mass. I have yet to experience it with the fo.Q.
 

Stacore

Industry Expert
Feb 23, 2017
641
196
180
Gdańsk, Poland
stacore.pl
Joe, you reminded me of the same thing I did years ago when constructing own phono stage :)
Sorbothane pads on every el cap. I must admit I've never bothered to do a test before and after. Caps are vibration sensitive. Period. There was once even a guy who opened electrolytics and repacked them into wooden housings, pouring beeswax: https://www.dhtrob.com/projecten/elna1_en.php

DetailsI.JPG

Cheers,
 

miniguy

Well-Known Member
Dec 18, 2013
437
168
350
San Diego area
The special polymers constituting the TA-102 and TA-32 damping material, developed with the support of the Japan Science and Technology agency, are unique in my experience in that its lossy character increases as the level of micro vibrations decrease while involving extremely small strains. This is in contrast to other common damping materials whose effectiveness decreases as micro vibrations approach vanishingly small levels.
I was frankly astonished at the enhanced performance of my Air Tight ATE-2 phono stage after sticking narrow strips of TA-102 on its axial electrolytic capacitors (one 1/4” wide strip per cap) and circular pieces on top of the electrolytic “cans”. The retail price of $95 for a package of TA-102 enough to treat several components’ electrolytics, makes it a bargain IMO.
 
Last edited:

Ricardo007

Well-Known Member
Nov 13, 2015
46
2
115
Nos ancêtres les Gaullois
Do you have several pictures of treated electrolytics caps for inspiration? both axial and radial
Are caps in the power supply , even if it is external, worth treating?
should 102 (1mm thick) or 52 (0.5mm) or 32 model be used for electrolytics?
 

Joe Cohen

Industry Expert
Jun 10, 2012
247
275
968
Do you have several pictures of treated electrolytics caps for inspiration? both axial and radial
Are caps in the power supply , even if it is external, worth treating?
should 102 (1mm thick) or 52 (0.5mm) or 32 model be used for electrolytics?
Cap with TA-102.jpg

This is the only photo I have available at the moment. With axial electrolytic simply run a strip the length of the cap. WE have yet to experience using too much of this material so you are safe treating all of the electrolytics. I have not experimented using TA102 on film caps. If you do please let us know your results. The advantage of TA32 is that you can wrap it around small circumferences.
 

Attachments

  • TA102_Post.jpg
    TA102_Post.jpg
    984.9 KB · Views: 8

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing