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Concordant Excelsior - who knows about history of this pre?

So what available brand comes close soundwise to the leaking lcr caps in the high voltage supply? As said I’m not sure if they are lcr as they are not branded and the isolation cover seems to be peeled off....why ever this was done.

If you think the brand of capacitors matters I can't help you... I design, build, service and refurb amps and it is something I would never give a moments thought to. Type, value, ESR, temp rating all relevant but not brand beyond avoiding nasty cheapo Chinese brands...
 
If you think the brand of capacitors matters I can't help you... I design, build, service and refurb amps and it is something I would never give a moments thought to. Type, value, ESR, temp rating all relevant but not brand beyond avoiding nasty cheapo Chinese brands...

Pls excuse my unclear wording, sure it’s more than brand. Means which brand/type/.../ best to choose for lcr caps replacement.....
 
Any make of similar value and of adequate voltage rating will be fine. Do not go lower on voltage rating! Make sure to measure terminal spacing and caps diameter, height etc so they will physically fit! Other than that there will be figures given for life expectancy and for temperature rating, generally 85C or 105C. Higher temp rating means longer life anyway but expect to pay a bit more for higher temp and longer life rating. LCR are now Kemet but it's unlikely such old ones would still be available anyway.
 
What about the reputation of Doug and his brand Concordant? For me they are completely new....

Quite well known at one time and originally for modifying Quad II power amps IIRC... Quite fitting for the thread on whether to modify classics that started recently!
 
Thanks for helping to learn more about Doug, interesting stuff he build.
Yes, the “which parts to use” discussion is quite valuable - but if lcr not in business anymore, caps are leaking....what alternative? Choose a current brand, trust the experience of this pedigree to chose the cap which maintains the sound of the original as good as possible :) and yes, every part makes a difference in the resulting sound!
 
Quite well known at one time and originally for modifying Quad II power amps IIRC... Quite fitting for the thread on whether to modify classics that started recently!
Indeed. My clone, of course was never original, so i am happy to try different parts in it. In fact, I was never sure which parts he did use, but if it had been built by Doug I would have been more circumspect about changing things. But as I use it with modern sources, i have loaded all the line inputs with 33k, like the CD input, and added more (switchable) NFB to use it into higher output power amps. It's amusing me greatly at the moment.
BTW, around the same time as I met Doug, I also went to see Alex Shackman, and bought a pair of his electrostatic HF/MF panels which I still have. And Ted Jordan, and used his drivers for many years. All great characters, sadly no longer with us.
 
Indeed. My clone, of course was never original, so i am happy to try different parts in it. In fact, I was never sure which parts he did use, but if it had been built by Doug I would have been more circumspect about changing things. But as I use it with modern sources, i have loaded all the line inputs with 33k, like the CD input, and added more (switchable) NFB to use it into higher output power amps. It's amusing me greatly at the moment.
BTW, around the same time as I met Doug, I also went to see Alex Shackman, and bought a pair of his electrostatic HF/MF panels which I still have. And Ted Jordan, and used his drivers for many years. All great characters, sadly no longer with us.

Do you find altering the NFB changes the sound greatly? I've often wished my Exhilarant had just a bit less gain.
 
Do you find altering the NFB changes the sound greatly? I've often wished my Exhilarant had just a bit less gain.
Well, it is just the loft system, so hard to be certain, but it doesn't seem so. My very early version has a switch to go from 470k to 940k, while the later version had a fixed 680k in the NFB loop. I can now switch between 680k and 247k (680k//390k), which gives a better level of attenuation. I tried less, but needed more.
The power amp is a little Ming Da EL84, and the speakers are Heybrook HB3 IIs, used near-field.
 
Interesting information about NFB - my excelsior uses the poti-knobs on the right side for line channel level adjustment. Quite convenient for high level sources. Controlled by the bypass switch: phono direct, sources fixed resistor or sources by variable resistor. My Concordant currently plays with Leak stereo 20, are a nice sounding team!

Now into today’s wold: for streaming I’m thinking about a Cambridge cxn v2 - is this a too crazy combination, streaming into a full valve setup? Any issues to care about?
 
Why should streaming into a full valve set up have any issues? I use a Cambridge dock in conjunction with my iPad and phone into a Transcendent Sound valve pre and into Jolida Music Envoys. Thoroughly enjoyable. I also use a Transcendent Sound valve pre into NCC220s but that's another story.
 
I use Daphile on an old laptop into a Xang Sheng 01A DAC (which I just bought, after selling some cables), and it works just like the CD player. The only issues I have are due to my ignorance of FBA playback! Downstairs it's an Innuos Zenith II into a Benchmark DAC3 into a type 26 DHT valve pre. Valve or SS, it seems to make no difference, it's just another source. And since I have ripped all my CDs, I rarely play them, streaming is just too convenient. And I mostly buy new music as downloads now, except when I really want physical media, for the booklet or artwork. I use Bandcamp a lot, particularly for world music; I have fondness for music from the Sahel, Tuareg especially, and quite a lot of it is free!
BTW, if anyone has some good pics of the internals of any of the Concordants, and their PSUs, it would help me in making further mods/improvements.
 
Thanks, very helpful :)

The lorlin switches of my conc are old and scratchy, sometimes one channel is missing. going to replace them with the same but new. Maybe new rca jacks too, originals are not that good. The phono input uses good hook up wires, all others nasty computer cable. Once in the box thinking about replace them, maybe with ptfe silver plated copper wire. Anyone has experience with this simple mods?
 
Thanks, very helpful :)

The lorlin switches of my conc are old and scratchy, sometimes one channel is missing. going to replace them with the same but new. Maybe new rca jacks too, originals are not that good. The phono input uses good hook up wires, all others nasty computer cable. Once in the box thinking about replace them, maybe with ptfe silver plated copper wire. Anyone has experience with this simple mods?
Personally I prefer solid copper or solid silver. Not a fan of plated.

Can I please ask what you reckon to the Xang Sheng?
Early days yet, but replacing the original valve with a WE396A made the valve out preferable to the SS out. It's only the loft system, with the speakers in a funny position, too low and too wide, so I'm not listening critically up there. But it seems well worth the £90 I paid for it.
 
Just seen this,

I think Les W built some of these amp's for Doug Dunlop.
Audiojoy has spent more time messing with Concordant amps then most and knows all about what to change and what not to.

Short answer is to leave it how it was designed.

Longer answer:

The heater caps with the label removed are actually Tosin. No longer made and you'll never find exact replacements. Next best replacements would be the very expensive gold pin Nichicons from Hificollictive.

If the amp were mine I'd swap the LCR cap on the amp board for a 150uF Blackgate VK. If you really need to swap out the PSU LCR caps then go with Mundorf, as again you'll not find the original rating LCR caps
 
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My concordant lives in a metal case but sounds much better without the hood. who can build a nice wooden case to protect the amp (and others...) without ruin the sound? Thanks.
 
Thanks for all your support and feedback regarding parts. Some pictures of my concordant now in dropbox:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mhhulbudncrojup/AABqL-gX-pbJ2n9v67ejVhE5a?dl=0

I've checked the caps, all in spec and even with some minor leaking good enough for the next years. Changed lorlin switches and got rid of the flat computer cable, very nice copper cable now.
Unexpected gain in clarity and soundstage. This pre plays very nice with leak stereo 20, ls3/5a and thorens 124.
 
Why does the designer bother with an output buffer, only to hang a volume pot on the output?
 


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