Upgrading my Exposure 2010 Integrated Amplifier - Part 2 

Sounds about right. I haven't owned the Doublets, but heard them briefly once. A acquaintance had a pair, and preferred them over the Minstrels, too. He also had the Abbots, and still preferred the Doublets. Like you, he moved on as well; he's currently running ProAc Reference 3, which he states are head and shoulders better than all the Royds he's owned. As for me - well, I'm always buying, trying, and selling... I think I have to let some go soon... I have seven pairs of speakers in my small apartment! hahaha Thanks for chiming in. Appreciated. :)

I agree. I've noticed the same thing. It goes against my logical mind, but I've experienced a couple of amps that just bloomed in a major way after awhile. This one and my Unico were two examples.

@@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio Which Unico amp do you have my friend? Do you like it? I was looking at the Unico Primo...

@@beslemeto I don't have one anymore, but I had the original Unico (version 1). I also had the version 1 with Underwood Wally's level 2 mods. The original Unico sounded much more balanced to me. The L2 had more bass, but it was thumpy, and it's high frequencies were too piercing. I returned it to the seller within a few days. The original Unico is balanced and natural-sounding. It was a great match with all of my speakers at that time (NHT 2.5i, NHT 1.3A, StudioLab Reference 1, and Neat Mystique II). It made all of those speakers sound sweet and full (very good body to the music, but spacious at the same time). When I moved to a different place, the Unico and the Neats didn't work very well in my new room, but that was not the fault of the amp; the Neats just didn't work well in the new place. If you're looking for ultimate slam and detail, those are not the Unico's strengths. If you want musicality wihout super-hard edges, the Unico may just be up your alley.

@@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio Thanks my friend!Very helpful! Hopefully i will like the Exposure 2010.I bought it and will test in the next few days.:)))Take care for now!

Yes, I understand what you're saying. Others have made similar statements, and while I am also not a fan of the look of the silicone, I can accept it for what it is, particularly given that it's all concealed. That said, I think I would have preferred not having the silicone in there (from an aesthetics point of view), however I gave A-G free reign to do the work as they see fit so it was included. I appreciate your comments. Cheers!

I get what you're saying, and agree to some extent, but getting accustomed to the sound of particular gear vs. actual break-in are two different things imo. This is from over 40 years of playing around with gear. I don't always notice/ experience it, but sometimes I do, and it's not about just getting accustomed to the sound. In the case of the NHT speakers, I had a broken-in pair vs a fresh out of the box pair side by side on the same amp, speakers A and B. There was a very, VERY obvious difference between the pair with hundreds of hours on them, vs the ones fresh out of the box. Not even close to the same. Seemed like two different speakers. Once they loosened up, which took a good few hours (I can't recall, exactly, but it didn't take that long...a couple /few days' use), they were just like the used pair sonically. But DEFINITELY not the same when fresh out of the box. No way. Some speakers - yes, sure...they don't require much. Some others, though...

I was going to edit, but thought I'd add: getting accustomed to the tonality is one thing (I agree - you can become accustomed to tonality in gear), but experiencing slightly off sonics with new parts is entirely something else. Your brain can get used to a tonality that's different from what you're used to and make it sound right in your mind after not too long of a listening period, but if the sound seems to fluctuate in its openness vs being constricted in nature, for example, that is not your brain acclimating to the sound, causing those fluctuations...

If you go to the Angela-Gilbert Yeung website, you'll see what was done.

Care to qualify what makes it a 'hack job with little merit'?

@@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio Increasing capacitance, even immensely, brings little benefit in terms of 120Hz switching frequency noise suppression. Diode commutation noise is removed with a dnubber network, but of course, one can go for ultra soft, ultra fast Hexfred type diodes. If so inclined, one can go for a CRC/CLC type of filtering network, sacrificing power supply impedance at the altar of lowering noise, but local de-coupling/reservoir is usually more effective. Conversely, one could go for ultra low ESR Nichicon LKG type 3 caps. Regulated supplies, if used here, for the LTP/VAS stages can also looked at, obviously current sources/mirrors and so on.There are many ways to do something towards improving the power supply, but throwing a bunch of caps smothered in silicone at it, is not one of them.

@@paulb4661 thanks for the reply. I'm curious to know how long you've been building amplifiers, since you appear to be quite knowledgeable. Do you build any brand I may know?

@@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio Not really, this is pretty much what you learn at school. Douglas Self, Paul Horowitz, Bob Cordell provide incredible insight for those, who seek it.

@@paulb4661 Are you familiar with the person who did the work? Or listened to any of their gear, for that matter? (I ask b/c their work is quite far from being the work of a 'hack'. They've been at it for over 30 years, and their gear is top-shelf)

Yeah, I hear ya. I'm not a huge fan of the silicone, myself, but I gave AG free rein to do what they wanted. In the end, it's just sort of a solid block protecting the wires, which is really not a bad idea, while not the most attractive. The channel's just for fun, but thanks for the well-wishes nonetheless.

⁠@@jasonwebb6484😂 😂😂😂😂.

www.angela-gilbert.com/

Tell me you have no clue what you're talking about without saying it outright. In fact, most naysayers are missing the point and off-base in their judgment, because of closed-minded, limited knowledge. Admit that you just dont like the silicone and I can understand that, cuz I'm not a fan of the aesthetics myself. But honestly, don't make a negative comment like that when you have no clue wtf you're talking about, or even what the builder did (or how the unit sounds, for that matter). The tech has been building world-class amps for over 30 years. How long have you been building amps? There's always a mouthpiece or two prattling on, without the knowledge to back up their sleights.

And fyi - i buy and sell all the fucken time. That's what i do. Who tf are you to tell me what to do with my own gear, ffs? I mean, hellerrrrr!!!

Oh, and incidentally, my Sugden was similarly modified, and everyone loves it. Difference? No silicone. I don't g.a.f. how something looks; I care how it sounds.

go and read: www.angela-gilbert.com/

What about it?

@@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio sorry, I don't understand, what about what? Devaluing an amp, butchering it? It's your amp, you do what you want. Simply upping the PSU capacity, especially to a ridiculous level, places a strain on the transformer, but like I said, it's your amp. For me, I'd leave it original, but sympathetically serviced, to enjoy its sound just as its designer intended.

@@garf7767 I am asking you how it puts strain on the transformer. Exposure itself calls this a flawed amp, for the record, based, on my chats with their amp designer.

@@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio thinking back to the first video on this amp, you asked for more current because the amp was running out of steam. Well that current has to come from somewhere, the secondary winding on the transformer. And please nothing about the PSU providing that extra current, the cap still need to be refilled through the Tx secondary windings. Never mind the huge switch on surge to fill those caps. Interestingly how are those new PSU caps wired? As a series of RC? I couldn't see in the video how the earthing was arranged too, which can have a huge bearing on the amps performance. There can be plenty wrong with stock amps, but simply throwing uFs at the PSU is often a large hammer to crack a nut, and it is quite easy to miss the nut with the hammer. :) How is the amp flawed? I'm seriously interested. Clearly if it is just output power then adding uF to the PSU ain't going to help much there. The only thing that appeared to be wrong with the amp in the first video was it running out of steam. I don't think you mentioned which speakers, or room size, so it is hard to gauge whether simply using higher sensitivity speakers would help. Did you try higher sensitivity speakers? Just wondering.

@@garf7767 thanks for your reply. I'll get back to this thread tomorrow evening (currently at my folks' place, visiting for Father's Day). As with the others, I appreciate your taking the time to comment.