I’m pretty sure pure silver vs pure gold, gold is harder. But I’m not arguing. It’s irrelevant to connectors.
And in connectors it’s exactly the opposite. You are right.
I haven’t experienced problems. But I have read that if you have mix of gold, silver and rhodium connectors (regardless of the type: XLR, RCA, or power plugs), silver and rhodium will both wear gold.
Per this link, THE DURABILITY AND HARDNESS OF METALS – Jewelry Secrets, silver and gold are both on the lower scale and value of Moh’s hardness. Gold is less conductive than copper or silver. I have liked gold plated connectors, especially with silver wiring–my impressions have been a sense of warmth and richness (no pun intended).
“Gold and silver are relatively soft metals that can be scratched or dented quite easily. Of the two, silver is slightly harder and stronger than gold. However, both metals are often alloyed with other elements to increase their strength and durability, particularly in jewelry and coinage applications.”
This is all starting to sound like deja vu all over again; me thinks we have “discussions” like this a couple of times a year. Lots of egos smashed, so much intelligence discarded, and lots of dung gets recycled.
Oh what fun for us spectators. 
Received a reply from APS this AM about the modification they do to the Signature Series Plus stock power supply.
“We separate the 5v to use all three regulators instead of just one. We have the Digital input isolated on just one 5v regulator by itself. We also replace the rectifying diodes and beef up the digital 5v supply. We do nothing with the stock 12v supply as we install a completely new one that is designed specifically for this application.”
Good for you!
That really explains that you heard so much difference in your recent comparison with your friend’s DirectStream.
@Stephen_Scott new information
The result Allears heard is really the two mods:
If you can’t or don’t want swap regulators, this job (in the description above) you can do with minimum efforts and $2 expenses.
The hardest part (not really hard) is to resolder four rectifying diodes. For size reference. SMB (DO-214AA) - approximately 5mm*4mm.
Here are directions
These are the diodes
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay-General-Semiconductor/VSSB410S-E3-52T?qs=HSPD0Bff7ib64J9oD9YilA%3D%3D
Good information
That seems to only use one additional regulator for the front display. He stated he used all three regulators. ???
Yes however they state the resistor change, DC offset fix and R2 transformer make the biggest improvement over the standard upgrade. I think it’s a combination of all them.
From the factory the three 5V regulators are usetilized as follows:
U4 Powers the digital board and the front didsplay
U3 Powers the Bridge card and also possibly the SD card update slot
U1 Unused
Buy making the circuit trace cuts and small jumber you end up with this:
U4 Powers the digital board
U3 Powers the Bridge card and also possibly the SD card update slot
U1 Powers the front display
Bottom line is you get the noisy front display off the digital boards supply line.
From looking at the bottom of the power supply board it appears the SD card circuit is also powered by the same regulator as the digital board and front display. U4?
This looks correct to me.
From the factory the four regulators are utilized as follows:
U4 Powers the digital board, the front display and SD card circuit.
U3 Powers the Bridge
U2 powers the front power connector 5v. Not used.
U1 12v front power connector. Analog board.
Buy making the circuit trace cuts and small jumber you end up with this:
U4 Powers the digital board and SD card circuit.
U3 Powers the Bridge card.
U2 Powers the front display.
Ok. I’m going to get brave and look at the bottom of my power supply. I’ve already opened her up to install an upgraded fuse. It doesn’t look hard at all.
Sorry, I was busy.
You figured it out right together with @mechtronic
There are only 6 screws and two ribbon cables to remove the power supply board.
Since you opened your DAC, would you mind sharing the closeup pictures of the additional power supply for the analog board.
Thanks in advance
This is the best new, easily-actioned info in this thread in a long time. Thanks fellas!
@Anton_ss in your image above are you saying to replace the four diodes circled in blue with the ones from the mouser link?
And the “solder to ground”, is that connecting the cut trace on the right side to that specific hole on the board as per the green marking?
Yes
I edited the image after I posted it. I think it’s important. The ground point is not “specific” it’s just the closest one.
Any conductor that is not in use should be grounded. Otherwise, it acts like antenna/emitter.
This is maybe an exaggeration for a single short conductor. But it’s considered among “best practices,” which means highly recommended.
On my power supply board, I cut in 20 (maybe more) spots, and I grounded each and every isolated conductor to be safe and to eliminate interference.
Your information will allow the SD card circuit in with the Digital Board power. So the Bridge card 5v won’t be utilized.
Here is my proposal.
It also appears the SD card circuit has the 3.3v regulator. Probably a good thing to isolate from the digital board.
That’s a good idea in general. Though I don’t know if it will be noticable
But in this particular situation you would have to use a shielded wire for this run. Because of the signal traces along your proposed rout.
Good thing. Because it’s just a card reader circuit, you could use even an antenna coax cable for that purpose.
Hey,
Before you do this simple mod, consider what it takes to do a better mod
This is how it looks like in real life
Even though Sparkos regilulators are stable with ceramic cap (C15 in this example), this 100uF 50V cap is specifically recommended by Sparkos to install directly on the output of the regulator to enhance its work characteristics. The audiophile quality doesn’t matter in this position, particular impedance does.
Closer to the consumers, I use Audio Note caps.
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The advantage of good regulators is their low noise floor and voltage stability. And it’s not only important for the consumer of this voltage (circuiry AFTER regulator). Regulators are also injecting noise upstream in the supply chain (BEFORE the regulator).
That means you change only U4, and U3 and U2 (also their consumers) will breathe easier. You change U1-U4 - and the additional PSU for the analog board will breathe easier.
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To answer the argument, that was used against swapping regulators many times before.
There are regulators downstream.
Yes, there are. But their noise rejecting capabilities are limited.
Let’s say, LM317 has 150uV noise @5V. This noise go into the next stage and has to be worked with. So, LM317 at U1-U4 are stressing everything downstream and you have the noise going into your circuitry. And affecting the signal.
Sparkos has only 3uV @5V. Thus, we don’t have noise before the next stages as well as after. And we have clean power and clean signal.
