Any people re-capped their 3k's

Anyone recapped their 3k's?

I haven't even had the lid off my mine, are there many in there especially in the audio path?

I recapped mine. Power supply section was the most critical. Audio boards have a lot of electrolytics - a real pain/tedious task to be sure.

I'd suggest doing the PS section, reassemble - make some test recordings out of the stereo outs and individual outputs, then recapping a single audio out and retesting to see if you hear a difference (or see a difference on a scope). Typical improvement would be an increase in bass frequencies, truer square/saw waveforms, etc.

If the difference is barely noticeable, its probably not worth the extra headache (no I didn't follow my own suggestion. I just ordered the caps, bought a couple 6 packs of beer, and recapped the whole damn thing over the course of 2 or 3 evenings).

As a side note - it is possible to do more harm than good. Bad soldering, cap in backwards, reassembly issues, pulling up traces, they can all contribute to it being worse after a recap.

did you notice much difference?


btw, I'm not too worried about lifting traces and stuff, I'm kinda past that stage now.

oxide54 wrote:did you notice much difference?


btw, I'm not too worried about lifting traces and stuff, I'm kinda past that stage now.

I think it sounds better and quieter, but I have no solid proof of that.

I obviously don't know your skill level or soldering tools, but I do know the MPC audio boards have a ton of caps and the boards seem to need a decent amount of current to loosen some of the solder joints. Not as bad as a TR-808 or 909, but I had to work at it to get all the caps out cleanly. Main advice -- don't rush it.