I’m thinking about upgrading the resistors in my step up transformer which is an old S1000 silver version. Does anyone have experience doing this and would you think it worthwhile buying the Audio Note silver tantalum versions?
I’ve used the copper-leaded ANUK Tants in my pre, DAC and First Watt power amp.
Used in numbers, there is unquestionably an improvement in SQ, but I wouldn’t say it is ever transformative - nor justified from a cost POV.
I don’t have experience of the kind of application you’re looking at, but given it’s a small number in a very sensitive application, so long as no-one at home is going to go hungry because of it, I would bung the best 2W R you can afford in there.
Suspect @coco will have more insight here.
Is it really, though?
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I’ve no idea what the numbers are but could noise be an issue ? I imagine the fundamental resistor noise will be well below the surface noise from the record. But some types of resistor (notoriously carbon comps) have additional noise which is way above the fundamental level.
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Boo to all nonfooists, rationaliats and or cold toilet seats.
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Rationally, Tantalum and Niobium resistors are just another species of metal-film, all of which have very low levels of self-noise in normal applications (whatever those are!).
TaN resistors only exist because the resistive layer is impervious to water, unlike nichrome. Useful brief summary here.
I continue to be amazed that the foo community hasn’t picked-up on the wide availability of TaN chip resistors - TT, Vishay, Yageo, &c &c, all make them - would seem the obvious chip-of-choice for discrete-component ladder DACs, even if only for marketing purposes.
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So it’s unanimous, it’s completely irrational, pointless and foolish… they arrive next week 
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Got AN Silver tants in my power amps, copper tants in my phonostage.
Lovely they are.
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I did use them when working on a Canary dac a few years ago, and they did give the same sort of sound tweak as the AN units, but my word what a pain to work with are those chip surface mount things
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Wholeheartedly agreed. I once made a very basic RIAA circuit using 0.33mm solid silver wire and chip resistors. It did lasting damage to my sanity, but when I used a quiet enough PSU it sounded really bloody nice.
A properly designed PCB plus using the highest current Rs you can find (cos bigger!) does make life hugely easier.
Well I finally got around to a temporary (clipped in) trial… after initially ordering the wrong values 
. I’m a few albums in and I’d say there’s a change in sound. Seems there’s more clarity while delicate too. I’m also aware that I could be talking bollocks and have just payed towards PQs next Merc.
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