Granny, I am in the same position as you: I would like to try some CAST inductors but I don't dare since I can't justify the cost. Instead, I went with North Creek air core inductors---a 10g on the woofer and 12g on the compression driver. I have tried about a half dozen different types of crossover chokes and the North Creeks are the best sounding by far. They aren't cheap but I consider them very good value. Of course, CAST coils could leave them in the dust for all I know, but you have to draw the line somewhere.
The North Creeks are all wound to order so you can get any value you want. The website also has a lot of good information about different types of crossover chokes. |
Sorry for the typo, I meant .33 mH and 1.6 mH |
Question folks. What inductor brand is great sounding after Duelund. I cannot afford Duelund and wonder what brand is next. Mundorf?
Need a .33mf and 1.6mf.
Thanks |
Volleyguy, I just checked the PCX website and it looks like their "special" pricing for certain CAST values has now become their regular prices. The prices all appear the same to me. Now the prices for the CAST speaker caps are another story. They seem to be going up every couple of months. I am glad I ordered mine when I did. The final set for finishing my crossover are due later this month. |
Grannyring
Looking forward to hearing Jupiter caps in small values. Duelund does not give the discount on small value CAST anymore.
My vintage parts are wax paper and there for sure is some merit to it. Wax is really good in resonance reduction. The downside is maybe a slowing of high freq.. |
I have the amp with all the Duelund caps in bak with a CAST I had here replacing the leaky one.
Waiting to get the replacement from Duelund.
At first amp sounded off but I had the tech guy check things over. New cap, new Genalex rectifier tube, new Genalex power tubes.
Sounding better now.
Grannyring
You know I am going to test these Jupiter caps that is some big claims on them you have made. |
Hi Tas, Paul the builder/owner at TRL is the one who has helped me with any improvements. He uses Duelund and now Jupiter copper foil caps, will build a Dude with increased capacitance, one or two volumes, with 2 or 4 6sn7 tubes, and on and on.
He suggested resistor types and what they sound like. I did change the signal wire, but that is just my own need to tweak and play as the solid core copper he uses is just fine. I just have to play with my soldering iron :)
Fuses? Never as they hurt the sound. Paul designs his gear without them and his gear is absolutely stable and bullet proof. I won't go into the details, but he uses other methods and avoids fuses altogether.
Paul is expert at what a music system should sound like due to his vast recording experience and always shoots for live and alive sounding gear. He designs in a way that assures his gear will not hold back or do harm to the intended musical experience. With TRL gear you get it all in terms of the energy, detail, scale and impact. |
Bill
That's very interesting. Sounds as though you've been very thorough in your revision of the Dude components. Tell me, if you were to buy a new Dude preamp now, would the preamp builder include the parts mods that you've performed while they're assembling the preamp? I only ask because it appears that TRL are very good at recognising improvements suggested by their customers.
Can I ask you what brand/type fuses & wire you've used in your upgrades please?
Very interesting to observe the level of performance tuning that some of you are performing. Inspiring really
Cheers, Tas |
Tas
I have Duelund CAST caps in my Dude as well as upgraded signal wire, resistors and extra power supply capacitance. I have the Jupiter Copper foil caps coming Wednesday and will put them in the Dude. I like them better as they are just more musical based on my experience in electronics only thus far. More even handed top to bottom with equal resolution and superior micro details and bass.
I also plan to put them in my speakers once the speaker values are out. |
BTW, I am back to using just the passive crossover, took out the bi-amplification. It is sounding better now. Sometime from now I will measure again and try again to get a better result from bi-amping (I will keep the second pair of amps and the Pass XVR-1 there waiting...).
Any suggestions for a better 220uF capacitor than Solen? It is used in the secondary (parallel) circuit of the 15" XO portion. Duelund CAST or Duelund RS is not an option given how much it would cost for 220uF, being in a secondary portion of the circuit. |
TAS: Positioning and Support would be where each component is in the external crossover board, how far away the inductors are from each other and their orientation, how the components are fixed in the board, the rigidity of the board (did not change) and the support of the board (cones, Stillpoints, etc). The big 56uF cap (for the midrange circuit) was previously outside of the board (directly in the floor...) and on its side, now it is facing up and in the board. I don't know the effect of each change, but all the changes added up to a nice improvement.
Grannyring: Thank you. I will keep posting the changes.
Cheers, VPN |
Hey Granny!!
Glad you piped up. You are so responsible for my interest in the Dude.
Tell me, what adjustments/changes have you made to your Dude since buying it? Have you placed CAST or Jupiter components in it?
I'm using a PASS LABS X1 pre and have to wonder what my options are with cap upgrades |
Vn101606
Nice job on your crossover and thanks for the pictures. |
It would be wonderful to own a Dude preamp! I know from experience! |
Vn101606
I'm really interested to know what you mean by "positioning and support".
Since I completely rebuilt the internals of my speakers, I have constantly thought about whether I positioned my new components in an optimal way. Love to hear your take on your experience please?
A further point with my experience, my speakers continue to improve. Not sure why/how but, at around 300 hours, they are absolutely getting purer, more natural and less harsh by the day. This continues to be the most astonishing thing I've ever done in audio.
The only thing I find myself wondering about, in terms of new equipment, is what it would be like to own a Dude preamp!
Cheers, Tas |
Better positioning and support made a big difference in my XO. All resistors are now Duelund CAST, All capacitors and inductors in the main signal path are Duelund CAST. Secondary capacitors will be changed to Duelund RS in a few weeks. My speaker never sounded this good, the improvement in huge. It is still in prototype form, using and MDF base, with BDR cones supporting it. After the RS caps, we will make a final enclosure, and use better support.
See link below.
http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/s/f/1403441383.jpg |
In a previous post I had mentioned the Ampohms sounded VERY much like vintage I want to test that again.
I also said once the vintage in the midrange did not sound a lot different than my VSF and I might revisit that one. It might be me hearing the resonance so much more now...
This high end cap stuff drives you nuts I can hear flaws so easy now even when the oil started to leak! |
I do too Charlesdad.
For right now I am going to put in some ampohm Copper Foil and might try the VCapcuft's I have here.
I just can not take the vintage anymore! Farrrrr too many flaws.
I am looking forward to hear some Jupiter caps! |
Hi Volleyguy,
I look forward to your listening experience of the Jupiter capacitor and how it sounds compared to your very familiar Duelund CAST reference point. Should be a lot of fun.
Charles, |
Yes the New Jupiter case are wonderful. I spoke with Chris of Jupiter today and he think the speaker values will be ready in 3 weeks. Values up to 22uf!
I want some for my tweeter and hope this is accurate. |
After a couple weeks listening to the all vintage amp I have called the repair guy to basically beg him to fix the amp (move up the waiting list) with all the Duelund caps and some Jensen Paper Copper tube caps in. Vintage is just a mess! (timing is awful) No amps are staying stock anymore.
Even where I thought vintage caps sounded good (certain specific freq) they are really just high resonance, stretching and hollowing of sound...
I am going to try some Jupiter caps though from the good reports here.
Their price in small values (especially) is much less.
There is negative to all of this. My office system is not Duelund and all of this changes the bar... This has made me very picky. (not by intention I can just hear the faults)
At some point I am having two amps modded in case on goes down...
I see no reason to leave any amp stock now even for reference. |
Bill for sure did not want you to think you were being picked on.
Frederik I think there is a natural skepticism people have to a company establishing a quality name and product and then claiming lower prices for the same product. (been done so many times)
Is it wise to even put out a special order CAST cap with different materials with the CAST name? Is this what Bill has seen? I know my CAST cap did leak oil but did not have the natural smell of the old CAST caps and why?
If the reason was to save money is that not against what Steen stood for? (no compromises)
Yes the CAST cap sounded very good even with the different paper outside. I did not have the other one though to compare.
I suspect the reason some think the crossover caps sound better is just the comparison to what was already there.
Irish65 was one to claim that CAST made more difference in electronics over VSF. |
Tas my feeling on this is women do not care about HiFi... They do however love music.
Another one that struck me a long time ago was my teenage daughter would say I am literally afraid (for real) to go into the basement and turn the corner. I know it is a stereo but I am still afraid there are people there. She has had her teenage friends over and even my wife was saying the teenage girls could not get over the sound... Kept going on about it.
I am not sure if I could tell the difference from liver either from around the corner.
In Frederik's defence yes for sure even the later CAST caps without the smell do have oil inside as mine just went back today to partsconnexion.
I can assure beyond a doubt they have oil or I should say mine did but it leaked out... All this talk made me want to cut it open. |
Tas, great yo hear you are very happy with your work! |
Hi Tas,
What you've described is a profound occurrence. Your wife (and you) is responding spontaneously to the "natural" character of the sound and this is a major step! I long ago rejected the notion of audiophile hifi criteria and its so called accurate and hyped detailed sound.
Perhaps all the years hanging out in jazz clubs and live instruments in my home but for me the right pursuit is towards the natural and organic. When your priorities shift to that direction, emotion, communication and involvement come along for the ride. The last thing you're interested in is
un involving analytical assessment. Music is meant to be listened to and
enjoyed (deeply). Just think, you've made your wife happier.
Tas I really felt you'd appreciate the Duelund effect/improvement in your speakers and resultant system overall influence.
Charles, |
Hi folks
well, I have two points to make after today. Firstly, after seeing my HiFi technician, it appears my CD/DVD player has got direct couple outputs. (Well predicted Salectric!) No cap upgrades to make - in that area anyway. The important information I got from him was to concentrate on improving the power supply in the player - something I already have strong plans for.
.....and, secondly, something that I think is very important indeed, my wife has started listening to music with me lately and has been commenting on the fact that my system sounds so listenable. 'So easy and natural to hear.' Folks, she NEVER normally listens with me. Now she does and she hasn't even ask me to turn it down. Do you understand how much of a step this is? She doesn't just hear - she really listens & she's impressed! For crying out loud she has requests!!!!....lol I can sit here and give you people opinions about improvements, changes...whatever, but this event says much more than anything I could come up with. The "bystanders" in my place are coming closer to the music because it's good and they want to hear more. That's a powerful change in events here. My speakers are no longer boxes! They are now revealing so much more.
My music is transformed and getting better. Often I find myself doing tell tale things like tapping my feet or my hands, laughing or even just drifting off because I'm feeling or hearing stuff that makes the music "make sense". Lots of good ol' fashioned positive emotion in this house at the moment and it continues to improve. Singers are singing to me, bass players stand out in a performance and even change their intensity at times. Keyboard players appear where there was just sound. Strings contribute to the emotion of a performance instead of just making a pitch. Frank Sinatra sang really low notes in a song I listened to earlier instead of just singing words - I didn't know until now how low he could sing!!
The point is I'm now completely re-appreciating my music and it's exhilarating.
Thanks for listening and THANK YOU to all those who have participated in this thread. Your enthusiasm, knowledge, advice, efforts etc have been a major factor in this powerful change. I'm smiling as I'm typing and I love it.
Thanks again, Tas |
Thanks Charles. I am sensitive it seems. Sorry. |
Bill you are aware of a cut open CAST that had no apparent oil.
Volleyguy reports a CAST capacitor that leaked oil!
Charles, |
Bill,
The innuendo comment wasn't directed toward you. It was a general statement/observation on how rumor and speculation can sometimes run out of control and people pile on. I am glad Frederik has responded to this thread. Clearly there's a variety of CASTcapacitors which was unknown to me.
Charles, |
I'll track it when you mail me, I'd be very surprised, it would be half size. But will certainly look into it. |
Thanks Frederik. That explains why no oil as there was no paper. Ya, this is best handled off-line. Thanks again for taking the time to post here. |
Grannyring,
They hold oil in the paper, please mail me your old order mail. I'll find it.
It's called a PIO because we have two layers of paper in them impregnated with oil.
Best regards,
Frederik |
Frederik, the cap was disposed of. The layers were peeled back and no paper, simply copper foil with soft plastic. I could also find no oil? This is what was found in this one cap. I would think oil would appear over some time, but it never emerged from the split open cap.
I call it plastic as I don't know what the substance is.
Again, the cap sounds good and I was and am simply confused on how it could be called PIO. That's all. |
Grannyring,
If you can please supply me the invoice number, I can verify how it was made. And just to be clear, there is no cast630v values without paper in them, unless specified by the client.
Best regards,
Frederik |
Charles,
The difference between them, is in the voltage rating. |
Ait,
Only difference between the old flat ones and these is the shape. Same internals.
As said before we have done others on special orders though.
Best regards,
Frederik |
Grannyring, I'd like to see that cap, it can be hard to see the paper if you cut it in half like Lampi. In the unlikely event there is no paper, that would be an error - but I'd be extremely surprised.
Best regards,
Frederik |
Not sure about innuendo as my comments are based on actual viewing and not words. Seems my comments are pretty spot on. Anyway, I agree completely with Salectric that the smaller value CAST caps with no internal paper and the "non organic substance" do not sound as good. That is what we have found through much use and trial.
I am confused and will the real CAST cap please stand up? |
The CAST .22uf I saw cut in half had no paper at all and again purchased from Duelund direct last year. Appreciate you coming to this thread and engaging us Frederik.
I have purchase quite a few of you caps ... All CAST ..... And am a little confused to be honest. |
The CAST cap I saw cut in half was not used or purchased by Lampizator as an FYI, it was purchased directly from Duelund last year. |
"Unless your 1.0 uF 630v is of the older flat variety - there is no difference except leadout and capacity."
OK, so the way I interpret this statement is that the older, larger diameter flat 630V CAST caps are of the same WPIO construction as the 100V Cast caps, just with a thicker dielectric layer. The newer, smaller diameter 630V CAST caps have the extra layer of "mystery material" between the paper layers to increase the dielectric strength and decrease the size.
I know a few of us had questions when the shape and size of the caps changed a while back, and we were assured that these were still genuine CAST caps...it seems they may genuine yet still different, though. |
Really, No one answered my 5-22-14 question on the Balanced connections?, who can be an asset? |
Frederik,
Thanks for the prompt response, as speculation and innuendo has the "potential" to get out of control. Are the variety of CAST capacitors(different materials) labeled for cleat distinction among them? I have the 1uf 630v in my DAC and the 5.6uf 100v in my speakers. Both are splendid.
Charles, |
Thanks Frederik. I guess the leadouts make a worthwhile difference.
I noticed that the leads on your Silver CAST caps are your silver ribbon wiring (which I like very much for internal wiring in my amps and preamps). The next time I try the .47 CAST caps, I will attach some extra 0.5 wiring I have, soldering the wires close to the body of the capacitor, to use as connecting leads. |
Salectric,
Unless your 1.0 uF 630v is of the older flat variety - there is no difference except leadout and capacity. |
I appreciate Frederik's candor but I wish there had been some sort of acknowledgement prior to this that the CAST caps do not all sound the same. At least this would help explain different reactions to them. For example, I have stated in this thread before that my two 630v CAST caps----the .47 and 1.0---sound different. The only visible difference in their construction is the different type of leads: the .47 has solid wire that is silver in color and the 1.0 has stranded or pleated copper. I had always assumed the differences in sound between these two are due to the different leads. Now I have to wonder if the caps may be different inside as well.
I have never compared the 630v caps to my 100v caps in my speaker crossover, but given Frederik's statement above that they use different construction, I suspect that may explain why I am much more happy with the 100v caps in speakers than I am with the 630v caps in my electronics. In my totally arbitrary ranking, I would give my 7.5uf, 100v CAST cap a 9, the 1.0uf, 630v CAST an 8, and the .47uf, 630v CAST a 6. |
Hi Volley,
The organic smell may be due to us changing the outer coating of the paper tube.
|
I think this has reached the point that Frederik should shed some light. My original CAST caps had this organic smell the last bunch did not? Or at least I remember the smell of the originals VSF and CAST.
I can assure everyone they for sure are oil as be of mine is leaking. I just have it out and am replacing it today with a brand new one sitting here that I have. I can take pics of the leaking one if someone needs this?
I am sure there is something in the CAST caps for rigidity (helping with the extremely low loss of energy) I was under the understanding they were all natural as well? |
Bill,
Frederik responded here to my email quicker than I expected, but I should have known he would as I have always found him to be very helpful. And please ignore my previous post!
Cheers,
John |
Bill,
You mentioned seeing some pictures of a sectioned Duelund CAST capacitor, are those pictures posted online? I wonder if it was one of the Mylar types but perhaps without the label visible. I also wonder if the resin matrix material could appear as the plastic type substance you mentioned. Regardless, I sincerely believe Frederik's products are as he represents them to be.
Cheers,
John |
