Houstonreef, as a duo owner I'd like to suggest to get rid the the xo board inside the tweeter housing. attach the new cap + the coil with cable ties the rear cover and solder everything together. sounds much better. Extending the caps leads will work but but this is not the best solution sound wise. suggest you make the efforts to solder the internal wire directly onto the drivers for better sound. the clip on connectors are bad for sound.
Enjoy your "new" speaker! |
Solid core copper well insulated to prevent oxidation. Heat shrink connections..... |
Grannyring: no they do not send wire. I may reuse some of interconnect wire that i have in stock by combining several connductor together to make the same gause as the wire on the cap. What type/guage of wire you recommend?.
Yes, i can solder. |
Fine to solder leads onto both endys of the cap. Use good wire. I suggest using the same wire in the speaker if they will send you a foot of it.
The Mundorf and Duelund caps do not have polarity. No positive or negative to worry about. I would place both in the same direction for consistency.
Do you know how to solder? |
Finally the Dueland cast caps arrived yesterday. They are physically ways bigger then Mundorf Supreme. I thought i have to return them but i think i can manage to store 2 of them in a tweeter (Avantgarde Duo). I have questions for you and need your helps.
1. Due to the location i have to extend the lenght of terminal wires of the cap by welding more wires on each terminal( 3 to 5 inches). Does it effect the performance of the cap?
2. Porarity of the cap: i do not see neg/pos marked on the crossover board and also is the Mundorf caps. In addition, the Dueland Cast does not mark either. Please advise me how to connect the Duelan to the crossover.
|
I can say that I am using Duelund Silver 2.0 version II speaker cables and as good as they are they do not make the difference CAST caps do.
If the choice was one or the other for the same dollar gets caps. |
I`m in no position to declare the Duelund CAST the best capacitor ever. I used the tin foil V-Caps in my 100 watt push-pull tube amp and the OIMP V-Cap in a preamp. The results were very good and certainly worthwhile.
My recent use of the CAST capacitors in my speaker and DAC has been fabulous! The CAST have a larger impact and could be considered near profound in effect(no hyperbole). I spent 850.00 for the speakers CAST (one pair) and 440.00 for CAST to go into the DAC(one pair output caps). I can`t imagine any better use of money to improve audio components(and these were already very good sounding respectively).
So for 1300.00 USD the overall level of my system has been raised an entire level,there is`nt a single downside or compromise either. I think it`s quite special(and rare) to increase system resolution, nuance and clarity yet get more 'natural' sound and tone also.
I don`t know that this amount of money spent on cables or other upgrade attempts will come close to what the CAST capacitors have done so convincingly.
I think the CAST given its stunning contribution is an underated and under appreciated product in the audiophile community.
Regards, |
Sorry about this reply I think I was on another section of the thread.
How does the Alexander compare to Jensen? I would think close? |
Johnk
I did for months compared modified to stock both in real time. I even used digital and analog sources and used SS and tube amplification to compare. Modern and vintage amps as well. New tubes old tubes everything I could think of within reason. As you recall I took some flak for testing this way one chanel at a time.
I have since sold off some of the gear but even when comparing amps it would be one circuit stock and one modified. I started with the poorest sounding amp leaving the best stock one as the benchmark. All of this until recently. Now I have no stock amps. I have stock phono section that will compare when the CAST goes in. |
I have compared the CAST to the Alexander and in my tube preamp the CAST were far better. Not close really. The Alexander almost sounds noisy and edgy compared to the CAST. Yes, the CAST cap may well be the best sounding cap of all time. |
Many of us may feel the CAST is the best cap for sale today but is it the best of all time???
Has anyone compared a CAST to a vintage Western Electric? (they are huge)
Frederik have you??? Come on let us know. |
Hi Micheal
If I remember correct you had heard the Jensen Copper Paper Tube but not Duelund VSF or CAST? (not sure)
I would rank them more like
Duelund CAST
Duelund VSF
Jensen Copper Paper Tube
then VCap Cuft which have strengths over the Jensen's which are muffled in comparison but VCaps have a synthetic sound to me. I know your not in the Jensen camp I think it can be what our mind will and will not accept and can be different for each person. The VCaps have a lightning fast charge and discharge to me that keeps them from being dynamic like the CAST.
I am glad I tried VCaps though as well as Mundorf Supreme to get an understanding of what caps do. We have to keep this in perspective a Mundorf Supreme would be better than what 99% of companies use in the crossover?
Have you heard the CAST? They have Jensen strengths but way less muffled sound. I would like to here if you could fault the CAST except maybe no forgiveness for poor recordings.
I have not heard the Clarity or Duelund Alexander to know where they fit in the range.
I am going to use the Jensen in a bedroom system. All other caps have been sold or will be. |
For Christmas I have asked for some Blu-Ray (Audio) music as well. Tom Petty is one of the only one I can find? Neil Young but that is a box set.
Right now I am getting familiar with the phono section which still has the vintage caps. I must say doing the pre-amp section has made the turntable sound MUCH better. I did not connect the turntable for quite some time. (just too vintage sounding) I am enjoying it now.
I have high hopes for the CAST in the phono section. |
Charles1dad
I think electrolytics maybe should be illegal in the signal path. (just kidding)
I put back the vintage electrolytic in the power supply and it is MUCH better than the modern Jensen. The vintage is twice as big at least and 3 to 5x as heavy is my guess. Quite a while back I posted that I have yet to find when the bigger heavy cap of a similiar style did not sound better. This included say Mundorf Supreme's being much more dynamic than say Sonicaps. (the Mundorf's being much bigger)
I suspect the drive to be smaller lighter more compact causes less weight and more resonance. I have really wanted someone to try a Duelund power supply. No takers that I know of?
I have asked for Christmas for a capacitor (phono stage) from family. (too funny) I bet that is the first time someone may open their Christmas gift and
opened a capacitor! |
I get the feeling electrolytic caps are the default choice because they are cheap. They don`t appear to have much sonic value.Sound quality nearly always improves when they`re replaced. |
Well I decided to try CAST caps in my TRL modified Sony CD player. TRL already did significant mods to this unit including a battery power supply for the DAC section.
The output caps were cheap electrolytic types. Very small in size and 100uf value. I simply did not think I could replace these 100 uf caps with small value CASTs , but I was wrong. I placed .22 CAST caps and was not prepared for the massive improvement.
No bass roll off to my ears and I actually measured the bass down to under 25 htz in my room. The sound is soooooooo much better. Guess Sony used 100uf values as the caps are very tiny and electrolytics. I have read larger values are needed to cut distortion with these caps. I learned first hand that one can replace these types of caps with values far smaller when using good film or PIO caps.
Cap roll on! |
Hi Again...
Have been away for a while , enjoying playing music.
Even if i'm not in the Duelund / Jensen camp , I'm
in the V-Cap and Clarity camp , it would be fine to know
if some new Caps have shown up the past year , or these
are still considered to be the best choice.
Duelund CAST / VST.
V-Cap CuFT
Clarity MR
Jensen ???
/Best Michael |
Rfogel8,
What are you waiting for? Put those CAST in your speaker Xovers.You`ll love them (I promise).
Regards,
Charles |
Charles,
Excellent, it means the world to us all.
Best regards,
Frederik |
Frederik,
I`ll be an advocate of Duelund CAST the rest of my life.The CAST are in my Yamamoto DAC and with a mere two hours of playing they completely surpass the stock polypropylene output caps. The immediate effect is it seems is an increase in the S/N ratio. Clarity,openess and transparency just improve along with dynamics. Straight out of the box the natural tone is evident.They`ll only get better with more hours of play.What a fine product.
Regards, |
Vetterone,
Very nice system you`ve put together,it must sound exceptionally good.Are you putting your Duelund caps in the Berning or the Allnic components?
Your Allnic linestage uses an interstage transformer correct?
Regards |
Hi Vetterone,
The Coincident Frankenstein does`nt have any signal coupling capacitors. It instead uses an interstage(double C core type) transformer. The only bypass capacitor is a V-cap for the power supply capacitors(polypropylene in place of electrolytics).
Dick Olsher will review this amplifier in the december issue of TAS. He will likely cover some of the technical and circuit features.This 8 watt amp is one of the very best I`ve ever heard in the sense of getting to the emotional core of music and realism.
Vetterone, I`m giving some serious thought to placing CAST caps in my wonderful Yamamto DAC(CAST would take it to an even higher level I believe).
I`m also considering the Duelund WPIO inductors. As happy as I am with my system`s music reproduction, I`m convinced the Duelunds would take it further yet again.Since my post a few days ago the sound 'continues to improve! Coincident,Takatsuki(300b tube),Yamamoto and Duelund,I like.
Regards |
Charles 1 Dad, glad you are enjoying the new sound from your speakers. You may want to hear what happens when you upgrade some of 89 cent caps
in your Frankensteins. The coupling cap and the bypass cap is where you need to start. I still have a few more caps to test but a Duelund Cast in the coupling position and a Clarity MR in the by-pass spot gives a dramatic improvement. |
I have about 70 hours on the Duelund CAST capacitors.
This is a fantastic upgrade in my speaker crossovers and I would recommend them to 'anyone' who wants to improve the sound of their system.I`ve noticed no negatives, it improves my speaker across all sonic parameters.
1) Superb tone, texture and harmonic reproduction,instruments are simply more realistic.
2)This is a natural-organic sounding capacitor,there`s none of that 'Hifi' artificial character to be heard.
3)The sense of live presence is improved,the sound is more alive and colorful with emotion and expression.
4)The overall scale and presentation is believable(but no exaggerations of size of stage or images) while somehow maintaining an ever present ease and effortless feel, this is hard to do IMO.
5) The CAST is expensive but I can honestly say you`d be hard pressed to beat its 'value'- performance result ratio with most other upgrades.You could spend more and get less in return.
I can`t imagine someone actually trying these CAST in their system and being disappointed with the performance.This is a first tier product.
Regards, |
I just go by typical customer feedback, and my own experience. I usually get a "What the ... happened!" mail on day 5.
Which is always nice, and makes my day everytime. :) |
Frederik,
That`s very encouraging given how good they are in the first few hours.It seems natural fiber products break-in much sooner than teflon and other synthetic materials.
Regaerds, |
Day 5 is usually, when the magic starts to happen.
Glad you're setup.
Best regards,
Frederik |
It appears the original Solen caps were a partial bottleneck in hindsight.These speakers are exceptionally good in standard form. The CAST reveal the flaws of the previous cap quite bluntly however.As others have pointed out,tone is fabulous! What I`m noticing though is the improved dynamics. Contrast,ebb and flow,gradiations and subtle inflections are much improved.There`s a sense of better color,vividness which yields more emotional involvement.To summarized, there`s a greater sense of life and reality, more music and less stereo hifi(if that makes any sense).If you like your current speakers, the Duelund upgrade is actually a bargain.They are expensive but the increased music reproduction is significant,thus a high value return. You could buy new speakers and may not like them as much as your current speaker with the Duelund CAST capacitors.
Regards, |
Grannyring,
I owe you a sincere thanks also. It was your earlier Duelund thread started a few months ago that got my interest. I `m glad I followed through and got these Duelunds CAST capacitors.
Regards, |
Yes, parts matter and the CAST caps make great gear even greater! They did the same for my tube preamp.
I am so pleased you are pleased Charles. After another 50 hours you will be be even more pleased. |
Pictures are now posted on charles1dad web page under tweaks. The job was actually easier than we thought. Just look at the difference in size be the Duelund and the old Solen Cap. The new capacitors were sealed into place with silicone cement. The changes in his system are profound. He has a cleaner picture of the soundstage from top to bottom. Imaging of single instruments have improved. System appears more dynamic, faster and tonality seems better fleshed out. Very interesting to see what happens once solder joints and crossover have more time. Right out of the gate sound is better in all parameters compared to the old Solen Caps. |
The Duelund CAST are in my speakers finally. A big thank you to my good buddy Jwm(jeff) for his major help and experience. Jeff will post some installation pictures later on this site for those interested.
Out of the box with only 1 hour of listening a few things are apparent.
1) Tonality and naturalness are honest and real, instruments and voices seem dead on righ.!Tone,tone,tone!
2)There`s a noticable improvement in clarity,seperation and articulation of the music.
3)Very nice dynamic energy and presence,power and speed. Instruments have increased vitality and verve.
This is a surprisingly good 'early stage' result as I realize there`s much burn-in that needs to be done.
If the performance makes significant improvement from here, well this will be truly special.
It`s quite good already.
Regards, |
Hi Grannyring,
I like to keep things simple, there`s no need for me to rewire anything in the speaker.There`s high quality copper(6N) and it sounds very good as is(the speaker,amp and linestage use the same wiring).The silver option was just for the CAST lead wire.
I`m going to tin the lead copper wire and heat shrink it and leave it at that.The CAST wire looks very good to me.Hope to get this done tomorrow.
Regards, |
Yes the tining will prevent corrosion if applied well. I would still heat shrink over it. If you plan to simply solder into the existing speaker wire, then adding a short piece of silver wire to each end of the cap and then soldering to the existing speaker wire would not be worth the effort and not a good idea. Just use the copper leads to the internal speaker wire.
If you want to use the silver wire to connect directly to the tweeter, then it makes sense. Not sure if you are planing to rewire the tweeter crossover parts with your silver wire? |
Grannyring,
I`m not familiar with Clear Day.
Grannyring, If I 'tin' the capacitor lead copper wire,will this simple step prevent copper oxidation?
If so, that means no cutting the CAST wire and eliminating additional solder joints(an advantage it seems).
Option two, cut the CAST copper wire and replace with silver(which means additional joints but no concern about oxidation).My gut feeling is the fewer solder joints the better. Would you agree?
Charles, |
Thanks Charles. Must offer a trial for that kind of money as I would never purchase a set without a trial period. Too bad. Have you tried Clear Day?
I emailed them as they offer a trial and use solid core which is my preference. Perhaps you have heard them? |
Grannyring,
Ocellia does`nt offer a trial period to the best of my knowledge. Ocellia is different in this sense from many other siver cables. They strongly believe the dielectric material and covering have profound influences on the sound.They advocate natural fibers and avoid teflon and other synthetics(plastic sound?).Their anti MDI theory at work on that point.They also say all silver conductors are`nt the same quality and geometry and orientation of the conductor matters.
I have no idea about the technical explanations.I can say they lack the silver cliches of thin,bright sheen and edge.They`re very smooth,full and complete. I hope you get a chance to hear them.It`s possible you still may not like them as much as your copper cables.
Regards, |
I make a distinction between "warm" and organic(natural).I don`t find my 300b SET amp really any warmer than my excellent PP 6550 tubed amp. But the SET amp is more organic yet also more transparent and detailed. The SET reveals finer nuance,inner detail and overtone information that the PP amp will bury a bit more and be less apparent(hidden).In terms of full body and image density they`re closer matched.The SET magic is it`s ability to present a very real sense of genuine palpable presence,quite convincing and addicting.Silver seems very adapt at extracting the very fine nuance with higher resolution IMO.Like Jwm said different systems have different favorable synergy mixing and matching.
Regards, |
Charles, I have owned top of the the line Kimber silver and still the same sound as I mentioned above. I want to try Ocellia, but the site lists no prices etc... Do they offer a trial period? I would like to try them as I am open minded with silver.....and curious |
Great points. My Mundorf solder has silver and gold? Not seen copper however? |
Just curious is there such a thing as solder with a high copper content? |
Wire can also be synergistic in a system. In a single ended system that my be a little warmer a copper wire could take it over the edge where in a push pull system it may be what the doctor ordered. This category was a great thread keep it going. |
Grannyring,
I agree it just different experiences we all encounter. My Ocellia Silver cables are flesh and blood,living and breathing real and the most truthful in terms of tone and harmonic overtones. They`re utterly organic and full bodied. There`s always a hierarchy within any category,silver cables are no exception, there`s good and not so good.
Regards, |
Jwn, Correct. I have tried to like silver and even built a set of silver ic's with VH Audio silver wire, but in the end it just sounded a little thin and tipped to the highs. Solid core copper seems to be the most evenly balanced wire I have heard and used in my projects and in my system.
It just goes to show we all like different types of sound. Silver is lighter and more airy, but solid core copper is more dynamic and has more meat on the bones. Real differences and real preferences. |
My mistake I meant to say is to tin the capacitor's wire with the solder and then solder it to the speaker wire. |
Thanks for the comments folks. I have some 16 gauge silver wire(I`m a proponent of silver personally). If I use silver it`s a non issue as silver oxide is a fine conductor(some say better than bare silver!).Now I know my options.I may just take copper out of the equation.I prefer my silver IC and SC over any copper I`ve heard.
Regards, |
Charles, I bought 14 AWG teflon tubing from PartsConnexion to go over the leads and it is a good fit. 16 AWG could also work (I bought both 14 and 16 just in case) but would be very difficult to work with if the leads are long (tight). Personally I try to avoid cutting the leads too short in case I want to remove and reuse in another application or to sell.
Oeaohoo, thanks for the info on the CAST with Almarro. I just ordered a pair of 0.1uF. :) I haven't heard any Bel Canto DACs older than the 3, but the Havana is a warm, organic sounding DAC. Very musical with the best tone and texture I've heard in my system. In its stock form it is not as detailed or transparent as some more expensive DACs, but with parts swaps -- especially output caps for CAST -- performance is raised several fold. I haven't heard a DAC in my system that I like more including Calyx 24/192, Metrum Octave, Bel Canto DAC2.5/3, Berkeley Alpha 1/2, PS Audio PWD Mk2. There is a huge thread on Head Fi if you want to learn more about the mods. |
Grannyring, I think what you are saying is cut the leads to the shortest length you need and tin the wire with solder along the whole length and then solder it to the crossover wire. |
Charles, it is needed to avoid the copper oxidizing. You must cut the leads and solder with a properly coated wire or treat the bare copper leads to prevent oxidation and the deterioration of the signal over time. One or the other is needed. |
I haven't done so on my own, I solder as close to the cap as possible. |
