Grannyring, Charles,
I believe Yazaki-san is going to recommend similar Arizona Green/Blue capacitor that he recommended to Jeff Day. I think, if I remember correctly, there might be Mallory, or some others. Time will tell the tale of the tape. Also, the "brown" resistors as well (forgetting name at moment); of course in the right values and volts. Do you think Israel Blume would part with the schematic, or provide parts list? Or am I way out of line with a request like that? I'm not at all certain about the etiquette of DIY. I'll keep you updated. Best, Rob |
Rob,
It will be very interesting to see what capacitor he recommends for your amplifier. I use the Jupiter copper foils as input coupling capacitors in my Coincident Frankenstein amplifier. Although it wasn't a night and day change, it was certainly a worthwhile change. |
Let me know what he says on the caps. Thanks much! |
Grannyring,
Thank you. Shirokazu Yazaki-San, the Japanese designer on Jeff Day's blog that turned us all on to the WE16ga and Belden 8402 is going to make some recommendations (capacitor and resistor) for me and this amp as hid did for Jeff Day and his McIntosh MC30s. As you know I have never done anything like this before, just a rank amateur. Best, Rob |
The Six Moons review has a good shot of the amp. You are replacing those green Solen caps next to the tube sockets. Two of them. I could not read the values, but you will be able to easily. |
Open up the bottom and just look. The values are printed right on the cap.
I assume it's circuit uses coupling caps and those values are most always under 1 uf. |
Grannyring,
Do you know where I can get the capacitor values for the Coincident Dynamo 34se? anyone? Best, Rob |
Sorry plus Jupiter Copper foils in office amp.
It sounds pretty damn good, for sure wayyyy better than stock and will get another chance at main amp.
I have to say all three caps are excellent! (Duelund, VCap Cuft and Jupiter)
My office system used to sit unused till these caps went in. (just too far below other amp)
I am getting more use than ever. |
One cap I am re-testing is the VCap Cuft. I have installed in office system and the amp is sounding better than it did that is for sure! Really deep bass. |
Grannyring
Sorry for any confusion my experience with Jupiter and Vcap Cuft is only in electronics. (still have them in 2nd system)
My speakers are all CAST and VSF caps and inductors.
No plans to even test other caps there although I did try Sonicap and Mundorf Supreme and Silver in oil in the speakers.
I like Mundorf Supreme more dynamic than Sonicaps nowhere near Duelund level in natural. |
Salectric,
The Jupiter might be a better choice that the Mundorf which like the Duelunds, never really found a place which left me satisfied. The Jupiter CU just get out of the way and does everything well without being overpowering or "too much" in any area.
I dont want to derail this thread by discussing the other tweaks such as the Bybees which i had adding to great effect that i ended up buying more and dont focus on finding the right cap any longer.
The type of solder could be a make of break decision with the Jupiter cu. As the cap is inherently very neutral throughout the frequencies, together with the quietness it gives , i must add a brighter/more forward sounding solder used gave me a leave it there impression. I found the oyaide solder to match the Jupiter Cu's sound nicely.
I really have 4 solders which i try to matchup with the cap used, namely audionote(more neutral), Mundorf gold (Warm), Oyaide (Brighter and lively) and another 8% silver (which gives a little hardness and solid bass) to match up the caps or any connection being used. |
Hi Volleyguy.
No i have not tried the VSF nor will i do so. The cost just adds up to a point of craziness if you have boutique caps lying around unused.
You are correct in balancing the cast with a less refined cap, call it some raw energy to complement the oh so smooth Duelund cast.
I will likely never buy another cast as i have faced both buldging and leaking caps with no recourse or service level commensurate with the prices and never had these issues with any other cap before.
Duelund suits your music preference like no other cap will, but it can turn quickly to your disfavour which you have experienced using 2 cast. I think using 1 cast in the system is more than enough as almost all boutique caps have very extreme musical presentation focusing on different areas of the music spectrum.
As you have touch on the term quietness, which i infer to smooth, having a blackness between every note thus allowing the sounds to pop into the room as if they are live instruments.
I have recently gone towards this path by lowering noise floor by using oth tweaks which caps in the speaker will not allow you to achieve.
Since my last comments on the duelund cast being bypassed with the god oil and tftf. I have lost the remaining touch of that Duelund midrange warmth and the system not sound neutral but with a realism to vocals and instruments which i cannot associate with the sonic characteristic of each caps strong trait.
You do no need the warmth and texture to enjoy the critical midrange, a neutral but very realistic, with a live presence is what i strive to achieve not. No it does not have the analogue and rich midrange which does have a forward presence. This is not similar to the natural and real sonic traits you achieve when noise floor is lowered, depth and a black background is so satisfying.
The realness is like when i relax not pay attention to the music and certain instruments in the track pops up in the room which literally startled me. This startling effect was like when some squares of wood stuck on my walls fell and hit the floor with a "THUD".
|
I went back to what I was using before I bought the Duelunds---Sonicap Gen 1 for the high-pass and Mundorf Supreme (regular Supreme, not silver or S/O or S/G/O) for the low-pass. Nothing is perfect but in the context of my system those caps are more natural sounding than the CAST caps. To be honest I haven't used the high-efficiency speakers for several months. I have used my Spendor SP-100 speakers exclusively. Over the winter I re-evaluated a lot of things in my system and I made a number of changes in addition to the speakers. I may change my mind again next month, who knows, but for now I am happy with the present setup. |
Salectric,
Curious as to which caps you now have in your crossover?
Thanks |
I like the vcaps in electronics also, but did find the Jupiter copper foil more to my liking. Both are great! |
I agree about the Solens as I don't like them in the power supply at all. I was just making a point as many have reviewed the Solens as a good power supply cap and average at best in crossovers..... |
I have to take exception to the comment about Solens sounding good in a power supply. Solens always have a plastic, artificial sound no matter where they are used, at least to my ears.
For what it's worth, I sold my big Duelund CAST copper caps that I used in my speaker crossovers. Over time and once I got over the initial enthusiasm of trying something new and different, I realized their colorations bothered me to the point of interfering with my enjoyment of the music. Others may reach different conclusions, but the Duelunds are not the sound I am looking for. I had previously reached the same conclusion about Duelund CAST caps in electronics. I never did find a spot where the Duelunds were my preferred choice. In electronics I always come back to V-Caps especially the CuTF series. |
Please remember what Tony Gee says about Jupiter caps matters not at all for electronics for one reason. He only used them in speakers! My experience and comments are in electronics. Caps do not necessarily sound the same in both applications.
The Jupiters are just more musical in electronics. I hate brightness and glare. I long for smooth, natural tone. The CAST caps are tilted up in the upper mids and in the end fatigue me in electronics. This is not the case in speakers based on my experience. These caps do not always sound the same in both applications....very important point. In speakers, I choose the flat, pancake style CAST. They sound great and better than the cylindrical CAST caps for electronics based on my experience.
I find the Jupiter caps as dynamic as CAST in electronics....at least in my systems and applications.
Some of this comes down to personal preferences, but I do want to warn readers that Tony Gee's comments are based on speaker usage only!
An ASC oil cap may sound fine in a power supply, but lousy in a speaker. A Solen Fast Cap may sound good in a power supply, but not so good as a coupling cap or speaker crossover cap. |
Justube2
"With the caps now, I think I would be contended with either duelunds, vcap or jupiter cu".
Agreed once you reach a level of these caps you are getting to one's preferences, system synergy which someone might have to hear for themselves.
If one reads yours Grannyring or mine one can guess we are all looking for something slightly different?
Mine is natural and dynamic. Duelund gives me that in spades. (especially CAST and RS) VSF were not as dynamic. (but natural)
Now Jupiter I can not imagine a quieter cap. Just crazy quiet. To me unnaturally quiet! Do they deserve a 13 rating by Tony Gee I would say yes. Are they as good as RS, not to me. (both rated 13) Could they be if bigger? Maybe? |
Grannyring
"That is my exact finding with the Jupiter caps which are now my go to also. Perfectly balanced. I like the CAST, but have found time and again they are tilted upward in the upper mids".
I find the Jupiter's are bar none the quietest cap out there. To anyone reading this post I think Grannyring's priorities are absolute noise reduction.
To me I would say if the Jupiter was physically 3 to 5x bigger I might have to agree with Grannyring. I find Jupiter lacks dynamics of the Duelund line.
Oddly not many on here talk about dynamics? Where I think Duelund is wildly successful!
Now the blackness around everything with Jupiters is really something to hear if that is one's thing. Everything is carved out of blackness. |
Justubes2
"The virture of the cap with the best midrange, always sacrifices the openess and sparkle".
Have you tried the VSF? It is natural like the CAST but has more sparkle as you say but in reality it is noisier.
I do use the VSF after the CAST and at the time preferred it to two CAST's.
I guess my priorities are on the crucial midrange. I do not want to be aware I am listening to a stereo at all and if the mid range is not good? It always feels like a stereo.
I am going through all the posts trying to catch up and am also glad to hear about the Audio Note caps. (power supply)
This thread has worked out wildly beyond my imagination in the beginning! So many great inputs from so many enthusiasts that one can read (yes extremely long) and get a very good idea of what to do and expect.
We also have great choices now in a product (caps) that maybe at one time was thought maybe to not matter or matter much. In here it is the same caps over and over. Duelund Jupiter and Vcap.
I must say VCap's seem to be robustly built. |
If I had to do it again, unless you feel that there is something lacking
With the caps now, I think I would be contended with either duelunds, vcap or jupiter cu.
I found big improvement using those black bullets at the speaker terminals than what a swap of caps will do given you have good caps there presently. |
Havent tried the jupiter in the tweeter. Big values are not any cheaper compared to the rs and would also feel towards the favour of the . jupiteduelundr cu has more fine details and extension than the cu and should be a better choice than duelund which are wwarmer and more closed in though high tones are very inviting sounding. |
On the other side Jupiter and RS at 2uf are the same price in which case I would go RS and move my VSF to bedroom speakers |
Justubes2
" I have a very itchy feeling it would work very well in the tweeter blocking function".
I have much to read here to catch up but agree with this statement.
The Jupiter is the quietest cap I have heard. I find it lack CAST or RS dynamics but is stunningly quiet. |
I have not tried the SIO in paralell with Duelund. I typically like using just one Jupiter copper cap in the signal path. Another cap I like to "mix" in is the Jensen copper foil in paper tube cap. These are very warm and inviting and on their own may be a little to dark. If used elsewhere in an amp with the Jupiter cap the sound is very natural and inviting and not the least bright or fatiguing. |
Update on the duelund 0.01uf silver foil meant as a bypasscap.
Finds on getting bore extension is as previously stated.
This is a very neutral cap and balanced sounding which actually does'nt add much as a bypass.
I have retested in a different application, digital input as a small value of 0.01uf is sufficient. The main comparision is the jupiter copper which used on it's own is one cap i find the most neutral and balanced sounding accross the whole frequency range, it was however a 1uf replacing the 1uf electrolytic.
The duelund as a main signal cap is slightly more detailed and clear whcih leads to a more upfront and less open sounding compared to the Jupiter copper.
I must say without critical listening, they sound very similar ,but currently have preference to the more layered and spacious sound of the Jupiter copper although with a penalty of a slight loss of detail of the duelund silver.
The silver duelund does not have the typical lush and analogue mids of the cast cu and still a very fine sounding cap with better extension on both extremes, so it is balanced over the whole frequency band. Does not sound bright or lean. Do not expect the bass resolution of a teflon cap like the tftf.
Do note, unless you can use the small value in coupling, it should help bring good details as a bypass, but likely not additive to tone or high. A very fine sounding cap which probably needs more time to see if the staging can be more open and have better depth, otherwise, it very good in all if it can be used in a very small value. |
Grannyring, do try your silver oils in parallel with duelundstonally to see if it tonally and gain more details, the vocals were still good doing so. The silver gold oil worked slightly better as a bypass to the cast for me together with a small tftf
which allowed a more open soundstage.The silver oils are good in the tweeter cap as well, not untilltftf comparitftf and cast did I find the glare and somewhat uncontrolled highs. |
Yes, I feel that in and signal the cast imparts a stronger characteristic. I actually do have a 2% cast also as a mid bypass of 2uf in the crossover, but
didnt find that midrange magic.
Cast can make a digital systems almost sound like vinyl which is the exact reason why I have moved back to digital.
Like on great vinyl recordings, you get it all, smooth natural mids and extension.
On lesser vinyl recordings, here is were I find lacking which the cast pulls the same bag of tricks and sounds overly analogue lacking resolution of digital.
So I can be worth its weight in gold in the right systems or careful matching which I go from bypass psu caps with a mix to get more details and highs but did find it lessened the midrange beauty by doing so.
I still managed to get some midrange beauty that I acheive with aacheive by other brands of caps limited to those I has selected. |
Tony Gee listening comments and ratings are only based on placement in speaker crossovers....not electronics as an FYI. |
Let me give the Duelund comment more background. This is my experience in electronics only. I have not tried them in speakers which may yield a different result. Even in electronics they are outstanding and my second choice after the Jupiter coppers. |
Justubes2
That is my exact finding with the Jupiter caps which are now my go to also. Perfectly balanced. I like the CAST, but have found time and again they are tilted upward in the upper mids. I think some love this sound and thus rank it higher. I find the Jupiter more neutral with a tad more fine detail and air. |
Hi Volleyguy,
I just stumbled on the update on the jupiter copper foil review by Tony Gee and he gave it a very good rating.
I just so happened that i ws toying between the jupiter and cutf on my digital input and concluded the same, that the jupiter was one of the most balanced caps that does all areas well enough to make it my universal cap to use. It does'nt beat say the cast, cutf or tftf in certain areas, but does everything very well. I have a very itchy feeling it would work very well in the tweeter blocking function.
I rolled the vcap tftf, cast, mundorf silver oils and silver gold.
The vcap tftf was the most extended and linear sounding, the silver oils were a very sparkly but also had a disorganized and slightly messy upfront staging. The silver golds were strange, had good depth, calmness and quite natural sounding, ultimately lacking extension. The cast were good, detailed, natural but actually feel it strength radiates from the midrange out but fall short on the top amd bottom frequencies.
The cast works for me as the this a small value cap in my tweeter crossover which i left the tftf there and believe it has a good synergy with the cast not making it too dull sounding. I wpuld strongly feel, full cast would not be what i want, it probably works great for a dull sounding setup.
Even the mundorf silver or silver mix definately has more detail in the higher registers.
Again, the choice of solder plays a good part in getting caps to work synergistically in any given application, if you have a chance, wbt, oyaide solder works "better" with a cast of maybe your RS. I have just tested the mundorf supreme sikver gold solder, i leaves a very similar sonic characteristic as a cast cap. To my ears, lacking it both the extension and gaves a nicer midrange.
You might want to look into psu and grounding to get less noise. Focussing just on swapping caps in the tweeter cannot be a cure all and you may have to sacrifice some more sparkle by adding 2 casts.
I now focus on getting a balanced sound over focusing on getting great mids with one cap choice, or more brilliance and detail from another cap choice etc.
The virture of the cap with the best midrange, always sacrifices the openess and sparkle.
A cap that excels in detail and clarity always causes a more upfront perspective and lost of the natural midrange.
I have not found any cap that does it all.
The jupiter copper is the closest, but doesnt highlight any particular range. It has become a no brainer choice for me unless there are specific areas of the sound i would like to gain a little more, thats where the cast, cutf, tftf and mundorf would have to be called for duty.
Imo, the cuft is closest sounding to the cast, not nearly as natural but is what i would class as a consider a midrange centric cap which has a very clear and prominent midrange details. So much so that the clarity cannot bring out some euphony in the vocals and midrange texture.
Do make it a point to take note the effect of the tweeter cap has on the bass, yes a warm less extended cap on the tweeter takes away some dynamics ad low extension on the bass noticeably. |
Justubes2
Just checking up on the thread been a month or so.
I do want to clarify on the CAST's leaking I was given a full refund. It was a bad batch I hear? I really just wanted them replaced.
With that money refund I tried Jupiter Copper Foil and the leads broke off a couple of those caps. I am more concerned about build quality of the Jupiter caps as the leads are very fragile. These were small value .01uf caps.
With the rest of the money I replaced the Jupiter with Duelund RS and like them very much. I could not do a direct comparison to CAST vs. RS as the CAST had leaked and were gone.
I will have to take Tony Gee's word on this one that the CAST's are a blacker background.
To me the CAST's midrange (that you mentioned them being very good) is key. If you do not get the midrange correct it always sounds like HiFi?
After all these years of testing and listening (to what some would call small detail) there has been one big negative I have become much more sensitive and frustratingly so. When my CAST cap started to leak it was not seeing the oil that tipped me off to a problem it was I could hear something wrong! (took off bottom of amp and sure enough CAST was leaking so much for theory one can not hear a difference in caps!) At Starbucks the other day I literally could not stay and read some magazines and had to go outside on the patio. The natural sounds outside do not bother me the horrific sound system in Starbucks is literally nails down a chalkboard. (literally 90% just noise)
Cancelled Sirius radio in the car horrible sound, can not listen to compressed radio stations, about half of CD's are unbearable in car. In the car with my teenage daughter we play dad guess the bit rate of the recording on her iPhone. I guess it's great the kids think dad is amazing! (very accurate guess)
Even my bedroom system (which is still pretty good filled with VCap cuft, Jupiter and Jensen caps) I can not listen to long as I still have vintage caps in the tweeters and they are crap. (very noisy)
justubes2 you have given me the idea to replace the tweeter cap (in bedroom system) with a sitting around Mundorf Silver in oil I already have. To me I remember an artificial tilt to the sound with that cap. (upwards)
But I do like to revisit things to see if I feel the same years later.
I also am using CAST followed by VSF in the tweeters in main system and would like to revist that to maybe CAST CAST. (reason is less noise)
To anyone who stumbles on this thread that is your warning. It sounds good to hear the difference in what some would say something as trivial a cap until you understand it's full implications.
I think there is something with age and noise. As we age we want to listen to music (and enjoy) but the tolerances for noise really decrease. |
Thanks Justubes for the detailed response. I have printed this and will refer to it often. |
Sorry for the typo's and i am typing from a tablet and almost impossible to review in a small posting box. |
Jexrexpro,
I have experiented a little on bypassing, the 1% or 10% rule of thumb did not apply when using exotic caps as bypass.
A 0.001% and 0.0001% made very noticeable changes which follows the sonic characteristic of the high quality bypass cap. When i mean exotic, they are duelund cast, vcap tftf, vcap cutf, mundorf silver oils and silver golds.
The bypass values were 1uf for duelund cast copper, vcap tftf.
0.1uf for mundorf silver oil and silver gold oil. 0.22uf for vcap cutf. 0.01 for vcap tftf and noe duelund pure silver foil.
For what i found, even a 0.01uf on a 10,000uf cap gave a very strong sonic character of these exotic caps which i have used in the signal path of my preamp prior to using them in the power supply as i have gone passive and had all these caps sitting around. I would never have spent such money for osu bypassing using these caps, maybe a 0.01uf as cost can go to a fair bit.
Interestingly, these exotic caps which have a very strong flavour on it's own exhibited the same characteristics in the psu section as a bypass.
There are caps which i have used a main signal and bypassing which never stayed in place for more than a few song selections such as auricap, hovland, mundorf supremes, siderealcap, almost all of the multicap range with the exception of the RTX.
I would say a 0.1uf would be enough to gain a large amount of the bypasscap sonics for a 22uf main cap presuming that is the cap in the circuit that is critical which youbwould have found by swapping of lower quality caps.
It is most important to know what you want from the sound and have a good idea of the reference quality and characterics of good sound as opposed to just ore sparkling highs , warmer and more natural mids and the favourite, better bass as one can easily get carried away.
The duelund copper cast for example at 1uf bypassimg a 10k uf reseviour in digital gave in 2 different systems a superb analogue sound reminiscent for vinyl playback.
It was exceeding beautiful, pleasing and enjoyable. If i had not swapped in a vcap tftf lying around o the same value, i would never have know what i was missing.
The vcap alone did not work as vocal became bone bare and lacked a the presence of the duelind or a mundorf silver oil. Bass, depth, highs and blackness was to die for with the vcap bypass and would fair better playing new age or some instrumental music.
The choice of bypass would be best selected having a strong reference of what you want and how your system sound currently.
Each a every different system will have a different selection. However, over the years tweaking my system and also a friends system, i found that when the improvement made by equipment, room acoustics etc and it gets to a point where the selection of these finishing touches are large and become almost identicle, meaning that the sonic traits such as bypassing with impact 2 different systems very similarly.
Different systems meaning a back a few years ago, 1 system was warm with full bass and the other clean, tight, leaner and tilter towards the shrill side. What worked for 1 didnt work for the other, now 2 systems have converged to react very similarly to tweaks such as cap bypassing.
My presonal recommendation would be to bypass using a 0.1uf to 0.47uf cap, duelund cast cu, vcap tftf and cuft, mundorf silver, gold and oil series. These have probably have very strong traits but not over extreme and still rather balanced sounding.
Interestingly, the Jupiter copper foil is a very balanced and fine sound cap when using on its own in the signal path. Being extrement well rounded in all sonic parameters dont seem to impart much as a bypass.
The new duelund 0.01uf falls also in that category, adding clarity,,mtexture as a bypass, but does excel in any one area as a bypasscap. |
Justubes2, Could you fill us in on your bypass cap values?
Lets say you have a 22uf cap in your power supply, what values and brand would you choose as your bypass caps? Thanks jet |
I have tested the Duelund silver foil 0.01uf, burned on the cable cooker for 5 days.
Impressions so far are no hint of typical silvers clarity and extensions, not that it is not clear sounding as slightly upfront sounding. Fairly detailed as a bypass and it reminds me very much as a mundorf 0.1uf silver oil, maybe just a tad better.
Basically, easy listening cap but does not beat the vcap TFTF as a bypass in neturality, depth and deep bass at half the price. Yes, a small bypass can have very surprising impact on low bass slam.
It has been removed from critical duties. |
I should also mention that I have tried only the Wima Polypropylene caps in my power supply. Which leaves many that I have not tried like Clarity caps for instance. I know many many amps use Polypropylene caps so they must sound very good to many people. |
Justubes2,
I have black gates in several places in the audio circuit of my amp and these caps have a very free and open sound like the Audio Note Kaisei.
I think the Audio Note team is very familiar with WKZ BlackGate and their goal is make the Kaisei sound as good if not even better than these.
I have not tried a pure film cap in my Power supply so I cant comment. Regards Jet |
Do they sound similar to blackgates. I know we are looking at 500v and wkz blackgate are not sold anywhere. How do the audionote character sound like, if you have used blackgates before in other applications
A pure film cap, whichever brand may sound smooth but lacking some kicking energy when used in the psu, did you find so? |
I have some limited experience with bypass stacks and it was not favorable. As some of you know I have been trying different types of capacitors in my power supply for the past three months. For the blow by blow you can refer to my system page thread. During this process I tried polypropylene with bypass stacks and it was not favorable. There are many ways to do this and I only tried one. I am sure someone with more patients and experience like Justubes2 can have fine results with caps stacks. I would like to try them again with different values and different types of caps. The variations are endless.
After 3 months of listening to different caps in my power supply I had excellent results with the new production Audio Note Kaisei 500v caps.
This is from my post in my system pg-
The Audio Note Kaisei 50uf caps have been in my amp for two weeks and have about 100 hours on them and their sound has settled so it is no longer changing. They have a purity and clairty that no other cap I have tried in my power supply has. I have tried oils, polypropylene, polypropylene with bypass. The Audio Note guys know the Black Gate sound and I believe they have worked on these caps so they sound like Black Gates. An open and very free sound. They don't have much of a sonic signature, they just somehow allow a clarity and purity to shine thru. Because I dont detect a sonic signature I feel confident in ordering more to replace the remaining oils my amp's power supply. Regards-Jet |
They do clean up the hash.
But every brand, nada nada has different sonic traits.
I did have bridge doide on a header in a cdp years back and a brief comparision clearly shows a difference.
Each spec of the different low noise diodes/ bridge will be different, guess the materials and leads clearly make a difference too.
They are not expensive, but why to tediousm but they improvement is worth the low cost. |
I am curious if folks have heard a diode or bridge rectifier that they feel made a real improvement. In your experience do they impact the sound as much as capacitors or even enough to mess with? |
JT2, maybe you will have more success than I did, but just so you know I have tried sll sorts of caps as bypass caps including Mundorf S/O, S/G/O, Sonicap Platinum, Dynamicap, Infinicap, CAST, V-Cap TFTF, silver micas, Russian Teflon, polystyrenes, etc., etc. |
Yes, it is very easy to get the bypass wrong and thou it made a difference and improvement, usually there are shortfalls.
Knowing what top capacitors sound, combining them to excellence is an art in itself and can be very rewarding.
My interest was recently piqued with the hybrid which Grannyring mentioned but don't think i want to spend that kind of money and didnt order it this time. likely knowing even try silver foil bypasses leads will lead to a very expensive cap combination which i strongly have reservation whether it will work out to my liking.
Again, one must know what he or she wants and expects. Knowing the traits of each cap is a big advantage.
I have been testing the bypasses with rca connections so i can remove them and switch.
I felt adding the SIO did improve things overall, but still didnt quite like the way the sio leaves a strong sonic footprint on all kinds of music, losing that ability to distinguish and show different recording in a different light and the way it was recorded, but it was the best i could muster.
Knowing what i wanted and missed what the tftf can do so well, even better than the cuft, is depth and frequency extremes.
Another revelation was encountered, adding another 0.01uf tftf using duelund silver hookup wire after the leads to the combination allowed the glorious midrange return, imparting the blackness between instruments, extension and depth i felt ever so lacking. It just would not work without the addition of the sio and duelund wire!.
I think i finally hit it on the spot and although expecting the SGO to arrive any time today, i no longer feel the need to swap the sio out. I'll leave it on the cooker for a week or so before try again. |
"I think we are all exploring different ways to get the sound we want." Well said Jet. Which cap sounds best will vary depending on the particular application and the particular listener.
In my case, I have settled on a mix of Copper V-Caps (CuTF) and old style V-Caps (TFTF) for my electronics, and a wider variety of caps for my speakers including CAST, Mundorf Supreme and Sonicap Gen 1.
I agree with the reservations about the CAST sound expressed by Justubes2 and Jetrexpro. Nothing is perfect.
I take exception, however, to the comments about a bypass cap. I have tried all sorts of bypass caps and combinations of bypass caps, and I have yet to find a single instance where there was an overall improvement. Yes, the bypass cap may sound impressive at first and some aspects of the sound may be real improvements such as HF speed and extension, but there is always, to my ears, a less natural, less coherent sound overall than just the base cap on its own. Other folks will reach other conclusions but that is what I have found to be true, and I have been trying bypass caps off and on for over 30 years. I don't say this to discourage anyone from trying bypass caps but only as a warning not to make a hasty judgment that a bypass cap is an overall improvement. Let the caps break in and then try removing the bypass; if you still think the bypass cap is an improvement then by all means leave it in. Just don't be too quick to conclude that it really is an improvement. |
we Diy'ers always want to believe a highly rated "audiophile" ,"boutique" component is the way to sonic bliss and outperforms everything or everyone's else equipment. That is all a fallacy!
Yes better parts always have sonic gains, but may or will not give the best or even the closest to best overall performance. There are just to many variables.
I don't deny equipment companies whether by sheer luck of design expertise using normal components are achieving excellent results and a base for many tweakers.
There is obviously a fourth dimension of tweaking with boutique parts, we don't even dare to imagine the aspects as you mentioned like room acoustics, cables etc. The permutations are just mind boggling. |
I think we are all exploring different ways to get the sound we want. I can see how the Duelund copper cast can leave some listeners wanting. There are so many variations speakers, room, cables, output tube, driver tube, power supply caps...and the list goes on and on. I've have my own capacitor journey. One way to get rid of a capacitor would be to build a direct coupled amp. We DIYers are fortunate to be able to make these changes to our equipment for comparatively small costs. |
