Capacitors for BAT VK-60

I'll second the TFTF V-Caps suggestions if you can stretch your budget. They are IMHO the very best money can buy.

Dynamicaps are quite good too though. As their name suggests, they have a very dynamical quality. The sound is almost sparkly and very alive; I find that the sound seem to leap out the speakers. I used Dynamicaps as couplers exclusively until I came across the TFTF V-Caps.

Note, I would use a Dynamicap rather than a OIMP V-Cap. I don't really care for Auricaps – I have used them once and will not use them again.

I would suggest you do a pair at a time and have a listen.

Regards
Paul

Dgarretson, I do not dislike OIMPs, I simply prefer Dynamicaps. However I am considering using OIMPs bypassed with a smaller TFTF in my phono. (The output couplers are 8.0uF)

Vett93, I am not familiar with Mundorf, but to my ears Dynamicaps sounded better than both Hovland and Auricaps. TFTF V-Caps blows Dynamicaps out the water - no contest. I believe the M-cap silver/oil is pretty good but I doubt if they will be anything like the TFTFs. TFTFs are the bomb.

If you can afford TFTF V-Caps it's a no brainer.

Regards
Paul

Vet93, Dynamicaps are as their name suggests, very dynamic. I would describe the sound as crystalline clear and sparkly. The sound seems to leap from the speaker. They also seemed to cure my system of sibilance, yet increase detail many many fold.

V-Caps beat Dynamicaps on all of the above hands down, but do everything else so very well that the above is not immediately noticeable. I am not very familiar with V-Caps (yet), so I share my most recent experience with them.

I replaced one out of four coupling caps in my phono. I always do one stereo pair at a time and audition at length before doing the next. The results were (are) astonishing. The soundstage has become totally huge (it wasn't bad before, but a lot smaller and static). Not only is it big, but also it seems to be alive; growing and shrinking and moving around as different instruments/vocals chime in.

I have a friend staying over, and he was looking around for the surround speakers. And I don’t mean the tired old knee-jerk 'I heard a sound behind me' BS; it was like the band was live on a stage right in front of us and we could 'see' them moving around onstage. He kept on asking me how I get the sound to do that. Personally I have never heard a system with such an 'alive' soundstage anywhere, ever.

I can go on, but I think you get the picture ;-). I will most certainly be replacing each and every coupling cap in my system with TFTF V-Caps.

I cannot comment on Auricap or Hovland sound, other than I did try them and did not think much of them. I also tried Jupiters and did not like them much either.

Regards
Paul

Damarado, I just saw a post where you mention you want to use a Dynamicaps and bypass it with another. My experience is that Dynamicaps sound best on their own, not bypassed. You could try bypassing a big(ish) Dynamicap, lets say 2uF with another Dynamicap of 0.01uF. I wouldn’t mix caps when using dynamicaps.

Also, if you want a slightly warmer sound with loads of detail, consider replacing your signal path resister with AN tantalums. I found that dynamcaps + tantalums gave a very detailed sound with a hint of warmth. A match made in heaven?

Use higher wattage than is required i.e. substitute a 2-watt Tant for a 1-watt resistor, and do a stereo pair at a time. You can warm up your sound incrementally till you hit the spot.

Lastly, I would hold of on tube rolling till you do the caps. You may find the exotic > $180 6sn7s are really not needed after you ‘rolled’ some caps.

Regards
Paul

Damaradona, it is best to keep to .22uF.

I recently had correspondence with Chris Venhaus regarding use of his TFTFs in my phono, and he recommended I use the smallest value possible as coupling capacitors, as the smaller capacitors sound slightly better than the larger ones. (I believe that to be true for all makes of caps) So in short, by going for 1.0uF TFTFs, you’ll end up spending more money and not get the very best performance.

Of course, I wouldn’t recommend you go smaller than .22uf either.

As far as your resistors go, you should replace the ones in your signal path. If you have a circuit diagram you could easily identify them. You mentioned you like Kiwame resistors, but I had been advised that their values drift over time. I am not sure if that is true or not, but I thought I’d let you know.

Regards
Paul