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Does removing the plastic covers on caps help?

I recently had some caps installed in my SS amp by a professional audio equipment modifier. When I asked him what else I could do to improve the sound, he told me that an old tweaker secret was to remove the plastic wrapping on all capacitors. He said there was a dielectric effect similar to that found in cables, and that removing the plastic usually resulted in more "air"

Since it costs nothing, I'm certainly willing to give it a try, but just wondered if anybody else has heard of this or has firsthand experience with this sinple technique.
wehamilton

Showing 1 response by wehamilton

wehamilton OP
65 posts
 
Thanks to all those responding. Very informative discussion, and again, I'm awed by the collective knowledge of those on this board and the time they take to share it with others.

I was unaware of the need to check caps for damping, but it certainly makes sense after reading the above comments and links. In my particular amp mod, the Black Gates are so much bigger than the stock caps that they had to be mounted standing above the PCB on longer leads.

I'll definitely study the best way to damp them so they don't sing like tuning forks. I'm guessing that's exactly what they are doing in the present set-up now that the symptoms have been described.
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