Question About Capacitor Upgrade in Tube Amp


Hi,

I am preparing to do a coupling capacitor upgrade on a recently purchased tube integrated amp. The two 0.22uF on the preamp tubes are fairly straight forward. But I noticed another similar model 0.33uF cap on the large filter capacitor for the B+ supply that is installed across the hot lead to ground.

Does this cap on the B+ just block high frequency noise from the power supply or does it have any effect on the amp tone? Is there any reason to "upgrade" this cap?

I know it may be hard to tell exactly what is going on without a schematic.

Also any recommendations on a good cap to use in the upgrade of the coupling caps? I was looking at Mundorf SilverGoldOil for the quality at not too crazy a price. The amp already sounds good but lacks a little clarity that I think a coupling cap swap will help with. It is SET 300B amp.

Thank you!

 

calieng

Showing 3 responses by sns

I've used most of the caps mentioned here and have found the Duelund Cast, in my case tinned copper version relegates every other cap to  a distant second place, really special cap, future plans for going into my speaker crossovers as well. I also like bypass film cap on electrolytic power supply caps if one doesn't have room for all film caps.

 

Charles is correct, SET circuits low parts count, so every single part change has bearing on sound. Resistor upgrades also worth investing into.

Good for you if the Mundorfs work for you long term. Every time I've tried Mundorfs, initial impressions good, over time always heard spot lit high freq, rather artificial sound quality result over longer term. Hopefully these work for you long term, caps exist for all needs.