The evolution of the capacitor has led manufactures to utilize copper foil in the finest of capacitors. There’s a new kid on the block that might turn the capacitor world on it’s head but it’s too small and too affordable to be a copper foil cap. At first sight, one can brush off this new cap as just another insignificant option to the plethora of capacitors that are already on the market. The ODAM is much more than just another capacitor, it’s revolutionary.
The VCap ODAM capacitor is quite possibly the most transparent capacitor on the market. It will allow your system to perform in a way that you’d never expect from a capacitor upgrade because we’ve become accustomed to the limitations of conventional capacitors. It unlocks the potential of your system and you can experience your music collection in a new way. The ODAM will show you that there’s so much more information in your music. You have no idea what you’ve been missing.
My first experience with the ODAM was when I tested it in my backup DAC, the MHDT Pagoda. This DAC is known for having a wide soundstage but I had no idea how much wider it can get when the restraints were removed by the ODAM. It was quite a revelation. There are so many adjectives to describe what improved and how much they improved. I’m going to fast forward that part to tell you that the key takeaway here is that I’m able to hear and experience the recording more than ever before.
The second revelation that the ODAM provided came from a power conditioner tweak. Use your favorite search engine and search for "Audience conditioner". You can find several images of the internal circuitry of these power conditioners and notice that there are capacitors installed in parallel to the receptacles. You may also notice that each capacitor is slightly larger than the next within the same series of receptacles. This is a simple trick to filter noise at different frequencies. I’ve used this technique in my conditioner for several years now and I’ve concluded that Teflon caps were the best cap type in this position but then the ODAM came along. I installed a 0.47uf and a 0.1uf ODAM @ 600V (one cap on two of the three receptacles of my conditioner) then I had a listen. This was an "OH SH*T" moment. I did not expect this much of a leap in sound quality. The noise floor vanished. My system was already very dimensional but now it’s like wearing 3D goggles for my ears. It was shocking to learn how awful my system’s A/C was all these years.
I was a teenager the first time that I experienced a soundstage through a stereo system although I must admit that I was under the influence of cannabis. I really enjoyed how the high accentuated my hearing ability but I quickly grew out of this smoking phase in my life. I eventually got a job, I bought a car, and had a sound system installed in it.
I followed what members of an online mobile audio forum were doing by installing SEAS or Scanspeak/Vifa drivers into the vehicle. That’s how I was introduced to high end audio and that’s when I realized that this hobby is the gateway into experiencing an audio high without being high. I chased that high ever since.
Most of us in this hobby can relate to the chase for better sound but the chase recently came to a conclusion for me. I’ve finally reached that sonic high that I’ve been chasing and the ODAM helped get me there.
The ODAM couldn’t achieve so much alone. It allows my Pass XA25 and the JCAT FEMTO USB card to shine. The ODAM is the closest thing to no capacitor. It imparts no tonal coloration whatsoever. There is no limitation to sound stage width and depth other than what your system is capable of.
So much has already been said about the ODAM and it’s posted on the VCap website. I encourage you to have a look. Those comments are spot-on.
So I'm reading the above "post" thinking its written by c_avila1, whatever that is, until way at the end the last paragraph throws the whole thing into question.
What is this? Is the whole thing a cut and paste job? Who wrote this? Who is c_avila1? The whole thing in its entirety reads like a shameless shill's blurb. Who wrote what???
I very interested in this modification. I have an old Audience AR6 with 3 outlets. I have opened the unit before but I'm not clear on the installation of these caps from your description. Wondering if you have any photos of the caps installed showing the locations. Thank you for your review of the ODAM caps and hope to hear from you. Geri
I’ll have to take pictures of the ODAM in my conditioner the next time that I open it which may happen soon if I purchase a syringe of PPT Total Contact.
The leads for the ODAM were not trimmed. I folded the leads back onto itself and lightly twisted them to create a larger gauge that helped the receptacles clamp onto them.
Make sure that the receptacles can be removed from your conditioner. You may need a torx screwdriver to remove the center screws from the rear of the unit.
I can help you perform this upgrade if you live in Southern California. You should consider upgrading the 3 receptacles also. My conditioner has a Furutech GTX-D NCF, a Cardas, and a SR Blue receptacle. All 3 of these receptacles are much, much better than the stock receptacles. The Furutech NCF IEC inlet was another big upgrade as well.
Perfect! I'm in Los Angeles and I don't mind a short weekend drive to help you out.
Open the unit to make note of the capacitor values and take pictures. Try loosening the outermost receptacle to make sure that it's not permanently fixed in place.
I recommend that you upgrade the receptacles as well. If you are interested, send an email to your retailer of choice and ask if you're able to return the receptacles in the event that we're not able to perform the modification. We can also install them into your walls if you haven't already upgraded any receptacles.
If I can get an email address I'll send you a quick video of the inside of my AR6. The capacitors are all booted in a black wrap so the values of the capacitors aren't readily available without cutting the wrap off. I'm not sure from what I've read above if you simply added capacitors in parallel with the existing capacitors or replaced all of the caps in the unit with ODAM VCaps? Phone is 760-473-0563
Ok.. So I got my ODAMs. Chris was super prompt in mailing it out and extremely responsive via email.
My initial thought was to replace the interstage coupling caps (currently Jupiter Copper Foil Wax) but instead I decided to use it in my speaker (Maggies 1.6QR Serial Crossover) bypassing my bulk cap to tweeter (Sonicaps Gen 1)
Before I continue - here's my current system description in short. ES9018 TwistedPear with LL1544A at the output, Custom single stage no feedback JFET Preamp, Jupiter Caps, NCore 122MP, Maggies 1.6QR with 2 x SVS SB12 Plus. Source is Mac Mini with BitPerfect. All interconnect are Belden 8402s and Speaker Wire is 16AWG Duelund, This is my current reference
I had multiple Preamps (opamp based, BJT based, tubes SRPP, tubes anode follower etc), Amps (rotels, ICEPower, various D and AB, IRS2092S based etc), DACs (AK4396, AK4399, AK4490, ES9018K2M, ES9038Q2M, WM8740, AD1865 etc) and Spekers (various Def Techs, B&W 684, Chane, Strada, various Maggies including 1.7, mini etc) before this
Tubes wise - I have tried many buffers and preamps with EH 6922, 6N23P, JJ ECC99, 6N6P gold etc). Found 6N6P very good in SRPP but finally replaced with with JFET biased to give nearly a pure 2HD at -75db.
OPAMPs wise I think I tried over 20 opamps as preamps and I couldn't stand any one of them in the path. They all flattened the stage. The only one that I could live with was the venerable NE5322
Caps wise - After a lot of experimentation (too many caps to name here) - I settled on Sonicap for bulk caps and for bypasses I used Mundorf SIO and Jupiters for interstage. Duelund Cu Sn did float my boat, I know @grannyring, @alexburger etc prefer Duelund Cu Sn bypass to Jupiters in preamps but it did not appeal to me
With all these experiments spanning over nearly 2 decades, I could not beat my LP or even my tapes. Each of those media had an enduring quality. Tapes had fantastic PRAT and were absolutely non-fatiguing and my LP player had highs to die for
Digital was always better in terms of resolution, bass, blend, balance but 3 huge problems
1. The string instruments never sounded real. Tapes with all the noise reproduced string instruments really well 2. Kick drums were always muddled and the hi hats sounded like garbage bags and crash cymbals were painful 3. There were holes in the soundstage - frequency holes and spatial holes
In the quest to be in audio nirvana - I ordered ODAMs since I had read so much about them. Like it is said "You had me at hello" - I was smitten the moment I used it in my speakers as bypasses (0.47uf)
What can I say - they were crazy good out of the box like no cap I had heard before. They got the timbre right (better than Jupiter and Duelund Cu Sn in speakers). Strings sounded real. Drums (FINALLY!) were authentic. Crash cymbals did not sizzle or warble in complex passages, Instruments did not climb over each other chaotically. There was a separation that I had not heard before.
The biggest strengths were
1. Palpable Bass - Not the DJ thumping bass, but the bass of the cello, low register of the piano. They were all felt. The board of the grand piano could be felt. The wood resonance was heard 2. Snap - Skin of the snare drum snapping, the finger or the pick plucking the string. Some call it first attack of the note 3. Depth and Separation - Wide and enveloping (laterally beside my ears) and depth that doesn't seem to end 4. Realism - Being right there is not the word. That is impossible but I would say witnessing it first hand. Seems like I am hearing it through the monitor speakers on stage
Now - couple of cautionary words
1. Break In - There caps come broken in a funny way. They are broken in just enough for one to get smitten at the first listen and then it is a long road downhill after about 2-5 hours of an exhibition. I mean long! 200+ hours. During that time - there are windows of supreme clarity. A tease of what is to come. I still feel there is more to go based on the windows I witnessed.
2. Very revealing of components. I have to tell you this - do not try ODAMs in systems that are not up to the mark. The flaws of every downstream component will be revealed
3. If you like details - this is not the ultimate word in that department. The high are all there and the details are in spades but all this bass and midrange will drown some of the shimmer. If you like that insane amount of detail (I usually get bored or sleepy that that "HF fuzz") - go to CuTF. I haven't fully tested that cap out but it is transparent to point of fault I think. Just my 2 cents. Maybe I need to break in the CuTF a bit more
Lastly - a direct comparison to Jupiter, Mundorf SIO, Duelund Cu Sn in speakers
1. ODAMs are better in every department except the very high of highs which I always tell people is not real music if present. It's like an bright needle on an LP. Some of us want a bit of that in our music to drown out ambient noise in the house - ODAMs will not give you that artificial high. Mundorfs (specifically SIO and SGIO supreme) give that that
2. Jupiters are more musical on first listen. You have swap ODAMs and Jupiters to see that musically is derived at the expense of detail. ODAM have far more details
3. Duelund - yes - they are good. But they are very un-involving. ODAMs are seductive. Details wise both are equal
To me - ODAMs are the best I have heard so far. They brought my digital sources to a level above tapes and LP. That is saying a lot!! In my 20 years - this was one of those OMG moments when I first heard them
Next step - replace the interstage with ODAM and then bypass them with CuTF. Will report on it after a month or so
For now - I say ODAMs as bypassed in speakers are awesome!!
Nearly 400 hours in and the ODAMs have stabilized. Huge open soundstage consistently
Now the kicker - Vcap CuTF bypass that I thought was over the top first is simply magical now. In short - doesn't matter what your bulk caps are (mine are Sonicap Gen 1) - when bypassed with ODAM and CuTF - the combo is speakers is to die for! CuTF simply makes the ODAM sound better. It does not alter the strengths of ODAM but makes every aspect of it shine
I have not yet changed the Jupiter in my interstage but I am scared to. I don't know why but I cannot imagine anything more than this. I ll get to it but right now I am enjoying this. Every song is new
Lesson learned.
1. Burn in baby - burn in. Do not judge before that. 350+ hours. Minimum! Otherwise it depends on the day. Don't forget to give the caps a rest during the burn in. 12 hours in - 12 hours out
2. Any harmonics over 3HD now can be easily heard. 4HD in any quantity causes the crispness to show. Higher the 4th - crisper the sound. 5th + causes the soundstage to get congested and diffused. All this wasn't so apparent with the earlier caps - with these caps - you can quite easily hear effect of any harmonics over -100db.
Right after my last post - I created an alternate signal path in my preamp to couple using ODAM bypassed with CuTF. While that path powered the sub and burned in - I continued to listen via the Jupiter Copper (not bypassed). I wanted to get a good feel for the sound over a period of time before I switched over to ODAM to compare
About a month ago - I started to switch back between Jupiter and ODAM (bypassed with CuTF) and although initially I preferred Jupiter on every switch - I felt it was because CuTF was not burnt in.
Fast forward to now. CuTF burnt in. And OMG - 450+ hours. Very - I mean very painful burn in. But it was so worth the wait. This combo has clearly exceeded the Jupiters. The stage is literally holographic. It make is so easy to discern the stage. Music reaches out to you - you do not have to lean in. Instruments had a realism before but now - one doesn't need to put an effort to discern them. Singular phrase to describe it would be "effortless" - for the listener. Long periods of mediation are possible without falling asleep. Even levels as low as -65db are loud enough to focus and drown ambient noise and conversations in the house
One things to note however. Not sure if this is mood dependent, temperature/humidity dependent - but on certain days - the music is ethereal and is quadraphonic ! Not everyday and seems like the number of days when it is this is true is on the rise. CuTF still burning in? Possibly but I am not quite sure. It is not something that everyone will like but it is very interesting.
My audiophile tinkering as come to a dead halt for now.
Oh.. lastly - for those using iTunes, Audnirvana, Room, BitPerfect, Tidal etc - Amazon Music HD streaming through Airport Express Gen II is plenty to blow your brains. Even Ultra HD (192/24) downsampled to 44/16 by the iPhone over airplay is amazing. No more Mac Mini with lossless audio etc. Try it
Atma-Sphere, Ralph Karsten has installed Vcaps in much of my systems. I had a UV-1 serial number 002 I regret selling that had ODAM in. Today I picked up my PAS 2 that he modified and used ODAM in. And I will say I do love the ODAM caps. My MP3 has Vcaps, MA-1 vcaps.... I love vcaps.... Most are not the ODAM line. But I am seeing that they are a very special capacitor in every way. For the price I don’t think you can come close to the transparency and details they deliver. Thanks again to Ralph and the. Atma-Sphere team.
@qauntumpot Thanks for posting such a detailed review with follow-ups. I have not applied CuTF decoupling caps to the ODAM in my system, but I plan to sooner or later.
@gunhold and I spoke on the phone earlier in the year to discuss how I approached the conditioner mod. A couple of weeks later, he called me back and said that he upgraded the receptacles and caps at the same time. The mods made a vast improvement to his system, and I knew they would. He sent me a photo of the project and a short clip of the completed conditioner. His DIY skills are fantastic and looked as though Audience themselves performed the work.
I experimented with the orientation of the capacitors in the conditioner. Caps perform their best when AC enters the capacitor from the inner foil and exits the outer foil. The opposite is true when used as coupling caps in the signal path. The soundstage shrinks and everything condenses to the center when the caps are incorrectly installed in the conditioner, so mind the outer foil.
I’m going to digress a bit here: if you think that the ODAM and receptacle upgrades are terrific, wait until you install an Akiko Audio Harmonizer Unit into the conditioner. It’s a grounding component that you connect directly to the IEC ground. It’s that simple to take your system to the next level and beyond.
I swapped the Odams in my 45 SET Wednesday (Thanks for the help Ciro). I knew I'd be in for a long break-in... Went through some pain with the Duelunds in my DAC. I wanted my "old" DAC back. Odams sounded pretty pretty good out the gate, with a wonderful clarity. Now, not so much. Soundstage has done some collapsing and even some noticeable grain on some tracks. About 30 hours in thus far.
@jmolsberg Clarity is an adjective that I would use to describe the ODAM but never grainy. These caps might be revealing other weaknesses in your system. You might get better synergy if you switch to warmer tubes that don't reveal as much detail.
Also, point the speakers straight forward and then slowly begin adjusting the speakers inward as you listen to correct the soundstage problem. Your speakers maybe pointing inward too much.
I have around 70 hours in and the soundstage has certainly blossomed. I did have a bad tube in my AM Tubadour dac which was the cause of my "grain." I am resisting rolling tubes until i have 150+ hours on the caps. The ODAMs offer a much higher level of fidelity than the replaced ElectroCube Mylar capacitors. It does take some time to get your head around what you are hearing or not hearing.
update at 150 hours the v-cap odams are liquid. just wonderful and smooth as silk. the bass energy is tremendous! very pleased with the coupling cap change (:
The Odam caps have nearly 400 house and they are just wonderful! Beautiful flow and tone. Noise floor is non-existent. They did not change the sonic signature of the amplifier just a better version, which was the goal.
Just bought a matched pair of V-Cap ODAM 0.22uF on Hificollective. I measured them using my LCR meter DE-5000. These two capacitors have very different APO On high frequencies.
The first capacitor has: 100KHz - APO=0.015 10KHz - APO=0.000 1KHz - APO=0.000 100Hz - APO=0.000
The second capacitor has: 100KHz - APO=0.129 10KHz - APO=0.013 1KHz - APO=0.001 100Hz - APO=0.000
Looks like a bad quality control. Isn’t it? It looks like the second capacitor has high parasitic inductance. I already installed these capacitors to my amplifier.
Should I contact to V-cap or Hificollective and ask them for replacement?
I installed ODAM 0.22uF into my 300B SET between drivers 6F6G in triode mode and 300B. ODAM are bypassed by Duelund Cu-Sn 0.01uF bypass capacitors. I used Duelund Custom Cu before ODAM on this position. I used the same Duelund Cu-Sn 0.01uF bypass capacitors with Duelund Custom Cu before. Before installation I had run ODAM in Frybaby2 during 50 hours. ODAM capacitors have around 6 hour (of music and Frybaby2 noise) in my amp. The sound so far is dark and not as resolved and transparent in midrange like it was with Duelund Custom Cu. Soundstage and bass are OK but not better than were before. So, I continue to break in V-Cap ODAM inside my amplifier. I will report you about changes in sound.
I decided to send my pair of V-cap ODAM capacitors back to Hificollective for replacement. One capacitor has a perfect measurements, but other one has internal parasitic impedance 1Ohm that cause a very high active to reactive impedance ratio on high frequencies. Probably, this defect of one capacitor caused dullness of sound.
@alexberger Please keep us updated regarding the replacement cap.
There's a possibility that I may upgrade my DAC in the near future. If I decide to keep my current DAC, I will upgrade the 20uF cap in the PS to two 10uF ODAM caps in parallel. Let's see what happens.
After discussion with @zipost, I decided to go to V-Cap CuTF 0.22uF 600 volt capacitor I was waiting a parcel arrived for almost a month. My integrated amp has 3 stages of amplification: 6sn7-6f6g-300B. There is Duelund Custom Cu 0.1uF between 6sn7 and 6f6g. I used Duelund Custom Cu 0.22uF bypassed by Duelund Silver 0.01uF between 6f6 and 300B. I installed V-Cap CuTF instead of Duelund Cu 0.22uf - Silver 0.01uF combination.
The sound from scratch was very nice. Actually it was very close to Duelund combination but a little bit more smooth and with no smearing sibilants on vocals.
But after 6 hour of listening music sound is getting less organic. So as I understand break in period will be very long. I will write how the sound will change.
I’ve been gradually upgrading the caps in my system to V-cap ODAMs, and have been amazed by the resulting improvements, but up until now I haven’t written much about them because I haven’t had first-rate competitor caps to compare them with.
That changed recently when V-cap introduced their new Tone cap line: (which I believe is essentially a low value ODAM marketed for guitar use).
The new caps allowed me to directly compare V-cap ODAMs with the much vaunted 0.01uf Duelund tinned-copper bypass cap that I’ve been using as thefirst coupling cap in my Brook 12A power amp (a push-pull 2A3 with ODAMs or glass capacitors in every other position).
I wired a switch into the Brook to allow rapid switching between the two capacitors - both so that I could get a good handle on the differences, and because I hoped to use the switch as a crude tone control.
The difference is not subtle. The Duelund IS very musical and has a nice Gestalt. It has a dark cast, and portrays the separate musical strands in a pleasing, undemanding way - somewhat undifferentiated but integrated very organically. The perspective is mid hall. The separate acoustics of multi-tracked recordings are not very apparent and everything coheres nicely.
Switching to the Tone cap, there is more “light” all-around (a slightly tipped-up frequency response relative to the Duelund?). The perspective is more nearly front row. Everything sounds bigger - even though I am listening in mono - and tone colors are more vivid. One can hear deeper into quiet passages and it becomes apparent, on repeated switching, that the Duelund’s impose low level noise (a sort of grayness) that obscures fine detail. This isn’t always an entirely bad thing however, in that sometimes it is nice to not be too aware, for example, of the separate strands of a multitrack recording. The Duelund is also easier to listen to with divided attention, like a really good radio. The Tone capped version by contrast, is intense, immersive, and almost hallucinatory in its effect on the listener. It cannot be listened to casually. I do sometimes find myself distracted by an awareness of the separate recording atmospheres in a mix with the Tone cap, but the extra color and vitality, the lucidity and the enhanced sense of being there, outweigh this slight drawback.
This is with ODAMs in every other position in the Brook amp - and a growing number up and down stream as well. Also with Duelund tinned wire throughout (both signal and power).
For me, the V-cap Tone cap is the clear winner, and I have trouble leaving the switch in the Duelund position.
It should be noted that there is a new version of the Duelund tinned-copper bypass that the Humble HiFi guy says is substantially better than the earlier one I’ve listened to. Given how dramatically the Tone-cap bests the older Duelund however, I’m not going to bother trying the newer variant.
Update: I’m afraid I misspoke. Chris infrorms me that the Tone capacitors are not low-value ODAMs, but another design entirely that just shares the same case. He did say that others have also used them as coupling caps to good effect. Whatever their design they sound amazing, and beautifully complement the ODAM line. Pure speculation here, but I suspect that, given their original (guitar, guitar/amp) target, they favor Tone over imaging and the like. They certainly reproduce vivid tone colors that nicely complement the main strength of my Spendor BC-1 speakers - their timbral accuracy.
Also should have added that all these capacitors have painfully long break-in times (many hundreds of hours), and can sound quite constricted and artificial during run-in. Well worth the wait however!
I have used the ODAMs in set of crossovers, a phono pre, and a preamp. The preamp is setup with binding posts so cap rolling is an easy affair on the power supply filter caps and the output coupling caps. So, I can easily compare different caps in those positions. I can say with confidence that the ODAM is my favorite.
And, OP, you are not embellishing things with your view--they really do bring the best out. What they do is just amazing. I cannot put it into words. I think the ODAM is deserved of being considered the same as buying a reference or gold standard piece of gear. Yes, they are that good.
I have found several things not accurate.ito me The Jupiter Copper foil are very musical deeper tones image density vs the Odams , the Odams better resolution I solved the problem VH audio top CU Copper foil Teflon mix 2% VH audio with the Jupiter it brings out a A lot of information and much better then the Odam , but are $$ expensive and Big it’s agreat combo My favorite to date and I have used these in preamp sections as well as Xovers.
We manufacturer and upgrade components now using all ODAM capacitors. They do what most say they do. BUT there is more to upgrading with ODAMs that can improve your sound quality. For example, AC filter chokes, Audio Note/Nichicon power capacitors, Audio Note, Amtrans, Takman resistors. All these can impact soundstage, clarity, separation of vocals/instruments, bass definition, high frequency extension, etc.
I use ODAMs in my speakers and have used in a Pass Preamp in the past. They are truly fantastic cap. They are really spectacular in a Xover. And will bring out the best of most any speakers. Especially horn driven speakers.
Theory says that Teflon dialectics are the best there is. I don't know how, but Chris seems to have defied physics with these capacitors. They are easily the best sounding capacitors I have heard, and I have heard many of the best of the best. If you want to call me a shameless shill, it isn't the case, but I most certainly am a shameless fan.
The vh caps I have used and are pretty good the Pogota dac caps suck
it does prove a quality capacitor and resistor make a nice improvement .
i have been upgrading Loudspeaker components for years.
in Loudspeakers most a lower cost Solen or worse .
copper Foils are better in some respects , but the Odams buy matched to .05%
well worth it .i am helping a guy with his Xseries Borresen speakers ,which in another X speaker made a nice improvement ,they use the mid grade Jantzen.
the Jantzen AluminaZ aluminum foil are very good with top noth Path Audio resistors. VH audio Odams I highly recommend ,in loudspeakers 250v more then enough,they are nice and compact, cases are conductive, ask Chris to put a clear heat shrink on before purchasing them.
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