Cary SLP-98 -- Do Oil Caps make a Difference?

They absolutely improve your preamp. I heard them both and the one with oil caps was more musical, transparent and has more details also.

Ok, Linnlp doesn't like the oil caps. Nickt likes them. I did a search of the archives and didn't find much. One guy tried lots of caps and settled on the TNT Teflons as the best by a long shot.

Since Cary likes to tweak their stuff, I don't know why they offer such few options.

Here is my take after experiment them in my gears:
If you like extreme detailed sound then go with exotic teflons. If you like musical and smooth transition sound then go with oil caps. The teflonss will be more crisp if that's what you're looking for. I use the vintage sprague oil caps because they're cheaper. Supposely the more expensive teflons can provide both but I won't spend a fortune to replace more than 2 dozen of them in my preamp. You're talking about $60 vs over $800.

I recommend the SoniCap Platinum, a teflon-alloy tin-foil-and-film cap. It's very detailed, clean, smooth, and tonally neutral, perhaps as good as money can buy, and they're less expensive than the V-Cap TFTFs. Another cap VERY close to the SCP is the Cardas Golden Ratio. Same characteristics, just 98% of the SCPs, and for 30 - 50% of the price.

Speaking of 2-dozen caps, my ASL Hurricanes each use a pair in the 1st postion and 8 in the 2nd position. I replaced them with SCPs and CGRs, respectively. I'm more a tin-eared audiofool than a GEA, but it sure sounds better to me.

If any of you paper-in-oil fans would like the 20 0.22/600 PIOs I removed from my 'Canes, for the price of shipping, e-mail me at jeffreybehr(at)cox(dot)net.
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