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I must thank “Bob B” and “Les Lemmars” for kindly loaning me these K40y caps. After the usual rocky burn-in ritual, this PIO cap settled into a confident, natural sounding device. There are some audiophiles who rank these PIO caps as the best of the Russian military caps, including the FT-3 and K72 teflon caps. I may agree with this sentiment when it comes to utter naturalness and ease of presentation as well as the lack of a subtle “plastic” sound, which of course all plastic (film) caps have.
Gladly, this PIO cap did not have an overly dark, laid-back sound some people may expect of PIO caps. The important midrange energy was quite forceful and engaging as well as richly harmonic. The rendering of textures was most reminiscent of a good vinyl setup, which is a good thing; and detail resolution was not lacking, either, but the extreme “air” on top was not as beautifully alive as with VCap teflons. Speaking of teflons, the only real reservation I have about K40y is in the bass. The VCap Teflon, K72, FT3, Sonicap Platinum all seem to have a tighter control over basslines with sharper leading edges and snappier decay. K40y’s bass is more woody, richer, but just shy of the vise-grip crunch, so if you’re a death-metal or electronica fan, K40y may not get you to the promised land.
Overall, I really enjoyed the K40y. Its raison d’tere falls squarely in the critical midrange, where tons of texture, bloom, and natural detail anchor the music without that subtle synthetic feel of many other caps. Although the voices aren’t brightly spotlit, there is a magical highlighting and intensification without turning bright.
Dare I dream of oil-impregnated foamed-teflon silver-foil capacitor…?
----------------------------------- Vishay Roederstein MKP-1839 Metalized Polypropylene Capacitor
Audio Circle member “slbender” was kind enough to send me some less-than-exotic caps to evaluate, including the Vishay MKP-1839. His view is that most caps of similar construction, e.g. metallized poly, should sound very similar, no matter the brand or price. This was a good exercise for me because it helped with the “Big Question” that must be lurking in the minds of many audiophiles: are these expensive, exotic capacitors worth it?
Vishay MKP-1839 is the axial version of the more famous Vishay Roederstein MKP1837 (a.k.a. ERO MKP1830), which is touted as a good bypass cap, and represents a well-made, inexpensive metallized poly cap. And as it turns out, it also sounds good as a coupling cap. Upon casual listening from a casual house guest, for example, it is unlikely he will jump up and down and scream, “Put back that other capacitor X ASAP!”
MKP-1839 sounds pretty well-balanced, without obvious peaks or valleys, and pleasant; it is less hard-sounding than, say Solens. In fact, one can only wish manufacturers would use caps like MKP-1839 in their cheaper, generic audio gear. So, why should you pay more for your cap?
The most important difference between MKP and some of the better caps is the weight behind the notes. I’m not talking about bass weight or warmth but the fully fleshed-out, 3-dimensional harmonic energy behind each note, be it in treble, mid, or bass. Lacking this, soprano, chime, flute can sound just 2-dimentional and thin, failing to fully make you believe.
The other significant difference is in dynamics. The MKP doesn’t sound too lacking until you compare to the better caps. A “pop” or “thwack” via MKP sounds like a fighter who is punching to save his neighbor’s life whereas via a better cap, he sounds like he’s punching to save his own life. Similar difference in microdynamics as well; better caps simply let the small nuances and subtleties to bubble to the surface with easier effervescence and life.
I still don’t believe any of this truly answers the question whether exotic caps are worth it because the answer will depend on one’s gear, tastes, resolution level of the system, musical choice, pocketbook status, and simply how crazy you are. Time to enjoy the music, either way, any way…
What values of each? The big question is, does that combo have the ultra-defined, razor-sharp bass of teflon alone?
This is on my new Bijou. In its standard confiuration it has 470uf electrolytic output caps bypassed by 1uf polypropylene caps. I have installed 0.1uf K40 and 0.01uf FT-1 caps in parallel with the poly cap.
I previously had the 1uf poly cap paralleled with a .22uf K75 russian cap. While the bass was very nice, the highs were lacking.
With the current combination, I feel that the bass might be lacking a little in punch rather than range, but the highs extend to the sky and are crystal clear.
This weekend I will replace the 1uf polypropylene caps with some 1uf K40 and parallel those with the same 0.1uf K40 and 0.01uf FT-1 caps. I'll report back after I do this.
UPDATE:
The 1uf K40, 0.1uf K40, 0.01uf FT-1 parallel combination sounds really nice (to my ears, of course). No missing bottom end, and mids and highs all seem present and accounted for. I'll see how this combination goes over the next week or so.
Last edited by fordgtlover; 06-14-2008 at 02:42 AM.
Most of my favorite budget caps were tested in the diyaudio Tripath Input Coupling Cap thread, where I donated some lesser known caps. I can donate my favorite Epcos MKV B25834 oil caps (3.3uf), but the only stock available is from Germany. I wonder if it's a good idea to test caps that aren't readily available, but if there is interest, I'll pass them on. If people are willing to pay V-Cap prices, then getting these shipped from Germany isn't all that expensive in comparison. Let me know.
great work Jon L, this thread made me bought some FT-3 teflons.... and they are indeed really good. A couple of questions though:
* how long do these FT3 teflons take to burn-in?
* How do these "rather inexpensive" teflons compare with similar priced caps, such as Mundorf Silver/Oil and Silver/Gold?
(the current FT3 price on ebay is $8/0.22uf after shipping, so about $40/uf. Mundorf Silver/oil is roughly $50, pretty close).
* how long do these FT3 teflons take to burn-in?
* How do these "rather inexpensive" teflons compare with similar priced caps, such as Mundorf Silver/Oil and Silver/Gold?
(the current FT3 price on ebay is $8/0.22uf after shipping, so about $40/uf. Mundorf Silver/oil is roughly $50, pretty close).
It's hard to give an exact number of hours, but I would say listen to them for at least a couple of weeks before deciding. As far as whether FT3 is as good as Mundorf's, all I can say after all these months is that they all sound differently excellnet.
That's not the end, though, since I now have some more interesting caps to test, including Epcos polypropylene in oil, Dynamicap, liquid-teflon injected Russian K72 caps, Penta Labs teflon caps, etc. More to be posted in the coming weeks
Linear Mode
