Orgy of Capacitors: The Cap Thread

[KoKoKrunch]

Please do post the reviews on Gold/Silver, I'm currently considering between SIO or Gold/Silver, it'll be a great help!

[Rico67]

Could you speak about voltage and value to choose a good cap to put in the signal path ?

Nobody ???

[Nick 214]

I like the Priority Mail "isolation deck" it's a nice touch

NK

[Jon L]

Originally Posted by Rico67

Could you speak about voltage and value to choose a good cap to put in the signal path ?

Nobody ???

Hmm. Your question doesn't really make much sense. Usually you have stock caps with certain voltage and uF rating, which you will replace with same (or similar) value cap.

BTW. My next reports are likely to be slower in coming b/c essentially the two amps I've been experimenting with sound damn good right now with the cap choices. I fear I can only make the sound worse with more cap substitutions. I will do exactly that at some point, but I'm trying not to fix what isn't broken for now

[Rico67]

choose Voltage and uf rating have a sense.
but as you say, there are a lot of value for stock caps wich depend of the trade.
so, my question was to choose the best compromise between values and trade.

[Jon L]

Mundorf Silver/Gold Capacitor



Mostly I have been comparing the Mundorf Silver/Gold with VCap Teflons, and this has been a tough one to get a handle on.

This may be a good time to concede that above a certain level, various great capacitors are not particularly "better," but rather akin to looking at the same object under subtly different lighting conditions and vantage points. VCap Teflons and Mundorf Silver/Gold share many sound qaulities, especially jet-black, noise-free background from which subtlest details seem to naturally emerge. Presentation of both are so natural and non-attention-seeking that both may come across as bland or boring when compared to certain capacitors with stronger personalities.

Long-term living with the caps, however, confirms the greatness of both caps b/c music remains inviting, refined, and eminently enjoyable, as opposed to fatiguing, wearing thin, and distracting.

Since audiophiles tend to obsess over the last 5-10% of differences, I will mention that Silver/Gold has a bit richer presentation from top-to-bottom with a bit creamier textures and a bit closer imaging. As one can imagine from this description, Silver/Gold doesn't *quite* seem to be as Nth-degree clean as VCaps but renders more proportion of recordings more tasty.

I do not believe detail resolution is any less than VCaps, but a tiny bit more harmonic "bloom" over the notes makes music both sexier and less pellucid at the same time. Some people will absolutely love this quality and call Silver/Gold much "better" than VCaps while others will absolutely declare VCaps to be the better cap for the same reasons. To throw more wrench into the equation, the optimal tube set for one cap is NOT the best set for the other cap and vice versa. Such is life.

I am also unable to directly compare Mundorf Silver/Gold to Mundorf Silver/Oil at this time due to my system configuration, but my preliminary sense is that the two are not all that different sounding, though the small amount of gold compound mixed with silver does seem to add just a wee bit extra harmonic richness and warmth. To be continued.

[takezo]

...I am also unable to directly compare Mundorf Silver/Gold to Mundorf Silver at this time due to my system configuration, but my preliminary sense is that the two are not all that different sounding, though the small amount of gold compound mixed with silver does seem to add just a wee bit extra harmonic richness and warmth. To be continued.

this is a fantastic read, thank you for sharing it with us. btw, can you give
more specific set up info.? like which amp and where the caps were implemented. thanks.


second question, Jon L...compared to the mundorf silver in oil does the silver/gold
lean one way or the other, or are they both relatively "neutral" in respect to
the audible spectrum? i've read somewhere that users of the silver/gold
experienced slightly better HF retrieval at the cost of the lower freqs...but
i should add that the other comparison was done on speakers. am interested
to know if you share this conclusion.

[Jon L]

Originally Posted by takezo

this is a fantastic read, thank you for sharing it with us. btw, can you give
more specific set up info.? like which amp and where the caps were implemented. thanks.


second question, Jon L...compared to the mundorf silver in oil does the silver/gold
lean one way or the other, or are they both relatively "neutral" in respect to
the audible spectrum? i've read somewhere that users of the silver/gold
experienced slightly better HF retrieval at the cost of the lower freqs...but
i should add that the other comparison was done on speakers. am interested
to know if you share this conclusion.

I added some more system info in the first post:

"Mostly I am comparing these in coupling capacitor duty in a couple of amps, Almarro A205a MkII and Bottlehead Paramour I. Both amps are used to drive my headphones and speakers, mainly Headphile modded Sennheiser HE60 electrostats (via SRD7 MkII), AKG K1000, and my custom speakers (picture link here http://www.audiocircle.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=349&pos=2)."

Again, I haven't done detailed comparison of Silver/Gold vs. Silver Mundorfs, but I can tell you Silver/Gold has *VERY* authoritative bass quality and quantity!

All the caps I report to admire are *close enough* neutral with none that can be proven to be absolutely neutral b/c of system/personal preferences and expectations if you know what I mean.

I still have other caps I need to try, namely Sonicap Platinum caps and Relcap polystyrenes. But first let me enjoy some music for awhile

[Luminette]

nice, finally, some comparative impressions of the mundorf gold/silver's! Thanks Considering using these over v-caps for my (trans)portable cap dock in use with an iMod

[Jon L]

Every time I change something significant in my system, I try to go through my tube collection again so that I don't miss out on that "Magic combination."

It turns out Mundorf Silver/Gold LOVES Ei EL84, which I previously thought was very "nice" but not as synergistic as some other tubes, esp. Russian NOS 6pi14pi-EB, which I also preferred as more transparent than Amperex, Telefunken, Valvo, Mullard, etc.

Well, Ei EL84 just sounds impossibly transcendental with Mundorf Silver/Gold in the amp. The highs and midrange just opens up with refined sparkle that's not smoothed-over at all, which is my kind of sound. This combo far and away is the vest best my Almarro has sounded

[dud-maestro]

Congratulations for an excellent overview of the various caps. I would appreciate very much if you could detail how you connect the caps and resistor for burning-in and the "value" of the resistor used. Can you also include electrolytic caps in the "circuit" ?

As a newbie to audio forums (this is my first post), I am frequently amused by the rude, biased or prejudiced comments of some loud-mouthed, self-annointed "experts" who riducule the views of others. To them I say - we can do without morons like you ! You can argue till the cows come home but ultimately the sound will depend on the entire system's components and personal taste. A system is as good as it's weakest link ! On the other hand, I am heartened by the large number of genuine helpful contributors.


Cheers

[Jon L]

Mundorf Zn Capacitor



After a long love affair with Mundorf Silver/Oil, circumstances forced my hand to try the Mundorf Zn Tin Foil capacitor.

Some well-respected modders recommend the Mundorf Zn as one of the "most neutral" cap out there, regardless of cost, including Allen Wright of VSE (Vacuum State Electronics) fame.

Considering the Mundorf Zn costs less than 1/6th of their top-of-range silver/gold & oil, I was hoping this cap would turn out to be the giant-killer that saves our day and pocketbooks.

The good news. This cap has incredible "low-loss" sound. One gets the impression every little detail comes through and that musical speed does not get impeded. Bass is taught, punchy, and treble extension soars; midrange seems linear. Its sound signature is what many audiophiles would think of when words like "neutral, detailed, honest, etc" are used, and they would be right, uh..sort of.

The bad news. Compared to an exquisite cap like Mundorf silver/oil, what is not coming through as well is the harmonic beauty of the music, the "soul" if you will: overtones upon overtones gently bubbling to the surface as the singer sings the words and the trumpet makes those aching notes.

In addition, each instrument/voice does not seem as developed 3-D wise. Through Zn, they seem more 2-dimensional and "flat." Combined with its more dry (less bloomy) presentation, there is less involvement.

So I have mixed feelings about Mundorf Zn. Its sound is technically superior and "uncolored," an order of magnitude better than pretty much any other "cheap" cap you can buy. If I were designing/building a transparent preamp, I can see using the Zn in many places, judiciously mixing them with tube magic elsewhere to come out with supreme results. If you have a preamp/amp that's more dry and matter-of-fact to begin with, I would advise against the Zn.

Actually, I think the Zn may lend itself incredibly well as bypass caps in speaker crossovers due to its qualities. I'll get to that eventually.

[Pars]

Nice and useful writeup so far. Any plans on testing Dynamicaps? That is what I still think I will use for coupling caps in my Counterpoint pre...

[johnsonad]

OP any plans to try the new Gold/Silver/Oil caps? They are much more expensive but advertised as the best they have ever made

[Jon L]

Originally Posted by johnsonad

OP any plans to try the new Gold/Silver/Oil caps? They are much more expensive but advertised as the best they have ever made

Hey, my funds are not limitless! I may have to sell some of my more expensive caps off before buying even more expensive caps All this just to "try"...

If anyone wants to loan me some caps to test then return, I'm all for it

Having said that, I really want to get to the Sonicap Platinums sitting on my floor soon, as well as Relcap RT's...