Orgy of Capacitors: The Cap Thread - Page 9

Just saw your PM, in which you mentioned Wima MKP is the stock cap called for. Have you tried the Wima and not liked it?

If you tried Wima and wanted to change x,y,z, perhaps we can give useful recommendations, especially since I was already planning to put in some Wima MKP's soon for some "real world" sound-check.

Jantzen Superior Z-Cap



Jantzen Audio is a Danish company, and they make three grades of polypropylene capacitors: Z-Cap, Superior Z-Cap, and Silver Z-Cap. I am testing the Superior Z-Cap which, like the Silver Z-Cap, has been wound using a “special machine…so that the capasitors become a very tight reel. This minimizes the inner vibration and keeps microphonic effects as low as possible.” The ends appear sealed with some sort of resin to keep out moisture, a nice touch, and the overall look and feel are definitely a notch or two above the common polypropylene types.

There is a bit of “buzz” about Jantzen capacitors out there, and they certainly did not disappoint. Superior Z-Cap rather reminds me of Dynamicap E, which is one of my favorite polypropylene capacitors. They share a sense of evenness, balance, and coherence, which means nothing is sticking out like a sore thumb to distract you from the music. Superior-Z possesses a very smooth, flowing, mid-hall type of personality with no sense of congealing, bloat, raggedness, or bite, yet it is not lacking in detail resolution, especially when compared to something like Claritycap SA. One of its greatest attributes is the fact it’s difficult to point out things it specifically does “wrong” because it pulls off a great balancing act that serves the music.

Once again, it’s not fair to compare most polypropylene caps to expensive teflons, but the best of both breeds are more than capable of delivering the music. Since cost is always an issue, a top-grade polypropylene is certainly a viable way to go in my opinion.

That's the point. I really don't like an absolute list of "superiority" like that b/c for sombody else, it's perfectly possible for a cheap capacitor low on my list to sound "better" than my favorite caps depending on the specific position, gear, rest of system, and one's tastes. These things really should not be given a concrete score or ranking.

Speaking of which, I've got the Wima MKP 10 630V caps in there now, and heck, one could do a lot worse..

WIMA MKP10 Polypropylene Capacitor



I was absolutely shocked when I received my WIMA MKP10 capacitors. They are HUGE as seen next to same-capacitance AudioCap Theta and Auricap in the picture. This German company supplies a lot of capacitors for many high-end companies, and I have seen many red-colored WIMA capacitors inside components; but I don’t remember them being this large. WIMA MKP10’s claim to fame is their “double-layer” construction:
“The construction principle of the series WIMA MKP 10 consists of a non-metallized dielectric film and an carrier film metallized on both sides acting as electrode. Thanks to the metallization on both sides, the electrical conductivity is considerably improved and the contact surface between the electrodes and the schoopage layer is doubled. This results in better contact and allows for high current and pulse loading capability.”

The reason I am even going into such detail is due to the fact its sound quality easily exceeded my jaded expectations. It sounded quite bright at first, but after settling down, it presented a nicely-detailed, airy, and sexily breathy sound. It perhaps does not have 100% of the refinement and sophistication of Dynamicap E or Jantzen Superior Z, but its slightly more forward and breathy sound is a bit more exciting and ear-grabbing. It’s not overly etched or thin-sounding, either, which you always have to watch out for in cheap metalized poly caps. I have heard some people complain WIMA lacks bass, but this was not true in my case at all, as its bass was just as good as other good poly caps. I don’t know how WIMA’s other caps sound, such as MKP4 and FKP, but the 630V MKP10 is a budget-champ!

AudioCap Theta Polypropylene Film and Tin Foil Capacitor



AudioCap Theta is constructed with polypropylene film and tin foil with gold-plated OFHC leads, and it is very reasonably priced compared to AudioCap PCU, which is polypropylene film and Copper foil and priced accordingly. I have read AudioCap Thetas being described as lean and clinical in the past, and that’s exactly how they sounded in the beginning. However, after proper break-in, these things became extraordinarily rich and warm in tone, without any wooly, syrupy sloppiness. AudioCap Thetas definitely had another notch of detail and resolution in the mid-midrange compared to even the best metallized polypropylene caps, resulting in sumptuously textured and detailed voices; however, the upper-midrange and treble also retained this rich smoothness, which in fact made them sound a touch less open and sparkling compared to metalized poly caps like WIMA.

The longer I listened to AudioCap Theta, I was both more charmed and frustrated at the same time. It’s densitiy of tone and authoritative texturing in the midrange was very tasty, which only highlighted its Achilles’ heel, i.e. somewhat dark and shut-in upper highs compared to the best. Hoping for luck, I tried bypassing the AudioCap Theta with FT-1 Russian teflons 1/10th it’s value. Even though both caps were burned-in, the resulting sound was initially horrid: overly bright, grating, and just amusical.

Knowing these things take time, even with previously used caps, I ran them for some time, and like magic, everything fell into place. The combination was at once rich, textured, and warm, yet with intact high-frequency leading edge detail and sparkle. This casserole of sorts yielded very, very satisfying results, working much better than when I bypassed oil caps with small Teflon caps. I must presume that oil caps and teflon caps are simply too different to gel coherently; combining more similar film caps really hit on something wonderful here.

In fact, to check my own impressions, I put back one of my expensive Teflon references; and I honestly can’t tell you I definitely prefer the teflons. The teflons still have a smidge more see-through transparency and smoother liquidity, but the Theta/teflon combo has more weight and texture behind the notes while not giving up overall resolution and punch. This combo is a definite contender in the right system.