Orgy of Capacitors: The Cap Thread - Page 22

Thanks for the reply Jon. What would you suggest for a similar sounding combo that has better PRAT?

 

I am looking at values of 3.3uf 250volts, but with limited space in the chassis.
 

 

Thanks Jon, I decided to go with the K75-10 bypassed with the FT1s first, afterall they are cheap, so it would not hurt to try out that combo. Will try what you recommended me if I feel that K75-10 combo is too slow for me.

 

 

Funny I don't find the K75-10/FT1 combo slow at all and I'm using planar magnetic/ribbon speakers which tend to expose any and all flaws upstream without exception. That combination takes a bloody long time to burn in however, many hundreds of hours before they settle for good. The combination will sound weird at times for a long time, have patience during this period.....when they finally settle though ...the combo sounds terrific (especially with tube gear). For the cost it's the best bang for buck combo going IMHO ...I much prefer them to CD or Sprague Vit Q (vintage stuff) but that's just me.

 

All Mundorf caps are made in Germany...the lower cost MKP series (white casing with red lettering) is one of the most counterfeited caps in the Far East (for good reason). The knock offs do not sound anything like the real deal unfortunately.

 

What gear are you using flu_fighter ?

 

Peete.

 

I'm using the Eastern Electric Minimax Dac ---> Schiit Lyr ----> LCD2.

 

I am going to try out the K75-10/TF1 combo for the tube coupling cabs for the Eastern Electric Minimax dac
 

 

That should work very well......try and measure if any DC offset is present at the DAC's outputs (before and after the cap swap). If it's very low (less than 5 mV) then no need to worry but if it's high (greater than 8 mV) you may need to add bleeder resistors (use very HQ slit foil types for this application). I know a lot of folks do not believe shunt resistors have a sonic effect but in my experience they absolutely have an impact if of course you have to tame some DC offset. It's best not to add stuff when it is not needed...less is more in some instances.

 

Peete.

 

 

Thanks Peete, finally got my caps and had them installed in my dac. Pre-burn in impressions: I'd say this combo does kinda make my dac sound sorta close to vinyl, but they still sound kinda rough around the edges. Still needs a lot of burn in. 

 

What's the burn in time like? Ballpark figure?

 

 

You hit on something that has had me curious: just exactly what is recommended for optimizing (increasing, refining, deepening) bass in the uF value adjustment for coupling caps?  Is there a rule-of-thumb? ....like doubling the capacitance of the original cap, ....for a .22uF, bump it up to .47uF ??  Can this also cause problems, like a frequency shift at the top end?  For an amp, is there a situation when this is ill advised?  Please elaborate. Thanks.

 

Alright this seems more of a crossover cap discussion but i think some of the equations might help with power supply filtering.  I have a hard time ordering stuff online(no credit card) so im stuck with Radioshack but im not one of those audiophiles that worries about 1%.  How much capacitance should i use for a cMoy(for now) pushing either headphones from 32-55 ohm with 25.4 volts full wave rectified transformer.  I think the easiest way to figure this out would be using a low pass calculator, i guess im aiming for 12 DB at 30Khz which would be enough filtering to not mess up anything important.  Im wondering what values i should enter for ohms on the calculator, im guessing the lowest load the amp will push.

Thanks and i understand i should be using a chip based power circuit put again im limited to radioshack.

Jon

Great review a big commitment of time and energy.

 Your common sense approach is very refreshing in these tech spec times we live in.

 in your review i did not notice the uf values of the Bypass caps you used

0.33uf ? or larger

What percentage were the bypass caps? were they a percentage of the caps they were bypassing?

When you mentioned Solens that was  usal choice for bypass with Mundorf Silver Oils

What series of Solens they make 3 or more series  PPExx 630 v series?  

Thanks again for your good honest work

   

Dr B.

Hey Dr. B - Just plugged back into this thread to see if there was any new stuff. Fascinating topic! IMO and experience, as far as bypass caps, its a real c(r)ap shoot! I have used Mundorf silver/oils as bypass on my speakers with very good results when bypassing Ampohm paper/oils but not good with Obbligatto's. As far as the value, I dont think it really matters. The main thing is that the bypass cap is a 'small value' compared to the cap it is bypassing. I would try small (cheaper) values first. Good luck! I think the bottom line is dont bypass unless you hear a distinct improvement. It could do more harm than good.

Jon L,

 

Not sure if you are still following this thread.

 

I am a little curious about bypass caps.  I notice that you have used polypropolene caps and teflon caps as bypass caps, but haven't used polystyrene caps that I am aware of.  Any reason why styrene caps would be a good choice?  They would seem like a nice in-between choice that might blend well with certain caps.

 

I have also seen you write that you only bypass a cap when you are not happy with its performance.  Last I knew, you're favorite coupling cap were V-cap teflon.  Do you prefer a V-cap alone, or a rich sounding non-teflon with a small teflon bypass to sweeten the detail?